The Amazing Mr. Bickford

Last updated

The Amazing Mr. Bickford
Poster of The Amazing Mr. Bickford.jpg
Directed by Bruce Bickford
Frank Zappa
Written byFrank Zappa
Produced byFrank Zappa
Jill Silverthorne
StarringBruce Bickford
Frank Zappa
Edited byBooey Kober
Music byFrank Zappa
Release date
  • 1987 (1987)
Running time
52 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

The Amazing Mr. Bickford is a video released by Frank Zappa in 1987, containing orchestral pieces by Zappa set to the clay animation of Bruce Bickford. It was released direct-to-video (VHS only, no Betamax was made available). To date it has not yet been released on DVD.

Contents

Music

See also


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Zappa</span> American musician (1940–1993)

Frank Vincent Zappa was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed rock, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestral and musique concrète works; he also produced almost all of the 60-plus albums that he released with his band the Mothers of Invention and as a solo artist. His work is characterized by nonconformity, improvisation sound experimentation, musical virtuosity and satire of American culture. Zappa also directed feature-length films and music videos, and designed album covers. He is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse musicians of his generation.

<i>Sheik Yerbouti</i> 1979 live album with studio elements by Frank Zappa

Sheik Yerbouti is a double album by American musician Frank Zappa, released in March 1979 as the first release on Zappa Records, distributed by Phonogram Inc. in the United States and Canada. The album was released in other countries by CBS Records. It is mostly made up of live material recorded in 1977 and 1978, with extensive overdubs added in the studio. In an October 1978 interview, Zappa gave the working album title as Martian Love Secrets. It was later released on a single CD.

<i>Amazing Stories</i> (1985 TV series) American anthology television series

Amazing Stories is an American anthology television series created by Steven Spielberg, that originally ran on NBC in the United States from September 29, 1985, to April 10, 1987.

<i>Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero</i> 1998 direct-to-video animated superhero film directed by Boyd Kirkland

Batman & Mr. Freeze: SubZero is a 1998 American animated superhero film, the second film based on Batman: The Animated Series, taking place between the end of the show and the start of The New Batman Adventures. Kevin Conroy and Michael Ansara reprise their respective roles from the series as the two title characters. It was produced by Warner Bros. Animation as a marketing tie-in with Batman & Robin and was animated overseas by Koko Enterprises and Dong Yang Animation in South Korea. The film won the Annie Award for Best Home Video Animation.

Calvin "Cal" Schenkel is an American illustrator, graphic designer, animator and comics artist, specializing in album cover design.

<i>Jazz from Hell</i> 1986 studio album with live elements by Frank Zappa

Jazz from Hell is an instrumental album whose selections were all composed and recorded by American musician Frank Zappa. It was released in November 1986, by Barking Pumpkin Records on vinyl and cassette, and in 1987 by Rykodisc on CD.

<i>Baby Snakes</i> 1979 film by Frank Zappa

Baby Snakes is a film which includes footage from Frank Zappa's 1977 Halloween concerts at the Palladium in New York City. It also includes backstage antics from the crew, and stop motion clay animation from award-winning animator Bruce Bickford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Napoleon Murphy Brock</span> American singer, saxophonist and flautist (born 1943)

Napoleon Murphy Brock is an American singer, saxophonist and flute player who is best known for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, including the albums Apostrophe ('), Roxy & Elsewhere, One Size Fits All, and Bongo Fury. He contributed notable vocal performances to the Zappa songs "Village of the Sun," "Cheepnis," and "Florentine Pogen."

<i>The Amazing Spider-Man</i> (1990 video game) 1990 video game

The Amazing Spider-Man is a platform game featuring the Marvel comic book character Spider-Man. The game was developed by Oxford Digital Enterprises and released in 1990 for Commodore 64 and Amiga, and later ported to IBM PC compatibles, Amstrad CPC, and Atari ST. The title was published by Paragon Software in North America and by Empire Software in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">DC Animated Universe</span> Shared fictional universe

The DC Animated Universe is a shared universe based on DC Comics and produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It began with Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 and ended with Justice League vs. the Fatal Five in 2019. The associated media franchise includes theatrical and direct-to-video feature films, shorts, comic books, video games, and other multimedia adaptations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bruce Bickford (animator)</span> American animator (1947–2019)

Bruce Charles Bickford was an American artist, animator, and filmmaker, who worked primarily in line and clay animation. From 1974 to 1980, he collaborated with Frank Zappa in Los Angeles. Bickford's animation was featured extensively in the Frank Zappa videos Baby Snakes and The Dub Room Special. Zappa also released a video titled The Amazing Mr. Bickford, which was entirely composed of Bickford animations set to a soundtrack of Zappa's orchestral music.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Zappa discography</span>

This is a list of albums by Frank Zappa, including all those credited to the Mothers of Invention. During his lifetime, Zappa released 62 albums. Since 1994, the Zappa Family Trust has released 67 posthumous albums as of September 2024, making a total of 129 albums/album sets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ruth Underwood</span> American musician

Ruth Underwood is an American musician best known for playing xylophone, marimba, vibraphone, and other percussion instruments in Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention. She collaborated with the Mothers of Invention from 1968 to 1977.

<i>The Dub Room Special</i> 1982 American film

The Dub Room Special is a film produced by Frank Zappa for direct-to-video release in October, 1982. The video combines footage from a performance at the KCET studios in Los Angeles on August 27, 1974, a concert performed at The Palladium, New York City on October 31, 1981, some clay animation segments by Bruce Bickford, and interviews. The 1974 footage was originally conceived as part of the TV special A Token of His Extreme. The entire production was edited in the "Dub Room" at Compact Video, a post-production facility in Burbank, California. A few of the Compact Video staff members have brief appearances.

<i>Cliffords Really Big Movie</i> 2004 American film

Clifford's Really Big Movie is a 2004 American animated adventure comedy film based on the PBS Kids TV series Clifford the Big Red Dog, itself an adaptation of the book series of the same name by Norman Bridwell. This film was directed by Robert Ramirez, produced by Scholastic Entertainment and Big Red Dog Productions, and was originally released in theaters for a limited time by Warner Bros. Pictures on February 20, 2004.

Bickford is a village in England.

<i>Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King</i> 2008 American film

Scooby-Doo! and the Goblin King is a 2008 American animated comedy horror musical film, and the twelfth in the series of Scooby-Doo direct-to-video films produced by Warner Bros. Animation. It was dedicated to Paulette Oates, who helped resurrect Warner Bros. Animation in the late 1980s. The DVD was released on September 23, 2008. This is the first Scooby cartoon produced entirely without either one of the original producers, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera.

<i>Dot and the Kangaroo</i> (film) 1977 Australian film

Dot and the Kangaroo is a 1977 Australian live-action/animated musical drama film which combines animation and live-action. It is based on the 1899 children's literature book Dot and the Kangaroo by Ethel Pedley.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Seeman</span> American cartoonist, born 1931

Edward Seeman is an American artist whose works have spanned disparate fields, from award-winning animated television commercials for children to films of artistic nudity and hardcore pornography. He is also known for his cinemaphotography and for his work with Frank Zappa in the 1960s.

<i>Zappa</i> (2020 film) 2020 American film

Zappa is an American documentary film about the musician Frank Zappa. Directed by Alex Winter, it was released on November 27, 2020.