My Next Novel

Yesterday, just as I was waking up, an idea popped into my head for a novel (or possible screenplay); in the years before WWII Hitler decides to start an animation studio in Germany to rival Disney's. The story would be told from the point of view of a young artist who, like most young artists, is anxious to establish himself in his career and completely oblivious to the fact that he is in service to something evil. Kind of like many artists working in studios have to stifle their own creativity in order to serve the needs of their employer.

Of course, this is a lot more difficult to stomach when the studio is turning out dreck, or when the show itself is great (eg. the Simpsons), but is based on the work of a non-artist (like Matt Groening). It was always kind of painful to me, during my short stint at Film Roman, to watch really talented artists having to draw those poorly designed characters. Even worse for "Beavis and Butthead" or "South Park", which lack even Groening's instinctive drawing skills. Fortunately, the top-tier artists usually find their way into jobs where their talents can really be put to use; still, it illustrates the screwed-up way our culture is more receptive to dreck than to quality stuff.

Getting back to the Nazi Disney idea, it seems probable that such a studio would start by producing an animated version of Wagner's "Ring" cycle. I can imagine Party bureaucrats insisting on an eight-hour film (just the way the clients at my last job demanded work of Disney quality on a sub-Flintstones budget). The self-infatuated head of the studio turns the film into a horrible mess, with Siegfried's horse offering wisecracks and Brunhilde's death being mourned by little birds and squirrels, a la "Snow White". Hitler is furious at the insult to his beloved Wagner and the whole enterprise grinds to a halt. Many years later, our protagonist, having emigrated to the U.S. after the war, has a heart attack and dies laughing while watching Chuck Jones' "What's Opera Doc".

Any Hollywood agents can contact me for the film rights at my email address. Nothing under six figures, please.