Teamwork makes the dream work! By joining our Patreon before July 31, you’ll be pushing me to write more about creative. For a limited time (the next 7 days), I will write an additional article on creativity for every 5 people that join our Patreon.
The creative process is often more collaborative than is
portrayed in the stories we’ve been told. Even if someone creates something in
a studio with no one else around, that person has interacted with others who
have shaped him or her. The idea came from somewhere. What Isaac Newton said
about science (a concept traced back to Bernard of Chartres) is just as true
for art: “If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
As part of our team, you are allowing Jenya and I to be more creative and to create more – books, stories and penguins. You will also be getting articles about becoming more creative. The Secrets of Creativity series on Patreon is for Patrons only. There are supplements to the series on my blog.
If you join at the $5 level, you even get to ask any question you want about the creativity process, what it takes to be more creative, and how penguins jump so high out of the water (or whatever other topic comes to mind). One article is already waiting to published August 14! Join now, bring your friends, and let’s get dangerous… creatively speaking.
The Riverside Hot Springs Inn in Lava Hot Springs, Idaho, is an all-inclusive vacation destination in the guise of a historic hotel. The staff is helpful and friendly. The Port-Neuf Grille and Lounge restaurant is a gourmet foodies heaven; the cashew and almond butter stuffed avocado is amazing. The historic building is filled with character and comfort.
Most importantly, if you come to Lava Hot Springs for the
hot springs, the Riverside Hot Springs Inn offers the opportunity to take
advantage of their on-site hot springs privately. Sign up for a time, include
the number of people joining you, and the indoor hot springs, or the outdoor hot
tub filled with hot springs water, is yours. I recommend the outdoor option for
its view; watching the train on the hill as it goes by just improves the
experience.
The Riverside Hot Springs Inn was built in 1914. If you’re
looking for a peaceful getaway in a small town, this hotel should be among your
first choices. If you choose to leave the hotel, you can visit the Sunken
Gardens, and walk along the sidewalks of a town that caters to upscale tourists
looking for the better things in life.
The Walt Disney Company traditionally rereleased its
animated classics to theaters about once every seven years. Even as video
cassettes were becoming popular, Disney kept its animated classics “in the
vault” and off the shelves. Rereleasing films was profitable because Disney
could fill out its movie slate for the year with a film that had no additional
production costs. The money from the rereleases was almost pure profit minus
the advertising budget.
With pent-up adult demand for something from childhood that
they could share with their children and the importance of introducing the
characters to a whole new generation that would then want to see those
characters in the parks, Disney’s rereleases were more than just profitable.
They kept the company in the news, and they made the attractions in the parks
more relevant to children who otherwise wouldn’t have seen the movies.
The rereleases, in essence, drove profits at the box office
and at the parks, especially during some of the Walt Disney Company’s rougher
periods. It wasn’t enough.
When Michael Eisner took over the company, things changed
drastically as he followed through on Ron Miller’s (the then defunct CEO) plan.
For the first time, Disney classics would be available in their entirety on VHS.
The video series reaped immediate cash rewards and provided a much need capital
input into the company while possibly sacrificing future profits and relevancy
in the process.
Eventually, Disney would return videos “to the vault.” The
announcement would increase demand for the videos because they would no longer
be available for purchase though they would remain on video rental store
shelves until the videotapes wore out. Videos would also be released in
different versions and levels, including Masterpiece, Gold Series and Platinum
series. This strategy kept the profits flowing while also keeping the films and
their characters relevant. It still wasn’t enough.
To drive further interest in its intellectual property and
keep the park characters relevant, Disney offered up direct-to-video sequels.
Unable to rerelease the classics to movie theaters on a wide scale, (Who would
go see “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” on the movie screen when they could
stay at home and see the same movie with the family at a much cheaper price?) the
new videos were often inferior in quality and storytelling, but they were effective
for the price and benefits reaped. On television, other characters made it to
Saturday Morning. “Tailspin,” based on the Jungle Book characters, and “Timon
and Pumbaa”, based on the Lion King characters, were relatively successful and
kept the spirit of the shows (and their related tie-in profits) alive.
