BLAZING SADDLES was released 52 years ago today. Acclaimed as one of the great comedies of the 1970s, and among the most popular of director Mel Brooks, the story of how it was made is a cascading waterfall of creative alternatives...
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The concept originated from Andrew Bergman's 1971 treatment Tex X, purchased by Warner Bros. for $50,000. It was bought as a vehicle for blacklisted comedian Dick Gregory to lead, but plans soon changed.
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Producer Michael Hertzberg recognised Mel Brooks' unique ability to handle racial satire after The Producers released to huge acclaim in 1967, recruiting him in 1972 as director following Gregory's departure.
PIXAR ANIMATION STUDIOS was formed 40 years ago today. A groundbreaking filmmaking studio, and acclaimed as among the greatest storytellers of the last 50 years, their story is one of innovation, near-disaster, and creative genius…
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Pixar's story began in 1979 when George Lucas recruited Ed Catmull to head Lucasfilm's The Graphics Group. The group was tasked with developing cutting-edge computer technology for the film industry, including digital editing systems and computer graphics exploration.
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In 1986, having created the first fully-CGI movie character in Young Sherlock Holmes, The Graphics Group was bought by technology innovator Steve Jobs, who had recently left tech giants Apple, for $10m. The company was quickly rebranded as Pixar Animation Studios.
FROM DUSK TILL DAWN was released 30 years ago this week. A collaboration between filmmaking pals Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino, and a cult vampire classic, the tale of how it came to be will have you off to visit the Titty Twister…
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In the late 1980s, make-up effects guru Robert Kurtzman had an idea for a film - a crime thriller that, midway through, would morph into an action-horror-vampire film. The idea being it would be a great showcase for Kurtzman’s effects company, KNB.
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Without much money to spend, Kurtzman hired a young aspiring writer-director to pen the script. That was Quentin Tarantino, and Kurtzman paid him $1500. It was Tarantino’s first paid gig as a writer. (KNB later did the effects for the Reservoir Dogs ear scene free of charge).
METROPOLIS was released 99 years ago today. One of the most influential films ever made – and one of the world’s first feature-length science fiction movies – the story behind the scenes is as big as the city’s Tower of Babel…
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In 1924, Austrian filmmaker Fritz Lang visited New York City for the premiere of his film Die Nibelungen and, struck by the Art Deco architecture, began developing ideas of a tale set in a futuristic city. He pitched it to German production company UFA, and they loved it.
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Lang fleshed the idea out with his wife, Thea von Harbou. She then wrote the novel of Metropolis in 1925, drawing drew inspiration from writers such as H.G. Wells and Villiers d'Isle Adam.
DJANGO UNCHAINED was released 13 years ago this week. The 8th movie made by one of Hollywood’s most famous filmmakers in Quentin Tarantino, and his first foray into the western genre, the story of how it was created is classic QT. Just remember the D is silent…
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In the mid-2000s, Tarantino was contributing to a book about western director Sergio Corbucci and was inspired to visit the genre himself. He wanted to make “movies that deal with America's horrible past with slavery… but like Spaghetti Westerns, not big issue movies.”
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QT fleshed out the idea and finished a first draft in 2011. Taking inspiration from Italian classic Django (1966), revenge film Angel Unchained (1970), and blaxploitation flick Mandingo (1975), it was a western about a vengeful former slave, called Django Unchained.
SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS was released 88 years ago. The first feature length animated film to come out of the United States, and one of Hollywood’s most groundbreaking films, the story of how it was created is worthy of a Disney movie of its own…
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In 1812, German folk storytellers Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published a collection called Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Tale 53 was a story of a magic mirror, Evil Queen and young princess. Their final story revision came in 1854, by which point the name of the piece was Snow White.
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As filmmaking popularised as a storytelling medium, adaptations of the Snow White began to appear. A now-lost 1902 silent film was made. It was then made for Broadway in 1912, the stage version being adapted as a second silent film in 1916.