This one is just too good to not write something about. It is a project aimed at getting children interested in classical music, and it stars Brian Blessed, the Hawkman Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon (1980). They are looking to make a graphic novel to accompany the audio program they already have on CD, so kids can follow along and to help spark their imagination. The whole thing is set to the classical music composition Scheherazade by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov.
Sheherazade, or The Princess, the Pirate and the Baboon! also stars Rory Bremner and was independently produced and released as the first of Grandma Dingley’s Ingeniously Musical Tales in 2011. This seems like a lot of fun, and anything that gets kids interested in music gets my vote. Here’s a clip from youtube:
You can read more about the project HERE and HERE.
Entertaining kids today is almost a prerequisite to learning, there’s just too many electronic devices throwing ‘fun’ but non-educational media at our children. Sure, it’s fun and that is good. But to compete with Lego Indiana Jones or Harry Potter, you have to be entertaining. This off-beat comedy has gotten a lot of great reviews and has reminded me of an experience I had when I was younger that involved classical music. The experience led me to search out more music. It made an impact, and that is why it seems to me that this is a great idea.
It was when the movie The Last Starfighter came out, and I was allowed to go see it by myself; the first time my parents let me go to the theater alone. It turned out that the movie was part of a double feature, and I was going to have to sit through the first movie. I was bummed, this first movie was something I had never heard of, some movie called..Amadeus.
If your smiling right now, then you can imagine my shock at showing up to see a sci-fi popcorn flick and getting introduced to Mozart and F. Murray Abraham. It made an impact. I remembered that. Perhaps Sheherazade will be like that for this generation.You can find out more at their Kickstarter page, including a few art clips from the project like this one.
Sheherazade art by Faye Simms
Now, Brian Blessed.
Did you know he climbed Mt. Everest three times (not to the summit though), has made it to the magnetic North Pole, and he also goes on expeditions into jungles and stuff? (Thank you wikipedia) I wonder if his favorite beverage is Dos Equis? He sounds a bit like the U.K.’s version of Chuck Norris.
And he’s funny, too. In response to his fans wishes he recorded his voice to be added to the TomTom GPS devices. How cool is that?!?
And then there’s this:
More on Mr. Blessed in the future I think.