Still, Disney needed a way to produce box office profits and
buzz with as little risk as possible. Remaking the classics has accomplished that
in spades.
In 1994, Disney had a moderate hit ($44 million) with a live
action “The Jungle Book” starring Jason Scott Lee, Cary Elwes and Lena Headley.
In 1996, it had a much more successful live action film ($320 million) in the Glenn
Close vehicle “101 Dalmatians.”
While some may classify Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland”
as a remake, it is really a retelling. It has many elements similar to the
animated classic but is different enough to rate its own story. Still, it’s $1
billion box office take certainly didn’t deter Disney from the remakes. “Maleficent”
($758 million) is another live action film, based on Disney’s telling of “Sleeping
Beauty,” but still different enough to be its own story. Even “Pete’s Dragon” didn’t
stick strictly to the script of the original. “Christopher Robin” (not quite
$200 million) and “Dumbo” ($352 million on a $170 million budget – whoever authorized
that budget didn’t understand why the firs was released) had different
storylines compared to the originals and were considered flops as they didn’t
score highly with critics or at the box office.
“The Jungle Book” (2016), which almost made $1 billion,
featured groundbreaking cinematography and stuck close to the original animated
feature. “Beauty and the Beast” was a lot like the original, too, and this may
be the beginning of the downfall because it brought in $1.2 billion. Why write
a new script if you can just use the old one?
Enter the ultra-busy actor, producer, executive producer, director,
chef and whatever else Jon Favreau. Favreau is responsible for directing “Iron
Man” and for starring as Happy in several of the Marvel films. He’s taken part
in the “Star Wars” movies and shows Disney has/is creating. He is also the producer
and director of “The Lion King” and “The Jungle Book” (2016). He made a cooking
show in his spare time “The Chef Show” because he missed the time that he spent
with the chef that taught him how to cook on his movie “Chef.” Look up his IMDB
and be amazed, and then understand the problem.
Favreau’s box office dominance isn’t in question. His
ability to be original is. When someone is so busy with as many projects as he
is, it’s inevitable that he or she will take the easiest road. Adapting “the Lion
King” from the old script and giving it originality, in addition to wrangling
the photo-realistic “not” animation, would’ve have been too much if it were the
only project on his plate. After all, “The Lion King” made almost $1 billion.
More importantly, it’s beloved by millions of fans the world
over. If he had messed it up by taking a risk to make it more original, he
would’ve seen his career with Disney take a dive. Favreau had no choice but to
fulfill expectations and keep the animals looking live-action rather than
animated. Follow the script and no one gets hurt, except those parts that
living animals couldn’t literally do – like dress in drag and do the hula or
march in fascistic fashion.
Favreau was out in a no-win situation. In order for the “not”
animated “Lion King” to have been a better film, he would’ve needed to cut some
of the fluff (literally and figuratively) out of the film while concentrating
on character and using human expressions to get the animals to show emotion. He
would’ve needed to take a risk in the same way that the gorgeous and expensive
Broadway show took a risk. He would’ve needed to lead the innovation and story
team to bring something new to the screen that would’ve added to the film’s
legacy. He didn’t have the time to do what he needed to do to make the film
better, so rather than create something new, he took the safe road to
profitability. And we’re all creatively the worst for it.
Marc Davis is one of Walt’s Nine Old Men, who worked many of
the early films designing characters that included animals from Bambi and
Maleficent. When Marc Davis came over to WED, he brought his sense of humor
with him. He added humorous scenes to the Jungle Cruise and was one of the main
designers of the Pirates of the Caribbean.
When he was brought on to the Haunted Mansion project, he
had to struggle with Claude Coats and his design preferences. The two men were equals
in the office. Coats wanted a scary Mansion; Davis wanted something funnier. A
compromise of sorts was reached, and Coats’ influence can be seen at the
beginning of the attraction with Davis’ scenes becoming stronger in the end.
