06x04 - Brush

[bunniefuu]

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go twice as high ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can go anywhere ♪

♪ Friends to know ♪

♪ And ways to grow ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ I can be anything ♪

♪ Take a look ♪

♪ It's in a book ♪

♪ A reading rainbow ♪

♪ Reading rainbow ♪

Hi, there.

Today, we're in
a real fantasyland

That few people
ever see.

Miniature tugs.

Take a look
at these huge pumpkins,

These giant cookies.

Once a year, these fabulous
creatures and characters

March through new york city

In the macy's
thanksgiving day parade,

But the rest of the year,
they sleep here

In a warehouse
in new jersey.

Seems like things
are pretty quiet here today.

Ho ho ho! Wow!

You never know
when one of these guys

Will surprise you
and come to life.

Here's a story about a brush
that comes to life

And has a few surprises
of his own.

It's called brush.

The day that turco,

A little p*stol
of a pup,

Ate senor sala's hat,

Senora sala decided
enough was enough,

And it would take
the patience of a saint

To put up with
this mischief any longer.

So, she got
the whole family together

And asked each member
his opinion of the situation.

"No."

"No."

"No."

It was decided that
the gardener's married daughter

Would take turco

And keep him
in her house.

Little sala was so sad,
he thought he'd die.

It seemed
there was no way to live

Without his little pup.

After he stopped
crying, however,

He realized he had to
fill the emptiness

Left by turco's absence.

First, he tried
to imagine

His aunt's canary
as a companion,

But he knew they could
never be close friends.

Then he imagined that the lamp
in the library

Was a faithful soldier.

For nearly two hours,

He thought he'd solved
his problem,

But soon it was clear
he still longed for turco.

He needed to find
something

That could take
the dog's place,

Yet not destroy
his memory.

He went
through the house,

And finally,
in a corner of the attic,

He found
a very big brush,

Banished forever
from the family broom closet.

He closed his eyes

And passed his hand
over its bristles.

He had the impression
he was petting a dog.

In fact, this first encounter
felt so good

That little sala decided
not to search any further.

He tied the brush
to string

And in five minutes,
was no longer aware

He was dragging
a brush.

He believed brush was a dog
of rare pedigree,

Who was following him
all over the house.

Before getting into bed,

He tied brush
to a chair,

But no sooner
had he tied it up,

When he was overcome
by a wave of tenderness.

That brush would sleep
on the cold floor

Made him feel bad,

So he jumped down,
untied brush,

And took it
into bed with him.

Soon, little sala noticed
that the brush

Was snuggling
against him for a hug.

This, naturally,
was very serious.

It's one thing
to pretend

To change a brush
into a dog,

But it's another thing
if the change really happens.

Little sala
was astonished to see

That the brush, though it still
looked like a brush,

Was moving around
like a dog.

It turned
a few somersaults

And then showed its stomach
to be scratched.

Little sala
couldn't sleep all night.

As soon as he heard
his mother up,

He went downstairs
with brush under his arms.

"I found a brush
that's really a dog.

It moves
and has fleas."

Without interrupting
her chores,

His mother said to him,

"Get rid of
that piece of junk.

You're old enough
to be more sensible."

He was hurt.
He said nothing more,

Brought brush
to his room,

And thought,
if they didn't believe him,

It didn't matter.
They'd be the losers.

At dinner,
his mother jokingly told

About little sala's
discovery,

And his father laughed
as though it were

The craziest thing
in the world.

Little sala
didn't say anything

Because he knew that
ultimately, justice prevails.

Sooner or later, he knew
his family would realize

That some things
aren't what they seem

And shouldn't be
laughed at.

The next night, he was awakened
by brush's howling.

He heard sounds of a struggle
from the library

And his father
calling for help.

Little sala
opened the door,

Tiptoed
down the stairs,

And saw his father
fighting a burglar,

Who was about to hit him
with a fire iron.

"Get him, brush!
Bite him!" He cried.

Brush ran
like the wind

And hurled himself
at the burglar.

The burglar was
so surprised

By the ferociousness
of such a thing,

That he immediatley
gave up

And was handed over
to the police.

A little later, his mother,
with tears in her eyes,

Promised she would never again
doubt her son's word,

And his father, passing
his hand over brush's bristles,

Said, "we'll make a house
for you in the garden.

And above the door,
we'll have painted..."

After reading brush,

You begin to believe
almost anything is possible.

What better place to test
the limits of reality

Than right here
in this warehouse?

Hoo hoo hoo hoo! Whoa!

I know
I didn't imagine this!

When I was a kid,

I used to go out
on the playground

And look up at the sky,

And I'd imagine that the clouds
were people and animals

And that they were
my friends.

Have you ever imagined
something coming to life?

A dinosaur.

A book.

I imagine my puppets would come
to life like pinocchio.

