All posts by Caitlin Safiran

Movies/TV

Interview with Harvey Beaks Creator: C.H. Greenblatt

C.H. Greenblatt
C.H. Greenblatt

Recently I had the opportunity to interview C.H. Greenblatt about his latest show Harvey Beaks. If you aren’t already familiar with the name, C.H. Greenblatt was the Executive Producer of the popular Cartoon Network show Chowder. He is also known for his work as a writer/storyboard artist for other hit cartoons such as SpongeBob SquarePants and The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy. I don’t know about you, but those last two shows were a huge part of my childhood, so I was very excited to learn about his latest project.

Harvey Beaks is about an extremely well-behaved bird named Harvey who befriends two incredibly mischievous creatures named Fee and Foo. Harvey never ever breaks the rules, but Fee and Foo are complete rebels, breaking every rule they can. This of course comes as a huge challenge to Harvey who has a very hard time doing anything he isn’t allowed to, but the magical forest the three companions live in present many challenges for Harvey to face.

Below is my interview with C.H. Greenblatt. Thank you again Mr. Greenblatt and Katie Wilkins, Publicity Assistant for DKC Public Relations, for this opportunity and for taking the time to answer these questions!

How did you come up with the idea for “Harvey Beaks”?

Hi, Caitlin! Harvey is very much based on me as a kid. I was a polite, nearly OCD child who never wanted to break the rules or do things any way except how they supposed to be done. I guess that’s a parent’s dream, but it means you create your own excitement since you’re not out getting into trouble. So I thought it would be fun to pair a character like that with two kids who have never had any rules or guidance. He gets to have someone help him push his boundaries and they get someone that accepts them like family they never had.

This show seems to be about breaking out of your comfort zone (whether that means being a rebel or someone who always follows the rules). Do you think that’s an important lesson for kids to learn? Why?

I think that to learn who you are, you have to see where you land when making hard decisions. Kids are always being put into new situations, so I think they’re constantly dealing with moral and personal dilemmas even though they may not realize it.

Who do you relate to the most in “Harvey Beaks,” Harvey, Fee, or Foo?

Definitely Harvey. He’s named after me, after all (Carl Harvey). One of my happiest memories as a child was when I would organize my desk. Then I would lie in bed and just look at, supremely content at how clean it was. I also kept all my action figures in a case and would only take out the ones I needed, putting them back immediately when I was done. I really relate to his not being comfortable breaking the rules. That’s something I could
always do in my head, but never in real life. Now I get to do it all the time on the show!

What drew you to animation (excuse the pun)?

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Where do you get your inspiration from?

There are a million inspirations running around in my head. I consumed way too much television. I was heavily inspired by Jim Henson and Looney Tunes… but there’s also Terry Gilliam, Akira, Simpsons, and the Cohen Brothers. All sorts of stuff floats around in there.

The shows you’ve worked on tend to be out-of-the box. Where does your sense of humor come from?

I think it’s a mix of my parents and all that TV. I spent a lot of time entertaining myself as a kid, so I guess I started to see the world in a weird and different way.

How has your time on other shows (such as “SpongeBob SquarePants,” “Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy,” etc.) influenced the shows you’ve produced yourself?

Every show has been an influence. With SpongeBob I learned to tell a simple story with a strong character that has humor and heart. On Billy & Mandy I got to flex my more twisted and sarcastic muscles. Chowder was a show where I was able to do anything I wanted, so I did everything. Going into Harvey Beaks, I wanted to do something a lot more focused. I wanted to spend time making characters that you could connect with and care about. It’s more important to me that I make the viewer feel something in addition to making them laugh.

What do you feel is most important when you’re creating a story, whether for a kid’s show or other projects?

Tell a story that the audience can connect to emotionally. They don’t need to have been in the exact same situation, but they need to have felt what the character is feeling.

Again, thank you for taking the time to answer my questions. I’m really looking forward to watching this new show of yours!

Of course!

Harvey Beak is set to premiere on Nickelodeon this Sunday, March 29.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV, Random Giga

Old Fashioned (2014) Review

It’s that time of year again. Love is in the air, and if you were looking for a not so conventional love story then Old Fashioned may just be the film you need. Old Fashioned tells the story of a romance between a solitary man, Clay (Rik Swartzwelder), a woman with a passion for life, Amber (Elizabeth Roberts); however, instead of dating like people do now-a-days, Clay and Amber attempt to court each other instead, which means no kissing or anything beyond that.

Clay won’t even allow himself to be alone with Amber at all unless they’re in public or in what Clay might define as an “acceptable” situation. In fact, on their first official date Clay takes Amber to the local church where they have a pre-marital counseling session. Old fashioned, indeed! It’s a bit of an extreme approach to dating, and many of the other characters in the film agree. Clay spends most of his time defending his beliefs to those who are closest to him.