“I think that’s the whole thing with creativity is if there’s
something new out there, why not give it a try?” said Marc Davis (Disney Family
Album). Use Marc Davis as your motivation and give something new a try.
You can also find more articles about Disney, Disneyland and creativity at our archive website, www.penguinate.weebly.com, and on our blog. If you would like to get even more articles about creativity, join our Patreon and become a Penguinator.
The penguins are out of the box (even if the cat is still in it). A creativity storm is coming, but it can only happen with your help! For every 5 people that sign up at any level for our Patreon, I will write an additional creativity article. If you want to know more about creativity, this will get you there quickly!
Our current schedule looks like this:
August 1: The blog email list – this is open to anyone who has signed up for our email list at Penguinate.com and should include a summary of all the articles that we released on my blog.
August 2: I will post a copy of the blog email and add some tasty tidbits to it like a creativity tip.
August 14: Creativity Post 1 – What do 1980’s ‘Popeye,’ criticism and creativity have in common? This will be released on Penguinate.com with a reminder on Patreon sent the next day.
August 18: Our Patreon Anniversary!
August 22: Penguin of the Month photo
Join us at Patreon to make sure that I have to write something about creativity every day! The more people that sign up on or before July 31, the more articles you’ll see.
Spoiler Alert: This post contains spoilers for “The
Adjustment Bureau” and “The Good Place” through season 3. If you haven’t seen either
of these shows, I suggest you bookmark this page and return to it after
watching them. The article is below the trailers.
In “The Adjustment Bureau,” Senate candidate David Norris, played by Matt Damon, finds himself confronted by a shadowy organization of supernatural beings, who answer to the Chairman. The Chairman has set mankind on a path so that it doesn’t destroy itself. Norris’ burgeoning relationship with Elise, played by Emily Blunt, threatens this plan.
Norris is told that humanity has the illusion of free will.
He can choose the brand of toothpaste he wants or what beverage to have with
lunch, but some choices are made for him with an adjustment by the shadowy
organization. It can be as something as small as spilling coffee or missing
keys, or it can be something larger like a mind scan. These things affect what
people do and thus affect the path they take in their lives. In this scenario,
the type of toothpaste or beverage one chooses has no effect on the outcome of
his or her life or the way the world will go.
Flip to “The Good Place,” a surprisingly smart sit-com that deserves a better designation. When people die, they are sent either to the good place or to the bad place based on how points they scored while alive. However, no one has gotten into the good place in 521 years because life and its choices are too complicated to sort out. A good deed can have several bad consequences, that though unintended, count against the person doing the good deed. (For example, a boy scout saves an old lady from being hit by a bus, but the old lady is a serial killer; the boy scout would get negative points, even though he had no way of knowing about her and actually believed he was doing the right thing.) In this world, selecting a toothpaste or choosing the wrong drink to have with lunch could have dire enough consequences to send someone to the bad place.
So, which is it? If we have free will, are there small choices?
And if we’re constrained by some master plan? Which of our choices would affect
our after-life destination and/or how the world would change as we make them?
How would we know?
These questions are hard to answer. The only things we can
do are treat each other with kindness and make the best decisions available to
us with the information we have at the time we have to make those decisions.
That still means we have to overcome our defects and work hard to improve
ourselves and our decision-making abilities. With the Internet and media
literacy, there’s no excuse for being uninformed. But starting with kindness, compassion
and empathy towards others will make those decisions much easier.
For every 5 people who join our Patreon between now and July 31, 2019, I will write an extra creativity article for Patreon members (Penguinators) only. So far, I write one article a month on creativity for Penguinators. The articles have included “The Secrets to Creativity” series, with supporting articles on Penguinate.com. You can read and work on:
The Real Secrets of Creativity: By the Books
The Secrets of Creativity: Paradox
The Secrets to Creativity: Deep Thinking
The Secrets of Creativity: Seeing for Penguinators
The Secrets of Creativity: Play
Those are the most recent posts, along with a breakdown of
our success in June at comic conventions and with my books.
