For Release: 2008-03-10 10:55:00
Great Performances presents the 2008 Academy Award winner for Best Animated Short Film, “Peter and the Wolf,” on Wednesday, March 26 at 8/7 p.m. CT on KET2 and KET HD and Sunday, March 30 at 6/5 p.m. CT on KET2.Suzie Templeton’s animated version of Sergei Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf features the latest technology in stop-motion animation in a classic tale of how little boys can find extraordinary courage.
In Templeton’s version of the story, Peter shares a ramshackle house with his testy grandfather. The nearby town where Peter encounters the Hunter, an adolescent bully in combat gear, is equally drab. But the animals, particularly the Duck and Cat, prove to be belly-laugh scene-stealers.
Originally composed in 1936, Prokofiev’s beloved score uses personified instruments in the orchestra to tell the story of the young hero and his animal friends: the Duck, the Bird and the mischievous Cat (represented by oboe, flute and clarinet, respectively). How Peter captures the story’s predator forms the crux of the narrative, which in Templeton’s interpretation gets a few new twists and even a hint of young romance.
The puppets, created at the famous Se-ma-for animation studio in Lodz, Poland, were produced in silicone molds and have internal steel skeletons made of rods and ball-and-socket joints. “Movement” was created by meticulously adjusting each figure frame by frame for the camera. These techniques are featured in the behind-the-scenes documentary segment that concludes the program.
Great Performances “Peter and the Wolf” is a production of WNET/New York. More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.
Contact: Amanda Stroud
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