Six degrees
Mark Peters
Tim Burton’s new horror comedy, Frankenweenie, is the inspiration behind Times Square’s Halloween celebrations, with a replica of the movie’s pet cemetery the focus at the Causeway Bay shopping centre. The latest stop-motion animation movie by Burton is arguably his most personal to date. Many of its spooky visual treats are seemingly inspired by the Hollywood director’s own twisted-fairy-tale childhood; his parents bricked up his bedroom windows, leaving him only a small shaft of light. The film’s ghoulish soundtrack was scored by long-term collaborator Danny Elfman …
The American cartoonist has acquired a net worth of more than US$500 million in the 20 years since America’s longest-running sitcom started. In a rushed pitch for the original series, Groening quickly drew sketches of the family characters, believing that studio artists would clean them up before final production. However, he later discovered they simply traced over his basic drawings, thus creating the show’s iconic style. In 2004, Groening was presented with the award for “outstanding contribution to comedy” at the British Comedy Awards by host Jonathan Ross …
The British comedian and TV star this year supported the Be Cruelty-Free campaign to ban the testing of cosmetics on animals around the world. When the Urban Decay brand decided not to sell its products in China, which requires animal testing, Gervais concurred: “Ethical principles shouldn’t be up for sale.” Wise words from the man who once jokingly deduced that “don’t send horses to perform medical procedures” was the moral of nursery rhyme Humpty Dumpty, a character popularised by Lewis Carroll …
