Anna Nicole's Demise Plus Studio and Television Notes
Burbank, California—Anna Nicole Smith's sudden death at 39 continues the long line of lost souls seeking stardom that crashed and burned. At her best, the big, busty blonde displayed an endearing, playful quality.
She was not in the league of Marilyn Monroe, the enormously talented and original "blonde bombshell" who died of a drug overdose in 1962, though Anna Nicole imitated Marilyn in Guess? Jeans advertisements and everywhere else thereafter—to painful overexposure. Like Marilyn, Anna Nicole had been a Playboy Playmate.
There the similarities end, as Anna Nicole, unlike Marilyn, became a parody of herself. But the news that she collapsed and died—like her son, Daniel, months ago at her bedside after Anna Nicole gave birth to his sister—came as shockingly tragic. By most accounts, she was in real trouble in the prime of life. But the former Texas fried chicken waitress was not always a goner. As her sister, Donna, told Larry King last night on CNN: "She was funny. She was beautiful. She would always light up a room." Her early Playboy and Guess? pictures bear that out.
In the bombastic culture of celebrity hype, it is common to snicker at those who get in on the joke when the joke is on them (and Anna Nicole certainly made herself a punchline in that regard). But the stunned reaction to her death seems to stem from the realization that Anna Nicole should never have been a circus sideshow on a TV gossip channel—and that no one should have aired or watched her coming undone.
Studio Notes
The Feb. 5 announcement that Robert Zemeckis will create a studio with Disney to produce animated motion capture movies like his mediocre Monster House and much better The Polar Express is potentially good news for better ideas for computer-animated motion pictures.
Though terms were not divulged, Mr. Zemeckis, whose live action directing credits include Back to the Future and Forrest Gump, will produce the performance capture technology-driven movies, which track actor movements for computers to generate three-dimensional animation, with partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey (they're currently creating Beowulf for Sony). With Disney's track record of putting likable characters in engaging stories, the partnership sounds like a good match.
Television Notes
Tune into PBS on Sunday night, March 4 (check local listings), for Soundies: A Musical History hosted by Michael Feinstein. These three-minute black and white shorts, which debuted in 1941, showcased Big Band, jazz and swing artists. Viewed for a dime through a special machine called a panoram—a movie jukebox—these forerunners to the music video could be seen in nightclubs, roadhouses and restaurants. Soundies features Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Liberace.
Also on PBS, scheduled for March 5 at 10:30 p.m. ET (check listings) is a performance tribute to favorite movie songs from the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies with new performances and archival clips. PBS promises that screen legends will appear with memorable scenes from the pictures that made the songs famous.
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RELATED LINK
• Scott Holleran Column Index
She was not in the league of Marilyn Monroe, the enormously talented and original "blonde bombshell" who died of a drug overdose in 1962, though Anna Nicole imitated Marilyn in Guess? Jeans advertisements and everywhere else thereafter—to painful overexposure. Like Marilyn, Anna Nicole had been a Playboy Playmate.
There the similarities end, as Anna Nicole, unlike Marilyn, became a parody of herself. But the news that she collapsed and died—like her son, Daniel, months ago at her bedside after Anna Nicole gave birth to his sister—came as shockingly tragic. By most accounts, she was in real trouble in the prime of life. But the former Texas fried chicken waitress was not always a goner. As her sister, Donna, told Larry King last night on CNN: "She was funny. She was beautiful. She would always light up a room." Her early Playboy and Guess? pictures bear that out.
In the bombastic culture of celebrity hype, it is common to snicker at those who get in on the joke when the joke is on them (and Anna Nicole certainly made herself a punchline in that regard). But the stunned reaction to her death seems to stem from the realization that Anna Nicole should never have been a circus sideshow on a TV gossip channel—and that no one should have aired or watched her coming undone.
Studio Notes
The Feb. 5 announcement that Robert Zemeckis will create a studio with Disney to produce animated motion capture movies like his mediocre Monster House and much better The Polar Express is potentially good news for better ideas for computer-animated motion pictures.
Though terms were not divulged, Mr. Zemeckis, whose live action directing credits include Back to the Future and Forrest Gump, will produce the performance capture technology-driven movies, which track actor movements for computers to generate three-dimensional animation, with partners Jack Rapke and Steve Starkey (they're currently creating Beowulf for Sony). With Disney's track record of putting likable characters in engaging stories, the partnership sounds like a good match.
Television Notes
Tune into PBS on Sunday night, March 4 (check local listings), for Soundies: A Musical History hosted by Michael Feinstein. These three-minute black and white shorts, which debuted in 1941, showcased Big Band, jazz and swing artists. Viewed for a dime through a special machine called a panoram—a movie jukebox—these forerunners to the music video could be seen in nightclubs, roadhouses and restaurants. Soundies features Duke Ellington, Count Basie and Liberace.
Also on PBS, scheduled for March 5 at 10:30 p.m. ET (check listings) is a performance tribute to favorite movie songs from the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies with new performances and archival clips. PBS promises that screen legends will appear with memorable scenes from the pictures that made the songs famous.
$
RELATED LINK
• Scott Holleran Column Index
