Little Nemo, The Muppet Movie among those added to National Film Registry

by James | December 31, 2009 10:20 am

Little Nemo, The Muppet Movie, Quasi at the Quackadero, The Red Book, and Scratch and Crow were added to the National Film Registry[1] according to the head of the Library of Congress, James Billington. Each year the Librarian of Congress, advised by the National Film Preservation Board, selects up to 25 films that are culturally, historically or aesthetically significant to be added to the Registry. For each title named to the Registry, the Library of Congress works to ensure that the film is preserved for all time. This years’ animated inductees follows:

Little Nemo (1911)
This classic work, a mix of live action and animation, was adapted from Winsor McCay’s famed 1905 comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. Its fluidity, graphics and story-telling was light years beyond other films made during that time. A seminal figure in both animation and comic art, McCay profoundly influenced many generations of future animators, including Walt Disney.

The Muppet Movie (1979)
Muppet creators Jim Henson and Frank Oz immersed their characters into a well-crafted combination of musical comedy and fantasy adventure. Kermit the Frog leads TV series regulars Miss Piggy, Fozzie Bear, Ralph and Animal on a road trip to Hollywood where they encounter numerous characters played by such actors as Steve Martin, Mel Brooks and Charles Durning.

Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)
Quasi at the Quackadero has earned the term “unique.” Once described as a “mixture of 1930s Van Beuren cartoons and 1960s R. Crumb comics with a dash of Sam Flax,” and a descendent of the “Depression-era funny animal cartoon,” Sally Cruikshank’s wildly imaginative tale of odd creatures visiting a psychedelic amusement park careens creatively from strange to truly wacky scenes. It became a favorite of the Midnight Movie circuit in the 1970s. Cruikshank later created animation sequences for Sesame Street, the 1986 film Ruthless People and the “Cartoon Land” sequence in the 1983 film Twilight Zone: The Movie.

The Red Book (1994)
Renowned experimental filmmaker and theater/installation artist Janie Geiser’s work is known for its ambiguity, explorations of memory and emotional states and exceptional design. She describes The Red Book as “an elliptical, pictographic animated film that uses flat, painted figures and collage elements in both two and three dimensional settings to explore the realms of memory, language and identity from the point of view of a woman amnesiac.”

Scratch and Crow (1995)
Helen Hill’s student film was made at the California Institute of the Arts. Consistent with the short films she made from age 11 until her death at 36, this animated short work is filled with vivid color and a light sense of humor. It is also a poetic and spiritual homage to animals and the human soul.

Source URL: https://animatedviews.com/2009/little-nemo-muppets-added-to-national-film-registry/

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