In August, I have already scheduled the first article I am
writing for the creativity storm:
What Do 1980’s ‘Popeye’ and Criticism Have to Do with Creativity?
It will be released for Penguinators only on August 14. If you want to read it, you’ll need to join our Patreon at any level, even $1! Get four of your friends to join and I’ll write another creativity article! For as long as you’re a member, you’ll have access to all of the articles, great discounts at our events, and funny photos of stuffed penguins! Join us today!
It wasn’t too long ago when I would get up early on a
Saturday, sneak down the stairs with my favorite stuffed animal, Chrissi the
Lion, and turn on the TV. I’d keep the volume on low so as not to wake my mom,
who worked the night before. It didn’t matter what was on the TV because I
would run back upstairs and grab a couple more stuffed animals to sit with.
Then I would go to the kitchen and get some cereal. Most of the time, it would
be something sugary like Mr. T Cereal, Cap’n Crunchberries, or Lucky Charms.
One time it was Corn Bran; my grandpa had brought a case of the cereal with him
during a visit, and they were surprisingly good in spite of the name and the
fact that there was no surprise inside.
Have you ever wanted to know how many articles I could write
on creativity in a month? Generally, I spread my writing out with travel
articles, movie and book reviews, penguins and Disney-related material. Oftentimes,
there’s an overlap between these subjects and creativity; sometimes, I don’t
point the overlap out. What does this have to do with anything?
For the last week of July at our Patreon page, I am issuing
a challenge to you, the members of my Patreon and myself. For every five new
members that pledge at any level, I will write an article about creativity for all
of the Penguinators. If 20 people join, I will write 4 articles for the challenge
and one because that’s what I normally write. If 50 people join, I will write
10 articles plus one or more depending on the other goals we achieve. If 150
people join, I will write 30 articles plus one or more depending on the other
goals we achieve. That would be at least one a day for the month of August!
I’m pretty confident I can write one a day because I’ve been
able to do that at my website for the last 210 days. In fact, I think I can
write as many as five articles a day, but that would mean 750 people would have
to sign up at our Patreon page.
If you want to know how many articles on creativity I can write over the course of a month, you’ll need to join our Patreon and encourage your friends, family members and colleagues to join. Will you accept the challenge to find out what I am capable of? Let’s find out.
In “Penguin Highway” by Tomihiko Morimi, Aoyama is a curious boy in the fourth grade. He takes copious notes, researches everything, makes observations, and never gets angry. When ever he feels like he might get angry, he thinks of breasts, and it calms him down. Is that normal for a fourth grader? I don’t know, but it’s normal for Aoyama, who is clearly not an ordinary child.
When Aoyama is confronted with several problems, he decides
to research them all. His friend Uchida and the girl Hamamoto help him with the
time he has to spend on researching “The Sea.” Uchida is also part of his
exploring and mapping the town. His side project is researching the lady from
the dentist office who can make penguins, which is what sparks the whole story.
Aoyama shows that its not good enough to ask the questions.
He keeps a journal with him at all times. Hamamoto does the same, and Uchida
learns to use a notebook, even if he isn’t the smartest one in the group. Taking
notes allows Aoyama to access the information he has learned at a later time.
It also allows him to manipulate the data, so he can get a bigger picture.
Taking notes requires observation skills. Aoyama has
practiced observing, so he sees what others may miss. He then makes hypotheses
and tests them to see if they can withstand the scientific method. He knows his
theories are most likely wrong, but it’s important to make and test them.
Aoyama’s methods are honed and only missing one piece –
sometimes, the answer doesn’t lie in the logic of a situation or possible
behavior. In creativity, the process is similar: take notes, observe, ask
questions and stay curious; sometimes, you have to make that intuitive leap to
a better answer.
If you’re looking for another good read, check out these books on my website.
Penguinate! Positive Creativity 