OBSCURE MEDIA #2: Klutz by Henrik Drescher (1996)

Obscureness Rating:

There are a few hardcover copies of this book on Amazon, but good luck finding people who actually heard of this book, as there aren’t that many people who read this book.

Media Type: Book

Recommended?: DEFINITELY YES!

Summary:

Louise was always a klutz since her family was klutzes since the dawn of time. Every day, the Klutz family would trip over themselves; even in their own house and everyone they passed by would call them “Lumpish Yokels.” One night however, the Klutz family met up with Professor Squirmworm’s Magic Circus Caravan (after they literally crashed into it) and Professor Squirmworm decided to make them into clowns!

I have been a huge fan of Henrik Drescher’s works for many years and I have read many of his books, which I enjoyed a good majority of them. One of his books that I had read many years ago was a bizarre yet fun little children’s book called “Klutz” that I automatically fell in love with!

What I loved about this book was the Klutz family itself as they are constantly shown tripping over themselves and crashing into things because of their immense clumsiness. I just found the premise of this book to be unique and entertaining as I rarely read children’s books that dealt with the main characters being clumsy and how that clumsiness was ingrained into their family history. But the best thing about this book is Henrik Drescher’s crazy and bizarre artwork. I just loved how Henrik Drescher drew the Klutz family as having long and wobbly limbs, while they wear large black boots. I also loved the mixed media aspect of the artwork as there are photos of real people and objects being pasted onto Henrik Drescher’s drawings, giving the artwork an even more chaotic feel.

Overall, while the artwork might be a bit too weird for some people, “Klutz” is definitely one of the most unique and bizarre children’s books ever made and if you are a huge fan of surreal children’s books, then “Klutz” is the book you should read!

Check out this awesome review on Klutz by Henrik Drescher!

The Circus is Where It’s At: Oddballs and Misfits in Henrik Drescher’s Klutz and Maira Kalman’s Roarr Calder’s Circus

OBSCURE MEDIA #1: Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night (1987)

Obscureness Rating:

Even though this is one of the lesser-known adaptations of the famous fairy tale, there are a couple things about this movie that prevented it from being completely forgotten about:

1. It’s based off a famous fairy tale (in this case, Pinocchio).
2. It’s made by the same company who did He-Man and She-Ra
3. It has an infamous transformation scene that many kids who grew up in the 1980s remembered very well.

Media Type: Movie

Recommended?: YES

Summary:

Pinocchio and his friends, a glow worm and a marionette, search for a magic music box, putting them in danger from the evil Scalawag and the Emperor of the Night.

I have watched many versions of Pinocchio over the years and the one that always stood out to me was Disney’s 1940 version of the classic fairy tale. It was the version that I grew up with the most as a child and the one that I think of the most when I think about Pinocchio in general. However, there was another version of Pinocchio that I grew up with and that was Filmation’s version of the classic fairy tale.

This film was really weird and intriguing at the same time as it featured Pinocchio trying to go to the Land of Dreams to get his father’s jewel box back after he disobeyed Geppetto early on in the film when he traded the music box for a fake jewel from Scalawag and Igor, when he was supposed to take the jewel box to the mayor. Once Pinocchio goes to the Land of Dreams, things get really weird with this movie, such as the Land of Dreams sequence itself and the Emperor of the Night himself. The film was also infamous for having a sequence where Pinocchio is turned into a puppet by the Emperor of the Night’s underling, Puppetino, as this scene was famous for scaring the pants off of any kid who grew up in the 1980s. It even gave Disney’s Pinocchio’s donkey transformation scene a run for its money.

Overall, while the plot of this movie is pretty much a rehash of the original fairy tale, I really liked the message of this film about the importance of freedom of choice and I like the fact that this was a darker and weirder version of the original fairy tale. I definitely recommend this movie to anyone who is interested in watching a Pinocchio film that’s underrated.