Amazon Symphony (1951)

[bunniefuu]

Public amusement censorship service.
This is the first cartoon produced in Brazil. It represents an immense effort and demonstrates incredible artistic sensibility.
The government could not fail to encourage such a great effort.
That is why this film was given the classification of "good quality".

To my parents, for the incentive they gave me in all these years of struggle, I dedicate this film with all my gratitude.

This, gentlemen, is the smallest studio in the world.

It was here that the first Brazilian feature-length cartoon was produced.

A difficult thing, but God is Brazilian. Let's go there.

The studio comprizes three different departments:

the drawing and painting department,

the camera department,

and finally the most important of them, the animation department.

Anelio Latíni Jr., creator of the Amazon Symphony,

arrives at work at eight in the morning

and only leaves at four in the morning the next day.

On foreign feature-length cartoons

an average of 400 cartoonists are employed.

Here he is the only cartoonist for the whole film.

Anelio will show us in brief scenes

what was necessary for the making of his Sinfonia.

The first step in the making of his cartoon, before the film adaptation

of the story was the creation of characters.

And naturally the child was the first one, being the main character,

and the one that worried Anelio the most, since his characteristics had to be very different and pleasant.

This task went on for many months.

But finally they were all created, with the exception of the last character,

and that one was female.

Everyone was anxious to see her.

"How beautiful Iara!" was the expression of everyone in the studio.

For that other task a lot of material had been collected in the botanical garden.

And after that, Anelio started the study of the first scenes.

Already some characters were taking their places in the scene.

Some important scenarios were also sketched.

These preliminary studies will be subjected to constant modifications

until they satisfy and compose the original ideas.

And so that there are no mistakes,

the sketches are pinned on boards on the walls,

forming a sequence sketch.

A meticulous study of the story in all its details

is set up for the planning

until any doubt as to the way to go is removed.

"All right, all right."

Now for an important phase: the music.

And this is going to be a lot of work. We're going to smoke quite a bit.

Some of the music is from the international classical repertoire

and had to be recorded especially for the film.

The media is poor, from the time of our grandparents,

but when you have willpower, everything can be achieved.

Following the story, and based on the music

Anelio prepares, and many times enhances, details of the sequence

without losing, however, the folkloric character of the story.

New music is worked on with the same process.

In the main sketches the measures are annotated in the margin in a very special way.

These will serve as a guide for the scenes to be developed.

And so we continue this delicate and meticulous work,

the preparation of which was entirely controlled by the music.

Finally the planning guided by the music was concluded.

Although this work is of great importance for the cartoon,

it is almost nothing compared to what still has to be done.

What we see now are hundreds of sketches that were studied without narration.

They represent various animals with all their characteristics and movements,

and their habits were noted and catalogued separately.

All this information is necessary, says Anelio,

so that new sketches can be sketched with absolute certainty.

Now the scenes are drawn definitively

from the planning and its regulated work.

The most insignificant gestures cannot be treated with indifference,

as well as the point of view of the action.

In the sketch painting, the old sketches are drawn

in accordance with the new ones for a final examination.

And one more task was completed.

Now a very important phase of the production: synchronization.

The characters must move to the rhythm of the music,

and for that Anelio must invent

the synchronization sheets in a very complicated way.

Based on the score, the bars with their values

are thrown on the sheets.

The musical terms are transformed into numbers.

And as the speed of the movement of the action

must fit correctly the musical space,

each movement of the character

is calculated together with the correspondence to the musical phase.

And it is only after all the music is calculated that Anelio can begin the animation.

This crowd will be intertwined in a short time.

The whole team of actors and actresses of the studio were ready,

each one waiting for the moment to enter the stage.

Now the most important part of the drawing, the animation.

The scenes are being animated

and it is only now that the characters are acquiring life and movement.

This phase is what will make of the film a success or a failiure.

Each finished animation is foliated,

in order to verify the naturalness of the movement.

And the work continues, sometimes in a curious way,

like this one we are going to see here.

You can walk.

Now.

Not yet? Soon.

How come, he doesn't move?

That's it.

Retouch on the drawing.

See.

