Well, I love the works of Lewis Carroll (after all, I’m President Emeritus of the Lewis Carroll Society of North America), and I love animation (with a special place in my heart for the painstaking labors of stop-motion animation), so perhaps this project was inevitable! Nevertheless, I was delighted when director Saranne Bensusan invited me to provide the voice for a small role in her upcoming adaptation of Caroll’s timeless masterpiece, The Hunting of the Snark. I am voicing the character of the Judge in the Barrister’s Dream sequence, and it’s a very trippy dream, indeed! The other roles are being recorded in London, where the film is being created. But happily I was able to record my audio files here in New York, and e-mail them to Saranne. Ah, technology! I gave her multiple takes of each line, so that she has some choices once she has the character created and the scene animated. And the other actors recording that scene will be able to hear my tracks when they add their own.
You can find out more about the film by clicking the logo image on the right side of this post. Saranne has taken Carroll’s poem, and interspersed snippets of it creatively throughout her script. Purists will note that she has made some changes to the characters and events of the original poem, but having read the entertaining script, I can tell you that it remains true to Carroll’s spirit. Look for it in June of 2012!
The Snark deserves to become more popular, especially after to so-called banking crisis. Presently too many people just know to quote the title The Hunting of the Snark as much as they know to mention Waiting for Godot here and there without having seen it on stage. Luckily, there will be movies in 2011 (Hollywood) and 2012 (London). As people don’t learn too well, the Boojum will be back. Carroll’s Snark poem and the movies may help to prepare bankers for the next encounter with the Bandersnatch.
I agree that Carroll’s The Hunting of the Snark deserves to be much more well-known than it is, Goetz. While use of the term “snarky” has become widespread, most people have never read the original poem–and they should! It’s brilliant and amazing, and there’s still nothing like it out there. Everyone should hunt the Snark at least once!
I am still hunting: At least I probably found the place where the Dream Snark came from.
Congratulations, Andrew, this is really exciting news. I know how much you enjoy the Snark and I think the role of Judge is rather suited to you, you seem able to keep disparate groups of oddball people in order despite the most trying circumstances! But can you handle a Snark in full blown legal regalia?
Thanks, Mahendra! I will be curious to see how the final product turns out. Of course, with movies, unlike live theatre, the actors do their parts and then there are still months of work before the project is finished and the actors’ work is finally on display. So it’s delayed gratification, which has never been my strong suit. 😉 But I hope that this will be the first of many Snark-themed projects.
I’m not sure anyone could handle a Snark in full-blown legal finery; heaven knows the Judge in this tale doesn’t stand a chance against Snarkian doublespeak! But I keep forks and hope, not to mention mustard and cress, handy at all times.