That Ol' Disney Magic

Now usually I write up a deconstruction into an animated film, show, topic, or period; however, this time I have applied that view to a live action series that I have admired over the past several years. But not just any live action series mind you, but one that clearly represents for me at least a snapshot in time that may never be repeated again. I am of course talking about Mad Men here, a series which has both fascinated and frustrated me during the time it was on the air. After reading so many great deconstructions on the show I figured maybe I could provide a different take on the series from my own perspective as an animator in its strengths, weaknesses, and legacy. The thought came across my mind because the series shares similarities as well as differences with animation, which I hope to convey clearly in this reflection of mine. This has been an exciting challenge to write as a brain teaser on to itself given that what you have here are two different themes integrally mixed together as one coherent piece. Its actually a culmination of all the animation topics discussed here. When Mad Men comes to my mind, I consider it amongst those awesome iconic artifacts of our time that focus not just on the period or the subject it is set in, but also on the aesthetics of its own uniquely visual storytelling approach. The work produced by the show reminded me of several kickass movements in the arts over the past century that have attempted to redefine the art form in their own manner. Just think of those brilliant Master Animators of Termite Terrace such as Chuck Jones, whose fresh and damn hilarious interpretations of the Looney Tunes characters kept the series going strong from the thirties to the sixties. Or how about the first nine years of The Simpsons as the series creatively and artistically redefined itself through the heart of laughter during the Animation Renaissance. We can’t possibly forget about the folks at PIXAR whose deep films such as the masterful Inside Out (2015) continue the break new ground in animation and storytelling. And lastly, of course, you have Walt Disney’s first five animated films from the thirties and forties which not only showed what the animated picture could ultimately achieve but also setting the definitive standard for all animated features to come. We will get to the other animation studios later in the reflection, but I really want to focus in on Walt Disney's early films for this first part of my analysis. Now the guy would probably not be the first name to stick out in relation to the show, but if you really think about it the themes and values the series explored are actually akin to the ones his animators were striving for some eighty years ago. Cynics today don’t give Walt much credit for his first artistic endeavors, but my God he was ahead of his time with the profound and even provocative work he was creating during that time. That’s why with the exception of the wildly successful Snow White and the Seven Dwarves (1937) and Dumbo (1941) the majority of his five early films sadly flopped as they appealed only to small audiences back then. It would take several decades and successive generations for those works of art to be regarded as the masterpieces they were always intended to be. The influence left behind by those films has become so powerfully omnipresent that we continue to see them used in different forms by today’s artists like in a live action show such as Mad Men. A person watching the show can just sense the reverberations of those earlier grand endeavors by the studio. And these parallels go simply beyond the nostalgic Disney references that would be snuck into the background from time to time. Believe me it was difficult to choose which specific moments to analyze from the show’s many pivotal scenes, but I managed to take note of five key areas of which Mad Men effectively tapped into that ol’ Disney magic which, much like the time period of the show itself, came from a bygone era long ago. So let's get started and travel back in time.

First, let’s go over how the series used visual language to its advantage in conveying the message of the scene to the audience. Typically the meaning of a setting can be easily given out by the show or film through some exposition, but by doing so it robs the audience the ability to interpret the scenes on their own. Really it is more effective by simply letting the scene play out the way it is without any additional dialogue that may distract from the information that the artist has already embedded into the scene. This type of symbolic interpretation can be achieved either through the body language of the subject, the staging of the scene, or onto the texture of the environment itself. Mad Men was always an astute practitioner of this artistic method as was the case with the revealing look Peggy Olson & Pete Campbell exchange with one another towards the end of “The Rejected” from the fourth season. Their tender observation discloses their long storied history with one another: from competitors to lovers to eventual peers respectful and even envious of each other’s talents to the firm. While their romance ended some time ago there remains an acknowledged yet unspoken spark of their past that remains unquenched by the passage of time itself. You would think that the scene was playing out for several minutes with loads of exposition being spoken out because of the emotional reaction I had to it, but in actuality it only played for a few fleeting moments of time. It is quite mesmerizing the way the moment unfolds in front of us. It is for that reason why visual language plays such a vital aspect in leaving a lasting impression in animation, especially in a film like Snow White and the Seven Dwarves where the story places a strong emphasis on symbolism over exposition. Take for instance the beginning of the film when we are first introduced to the Evil Queen in her castle. As the animator Brad Bird once observed, there was a specific reason to the writing why Walt chose to begin the film with her addressing the mirror. It was to convey a powerful visual that would stick in the audiences’ minds for the rest of the story. On the surface it appears to be the typical iconic image that suggests a powerful regal ruler conjuring up an enchanted servant to answer her, but things are not always what they appear to be. In spite of her queenly raiment and her authoritarian presence, the scene actually unveils a person who is a slave to her own vanity. That key revelation is what makes the scene all the more powerful and telling as it is not the enchanted servant she finds first but rather her own reflection in the magical object. It makes you wonder then who truly is the slave in the magic mirror after all, for this subtle allusion foreshadows the vice that will ultimately be her undoing at the end of the story. This type of nuanced analysis isn’t that much different from the pondering any episode from Mad Men would inspire on us.