There are thousands of drawings for these seemingly insignificant movements.

Days, months, years go by,

and the task continues, always increasing the number of drawings.

Drawings and more drawings.

It is necessary to work quickly.

Anelio Latíni is representing there

the 400 cartoonists normally used

in films from other countries.

The number of drawings is always growing.

More, and more, and more, and the years go by.

These were the drawings used in animation.

And if we check all the drawings made for the film,

it's close to a grand total of 500,000 drawings,

with an extension of 180 kilometers if they were joined one to the other,

and weighing a total of 2640 kilos,

or two tons and 640 kilos.

The film is now in its final stages:

the preparation of the sets,

a task that requires a lot of taste and creative power,

whose combination of tones studied beforehand

must be applied properly.

Beautiful Amazonian drawings. Hundreds, thousands of them were made.

This is a process unique to Anelio,

whose special inks, when applied and photographed,

will give the backgrounds a dimensional value and real nuances.

The number of scenes painted

to meet the needs of the story

totaled 500.

In this penultimate phase, all the drawings of the animation

are again skilfully and firmly copied

to the celluloid plates.

In the final stage each frame of the film is composed of the background, the base of the figure,

the foreground, and finally the moving part.

The glass sheet descends and compresses the celluloid.

This process is always repeated in each frame of the film.

Now, gentlemen, Anelio Latíni is finally going to see the result of his work,

and so will we here, in the auditorium.

Once upon a time there was the most beautiful jungle over the most beautiful sky

and on the most beautiful plain in the world.

Nature was still waiting for the birds and other animals.

Amazonia had just been created.

Languages and myths populated its distant past.

Mystery surrounds every corner of the Amazonian landscape,

and in every majestic tree that stands silently towards the sky

there is a hope for nests.

The earth is still wet

for it emerged from the bottom of the waters like a spherical miracle.

The landscape of the Amazon is a legendary poem

written by nature itself

and has in its grandeur a symphonic resonance of rhythms never heard before.

Amazonian symphony,

symphony of the primitive legends

of remote myths,

of the undecipherable mysteries

and of unforgettable enchantments.

This is an Amazonian world,

an unknown world but full of beauties and almost intangible facts.

The Amazon is the Sleeping Beauty of Brazilian legends,

sleeping on the banks of the most majestic river in the universe.

The landscape itself describes the legends and the fear of primitive anguish.

The beauty, meanwhile, accompanies us to that privileged valley

where the densest jungle of America blooms.

There are showers of flowers over the streams

and the leaves are dancing, and the perfume of unknown plants

carries all its scents to the rehearsal of the green magic of the jungle.

And there is sound, and there is rhythm, and there is cadence

and strange and grandiose harmony in that landscape.

It is the Amazonian symphony, pagan and divine,

in its infernal celestial grandeur.

The night was cocooned in a palm tree nut

at the bottom of the turbulent waters of the palace of the Great Cobra.

One day the son of the sun, a young tribal chief,

fell in love with the daughter of the Great Cobra,

a beautiful half-breed, and he wanted to marry her.

But the night had yet to come,

the sacred and propitious hour for love.

She reclaims the night that does not come.

There really is a scandal of light shining in the sky

and reflecting in the still waters of the stream.

It is necessary to send for the night,

that with its caressing shadow will surround the happy lovers.

The night, meanwhile, is said to be guarded by the Big Cobra,

in a palm nut.

The son of the sun had three faithful sl*ves,

and he is going to order the warriors to go to the palace of waters

and to bring from there the sought-after night

guarded by the Great Cobra, his future mother-in-law.

Go that way, warriors, and bring from wherever it is,

the night, the great night of warm dreams and gentle mysteries.

Over the stream that spreads in long arms through the jungle

with its retained and mirrored rain waters

glides the canoe at the impulse of the sure rowing

of the three warriors who executing the command

will bring the night to the son of the sun.

They advance with courage through the unknown

and possibly dangerous areas. Be careful, boys.

Ahead, 300 meters beyond,

there are horrible mysteries guarding the palace of the waters where Cobra Grande dwells.

Did you see? Those are the formless birds.

