Online Response #5: Imagination

Roy Rowland and Dr. Suess's 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is a dream adventure in every sense of the word. Like the dreams that most of us experience on a nightly basis, Bartholomew's adventure is not just fantasy, horror, or science fiction: it is a melding of all three. Like the wandering subconscious, Rowland gleefully takes us on sidetracks, twists the familiar into the fantastic, and ultimately, returns us to the waking world, a little wiser and well worn.

The genre of the 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is difficult to establish. Vivian Sobchak, whose classifications of fictional stories I find persuasive, would see the fantastical in this film, as many of Bartholomew's dreams become reality at little sacrifice to himself. The ridiculous 'sound remover' concoction created at the end comes at little personal sacrifice, and the science literally bends its will to satisfy the boy's desires. It is not science, it is the pure power of wishing, or fantasy. On the other hand, Bartholomew's journey could be seen as a horror. Sobchak defines horror as a story which rewards exploration with complete disappointment or even destruction, which indeed happens several times in the film. Bartholomew is constantly trying new doors, passage ways, and also tactics to win back his mother and escape the evil academy, and they mostly fail. He has difficulty communicating with adults (a common childhood horror) and the dungeons are literally scenes from nightmares. Science fiction elements are also apparent. Sobchak notes that science fiction narratives are interested in the display of a world over a character, and with the many meandering music and dance numbers, it is not hard to see a focus on place over character. Ultimately, this place must be sacrificed to grant the children freedom. The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T is certainly not a genre picture, and if anything, must be described as a 'dream' picture. It is pure imagination.

Another aspect of the film that links it clearly in our minds as an imaginative experience is the meandering nature of the narrative. Though this is a common trait in musicals, it is noteworthy that several of the songs (Zabladowski's seduction to Dr. T's power, the dungeon sequence, Dr. T's dressing sequence) do not involve the main character of Bartholomew. He is a silent, or dreaming, observer to all of these numbers, which often serve the establishment of the world over furthering the character driven narrative. Like a section of a dream that we cannot shake, these visually rich sequences stick with us even when the finer points of the plot have faded away.

Finally, the film makes good on a childhood wish: that our imaginations really do make a difference in the world. Though we as viewers know that Bartholomew is dreaming, we, like him, secretly hope throughout the film that when he awakes, he will not only have overthrown Dr. T in his dream, but also in real life. We are familiar with this hope from our childhood. We have all secretly hoped that our toys might come alive, as we imagine them, or that if we dream we have received a present, that we will find it magically the next morning. At first, when Bartholomew wakes, we are disappointed. His imagination seems to have been for nothing. But the prick of the finger on Zabladowski's hand proves it: Bartholomew's imagination has changed the real world. 

The 5,000 Fingers of Dr. T, though terrifying, puzzling, and surreal, is rich in its promise about imagination. To many children, dreams are the only tool they can wield against a hard world they do not understand. In the world of Rowland and Suess, those dreams are a valid tool to be respected.

Adventure in Time Bandits

Time Bandits is a remarkable adventure story. Full of childlike exuberance, it propels the audience through multiple sets and time periods, each charged with peril, comedy, and intrigue. But Time Bandits is more than just a good story well told. It is a conversation about the importance of adventure in a childhood. As Kevin ventures from his home, learns different methods of adventure, and overcomes the fears and dangers of a wild world, he surpasses even his parents in maturity and understanding.

Kevin begins the film deep in the world of ‘society’. His disinterested parents care only for reality TV and modern kitchen appliances. Kevin cannot even stay awake and read a book. He is interested in the world of adventure, but cannot escape from his over controlling parents, who keep him far away from danger and the outside world. When the the time traveling dwarves come through the closet, it is a dream come true for Kevin. He will be able to escape from society, and explore the world he has always dreamed of.

Kevin soon discovers some of the challenges of the world of adventure. The dwarves, who hold immense power in their hands in the form of the time traveling map, want nothing more than to steal and plunder. In this world of adventure, morality suddenly becomes grey. While Kevin might never have stolen in the midst of his domestic life, stealing now seems like a good option. After all, Napoleon steals and plunders, and Robin Hood steals all of their hard earned gold from them. Kevin’s world view begins to change, and he makes choices that further his adventure, but are morally ambiguous.