I'd like to bring
my computer to life

Because I'd like to
go into him.

Comic book characters,
including spiderman,

Punisher, uh...
Daredevil, batman...

I could go on and on.

I think I'd make
brushes come alive

Because I can't do
my hair very well.

I need someone
to do it.

A brush is
a perfect thing.

Imagining something
coming to life

And actually
making it happen

Are two different things.

Look at this giant gobbler.

He's the star of
macy's thanksgiving day parade.

His eyes blink,
his wings flap,

And he nods his head,

But it's not easy.

Let's go look at how
this turkey struts his stuff.

Actually, there are
six people back here

Where you'd expect
the giant giblets to be.

When michael pulls this sandbag,
the wing flaps.

When everyone
works together,

This turkey
really gets cooking.

Thanks, guys.

Inspiration and hard work

Can make almost anything
seem real,

From a gigantic bird
to tiny creatures like these.

So what do you think
about this dinosaur?

It's a dinosaur
I haven't seen used
before in animation.

What if we made
this a girl?

I think that's
a great idea.

Hi. I'm rob niosi.
This is becky wibele.

We're animators.
We bring things
to life on film.

Every animation
starts as an idea.

Becky's working
on a character

For our next
animation.

We're not figuring
this out on our own.

We've got some books
that we're looking at.

This book has
dinosaur heads in it.

There's all
different shapes

Of bones, horns,
eyes, and noses.

This book has
a lot of bodies.

That helps make
what we're doing

Look a lot better.

Once we've figured
out our characters,

We put it
all together

Into what we call
a storyboard.

This is a series
of drawings,

So we start
at the beginning,

And here's
where we end up.

It's kind
of like a map

That tells us
where we're going.

Storyboards
are drawings.

If we animate
these,

They would be
like cartoons,

But we specialize
in different animation.

It's three-d
animation.

One type is called
pixilation,

Where you take
an ordinary object

That has
no movement,

But we're able to
bring it to life.

This is egbert.

Egbert's a three-dimensional
model of a frog,

And he's made up mostly
of different types of clay.

His top is made of soft clay
that can be molded

To create the illusion
of animation.

His legs are made
of a different clay.

It's baked,
and it's hard,

And that way,
we can hinge his knees

And when we rotate his wheel,
the hinges operate

And give us nice motion
in his knees.

His eyes are made
of just common beads.

The animator may put
a toothpick in the hole

And move it around.

If we want to make
egbert wave,

For each frame,
we bend the clay a little bit--

A little farther,
and we take another frame.

It's a tedious process,

But the final result
will be egbert waving.

Ok, let's do it.

Let's bring
this frog to life.

When we sh**t
the final animation,

We have several
moving elements--

The background set,

The character,

And the cloud.

The camera's operated
by another person.

[Becky]
sh**ting animation
is a very slow process

That has to be done
very carefully.

It takes 5 hours to sh**t


If work time was speeded up
to animation time,

Here's what
we'd look like.

The way to give
a character personality

Is to paint it
with special colors

And add some details.

We've added things
like eyelashes, right here,

Because we wanted to make
a girl dinosaur.

We also made
a special-shaped mouth.

It looks kind of friendly
and a little feminine.

The dinosaur needs
a body, too.

We're going to make this
a strange dinosaur.

Its body
will be a book.

A leg will grow
out of the corner,

But it won't appear
finished.

We'll start
with a little clay,

Add more and more on

Until we formed it
into the leg.

Making things change
is called metamorphosis.

You can only see it
happening on film

Because we do it
under the camera.

What do you think?

Terrific,
especially the head.

I think we're ready
to meet myrtle,
the bookosaurus.

Ooh, this is
a great book,

And here are
some other good tales,

But you don't have to take
my word for it.

Hello. My name is
lina k. Zukerwisz.

I'm reporting
about a book

Full of mysteries
and surprises.

It's called
what the mailman brought.

This is a strange,
unusual story.

It's about a little boy
that is sick.

Every day, the mailman
brings him a package.

What's interesting
and extraordinary
about the mailman

Is that every day,
he's a different animal.

You'll be amazed
at the characters

Showing up at
the boy's door.

If you're bored
with life,

Check your mail
or read this book.

It'll perk you up.

How would you like
a board game

Whose characters
come to life?

Picture this--rhinoceroses
stampeding y0ur living room,

An 8-foot python wrapped
around your fireplace.

Why not try jumanji?

The story is
about two kids

Whose mother and father
go to the opera.

They stay home
and are bored to death,

But they find a way
to brighten their gray sky--

A mysterious game
named jumanji.

Some incredible, supernatural
things begin to happen.

Take it from me,
kenny michael benbo blank,

This book
is unpredictable.

It's filled
with unexpected surprises.

So read jumanji.

I promise you won't be
among the bored and restless.

What do you do
on rainy days?

