Continued from Part One
So there I was.... wandering the streets of Whoville... Walking into stores, picking up the various props... Looking at the Whoville Choir Songbooks. Nothing is quite... right ya know. None of the doors quite rectangular.... none of the windows were square or circular... they are... drippy... As if they were once square or round, but were then looked at by Dali.... and found themselves a bit melted.
Christmas lights outlined every irregular inch of the buildings, windows and awnings. There were icicles dripping from everywhere. Frost upon windows, and clumps of snow upon the streets... it all looked pounded down, but not dirty. It was as if dirt... earth... that compound of various minerals... just did not exist here. In this world, snow fell.... it was stepped upon.. but it never ever became dirty. I presume the bottoms of shoes never came in contact with mud... Hmmm... did it ever rain here in Whoville? Somehow, I don’t think it ever does.
There were banners hung pronouncing the deadline to WHOBILATION (I believe that is spelled correctly) and the townhall in Whoville had... not a gargoyle or lady liberty atop it... Nope... it had a Horton. Yeah.. the pacyderm that planted an egg.
The whole cumalitive effect of being on this set is a smile.
About this time, I had wandered back to the monitor area, and that is when they finished the shot of Clint and Tambor. The entire crew exploded into a mass of movement. The next shot would be of around 80 or so Whos at the front of Town Hall to nominate the Who of the year.
Ron begins taking a group over to Town Hall to block out the camera movement... talk about lighting... discuss the scene. I decide to tag a long... though at a distance. I like to be a fly on the wall on these sets, not a bull.
As I approach the group, I notice a man with long brown hair with two grey streaks on either side of his head. OHMYGOD. That’s Rick Baker.
This is when I begin feeling a bit wheezy. I’ve been a gigantic admirer/worshipper of Rick Baker’s since... Gosh... I guess that showing of SCHLOCK back in 1975 at the Paramount theater in Austin, Texas. Rick Baker is one of the reasons I’m fat.
WHAT?
Well... Ya see. It’s like this. During the pre-hype for Dino’s KING KONG remake, there was a contest set up by Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, to win a cameo in KING KONG. I had seen some preproduction work by Rick Baker and was a drooling maniac. I wanted a cameo really really bad. I ate... ALOT of Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. I wanted that cameo role. I wanted it really really bad. I ate a lot of those. Until that point in my life I was very skinny.... Rick Baker contributed in making me the man I am today.
It was one of those life altering kid moments, months, years type of things.
Anyway. Believe it or not... I’m painfully shy when it comes to meeting my idols. Alot of the time... it’s enough to just be in the presence of. To watch. So I’m about 4 feet away from Baker, when he feels the gravitational pull of my girth, and turns to fight the physics of it... and recognizes me.
We begin talking about his Who makeup... I mention the episode of the doctors and the lady, and Rick smiles and says that he had those thoughts... He begins taking me over and introducing me to the makeup designs.
BTW... Rick is an absolute geek about his work. And god bless him for it. The man’s energy is contagious. He points out this one incredibly long necked fellow as being an excellent example of what is a Who. This guy... is astounding to look at. One... his neck is positively amazing. It’s as if he was the cross-bred progeny of an unholy joining of Audrey Hepburn and a Giraffe from one of her UNICEF visits to Africa. And with that makeup. WOW.
As I began to watch the set... Who after Who after Who flooded in. Suddenly... I was in the minority of human beings on set. By and large... the majority were these Who people.
This is a dream. If only I had my camera... if only they wouldn’t kill me if I took a picture. I wanted a picture of me, surrounded by Whos soooo bad. But... Sigh.... They would not allow it.
I ask Rick about the press being allowed on set, and I’m told that I’m the only one so far. Whoa... What? And as I thought about it, it hit me.
The other press needs pictures. They need a snapshot of the Whos... they need to fill a neat little 500 to a 1500 word story... and they’d do that by doing interviews.. not by paying attention to the set. To the details. They’d focus on ‘what is it like being in that makeup Ms Shannon?’ and that would be missing the point.
This set... this set is about a cumulative effect. Think back to WIZARD OF OZ. What was it about that movie? Well, for me... it was the sheer enormity of the undertaking. The giant crowd scenes of little people... all of those munchkins. This wasn’t 5 Whos on set. This was 80+. Then there was the buildings... the costumes.
You see... while the makeup on the Whos was one thing... the costumes... wow... The costumes were another. You know how in Edward Scissorhands, people’s hair became an additional dimension. Well here... the hair would be sculpted into a smoking chimney.... a snowman.... a candy cane...
Oh...
