Imagine if all your favorite comic, film and TV characters got invited to a spiffy old fashioned potluck BBQ and ice cream social. Quaint little hand-written invitations arrived to their mailboxes looking like they’re straight from Pleasantville in envelopes with gingham interiors. Absolutely charming Dorothy Gale chic, no question. How sweet is this! We have to go this, it would be like kicking the sweetest most precious child in the face and actually knocking out teeth if we didn’t go! type of party. One caveat; everyone has to bring dessert. Despite there being no indication of an actual host, which suggests Agatha Christie may indeed have orchestrated the entire event from the grave via a possessed Martha Stewart with Jessica Fletcher waiting in the wings, your characters all show up, vaguely wondering why they’re even there and who is that obnoxious person across from them at their picnic table. This is a sampling of their best dishes. Welcome to yet another #FictionalFeasts!
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In case you haven’t noticed yet, fellow IHoGeek writer Max and I are working together on a super-awesome kick-ass paper about Doctor Who, Peter Pan, and the show’s growing popularity in America. We’ve titled our paper “Come Along Pond, Off to Neverland”, a title which starts to describe the relationship we’ve discovered between Peter and Wendy’s escape from reality, and Eleven and Amy’s similar escape. We also noticed that the parallel between the two coincided rather nicely with the explosion of Doctor Who’s popularity here in the states; even though it was definitely a cult classic in the 70s and 80s, it’s never been quite this mainstream. The project is so kick-ass that we’ve been invited to present it at this year’s International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts, where the guest speaker will be the one and only Neil Gaiman!
The conference will take place in Orlando, Florida which is not anywhere close to where either Max or I live…and we are poor recent-grads, so we started a kickstarter to support our academic goals! We have been posting like crazy everywhere–you may have seen the kickstarter on the IHoGeek twitter page and/or facebook, and a few weeks ago Max posted here on the blog about the paper topic. IHoGeek even officially supported us last week with a backer’s pledge of $10, for which we are eternally grateful.
We have officially supported @jenisaur and @maxlikescomics as they go to present their Doctor Who/Peter Pan at… fb.me/2d0UAOwIu
— IHOGeek (@IHOGeek) February 6, 2013
Today, in the last three days of our kickstarter campaign, I’m making a final push for backer support, and while I do, I’m going to encourage you all to be as awesome as we are.
I attended the conference last year, presenting on science fiction musicals, and had a blast. I made tons of professional connections and hope to do the same this year. Since our topic is a little more main-stream this year, we will be able to present in front of an even larger audience than I did last March, but I’m also REALLY looking forward to seeing other presenters’ material. You never know where inspiration lies! Here’s how to take your own ideas and share them with the academic world:
Step One: Have A Crazy Idea That Can Be Backed Up With Research
Both this year’s presentation and last’s started with mind whirrings. Last year I presented a paper I had written while working on my Masters Degree, about Science fiction and Broadway musicals. They shared a golden age, but didn’t come together successfully until the 1980s. That seemed weird to me, so I started researching and before I knew it I had a solid paper topic. This year the topic for our paper/presentation started with “have you noticed that there’s a lot of fairy tale stuff in the Smith years of Doctor Who?” At first Max and I just joked around about the links between Amy and Eleven and Wendy and Peter, but once we started thinking about it seriously, the connections made more and more sense. Then we started thinking about it even more, and once again we had our paper topic before long.
Both of these topics were where my mind went when I was bored. Both are subjects that I love deeply and care about enough to spend tons of free time researching and writing about. Having a partner this time around has been invaluble, as Max and I constantly bounce ideas off each other and more often than not end up arguing about details that one or the other would have overlooked. If you can find a co-writer, I definitely recommend it.
This is what our working process looks like, 9 times out of 10.
Step Two: Find Someone Else Who Cares
Part of the paper topic this year was formed by the fact that Max and I wanted to share our ideas with others. Last year things were easier–I had a paper to write for a class with specific qualifications in order to pass. This year, the ideas literally stemmed from wanting an excuse to spend tons of time watching and analyzing Doctor Who. I knew the conference topic this year would be on adaptations, and once I started focusing on the origins of the story, characters, and settings of the newest seasons, the topic of the paper became more clear.