Only their anguished souls fly around in disarray scaring the jungle.

The situation is not good.

Bigger birds, seeing what's going on,

enter the scene scaring the smaller ones away.

It seems that they have received orders

to clear the way for the three warriors of the son of the sun.

Hello, brave ones! How's that?

So? Ah!

Come on, it is necessary to retake the road,

and to face, be that as it may, all the fears of the journey.

And so it goes again to the impulse of the paddles

the canoe of the warriors, faithful to the wishes of the son of the sun.

And finally...

the palace of the dead waters

where it dwells, guarding a secret and defending a heritage,

the gigantic and feared Big Cobra.

Everything is immense and huge.

Human eyes can not perceive in this palace of dead waters

where its foundations rest

and up to where its highest towers aim.

The bush there is frightening,

but the bush itself is the most frightened one there.

Inhabitants of the unknown kingdom of the Great Cobra

parade through the shady corners.

And suddenly the still waters of the gentle stream

stir in a strange ebullition.

On the crest of each ripple flashes a mystery.

She comes there, diving and diving, the sovereign of that kingdom approaches,

the sovereign Great Cobra,

from the mysterious depths of the deep waters.

The warriors who dared to advance through the frontiers of mystery

and to descend to the kingdom of such a powerful queen

will be punished, punished for the crime of invading,

with death, the punishment for invaders.

But the warrior proves to be a great diplomat,

and exaggeratedly explains:

"Your daughter, most excellent lady, loves our chief,

"and is eternally loved by him."

"They both ask you, most excellent lady,

"that Your Excellency, Your Highness, Your Majesty,

"send them the night for their love."

Knowing that this will bring happiness to her daughter,

the Great Cobra dives to the bottom of the waters

looking down there for the palm nut,

and resurfaces, bringing the marvelous nut,

wonderful, wonderful.

So, it looks like a nut just like the others, did you see?

But the cobra sternly warns:

"Do not open this palm nut.

"If you do, you will be mercilessly punished

"and things will be transformed,

"and souls will have a body

"and the world will be divided in two."

And the three distinguished warriors,

distinguished, huh?

return along the same path

carrying inside the palm nut

the night long awaited by the two lovers.

But, can there be such great complications

in such a small thing?

By the Holy Cross! What does that mean now?

They say that women are very curious,

meanwhile, certain brave little warriors

like to imitate women in this respect.

What could it be? What could it be like? What could happen?

They want to open the palm nut.

What are you going to do?

You fools!

Won't the others follow?

Another one.

Hey, don't open that palm nut.

You've already been warned by the boy's mother-in-law

that this... that this is dangerous, boy.

Maybe they're going to open the palm nut...

For sure,

we'll have to see.

What's going on?

And it's that from the bottom of that little palm tree nut

the night suddenly emerges

covering the canoe, the stream,

the bushes, and the infinite

with the mystery of the shadows,

and exactly as the Big Cobra forewarned

the liberated night begins to transform in the vast land

the appearance of things and the shape of creatures.

And thus were born the night and its mysteries.

And so was born the fauna of the Amazon.

Thus was born also for the lovers

the roof of the night full of shadows.

The first starry skies twinkled.

Their light reflected in the eyes of the first nocturnal birds.

And then the moon, big pearl of the space,

ascends to the sky by the infinite path of the stars.

According to the legend of the Indians,

which reflects a truth of positive science,

the light of the moon is a reflection of the sun, king of space,

so that the dark paths of the jungle are illuminated at night.

And the sweet shine of the moon

comes to awaken in its net

the beautiful half-breed.

She goes out in search of her beloved.

And the first passionate of the moon poet emerges in the jungle.

He is the humble potoo, who every night will fall in love

with the unattainable bride.

She is indifferent to the potoo's pleas.

She continues to dream of her great and true love,

the sun.

Long, long ago,

the moon was the bride of the sun, who wanted to marry her.

But the truth is that such a union would be the end of the world.

The fiery love of the sun would scorch the earth

and make the waters evaporate.

They were then separated by God's determination,

the almighty,

the moon on one side, the sun on the other.