At this point I entered into a conversation with Molly Shannon (who plays Betty Lou Who), her son... and what I have to say is the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. As I stood there talking to Molly, by the way... this was very strange because she was dressed in normal street clothes, because something special was being done to her dress... and normal street clothes and Who makeup is... very disturbing.
Well, we were talking about the toxic nature of the snow and dust in the studio, when this beautiful babe who joined our conversation. Molly pointed out that this was the production’s Babe Who with a million dollar ass. At first I thought this to be a rude comment.... for the Who girl seemed to be blushing even through the make up.
And what make up. This girl was beautiful in the way all exotics are beautiful. Remember the green skin girl from Star Trek? Well... this girl... wow. Some of the Who’s makeup was jarring... it felt... ummm... merely alien. You didn’t know if that person was who their makeup was trying to tell you they were. This girl, however, was a masterpiece. Her makeup was elegant and alive. If I could draw a parallel... it would be to the makeup of Cocteau’s Beast. Simply a perfect work for the perfect underfeatures.
Instant dreamy. She was wearing a robe over her costume... and as she disrobed to join the crowd... I got a peek at the ‘million dollar ass’ that Molly was referencing. WOW. Whata ass!
Baker and crew have created a oh so slight exaggeration of what the PERFECT ASS would be. And this Who Girl wears it to perfection under this fullbody Angora striped candycane costume. I... I really had a mental problem with this costume and character. I’d find my eyes tracking with her wherever she went.
Wow.
This was when I saw... Cindy Who. As I looked at her... I noticed almost no Who attributes... and then I noticed the other small children of Whoville, and noticed that they also exhibited less and less Who-traits than the adults and teenagers. Some... it would be just the ears or teeth... some a bit of the brow or nose alterations... “You grow into being a Who” I guess a bit like you grow into being a person. Hmmm...
It really is an amazing concept. You see... this WHO makeup of Baker’s is created around the concept that the older Who’s have even more of a Who appearance. The design concept takes into account the physiological changes that take place through puberty. And... when looking at the entire mix of the young through the old... it works completely.
Baker can see me lost in the magic of this whole universe... Personally the thoughts that are crossing my mind at this exact moment is... I hope that all of this work... all of this brilliant design and craftsmanship... isn’t lost upon a dead script. That’s my fear. No matter what... this work is brilliant. What I am actually seeing. It is Dr Seuss envisioned for real. It is a complete actualized illusion.
Baker is as proud a papa to this set as you would ever see. This is a dream of his. Sure.. the film will have CG elements...but... This set is a makeup man’s dream. There must be well over 50 makeup people on this set, working their asses off... this isn’t a buncha ping pong balls on poles. This isn’t actors working to blue screen. This is actors... transformed by makeup into characters that react to the other characters.
These actors are charged by the makeup. And the ones I talked to loved it. And the camera seems to love the makeup. This is spectacle. Obviously I’ve been brought here to get really really excited by what I’m seeing. And... to be honest... being on this set... it’s impossible to not be affected by the sheer immensity of the collaborative imagination around us.
The giant wheeled bicycles with the gigantic crooked tarnished brass horns... the toon cars... The giant Christmas tree in the midst of it all. Yes... this is some strange alien planet filled with Christmas worshippers.
But as I watched the performances... and thought about it. There seems to be an underlying fascism of happiness amongst it all. Be Happy or live in seclusion. Be a Who... or be a nobody. There seems to be a strange happy elitism in this culture of Whos. It resembles in a way, that sense that takes place in the suburban hell of EDWARD SCISSORHANDS.
After Ron gets this shot set up, it’s a call for Lunch.
Well... We break.... All the Whos head for the lunch area, and Ron says let’s eat with the Whos. Cool. So we follow the crowd, and sit in the midst of Whos eating. That’s how amazing this makeup is. These people are eating with these fake teeth. They are... it’s scary. After a while you don’t even think of it as makeup. They are just Whos... Scary thoughts. This will fudge my line between reality and Seussality. Doctor... the couch please!
As I sat there with Ron eating lunch and talking, I realized this was why I was here. Whatever this conversation I was about to have was... the reason.
What did we talk about?
Well... Believe it or not... To a large degree it was TALK BACK.
Ron reads the site. Has for the past year and a half. And he said that generally he’s seen a lot of positives about him, until he took on this project. He wanted to know... why so many people hated him for making THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS.
Well... matter of factly I started talking with him about it. I told him that quite honestly in everybody’s minds... he does not have the visual style to deliver Dr Seuss’ world. He’s never done anything that has instilled confidence in filmgoers that he could make this type of movie. Many feel this movie should be directed by Tim Burton... no ifs ands or buts.