The Logo for the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts
I was very lucky to have awesome professors in graduate school who knew I was a gigantic nerd, and one of them happened to forward the IAFA call for papers to me last October. The ICFA’s description is as follows: “The International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts (ICFA) is an annual scholarly conference devoted to all aspects of the fantastic (broadly defined) as it appears in literature, film, and the other arts.”
Knowing your audience is key when responding to a call for papers–you’re bound to have more luck when applying to a call that your paper answers in some specific way, or you could get buried below a pile of papers of much more relevance and interest to those reading said applications. If you don’t know where to start looking, do a quick google search for “call for paper” and some key parts of your paper topic.
Another good place to look for like-minded folks is at conventions. If you have the ability, try to pitch you paper topic as a panel at a local convention. If your idea is in it’s super-baby stages, talk about it at a round table panel on a broader topic that is related to your presentation idea; this is a great place to find connections (possibly even a co-writer) and/or research ideas you may not have thought about on your own.
Step Three: Ain’t No Rest For the Accepted
First of all, don’t give up after sending in your proposal to one conference. This is a perfect place for an “if at first you don’t succeed…” pep talk. But, if you’re smart about where you applied, (see Step Three), eventually, you’ll get that acceptance letter/email/phone call, and then your hard work really begins. Check the time requirements for your presentation; at the ICFA you get twenty minutes, but at a smaller symposium you may get 5 or ten. Check whether you can use multi-media, or if you’ve got to rely on the old index cards. Protip: don’t use index cards, and if you do, only use them for bullet points. It’s boring to watch someone read off a paper or a card. You will engaged many more audience members if you make eye contact and speak without reading. Personally, I like powerpoint presentations, especially if they have tons of pictures and/or videos included. The ICFA also requires that in order to present, you become a member of the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts, and that you chair at least one other panel during the conference if possible. Make sure all the paperwork and other administrative things are taken care of, or you could lose your presentation spot.
Step Four: Now You Can Rest, But Only After a Whirlwind of E-mails.
Once the conference/convention/symposium is over, you may think your work is done, but it’s not really; not if you want your hard work to have a lasting effect. During the convention itself, you should introduce yourself to people, collect business cards, and hand out some yourself. When the dust has settled, send out some emails and get in touch with people you want to keep talking to. The list could include people who made presentations about which you still have questions, professional contacts such as editors or other writers, and/or folks who were simply awesome.
Also, perhaps most importantly, send an email out to whoever accepted you to the event in the first place! Thank them for including you and ask if there is a mailing list you can be included on for further calls for papers/invitations to conventions. Even if the person isn’t in control, they may be able to point you in the right direction of finding out who is, possibly insuring that you keep presenting in the future!
Good luck with your academic endeavors! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to email me at jenisaur@ihogeek.com. I will do my best to help you out. Hope to see you at a convention real soon!
Don’t forget to back or share our kickstarter: Come Along, Pond…Off to Neverland!
And check out our project blog: Come Along Pond…Off to Neverland at Blogspot
Jen Schiller
Staff Writer
Twitter.com/Jenisaur
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Okay Disney, I think it’s about time we have a talk regarding your Diamond editions of movies that come “Out of the vault”.
The teaser cover
This time last year I wrote a review of the “Lady and the Tramp” Diamond edition, and I was rather disappointed in the re-packaging of this classic film. Now, here we are in 2013, and “Peter Pan” is being given the same treatment. WHAT IS GOING ON, GUYS? First of all, you got my hopes up with this awesome silhouette cover teased online, and then used what’s basically an enhanced screengrab for the final cover. Okay, yes, I’m being picky and obnoxious, but really…that teaser was flippin sweet, simple, and different from anything we’ve seen before. Isn’t that part of the point of re-releasing a classic; reinventing how we see it?
Second, let’s talk about the inside of the DVD box. It sucks. There’s literally nothing new, innovative or interesting about this packaging. It’s exactly like the Platinum edition from six years ago, except that . Everything about the inside of the Diamond edition is plain, perhaps most disappointingly the DVD and Blu-Ray themselves are just plain silver and blue.
