hetalia | Hetalia c. 1968... or 1853 or... something...

The map post a few pages down made me wonder why I hadn't shown y'all this amazing animation yet.

The charge of the Light Brigade is one of the most (in)famous military disasters from the 1800s, especially in the tactical mess that was the Crimean War. The fate of this company was the subject of a famous Tennyson poem and has been portrayed in several movies including one made in 1968 that starred Vanessa Redgrave and the now-late Sir John Gielgud.

I caught this on TV in May and it is a great film, even if it does play rather fast and loose with some historical facts. But the parts that reminded me of Hetalia were the animated clips inserted at intervals. They were drawn in the style of Punch magazine and represent the British Empire's fairly, er, empirical and jingoistic mindset in the mid-19th Century. Here, England, Turkey/The Ottoman Empire, Russia and France are represented as animals associated with each nation (a bear for Russia, a turkey for, well, Turkey hahaha so punny). The political satire and the historical detail just scream Hetalia to me.

Some kind soul has strung the clips together on youtube. They're very worth your time.

(Pay close attention and you'll see John Bull -- at least, I think it is he.)

ETA: Er, just to be clear, in case people thought otherwise, I didn't post this to say that I approved of British imperialism in the 18th Century, or that this footage does. It's pretty clear to me that, in keeping with its basis in the illustrations of Punch, that it's meant to satirize the empire's jingoism at the time.

And to make this a little more explicitly Hetalia-centric: What are some of your favorite pre-Hetalia personifications of nations, and what makes them resonate for you? I've always been very, very partial, for example, to Uncle Sam. And while she isn't a nation per se, I've always really liked Spencer's Britomart from his The Faerie Queene.

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That was entertaining to watch, (felt bad for Russia though, but what do I know :'D) but you may wanna attach some kind of hetalia discussion question, just so we all have something a bit more closer to the series to talk about :3

What a good idea :). I just did that. Thanks!

...Um. What just happened?! XD.

I think it all went strange when the Britain Lion walked on with those... bell-bottoms + jumpsuit ensemble...

And especially when Russia Bear was getting attacked by the British Bulldogs. ...That, um, yeah, that lost me XD.

It's hilarious but it so shouldn't be. x3

I have absolutely no idea why the lion is wearing what looks to me like a British Invasion rocker's outfit! I assume that's the only anachronism here (the movie being made in the late 60s)--and maybe even a deliberate one on the animator's part.

The bulldogs, as far as I know, are also symbols of Great Britain--but can any fans from England, North Ireland, Scotland or Whales correct me on this?

Honey, that is so unbelievably cute xD... *Cough* --> *Wales.

And since I am British I shall be one to confirm that yep~ Bulldogs are a symbol of Britain~

Oh shit. I totally knew how to spell that. Believe me! #^_^# ORZ

Can we pretend I was just channeling my inner America there and trying to make friends with Whales? ;)

HAHAHA. Why can I imagine that perfectly?

America: You have Whales in the UK?! Awesome!!
*Goes to visit*.
*Gets caught in the rain... and eaten by sheep*.

...

England: ...Wales, America. WALES.

I remember this film! Watching these animations always makes me feel tight in the stomach *shudders*. The cold, morbid feel of them could give me nightmares where horror movies fail to! One thing that should definitely be noted is that this film and it's animations are a dark and satirical criticism of war, and depictions of glory in the animations are in fact sarcastic contempt.

And gods, yes, that jumpsuit... it's... just... T^T

That they are, indeed.

How interesting that they scared you (hope I didn't give you nightmares by reposting them here ORZ). I'm a big fan of Punch from the time, so I thought they were really clever--and really inspiring for Crimean War-era fic.

Oh, hey, that's where the screenshots in my future textbook are from (Aren't I a good student? I didn't even look it up on my own... My future is bright.)! Richard Williams did some really great (and haunting) stuff, didn't he? Have you his take on A Christmas Carol? Because of weird copyright technicalities, you can only see it on the internet.

I couldn't help but think of "Francis" France rushing in to profit from the sidelines there.

LOL really? they're in your textbook?

And oh my GOD! NO! I didn't know Williams had done a Christmas Carol! That's my favorite story of all time. Where can I find it? Is it on youtube? Do you have a link?! :DDDD

Well, my textbook is The Animator's Survival Kit, after all (I'm going to start studying animation in the fall). It would be awesome if it was, you know, a history textbook.

Youtube to part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hA5T1G7rxg
Full on Google Video
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8817517652455175582#

I don't think the quality is too different either way. On the subject of A Christmas Carol, a few years ago around Christmas Jim Hill Media (http://jimhillmedia.com/default.aspx) started writing up summaries on just about every single adaptation of the story around, from the good to the horrible. That's how I found out about this one.

While we're talking about Richard Williams and mysterious screencaps in my textbook... have you seen this aftershave ad? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OALIUJ-yie0)

I am in love with this thing. xDDDDD
I'm proud to be a Brit now, our country has awesome personifications. A lion in a police helmet and jumpsuit and a magic bloke with huge eyebrows? xDDD ENGLAND ILU~

XD And the bulldogs, right?

I hope everyone saved my post (the map one), because it's been deleted D:

t_t maybe you could post it here as a comment?

Sure thing, here's the post:

Victorian Hetalia!

I recently saw an episode of the BBC's 'The Beauty of Maps', and when I saw this map I instantly thought "Hetalia!"
The images are so very Victorian, and I don't think Russia would like the way he's portrayed here...

This is the Serio-Comic War Map from 1877 by cartoonist Fred Rose.

(hope the image works)

[IMG]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c250/RGSaffron/02974v.jpg[/IMG]

(I did say the mods could delete if they thought if it was too OT but to be honest I'm not sure why historical Hetalia is considered off topic)

Even if you don't, could you email me a link to it? I'd like to look at it again.

Hetalia c. 1968... or 1853 or... something...

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