They never met again.

One sparkled for the day, the other guarded the night.

In that night, the earth contemplating the love of two young people,

the moon more than ever felt nostalgic for the sun

and the legend of the Indians reveals that the moon,

wounded and naked, began to weep.

Her tears were falling in a row, in a row,

into the still waters of the stream.

Seeing from afar his well-beloved in tears,

also the passionate potoo cries.

And the tears of the moon and of the poet potoo

made the waters of the stream

grow in volume and heat.

And growing, growing, the tears run through the mountains,

and to continue, fleeing to the bottom of the sea.

It was thus, from the cry of the moon and the cry of the potoo,

that the Amazon was born, the river of wonders,

whose waters reflect the grandest landscape in the world

and which carry the most beautiful wild poetry of all time

in the magic of the water, mirror of the moon.

The Amazon female warriors thus won

the one which one day was the sun's bride.

Every night, meanwhile,

there is always a dreamer potoo falling in love with the Amazon moon.

There is always a desperate potoo

trying to fly towards infinity

seeking to reach the unreachable lover.

On this beautiful morning, we will find him chasing a very ferocious animal.

Ah, it's Boy, always on the hunt for adventure!

But it looks like this time he's going to lose the chase.

Come in here, Boy.

So, nothing? Patience.

Another pray will show up in no time.

What? You're not going to tell me you're going to hunt a bug with legs that size.

No way, this bug is for me.

Listen, the bug has huge legs, Boy.

You're in for a dangerous adventure. Watch out.

Careful.

Boy! Run away, run away quickly!

That's it!

Just like that, where are you going with all that speed, kid?

I'm going far away.

And there he is getting ready for new adventures.

He's going to jump to that water lily.

Careful, because in that corner of the river dwells a dolphin, which is a very ugly critter.

And he's going to make your jump... No, he got it.

Happy, huh?

Happy for now, because soon a dolphin appears and...

Hello, Boy. Come with me, let's go for a ride down the river.

Hey, Kid, here comes the Japu [oropendola].

Japu... what a funny beak you have!

Who, me? Don't you know why I have a beak like that?

-No, I don't.
-Oh, I'll tell you.

In the old days there was no fire on earth.

At that time, Boy, the grandfather of this bird was a warrior of a brave tribe.

Those were good times.

No good thing lasts forever.

One day the witch doctor gathered the tribe and announced:

Japu, our brave warrior,

is going to steal the fire of the cobra Boitatá that is in the sky.

When I see the storm, I will leave.

I stole the fire and gave it to the witch doctor,

but I was left with my face all burned.

That night, the witch doctor summoned the tribe to pay homage to the sacred fire.

Only I, only I was sad.

Very sad.

And when the moon was born big in the sky

the feast began.

At dawn the next morning I fled into the jungle

taking with me the memory of that day.

Far away, in the heart of the jungle, I sat on a piece of wood.

Suddenly, suddenly I felt something.

I felt something.

God, the supreme God with pity for me,

had transformed me into a bird.

And that's why I have a beak the color of fire.

But he was happy, very happy.

To the point of starting a family.

Well, now goodbye, my friends, goodbye.

Hide, Child.

*

Who is it, dolphin?

It's the turtle playing flute on the panther's bed.

And a monkey is dancing wearing her skin.
-The panther's?

The other day the turtle hit the panther, gave the skin to the monkey and ended up with the tibia to make the flute for that tune.

It's the panther, critters.

Did she ever manage to hit the turtle, my Dolphin?

She never hits him, kid, the turtle is an expert as only she can be.

It is here that she lives.
-Who?

It's Iara, the goddess of the waters.

Come on, let's go.

Let's get closer.

On that beautiful morning the Great Cobra will emerge from the bosom of the waters and growing, always growing towards the sky, it will transform itself into the serpent of the seven colors, the rainbow.

And in the jungle, all the animals, united and submissive, will run attracted towards the margin of the great river, stopping, petrified, in front of the great spectacle. It is an apotheosis of the Amazon.
Boy, saying goodbye to the little bugs, will be carried away by the dolphin, far, far away...

The end.