You folks HAVE to know that your movies are highly collectible, and that we fans pride ourselves on shelf after shelf of Disney films in various forms. I really wish the marketing team would take that into account when designing these re-released editions of classics. The “collectible” element of the movies is evident in the fact that Disney movies (new AND re-released) pre-ordered directly from the Disney store come with a set of lithographs. Up to this point, I have loved all of the lithographs I’ve collected–and I don’t say that lightly. However, the quality of the Peter Pan lithographs is somewhat lacking. They look like bad copies of cells from the films, rather than artistically remastered versions, the latter being what I’ve come to expect.
Finally, let’s discuss bonus features. The Platinum edition of Peter Pan came with a plethora of special features which are all included on the blu-ray. There are music videos, deleted scenes, and specials from the original “Magical World of Disney” television program–all pretty much the same stuff that was included on the Lady and the Tramp diamond edition, just as they relate to Peter Pan instead. The only feature exclusive to the Blu-Ray is a documentary called “Growing Up with Nine Old Men”, a film about the children of the the Animators known by that name. While the film is interesting and touching, it only tangentially relates to Peter Pan, in that the Nine Old Men worked on the film.
Now, considering this is the first copy of Peter Pan that I will own since the original DVD which had NO bonus features, I’m glad I’m not missing any of the goodies from the platinum edition, and that it’s all packed conveniently onto one disc. However, as something called the “diamond” edition of a film, don’t you think there should be more original content on the disc, exclusive blu-ray features that wouldn’t have been possible with a DVD? Although I wasn’t thrilled with the second-screen elements of Lady and the Tramp, there has to be some way of incorporating extra content into blu-ray films. I seem to remember a pop-up command on Lion King 1/12 that gave insight into classic moments from the original Lion King, an element of the movie that functioned like “Pop-up video”. Where’s that innovation in a movie about the power of imagination?
A perfect example of the innovation I’m looking for is the new “intermission” function that appears when you pause the movie. A clock appears, counting down for ten seconds before “pirate training” begins. Pirate training serves two purposes, neither of which will actually train you to become a pirate, but both of which are highly appreciated. First, it helps avoid any burnout or ghosting on your television screen from a paused movie left for too long; second it will keep any little ones occupied while mom and dad run into the other room to check on dinner or out to the powder room. Smee and Captain Hook identify shapes in smoke clouds and figure out what water-stained maps used to look like, all the while encouraging youngsters to join in the fun. There’s a decent enough amount of content in the intermission loop that I haven’t even seen all of it!
Margaret Kerry, on the other hand, is flawless.
So Disney, if you’ll excuse the cliche, you’re going to have to throw me a bone here. I will admit that the remastering of the film itself is, like with Lady and the Tramp, living up to it’s name. The classic animation in high definition is stunning. I was apprehensive when I saw the commercials on a non-HD television; the flying sequences looked stodgy and…weird. But, when viewed on the blu-ray, on a nice big high-definition screen, everything is delightfully bright and beautiful, bringing another classic into the modern world.
However, the packaging is nearly a collector’s nightmare, and the bonus features leave much to be desired. I would have MUCH preferred a re-release that included the 2002 sequel, Return to Neverland, with both on blu-ray; along with bonus features that related to both films or the development of Peter Pan through history. In short, while the Diamond edition of Peter Pan is pretty swell, ironically, it needs to do a little growing up before I’d be willing to give it five stars.
Want your own copy? You can order it direct from Disney: Disney Store, Peter Pan on Blu-Ray
Jen Schiller
Staff Writer
twitter.com/Jenisaur
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So Jen and I are working on a joint paper and presentation for the ICFA (International Conference For The Fantastic In The Arts) coming up this March. We are exploring the similarities between Steven Moffat’s Doctor Who tenure as head writer and the relationship between the Eleventh Doctor and Amy Pond resembling that of Peter Pan and Wendy from Peter Pan. Amy is the ultimate audience avatar; the adult that got to “fly away to Neverland” with her childhood imaginary friend and subject of make-believe, and it is that key element of their relationship that we believe helped contribute to the show’s explosion of popularity globally, especially in America. We talk a lot about fairy tales and fantasy in our paper, specifically because Moffat’s writing style overall seems to be dabble in fairytale elements (Series 5 was explicitly intended to be a “dark fairytale”) where you’d normally expect original sci-fi conventions. Peter Pan is set in the designated genre of fantasy but is so inexplicably related to technology and progress (the assumed realm of sci-fi) due to it relying and have always relied on the advent of electricity (specifically for the portrayal of Tinkerbell). Steven Moffat is doing the opposite with Doctor Who, inverting that relationship. Moffat has been taking a purely sci-fi show and has been bending it into the realm of fairy tales and the mythological or mixes them to the point of being inseparable. His stories are intimate, there are no hanging out at space cantinas and much less emphasis on casual life or the world’s around them. Instead we are given very hyper-focused stories often cloaked with pagan and mythological elements with character driven stories essentially giving sci-fi a fantasy skin.
