Bill and Coo | |
---|---|
Directed by | Dean Riesner |
Written by | Dean Riesner Royal Foster |
Produced by | Ken Murray |
Cinematography | Jack Marta |
Edited by | Harold Minter |
Music by | David Buttolph |
Distributed by | Republic Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 61 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Bill and Coo is a 1948 film directed by Dean Riesner, filmed in Trucolor, and conceived to showcase George Burton's trained birds (Burton's Birds). The 61-minute live-action film stars many types of birds, including budgies (commonly known in the US as parakeets) and lovebirds. The film also features other trained animals, including cats, dogs and a crow. Except for three humans (producer Ken Murray, bird trainer George Burton, and Elizabeth Walters) in a short set-up segment before the opening credits, the film features an all-animal cast. The film was shot on the world's second smallest film set, a miniature village built onto a 15 by 30 ft (4.6 by 9.1 m) tabletop.
The film received an Honorary Academy Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences "In which artistry and patience blended in a novel and entertaining use of the medium of motion pictures." It also one of the first films to be released to cinemas on slow-burning cellulose acetate safety film instead of the dangerously flammable nitrate stock used up until then. Initially, projectionists reported film damage due to the acetate base being less 'slippery' than that of nitrate (celluloid) based film. Before long it was found that a thin coating of wax applied along the film edges solved this problem. The copyright on the film lapsed and is in the public domain. [1]
The plot of the film is that the birds live in a fictional, peaceful town named Chirpendale. A crow arrives known as the Black Menace. As his name suggests, the Black Menace terrorizes the town. The story follows the adventures of the hero Bill, a cab driver, as he tries to save Coo and the rest of the town's inhabitants from certain destruction.
Timothy Walter Burton is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and animator. Known for popularizing Goth culture in the American film industry, Burton is famous for his gothic horror and fantasy films. He has received numerous accolades including an Emmy Award as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and three BAFTA Awards. He was honored with the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in 2007 and was given the Order of the Arts and Letters by Culture Minister of France in 2010.
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The Birds is a 1963 American natural horror-thriller film produced and directed by Alfred Hitchcock, released by Universal Pictures and starring Jessica Tandy, Rod Taylor, Suzanne Pleshette, and introducing Tippi Hedren in her film debut. Loosely based on the 1952 short story of the same name by Daphne du Maurier, it focuses on a series of sudden and unexplained violent bird attacks on the people of Bodega Bay, California, over the course of a few days. The screenplay is by Evan Hunter, who was told by Hitchcock to develop new characters and a more elaborate plot while keeping du Maurier's title and concept of unexplained bird attacks.
Film preservation, or film restoration, describes a series of ongoing efforts among film historians, archivists, museums, cinematheques, and non-profit organizations to rescue decaying film stock and preserve the images they contain. In the widest sense, preservation assures that a movie will continue to exist in as close to its original form as possible.
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The CooCoo Nut Grove is a 1936 Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies short animated film, set in the famed Cocoanut Grove of the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. This is a caricature cartoon, with recreations of celebrities from the time. The cartoon was directed by Friz Freleng, with animation by Robert McKimson and Sandy Walker, caricature design by T. Hee, and musical score by Carl Stalling. The short was released on November 28, 1936.
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Dean Riesner was an American film and television writer.
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The conservation and restoration of film is the physical care and treatment of film-based materials. These include photographic film and motion picture film stock.