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Aunt Zella SmilingWhat I enjoyed most about Old Fashioned is that it presents an alternative to how most people pursue relationships, but it also acknowledges that resisting every dating convention to an extreme can make it impossible to form a meaningful relationship. Like in the scene where Clay and Amber “get lost” (Amber’s idea for a date where they drive to a random destination) and Clay refuses to admit he wants Amber, and he resists her when she leans in for a kiss. Because Clay refuses Amber any sort of intimacy—even if it is something more conservative—she feels like Clay doesn’t really value their relationship at all. In a nutshell I think this film emphasizes the idea that most people move too quickly in relationships, but if one takes things too slowly in an attempt to have a perfect relationship it can be equally damaging. Overall, it’s refreshing to watch a film with this sort of outlook on relationships. Even if it is a view most people might not agree with.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV, Pop Culture

The Grand Budapest Oscar Nominations

It’s about damn time. Wes Anderson and his dedicated crew have finally achieved the recognition they deserve with this year’s nine Oscar nominations for The Grand Budapest Hotel. I can’t say that I’ve been a life-long follower of Mr. Anderson, but in the few years that I have been following his career it makes me so happy to see his work get the attention it truly deserves. The Grand Budapest Hotel has already won the Golden Globe for best motion picture in a Comedy or Musical, and now it is up for nine Oscars including Best Picture, Cinematography, Costume Design, Directing, Film Editing, Makeup and Hair, Music, Production, and Best Screenplay.

57557813If you aren’t already familiar with this film, The Grand Budapest Hotel tells the story of a young man named Zero (Anthony Quinonzez) who lands a job at the prestigious Grand Budapest Hotel and also becomes the protégé of the hotel’s concierge, M. Gustave (Ray Fiennes). The film is set in a fictional country in Eastern Europe in the 1930s, during the time between the two world wars. As you can imagine, the costumes are just as amazing as one could hope in a Wes Anderson film. They are incredibly intricate and colorful and assuming you’ve seen his other films, there are all of his usual camera tricks: the quick pan, tracking shots, close-ups of handwritten notes/characters’ faces looking directly into the camera. The only Anderson trope missing from the film is the ever present Kinks or Rolling Stones songs littered throughout the soundtrack. Instead, the soundtrack is comprised of entirely original/instrumental songs. Don’t worry. If you were hoping for a consistently Wes Anderson- style film, The Grand Budapest Hotel is your movie.

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There isn’t anything terribly offensive about The Grand Budapest Hotel that makes me hesitate to quite jump on board this Wes Anderson Oscar-bandwagon. Personally, I just don’t feel the same emotional connection with it as I do with most of his other films. That being said, I must also admit that I will support this film wholeheartedly in the Oscar competition, because I believe that Wes Anderson deserves the recognition not only for this film, but for all his other work as well. It may have taken this long and is not the perfect film for it, but Anderson and his team have finally gotten the love they deserve.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV

Big Eyes (2014) Review

Big Eyes? More like big whoop! Sorry, that was incredibly corny, but that’s how I feel about Tim Burton’s latest movie. I have to agree that it is the best thing he’s made in years; however, that doesn’t make this biopic the best.

Big Eyes tells the story of a real artist named Margaret Keane (Amy Adams) whose husband Walter (Christoph Waltz) takes all the credit for her portraits of children with their signature big eyes. There ya go: that’s pretty much the gist of the action. Walter pretending to be the artist behind the big eye portraits happens very early on (assuming you already knew about this story before reading this review), but the majority of the film focuses on just that subject. It gets pretty dull after a while. In most cases, viewers already know what’s going to happen in a biopic especially if they follow a significant historical figure or event, but shouldn’t filmmakers be able to create an exciting story despite the historical spoiler? Yes they should, but unfortunately Big Eyes does not succeed in creating any sort of suspense.

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The wardrobe is the most enjoyable aspect of Big Eyes, which are beautifully done. Unfortunately, those costumes could not save the rest of the film. It’s an okay movie, but one I’d recommend waiting to watch through some streaming service. Good luck next time, Tim Burton.

Cinema Sit-Down, Movies/TV, Random Giga

The One I Love Review

I really wanted to love The One I Love, but sadly that was not the case. It’s definitely not a bad movie, but it certainly isn’t great either. It’s one of those cases where the description is more interesting than the actual movie. The One I Love stars Mark Duplas (Ethan) and Elisabeth Moss (Sophie) as a married couple, who, in an attempt to save their marriage, spend a weekend at a resort. During their first night exploring the property, the couple finds a guest house. They soon discover when they go into the guest house alone, they meet an exact copy of their spouse, a slightly better copy of the original.

At first, Ethan and Sophie are fine with their spouse spending time with the copy of themselves, but that doesn’t last long. Sophie falls in love with her copy of Ethan, which drives original Ethan crazy-especially when Ethan realizes the copy of him has been calling his friends and family in an attempt to learn information about Ethan only the original Ethan/those close to him would know. Sophie on the other hand never seems to care what Ethan’s doing with the copy of herself. It’s hard to blame her though. Her actual husband is a bit of a wet blanket, and they’re only on this trip because he’d recently cheated on her.

The going in and out of the guest house gets pretty old after the first few times; I thought that was literally going to be whole film. No one else really appears in this movie besides Ethan and Sophie’s therapist (Ted Danson). It may have been more enjoyable if there were more interactions with other characters. My newly discovered love for Mark Duplas kept me going, and I also enjoyed watching Elisabeth Moss.
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Most of the mystery is left unexplained, which in this case was disappointing rather than intriguing. Eventually Ethan and Sophie do meet up with their copies and have an incredibly tense double date. The copies were originally plotting to turn the originals against each other, possibly the only way for the copies to get off the resort if the originals can’t make up.

It’s never really explained how the copies ever came to be, which drove me crazy. There are photographs of other couples there, so how were those copies created and are the Ethan and Sophie copies just those other copies in a new form? This situation is too complicated to be left unexplained. I think this could have been a better story if it wasn’t trying to be sci-fi, but I don’t really know what else it could be. Sadly, this film just didn’t really click with me. I think it’s worth a watch, but ultimately a little disappointing.