Oh no don’t cry
Moffat started the fantasy bending all the way back in ‘The Girl In The Fireplace’. Reinette is our first prototype Wendy in our paper, in that she, like Amy, meets the Doctor as a child. Reinette, however, like all of us inexplicably grows up and then never gets the chance to go fly away with The Doctor or “Peter” of her childhood, leaving her (like us) standing at the window.
Okay now you can cry.
It wasn’t until Series 5 with the introduction of Eleven that the Peter Pan parallelism Moffat introduces in ‘The Girl In The Fireplace’ came into full fruition with Moffat’s choices concerning Eleven’s new puckish, youthful but also extremely petulant personality and the introduction of Amy Pond who becomes the “Wendy” that gets a second chance even after growing up.
If people would like to follow Jen and I’s ruminations, progress with our paper and occasional shouting matches as we get closer and closer to the conference, you can follow our project blog here
Please enter the url to a YouTube video.
Here also for your viewing pleasure this weekend is a clip of the Darling children learning to fly and going off to Neverland from the 1924 silent adaptation of Peter Pan with Betty Bronson as Peter and Mary Brian as Wendy. It continued the pantomime tradition of Peter being played by a woman. Being made in 1924, only 20 years after first performance of Peter, the synergy of stage and the new(ish) rising potential of film and film effects just oozes from this clip through the use of the special effects. Yes, now crude by our standards, but check out that Tinkerbell at 4:08! That’s pretty darn cool isn’t it? Legend of Zelda anyone?
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In lieu of the recent events in Newton, CT and China within the past week and with Christmas next week, I decided I should talk about kids and also direct people’s attention towards a project that needs your support and could use a boost of holiday magic. The world is not a great place at the moment, and not just in the US and China. The Middle East is not great for children right now either. But there are ways people can help and spread a bit of goodness and warmth where it matters. Those little bits add up. And in this case, you can do it dressed in your favorite costumes and as your favorite characters.
The project in need is called Project Pixie Dust. It’s a cosplay based initiative meant to help encourage children and teens , around the world with hydrocephalus, a brain condition, to feel a bit better while living with the currently incurable condition. The project was started after Tina, the founder, who has hydrocephalus, had a touching and sympathetic meeting with Aladdin and Jasmine cast members during a trip at Walt Disney World.
Tina and the Aladdin and Jasmine cast members whose encounter inspired her.
The two, in character, ended up speaking to Tina for over 15 minutes, genuinely interested and engaged after Tina divulged her “Genie wish” to find a cure for her condition. Tina was so touched by the experience, but she realized that many families and thus children with hydropcephalus cannot afford to go to Walt Disney World or Disneyland and experience that same magic of favorite characters speaking directly to them about their condition and giving warm words of encouragement and support. It is also a lot to ask people to record people in the parks. She explains on the project’s official tumblr blog:
What’s stopping me from doing this? Why can’t I take my own videos in the parks? How amazing would it be, if a parent could show their child a video of their favorite character, talking to them? How many kids could say that Peter Pan knows what their brain condition is, even though the kids at school don’t?
She thus has put out a request for cosplayers of Disney characters, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Marvel (X-Men, Avengers, Spider-Man etc) and DC Comics (Superfamily, Batfamily, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern) and characters from Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon shows or from well known anime (I’d say like Ash from Pokemon) and Nintendo videogames (Mario, Luigi, Peach, Link, Zelda, etc) to make an inspirational, sweet video message, in character, for these kids. From Tina:
The video’s wouldn’t focus on a cure, mind you — the condition is incurable. We don’t know if there will ever be a cure, it can be caused by so many things.
We don’t want to give anyone false hope. That isn’t helpful.
Rather, inspiration. Happiness. Maybe some motivation to get through a tough time. Just a sweet, inspiring message.
