Apple's 1999 Superbowl Commercial

Apple lauched the Macintosh with Ridley Scott's influential 1984 spot during that year's Superbowl. Apple's follow up ad in 1985, Lemmings, proved so unpopular that they waited untill 1999, & the return of Steve Jobs to the fold, to run an another Superbowl spot featuring Hal-2000 from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY. The ad produced by the Chiat/Day agency, laid claim to the Mac's immunity to the Y2K bug.

BBC News 24 Report On The Death Of Stanley Kubrick

This is a BBC News 24 report on the death of Stanley Kubrick from the 8th of March 1999.

Kubrick And Kirby Part 2

The ongoing 2001 comic book series was already in the works when Kirby's film adaptation was released. The short lived 10 issue title, which ran from December 1976 to September 1977, was certainly far from the norm in mid-seventies comicdom as was it's two-fisted pugilist style from Kubrick's sedate story telling grandeur. As an official spin-off from Kubrick's master work it could be considered a failure but as an extension of Kirby's early seventies far-out world view, as seen previously in the Forever People, it was an admirable achievement. The tenuous links with the film had petered out by issue 8 with the introduction of the character Mister Machine, an obvious Marvel ploy to boast flagging sales. This character eventual became Machine Man with his own title in 1978, thus ensuring that 2001 & everything Kubrick created for his film became part of the on-going Marvel universe cannon. 'Nuff said!

Kubrick And Kirby

If ever there was a match made in bizarro world heaven it was the one that occurred in 1976 when Marvel Comics commissioned Jack Kirby to adapt 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY for their new tabloid sized comic book line. The 72 page adaptation was written & penciled by Kirby with inking duties carried out by Frank Giacoia. The almost 2 times larger than the regular comic-book format suited Kirby's outlandish pop style, but this was a great talent merely going through the motions. Kirby's script although based on the final film also drew on Clarke's novel & earlier drafts of the shooting script & pretty much eradicates the story of all it's non-verbal sense of spectacle & wonder.

Kubrick's official view of this travesty isn't on record but considering that upon completion of the film he had all models, sets, blueprints & most physical records of his achievement destroyed in order to prevent MGM re-using his designs ad infinitum, as they had done with FORBIDDEN PLANET, I think it's safe to assume that he wasn't impressed.

The hurt didn't end there, the publication of the Marvel Treasury Special was merely a forerunner to Marvel's ongoing 2001 series which launched in December of that year. Pictured here are the front & back covers of the Treasury Special & several pages of Kirby's original pencils.

The Lost Illustrations Of 2001 Part 2

In a post earlier today I mentioned that Kubrick hired two artists to document the making of 2001, the second artist was the then 25 year old Jan Parker. The above illustration was published in the Spring 1966 issue of SIGHT & SOUND to accompany an article by David Robinson on the then concurrently shooting FAHRENHEIT 451 & 2001. The release of the former beat 2001 by a good 17 months.

The picture below first appeared in Piers Bizonys 1994 book 2001 FILMING THE FUTURE. It astounds me that such intriguing & accomplished work has till now been seemingly disregarded.

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The Lost Illustrations Of 2001

It's now well known that from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY onwards Kubrick used frame blow ups from his films rather then on-set still photography to represent his movies. Capturing a still on set can be hindered with a multitude of obstacle's. Generally, unless the photographer has a silent housing for the camera, stills are taken during rehearsals or after the scene has been completed. In all cases this is not ideal, for one thing the stills camera will never be in the exact position that the film lens is in, surely the optimal position for lighting, performance etc. With a director as exacting as Kubrick this could only have been a disappointment to have his films consistently misrepresented in print.

Having successfully tackled the on-set photography on DR. STRANGELOVE with the deft choice of hiring the renowned Weegee for the task, Kubrick insisted on a new level of control & representation on 2001. 29 year old British illustrator Brian Sanders was one of two artists hired in 1966 to cover the shooting of 2001. With so many ground breaking technical achievements on show Kubrick may have felt that the artists pencil could be more easily controled. The work that the two artists produced was eventualy unused & remained unpublished until these few pieces were printed alongside an article in THE INDEPENDENT MAGAZINE on 20th January 2001.