I play with my computer,
but when I can't,

I find stuff to do
in this book.

It shows how
to make creatures

Using stuff
around the house,

Like an ordinary
egg carton,

Scissors, and markers.

I made a whale.

There's other things
to make,

Like a butterfly,

A frog,

And even a zebra.

See what characters
you can make.

Make a zoo
of your own.

I'm harry barandes,
asking you to get this book.

Behind this door
and down the hall

Is the secret
for bringing to life

One of the most
spectacular sights

In the macy's parade--
the giant balloons.

So where are
those great balloons?

The balloons
aren't here,

But this is where
the ideas come.

This is
manfred bass,

The designer
of macy's parade.

This is the guy
responsible for creating

All those great
floats and balloons.

What are you
doing here?

This is
a float design
for this year.

You can see
the dreamland
structures here

And the moon here,

Watching
this little boat
go through the sky.

All of your creations
start right here?

Do you have sketches
of balloons?

Ah, here's one.

I know this guy.
It's snoopy.

This depicts
snoopy coming down
the parade route.

We take this sketch,

Create a clay model,

Then we create
the balloon.

Can we see
a model?

Let's go.

We take the clay

And mold
the entire balloon
the way we want.

It's a very
flexible media,

So we can get the shape
and size we need.

So this will look
like snoopy?

Do you have
any finished models?

We have a bunny.

This is one
we've just finished.

It has nice lift.

We have a large hat,
good-sized ears.

That gives
a lot of life.

The feet are
full of motion,

So that will march
down the parade route.

He almost
looks alive.

What do you
do next?

We make a mold
over that clay model.

We have one
right over here.

This is a mold.

Into this, we cast
a hard model.

This is always
an exciting moment

When we open up--

This mold gives us
a nice, hard model.

You use a clay model
to make a mold,

The mold to make
a hard model.

What's the hard
model for?

We'll go over here
and take a look.

We mark each
piece of fabric.

This is the way
the cutters

Will cut the fabric
to create this balloon.

You use
the hard model

To figure
where the fabric

Will be pieced
together.

You can see
we'll use

Yards and yards
of this fabric.

This is the material
you actually use?

Once the balloon is
all sewn together,

What happens next?

Now for the best part--
the inflation.

That is just
unbelievable.

Wow! Just think
what it takes

To inflate
all the balloons,

But every november,
each of them is filled with air,

And what a parade it is.

When the parade
is over,

The balloons are deflated,
the floats are packed,

And everything goes
to this amazing warehouse.

You don't know
what you'll discover next.

This is levar burton--

Hold it!
What's going on here?

I'm trying to do
my show here.

Your show?

Right. You must be

One of those
book review kids.

We're done
with that part.

What is
going on here?

Just signing off.

That's about it--

Let's just take it
back a second.

You, don't go
anywhere.

A puppeteer can also
bring things to life,

Especially
an exceptional one,
like kevin clash.

Kevin, get up here.

Got you!

You're really
good at this--

In fact, maybe
a little too good.

Does this puppet
resemble somebody?

I can't quite
place the face.

Did you make him?

Yes. He's
made of foam

That I carve
to get the features.

Then I cover it
with this fleece

That I dye
to a specific color.

The hair's out of
the same fleece,

But it's not
cut down.

Would you
like to try it?

Can i?

Four fingers
at the top
of the mouth.

If you could,
just turn the head
left and right.

Yeah. He's got a lot
of movement in there.

Have him focus
right onto you.

Open his mouth.

Just say hello.

Hello.

See? Look at that!

Take an arm wire

And gesture with it
back and forth.

Bring it
to the face.
Let it yawn.

Ahhh...

Good. Ha ha ha!

I interview
a lot of people.

I guess this is
a perfect opportunity

For me to
interview...myself.

Could you be
the host?

No problem, but don't take
my word for it.

Easy for you
to say.

Is there anything else
you'd like to do?

Yeah, sing.

Sing?

♪ Butterfly in the sky ♪

♪ I can go
twice as high-- ♪♪

That's enough!

Kevin, this is
really weird!

Thanks for
stopping by,

But we're almost
out of time.

Remember, a book
can always bring
something to life.

I'll see you
next time.
I'll see you
next time.

How did you
do that?

It wasn't me!

It wasn't me,
either!

Ha ha ha!
Amazing!

Today's reading rainbow books
are...

Brush by pere calders,

Illustrated
by carme sole vendrell,

Translated by
marguerite feitlowitz,

Published by
kane/miller publishers.

What the mailman brought
by carolyn craven,

Illustrated
by tomie depaola,

Published by
g.p. Putnam's sons.

Jumanji
by chris van allsburg,

Published by
houghton mifflin co.

Egg-carton zoo
by rudi haas and hans blohm,

With an introduction
by david suzuki,

Published by
oxford university press.