Ron did seem a bit taken by that. And I could tell that in a lot of ways he could see where that was coming from. Now... the difference for me is this. Having just seen the sets, the costumes and the makeup... Witnessing the way he was directing these Whos... the underlying happy suburban elitism... I told him, that my confidence had changed to a degree.
You see.... The arguement, “What does Opie know about the Grinch?” is absolutely valid. What does Ron Howard know about the dark pits of a man that could drive him to want to destroy happiness and good cheer?
Too true. These are things that Tim Burton understands without so much as a second thought. But.... What does Tim Burton know about the Whos?
See... For me... Ron Howard is the perfect person to direct these Whos. He understands this part of the Seuss universe to a T. He gets this. At one point while watching him on set... he told a set dresser to add more stuff to this outdoor display of Christmas foods.... He said, “Pile it up like at an insane Country Fair.”
That’s when it hit me. Opie. Andy Griffith. Mr and Mrs C. They are all Whos. Ron Howard understands the Christmas spirit. But what about the Grinch?
Well... Luckily... Ron Howard isn’t completely in charge of the Grinch. To a large degree... the Grinch is in Jim Carrey’s hands... And... Jim Carrey knows who the Grinch is. I’ve seen the makeup tests for Jim. Inside that Grinch costume he is becoming the black heart of the Grinch. And Ron is simply corraling him.
But... it’s very very important that we get someone to make us understand why the Spirit of Christmas is so wonderful. We don’t want a cynic directing this film.
I had a conversation with one P.A. on the set that told me he didn’t want the Grinch to be a happy Who type of person by the end of this film. He wanted the Grinch to win.
Well.... That’s why that person shouldn’t be directing this movie. It’s instrumental that the person directing this movie believe in all the values and hallmarks of the holiday. And Ron does.
Does that mean this movie is a sure thing in his hands? No. It sure doesn’t. My one major fear is that Ron will direct the film as a series of medium and closeups... with a dab of two-shots. BUT... his camerawork on set... the shots I saw were very grand and complicated camera movements. The shots were framed at odd angles and would pull back to even odder angles.
I’m very curious about the endgame here... next Christmas.
Next Ron and I talked about the promotional concept of not showing us the Grinch in trailers. The concept of a ‘tease’ campaign.
I told him... I think that is a terrible concept. I’m not interested in this movie just for the Grinch. I want to see it because it will be the most amazing look at the WORLD OF DR SEUSS. The Grinch is just ONE aspect of a much larger universe here. I feel that Ron and this production needs to show people this universe. Give them a peek. Let them know that UNLIKE the films like POPEYE and THE FLINTSTONES... this is a completely faithful stylistically speaking look at the world of Dr Seuss.
See... the Whos aren’t just actors... they look like WHOS. The costumes, makeup, buildings, props, skies... other creatures and animals... they are Seussian. And, to hide that is to create a doubt as to the validity of the project.
Why am I excited by this project now? Because I’ve seen what they are doing. The makeup is classic... as are the designs.
I asked Kevin Mack (absolute genius of Digital Domain) what I wasn’t seeing when looking at downtown Whoville.
Kevin smiled and began to lay it out for me. He described the sky as being another character. Strange birds.... the other multistory Seuss buildings, and beyond those the Seussian Mountain tops.... In and amongst the crowds, there will be tiny creatures driving tiny cars... there will be impossibly little and large creatures. In otherwords... Digital Domain will ‘fill in the blanks’.
To hide all of that. To show a single eyeball... a single foot.... a shadowy image.... Well... the audience is wise and cynical to the ‘GODZILLA’ way of advertising. They don’t trust it. You don’t have to go the Lucas route and Show EVERYTHING.... There is a moderate inbetween.
Ron was worried that if people saw the Grinch, they’d say, “Well... I’ve seen the Grinch.. no need to see the movie now.” Well... that’d be somewhat true if the only reason to see the movie was to see what the Grinch looked like. But I feel their ad campaign should be about inviting the audience into the world of Dr Seuss as never before envisioned.
What will they do? I don’t know. I think they ought to show you what’s going on.
For example.... Below are a couple of pictures that a spy named ChrissyB took. What you are looking at are two Who houses being built. One is Betty Lou Who’s... the other is the Mayor’s sweetie’s. She and Betty Lou are having a Christmas light contest, and folks in L.A. will soon be blinded by the sheer mass of Christmas lights that will be outfitted onto these homes. Notice the windows... If you live in L.A. and want to look at these houses... they are right behind the Psycho House on the Universal Lot.