One of the things that really stood out to me when I first watched Mad Men was the romanticism the series displayed. It is an emotional high that transcends the moments we are experiencing now to another time and place beyond our own reality. You sense that most especially in the 1960’s where guys like Brian Wilson were creating beautiful haunting music like Pet Sounds that capsulated the passionate joys and agonies of the day. This was exemplified by the late night rendezvous Don Draper and Rachel Menkel undertook to the city in the first season episode, “Babylon”. Their chemistry, ambitions, and culture clashes were quietly explored throughout the intimate moments of deep soul searching the two shared with one another. It’s a special kind of intimacy that too often gets sidelined or rushed in other shows, yet it is allowed to fully blossom because the pacing is given the time and patience to be reflectively absorbing like the oriental influence of Bertram Cooper's office . The romantic influence spills over to the environment itself as the cinematography, subtle tones, and rich hues of the backdrops reflect the sixties as we would come to expect from both our memories and our cultural psyche. It may not be the sixties as we experienced it, yet it is the way we would wish to remember it by in spite of the amount of prejudice, racism, misogyny, and sexism that was openly tolerated back then. This juxtaposition of the idealism and the realities of the era may not seem to work on paper at first glance, but in execution it works very well because the modern yet restrained lens of the show allows for the verity to stand out more when contrasted with the emotionalism of the period. This emphasis on romanticism, tranquil timing, and its role on shedding the realities of our environment is comparable to the ones evoked in the graceful Bambi (1942). Perhaps of all the early Disney films Mad Men shares the most qualities with that film with regards to its deliberate pacing, reflective moments, and illustrative renderings of the environment. The trees and landscapes featured in the story are not drawn or painted in a realistic manner as we would understand them from our world. Under the guidance of art director Tyrus Wong however it is rendered in a painterly method inspired by oriental artwork meant to evoke our emotions to the mood and atmosphere of the picture. The reason why the art direction leaves such an emotional impact on our minds is because it displays the forests we would like to perceive of in our dreams as Animation Historian Charles Solomon best described it. I mean who would not want to run across the lands with their lover as Bambi & Faline do to the intoxicating tune of “I Give You a Song”, in which the two beings commensurate their relationship. It is one of the most mature depictions of love ever captured on film because it is given the time to fully develop itself without having to rush through the emotions. No wonder why the early Disney pictures left such a profound influence on Brian Wilson in developing his vision while growing up. Yet set against this dreamy vision of the land is another stark view, one of fatality, which serves as a somber reminder of how death awaits in the shadows. It is precisely because of this exquisite visualization that contrasts the beauty of their world with the mortal danger the animals face in the forest from the forces inflicted upon them by Man.

