Todd Graham (comedian)
Todd Graham | |
|---|---|
 Bustin' Loose! Album Cover. Not an actual Stock Photo | |
| Born | Todd Graham August 27, 1965 Peterborough, Ontario, Canada |
| Alma mater | OCAD University |
| Occupations |
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| Years active | 1987–present |
| Website | idiotgallant |
Todd Graham is a Canadian comedian and filmmaker best known for creating the cult 1987 short film, Apocalypse Pooh, a bizarrely comedic mash-up of Disney's Winnie the Pooh and Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 Vietnam War epic Apocalypse Now.[1][2][3]
Life and career
[edit]Graham was born in Peterborough, Ontario, and attended OCAD University in Toronto.[4]
Graham has performed at the Winnipeg Comedy Festival,[5] JFL 42, and Just For Laughs. His debut album, Bustin' Loose!, was released on Comedy Records in 2019 and supported by a record store tour throughout Toronto.[6] Todd is part of Comedy Records' roster and was featured on the label's 10 Year Anniversary album.[7]
Accolades
[edit]His Just for Laughs: All Access show was nominated in 2017 for Best Taped Live Performance at the Canadian Comedy Awards.[8]
Film works
[edit]In 1987, Graham created the 8-minute[9] video Apocalypse Pooh, considered by many to be one of the earliest examples of a mashup video as it combines footage from Disney's Winnie the Pooh shorts (each directed by Wolfgang Reitherman, released between 1966 and 1977[9]) with audio from Francis Ford Coppola's 1979 film Apocalypse Now. At emphatic moments, the juxtaposition is reversed, with Coppola's images accompanying Reitherman's soundtrack.[9] He also made Blue Peanuts (a combination of the animated Peanuts specials and David Lynch's Blue Velvet) and Hey, It's the Anarchies (a mix of The Archies and The Sex Pistols).[10][2] While his video works went underappreciated at art schools in his own country, they were received better in the US to the point of being shown in New York City's The Kitchen.[2]
Reception and legacy of Apocalypse Pooh
[edit]Scott Mackenzie of CineAction wrote in 2007 that the film was exemplary of the new avant garde, "a potent synthesis of the radical politics of the 1960s and 1970s with character animation Hollywood cinema at its most surreal and uncanny" as a vehicle to examine the "horror and allure [of the Vietnam War] in mainstream cinema". He also noted that the film came at a time when "barriers between media were disintegrating" and called it "the godparent of today's mash-ups".[9] Ken Newman of Sight & Sound praised the film for being "brilliantly edited". The film is considered an underground cult movie whose reputation is based solely on the depth and scope of the bootleg video circuit.[11] A digitally remastered version was completed and released online by producer Brad Bell in 2010.[12]
See also
[edit]- Comedy Records
- List of Canadian stand-up comedians
- Bring Me the Head of Charlie Brown - 1986 animated student film by Jim Reardon similar in content and context
References
[edit]- ^ Apocalypse Pooh & 7 Other All-Time Great Fan-Made Movie Mashups - Screen Rant
- ^ a b c Todd Graham's Apocalypse Pooh in CBC Toronto 1991 Entertainment News Segment - Todd Graham on YouTube
- ^ Digitally Remastered Video of The Classic 1987 APOCALYPSE NOW and WINNIE THE POOH Mashup - GeekTyrant
- ^ Knipfel, Jim. "The Accidental Father of Mashup Culture: Jim Knipfel on Todd Graham and Apocalypse Pooh". The Believer. Las Vegas, Nevada: Black Mountain Institute. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ "Todd Graham". Winnipeg Comedy Festival. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ "Canadian Comedian Todd Graham Will Tour Record Stores to Promote New Vinyl". The Interrobang. 2019-06-26. Archived from the original on 2019-06-27. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ Chai, Daniel (2 September 2020). "An Oral History of 10 years of Comedy Records, home to K. Trevor Wilson, Arthur Simeon and more!". Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Archived from the original on 2021-01-01. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ "Nominations and Award Archives". Canadian Comedy Awards. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
- ^ a b c d Mackenzie, Scott (2007). "The Horror, Piglet, the horror". CineAction. No. 72. Toronto, Ontario. pp. 8–15. ProQuest 216888943.
- ^ Daily Grindhouse|MASTER OF THE MASH-UP: TALKING TO "APOCALYPSE POOH" DIRECTOR TODD GRAHAM
- ^ "The Bootleg Files: "Apocalypse Pooh"". Film Threat. 25 June 2004. Archived from the original on 2021-01-17. Retrieved 2021-01-17.
- ^ "A Digital Remastering of Todd Graham's Brilliant 1987 Winnie the Pooh Mashup with 'Apocalypse Now'". 3 December 2019.
External links
[edit]- The Horror, Piglet, the horror – Sample of 2007 critical analysis of Apocalypse Pooh at CineAction
- Apocalypse Pooh (1987) at the Internet Movie Database.
- The artist's official YouTube channel
