A boys sits at a booth in a diner where his mother works. She hands him a pencil and paper and tells him to draw. His imagination runs wild and he becomes slowly good at drawing. After years, he becomes a cartoonist and successful in his career as the artistic genius behind the “Nancy” cartoons and Jim Henson’s “The Muppets.”
His work expanded as he has helped in writing, drawing and creating ideas for cartoons such as “Pink Panther,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Tom and Jerry.” This artistic genius and creative storyteller is Guy Gilchrist.
As a man who has spent his life creating cartoons which speak to audiences, Gilchrist said that good stories will always stay even if times change.
The heart is the home for the storyteller and it is my job to make what was old, new today, said Gilchrist.
Whether it be cartoons or movies, the art of storytelling has transformed the entertainment industry. There have been new movies, talent, visual techniques, but the old and good stuff have always stayed the same.
Did you ever see any of the Batman movies or read the comics? The plot and characters of the movies usually stay the same, but the visual effects, actors/actresses, bat suit and bat cave might appear slightly different. So, whether it be Batman, Superman, Spiderman, or the Hulk, these old comic cartoons are being recreated and audiences continue to come back to watch timeless stories.
“There is nostalgia about two things: things that you grow up with which shape us and memories which you carry with you,” said Gilchrist. “There are timeless and curious factors to certain types of movies. I think that there (is) always going to be comfort in old stuff like old movies, but what is nostalgic to one person is not to someone else.”
The resurgence of old movies is not only for profit gain, but for each generation to be exposed to the classic stories which have captivated millions.
The flawed and “everyman” character are important to creating comics and works which will respect and attract audiences, said Gilchrist. While, pop culture is constantly changing, the old and recreations of specific movies will live together and be successful. The allure in recreating old movies is to appeal to a new generation of and tell a story worth telling.
Nisha Desai can be reached at nisha.desai@student.shu.edu.