Speaking of Man, we all know that our species is never seen in the story. Not even a utter or a whisper comes out of us in the entire picture. In fact, we are only described in the most solemn of terms offered by the woodland creatures when our kind has entered the woods. Whenever our presence is keenly felt, a sense of dread envelopes around the animals to the point of a frightful quail bird flying to her death by gun shots from a far. So feared is our species that the mere mention of our existence causes the film's soundtrack in two instances to pause in complete silence until it is safe to move on. The film ultimately keeps us in the dark over what makes Man so feared by all the animals in the forest. We ask ourselves many questions regarding the nature of this mysterious being: such as how big or how small is this creature, or if the person is young or old, and how many of his or her kind came to the forest? Perhaps it is best left unanswered. This use of restrained vagueness is effective because the animators set up these floating questions that lead up to an even bigger question that pays off. The real question is whether we are truly a force of evil in the world or in a brutality are we simply behaving in the natural order? It forces us to question our very own nature and reflect on our purpose in the circle of life. Just imagine how bold it was for any film from the forties to openly embrace such insightful ambiguousness and the resulting deepness it inspires with regards to the identity of a major character being us. The mysterious nature of Man in Bambi is akin to the ambiguous form we see in a figure such as Don Draper in Mad Men. When the show uses this type of insightful ambiguousness in a universal manner the results are quite powerful in the discussion it creates for its audience. Conversations abound over what really makes people tick and react the way they do to certain situations, because we honestly don’t know what’s going on inside a person’s mind. The series uses that construct to its benefit because a character like Don can’t figure out for himself what kind of a man he is so it is left to us to determine who this person is. This raises so many questions regarding the nature of this individual: who is the real Don Draper, is Dick Whitman the real man and Don Draper merely a façade for his identity; and what is his ultimate purpose in life? After all, here is a gifted man who has created all these wonderful commercials like the Carousel advertisement in the season one episode “The Wheel” to the joy of his clients and their customers. Yet somehow this artificial wonderment is not enough for him at the end of the day throughout his story. There really is no clear answer to these questions because someone as deeply layered like Don can’t be easily deconstructed in a black & white manner but rather in shades of grey. Indeed Don is a man of his time in certain aspects but then not so in other measures. Labels such as hero, villain, or antihero need not apply here because he is written foremost as a flawed human being with both honorable and less admirable qualities. Those earlier queries seque way to a more telling and personal inquiry that would define the show: what does Don desire most of all in his life? Like Bambi before it Mad Men showcased the beauty of insightful ambiguity into the human soul.

It is one thing to let an actor go all out and crazy in their scenes to score some critical buzz and awards, but it is another matter entirely to have the actor restrain him or herself while very carefully highlighting the emotion so as to obtain the right amount of depth from the character. Conceptually this may sound easy, but it is quite difficult to translate to the screen. It is a very honest and understated approach to acting featured on Mad Men that does not get the attention it deserves because those moments don’t yell out to the person immediately like other approaches to performing. One of the best examples of this delicate style was when Don Draper & Peggy Olson shared a most painful moment in the season five episode “The Other Woman” where the mentor must let go of his protégé from his life. There are two scenes that are actually playing simultaneously in front of us during that period. Towards one side you have Don coming to the realization that his chapter in her life is ending in a very bitter manner which provides little happiness for what remains of his now finite life. On the other side is Peggy, who is eagerly but rather somberly ready to move onward to the next chapter of her still boundless life without her champion and equal by her side. You know performances are truly effective if you mute the sound and just focus on their expressions and movements. This is why the transition between the small talk they have earlier to one of agonizing silence at the end is successful through both the grace and dignity of Jon Hamm and Elisabeth Moss' powerful deliveries. The sounder of their comradery is heartbreaking to watch unfold and the credit goes to not only the writing and directing of the scene but most importantly to the subtle performances of the actors. Animators can relate to performers in this manner because the artists themselves are actually actors with pencils in their artwork. They must use their artistic perspective and humanistic intuition in breathing life into what were once mere drawings into full bodied characters we believe are truly real on the screen. The artist, using the reference footage as a guide, slightly caricatures their subject’s emotions into the design of the character without making the drawing appear visually too tied down to the original source footage. At the same time this is happening the animator is also tasked with making sure that their drawings match the timing and pacing of the action they are trying to capture on the paper. Surprising as it may sound the hardest scenes to animate are not the ones that have the character making a big speech or having a meltdown…but the moments where the figure is in their most natural, vulnerable or intimate state. This type of pantomine can range from the dry comedic to the emotionally draining. One scene that clearly stands out to me is when Baby Dumbo is clinging to his mother’s trunk during the "Baby Mine" sequence from Dumbo. The character was animated by Bill Tytla, who was the same guy who brought to life Grumpy, Stromboli, and Chernobog. Those were all powerful figures with a presence larger than life but Dumbo when stripped away is simply a gentle human baby in a cartoony elephant. He used his infant son as a reference for Dumbo because he wanted to make that gentle personality come through clear just as the actors on the series are trying to convey human fragility to these real life mad men who struggle with conveying their own emotions every day on Madison Avenue.