The world of adventure is also constantly shifting. While Kevin experienced painfully consistent monotony at home, he now struggles to find any stability at all. Temporarily accepted in the ancient world as the son of King Agamemnon, Kevin hopes to stay forever. But the world of adventure will not allow for this level of domesticity and security. The dwarves return again, and steal him away from his home, throwing him into the midst of more adventure.

Finally, the world of adventure is full of evil. Natural evils, like the sinking Titanic, and organized maliciousness, personified in the character of Evil. These powerful forms of resistance, which Kevin had never faced in his domestic life, now threaten his survival. Kevin rises to the occasion. Tricking the ogre, drugging the giant, and making a plan to avoid Evil, Kevin uses tactics he learned from the dwarves to overcome these challenges. Though learned through a life of crime, Kevin has acquired skills that allow him to successfully combat his challenges.

At the end of the story, as is traditional in adventure narratives, Kevin returns home. Though the ending is slightly ambiguous, it is clear that Kevin’s adventure has affected his home. A piece of Evil has returned with Kevin back home. This eventually leads to the complete disintegration of his parents. Kevin is left in the ashes of his old life, parents gone, free from society. Though under normal circumstances, Kevin might have been helpless in this situation, Kevin is now equipped with the skills he learned from his adventure. Though he has suffered pains, effectively destroyed his own home, and bent his moral compass, Kevin has certainly learned and changed because of his adventures. Whether that growth is to his benefit or not is for the viewer to decide.

Morality in The Graveyard Book

Despite its macabre backdrop, Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book is a classic bildungsroman, following the growth of a child to an adult. Nobody Owens, the child raised by ghosts, learns to navigate a complicated world of right and wrong. Like so many classic fairy tales, Nobody is safe at home in the graveyard, but meets a world of temptations outside of its gates. Only through exposure to this bleak world, combined with tutoring from loving mentors, is he able to mature.

From its outset, The Graveyard Book is remarkably black and white. The man Jack, and his compatriots, are the epitome of evil. They are the ‘wolves’ in the outside world, who constantly prey on Bod. Gaiman flips our expectations by conversely making the graveyard a place of love and security. Mr. and Mrs. Owens are loving parents, who do not hesitate to take care of Bod. The Lady in Grey is a saving angel, full of grace. Silas, though mysterious, is a capable and diligent caretaker. Gaiman even takes the classic images of the ravenous wolf and the wicked witch and turns them on their heads, presenting both Miss Lupesco and Liza as mentors and friends to Bod. The distinction between right and wrong is clear: the Jacks are outside the graveyard, in the wild world, and the ghosts are inside the graveyard, where it is safe.

Upon this classic stage, Gaiman presents a familiar story: the curious child, who strays from the path. Bod, like most children, is curious, becomes frustrated, and has his own dreams that go against the wishes of his guardians. He strays from the rules several times throughout the story, and each time is waylaid by evildoers. By the ghouls at the ghoul gate, Abanazer Bulger in the pawn shop, Mo and the policemen in town, and finally, the man Jack himself at his old house. Each of these times, if he had listened to reason and the words of his mentors, he would have avoided tragedy.

As Bod is consistently rescued from this situations, however, he learns. Were it not for the disaster at the ghoul gate, he may have never come to love Miss Lupesco. In the pawn shop, he learned to Fade, and his interactions with both Mo and the Jacks not only taught him to overcome his challenges, but how to change the world for good. The very climax of the story, where the man Jack is taken by the Sleer, could not have been accomplished were it not for Nobody’s knowledge of the tomb in the hill, a place he had been expressly forbidden to go.

The Graveyard Book is a classic tale of right and wrong, but one with an optimistic viewpoint. Nobody does live in a world of black and white, where straying from the path leads to danger, but it also leads to growth. There are losses along the way. Scarlet ultimately comes to fear Bod, and their relationship must end. Miss Lupesco must sacrifice herself to save him. But these losses lead to maturity. Bod learns to solve his own problems. He learns to love being around humans, to learn, and make a difference in the world. His desire to travel the world grows, as he prepares to leave the graveyard. Through trial and mentorship, Bod slowly learns to master a world of good and evil and leave childhood behind.