Tina has in particular openly requested or put emphasis on the search for well known X-men character cosplayers, who as mutants also have like these children, “incurable” things different about themselves. Tina explains kids can relate to them quite a bit, especially Rogue, who in the movies was bent on finding a cure for her powers. They are also looking for Barbara Gordon as Oracle cosplay as a shining example of someone having a disability and yet not giving up because of it, and flourishing as a person under the Oracle moniker.
I don’t need a cape, thanks.
As of this week, from what I can tell, the project has yet to receive any videos and, for something that would take a few minutes to record , I am surprised. Cosplayers, you love dressing up, you love playing the part. Why not actually be heroes? Do you think you can afford a few minutes of your time and support this project?
I am a firm believer in doing the right thing, and when it comes to kids, I don’t joke around. I myself am not a cosplayer (though I would love to cosplay Balder from Thor one day, he’s the only hero I can find that I look anything like) but I know many people are, and are brilliant at what they do. Please, if that is you, and your characters are appropriate please check out Project Pixie Dust and contribute. I can’t think of a better time than the holidays to do just that.
For more information about this wonderful idea, you can contact Tina here at her tumblr or email her at ProjectPixieDust@gmail.com
Other info for Project Pixie Dust:
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Reading Peter Pan in high school showed a world completely devoid of the usual Disney tropes and I found myself mind blown, yet eerily felt like I knew the whole time, that Peter Pan and Neverland was an allegory for Death.
What?!
Hear me out.
Peter is eternally young,yes? His actual age is never really given, only that he has all his baby teeth and will never, ever grow up. The Scottish creator of Peter Pan, J.M. Barrie, had a brother who died at 14 and depressingly, his mother would always remember him as a little boy since he never got to grow up. Is this the influence for Peter? We don’t know for sure, but can reasonably say this is the case. Neverland itself is home to many things long thought dead, whether it’s because we’ve forgotten about them or because there’s just no magic left in the world. Mermaids, fairies, and a group of Lost Boys with no mother. Lost Boys who have been brought to Neverland by Peter. LOST BOYS WITH NO HOMES OR FAMILIES BY THE ANGEL OF DEATH.
Mmhm. Lookin’ all angel of death like. I have my eye on you, Peter.
What brought on this sudden analyzation of a beloved 50’s Disney classic?
I was riding along in my car, listing to my Disney Pandora radio station and “You Can Fly” came on. Let’s take a peek at the lyrics shall we?
Now, think of the happiest things.
It’s the same as having wings
Let’s all try it, just once more
Look! We’re rising off the floor
Jiminy! Oh my! We can fly!
You can fly! We can fly!
Come on, everybody, here we go!
Off to Never Land!
I’m not saying this happened, but let’s say Peter forgot that regular folks (ALIVE folks) can’t fly without pixie dust. That’s an important mistake, especially when you’re jumping off rooftops with happy thoughts in your head.
Think of a wonderful thought
Any merry little thought
Think of Christmas, think of snow
Think of sleigh bells – off you go!
Like a reindeer in the sky
You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!
Winter, snow, and the color white are usually symbolism for death, as most things die in the winer. Peter Pan isn’t lookin’ so friendly now, is he? And they say Captain Hook is the villain!
Think of the happiest things
It’s the same as having wings
Take the path that moonbeams make
If the moon is still awake
You’ll see him wink his eye
You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!
Surely the moon can’t be anything bad! Wrong. The moon symbolizes what lies beyond life as well as all things changeable like *cough cough* being alive. Wendy, John, and Michael seriously need to rethink following Peter to that second star to the right.
Up you go with a heigh and ho
To the stars beyoond the blue
There’s a Never Land waiting for you
Where all your happy dreams come true
Every dream that you dream will come true
Hell yeah, there’s a land waiting for you and while it’s true you won’t grow up, you’ll be dead. Happy dreams!
When there’s a smile in your heart
There’s no better time to start
Think of all the joy you’ll find
When you leave the world behind
And bid your cares good-bye
You can fly! You can fly! You can fly!
This stanza pretty much speaks for itself. All your cares will disappear when you’re dead, that’s for sure, but I’m unsure how much joy will be found.
Perhaps I’m reaching and perhaps my ingestion of Halloween chocolate in copious amounts has clouded my brain. Perhaps not. What do you think? Is all of this coincidence or am I actually on to something?
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