There are not many shows that devote its time and attention to display how people deal with terrible situations in their lives because it can be an emotionally draining experience to sit through. But those moments can be a reflective and absorbing journey for all of us who share in the trials and tribulations of the human condition. Out of all the characters on the show Don Draper & Peggy Olsen were the ones who were most closely related with these themes as they had to continually struggle with all the challenges of life. Even when things appear to be going their way and everything seems to be smooth sailing for them the rug somehow is pulled from underneath them at the very end. Its difficult seeing them fall down to these events from time to time; yet watching them lick their wounds, pick themselves up, and going on with their lives is what makes their stories so relatable and poignant for us. If you think about it the two figures do share a lot in common. Don was adrift by the world with no purpose in his life, but was given another shot in life by Roger Sterling who saw the great potential within the man and brought him into the world of advertising. In turn Peggy had even more going against her given how the work place of the day was still male dominated and placed women on the bottom deck of the ship. Don however saw as Roger did in him those many years ago the amazing possibilities she brought to the table regardless of her sex and brought the young woman under his tutelage. At first glance they seem the least likely of people to form a friendship from these circumstances, but quite the opposite happened as they were there for each other in their worst situations. During their time in the firm they come across people who appear charismatic or caring on the surface, but deep down these individuals represent some of the worst aspects you can imagine of human nature. These attributes have no limits as they reach to figures who are your colleagues, friends, or your own family. The tests of the human spirit don’t even have to appear as people themselves, for they come across as insurmountable as death itself. This came to a fold in the season four episode “The Suitcase” which on my count is my personal favorite episode of the series because it shows how the human condition can connect seemingly disparate people on an emotional and spiritual plain that is profoundly moving. In Peggy’s case she has to continually deal with the belittling nature of her family regarding her choices in life and is still haunted by her choice of giving up the one chance she had at being a mother. As for Don he stuggles with his vices, takes a humiliating beating from the world through the drunken Duck Phillips and is dealing with the impending death of the only person in his life he could call family, Anna. These challenges provide a window into what persons Don & Peggy could potentially become as a consequence of the lack of compassion they have received and the negative influence of those who inflict pain and misery on all. They find solace in one another through this vulnerability, but not as romantic lovers or a paternalistic father-daughter bond, but rather as old souls who have a deep understanding and care of each other in ways others don’t quite see. Peggy in particular is the one bright light in Don's otherwise miserable life and he knows that inspite of his obliviousness of her talents from time to time. The shot with them holding hands in a subtle exchange of understanding each other’s plights is the money shot for me that confirms the bond that they have. Mad Man shares this very important quality with Pinocchio (1940), arguably one of the greatest and deepest films ever made. Pinocchio & Jiminy Cricket are not only the unlikeliest of comrades but they are also ill suited to survive in this world. The child is a wooden blockhead easily prone to the vices around him whereas the cricket can’t seem to balance out his job and life together. Jiminy is the only person who can help out Pinocchio in his daily misadventures, but despite his advice the puppet continually falls prey to the hands of charismatic figures that represent the difficult obstacles we all face in our lives in one form or another. Honest John and Gideon are the scammers of the world who prey on those who easily buy in to their cheap card tricks. The puppet owner Stromboli is a step up on the ladder because his greed beguiles hapless young people in compromising their morality and health for fame. The supposedly friendly Lampwick is a more severe danger as he was once human only to lose his humanity as a consequence of his vices. The horrific transformation he undergoes provides a window into what he will become in the Coachman, whose disarmingly human appearance hides a truly decadent monster that hungers for the lost souls of this world. Monstro is of course the greatest of all obstacles for the creature is Death itself which will destroy anyone who is in its path. A lot of people don’t realize this because it’s a Walt Disney picture, but Pinocchio was never about good triumphing over evil. By the story’s ends we are left to conclude that all of the evil doers of the world go unpunished and will continue to go on with their nefarious deeds. The real message of the film is how we persevere through such trials, come of age, and ultimately gain from those emotionally draining experiences which go to the heart of what Mad Men was all about.