IT'S A NEW DAY!

Buck up, little buddy. It's a new day! Charlie Chaplin was a genius. Speaking of Joseph Campbell (see post below), Chaplin plays the tramp, the trickster, the vagabond, the romantic, the pauper, the renunciate, the outsider. With just a few gestures we know him well.

THE HERO'S JOURNEY

Joseph Campbell (1904-1987)

Is there an underlying story that connects all myths, across all cultures? Do we respond to this "monomyth" in modern stories and films? Do we follow "the hero's journey?"


Campbell interviewed by Bill Moyers, "The Power of Myth, Part 1"

Joseph Campbell was a writer and lecturer on comparative religion and mythology. Campbell studied myths and origin stories, and noticed certain characteristics and archetypes that repeated across all cultures. In "The Hero with a Thousand Faces" (1947), Campbell presented an underlying "monomyth" that contained intriguing familiar characters, places and situations. There was the reluctant hero, the call to action, the guardians at the gate, and so on, repeating again and again.


-from the documentary"The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell."



Campbell's work has inspired legions of "mythologists" tackling the wide range of stories, and one of my favorites is Christopher Vogler. Vogler wrote "The Writer's Journey: Mythic Structure for Storytellers and Screenwriters" based on the principals of Campbell's work. Here he discusses the elements of the monomyth as shown in the film, "The Matrix."

HOW DISNEY CARTOONS ARE MADE

Ever heard of Walt Disney? Sure you have. He singlehandedly owns your childhood dreams. Joseph Campbell spoke about the "mono-myth," the underlying archetypes in myths and folk tales worldwide, and in the USA and much of the Western World our mono-myth has a copywrite mark from Disney Productions. In the land of the imagination, Disney redesigned our childhood fantasies and fears. He fit our subconscious mind like a three-fingered glove.

Here's an old documentary from the 1930s about making cartoons, Disney style. Of course, they no longer make them this way. Still, it will give you a glimpse into the Golden Age of Cartoons, when the Empire was young.