Perhaps the most recent masterwork of animated, wordless stories is, of course, the four-minute love story from the movie Up. But what if the images were only individual frames? Yesterday, The New Yorker posted a clever video featuring the work of graphic artist Art Spiegelman and jazz composer Phillip Johnston. Spiegelman, a highly regarded author known for his unassuming, black and white drawings, tells a story here with pictures and music, but no words. (I teach Spiegelman’s award-winning graphic novel Maus in some of my literature courses, and students are always surprised at how affected they are by his illustrations.) The short video is quite creative and worth watching for its ability to build narrative structure using only still images, demonstrating that words are often unnecessary in storytelling. I won’t spoil the simple plot for you, but it reminds of famous comedian Andy Kaufman’s “Mighty Mouse” routine. Enjoy!
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AuthorDr. Spivey is a college English professor and lives in Scottsdale, Arizona. Archives
October 2017
Movie Reviews |