Sally Cruikshank, Chocolate Cake and the Hanged Man

Chocolate cake and snakes???

"Quasi at the Quackadero, a throwback animal cartoon style features a cast of odd creatures visiting a psychedelic amusement park in a wild and strange tale. 
Cruikshank later created animation sequences for Sesame Street, 
the film Ruthless People (1986) and the Cartoon Land sequence in  
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) film, another truly strange exchange of visual ideas.
A precursor to the film, Sally created the characters Quasi & Anita in her first panel of the only comic strip she every published in 1975."
Sally Cruikshank

Sally Cruikshank

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus???

The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus

 I had never heard of Sally until the other day when I came across this post on Tristan's blog -
Quasi at the Quackadero and Make Me Psychic: Two Cartoons by Sally Cruikshank

My coffee mug

 I was amazed that Sally also did animation for Sesame Street.

 But what really struck me was how prophetic some of these early clips appear to be ... to me anyway.

 Quetzalcoatl of course being the "feathered serpent" of the 2012 legend.  

 Quetzalcoatl

2013 Year of the Snake

In the 'Above It All' clip at the 1:20 mark the flying serpent is flying over a football stadium that looks a similar to the  
Mercedes-Benz Superdome where the Ravens won the 2013 Superbowl.

Mercedes-Benz Superdome

 And in the Quasi clip right back up at the top of this post, at the 

3:40 mark we see buildings going down remarkably like this one -

 and these -

Fun on Mars

 The chocolate cake references 
(see 9 minute mark of Quasi at the Quackadero)
made me think of another psychedelic film clip of a song called Chocolate Cake.

There is also a theme running through all these films and clips I've been pointing out, the hanged man and suicides. 
While Leger didn't hang himself, he did kill himself whether it was accidental, or not.

"You can't have your cake
and eat it too" as they say

Paul Hester the drummer in the Chocolate Cake clip hung himself -
Crowded House drummer found dead 
David Carradine out of the movie Q the Winged Serpent hung himself, too.
Controversies after death

 Another Mayan legend is Ixtab 
Ixtab

"Ixtab (Mayan pronunciation: [iʃˈtaɓ]) or Rope Woman was the Yucatec Mayan goddess of suicide according to Diego de Landa. 
In Yucatec society, suicide, especially suicide by hanging, was under circumstances considered an honorable way to die. 
Ixtab would accompany such suicides to paradise  
(thus, playing the role of a psychopomp). 
Here, joined by people who died as soldiers or as sacrificial victims, by women who died in childbirth and by members of the priesthood, they enjoyed a delectable existence rewarded with delicious food and drink and resting under the shade of a pleasant tree, Yaxche, free from all want.

Mayan Gods. Maya

 The picture of a dead woman with a rope around the neck in the Dresden Codex is often taken to represent the goddess. 
Since it occurs in a section devoted to eclipses of sun and moon, it may have been used to symbolize a lunar eclipse and its dire consequences for women, especially pregnant ones: Lunar eclipses exposed their unborn children to the risks of deformation and death. 
No other pictures possibly representing Ixtab are known."

Animal Dreaming?

Look Both Ways

King Uke, if you're reading this post keep an eye out for the

uke playing goldfish rider in the above clip;-)

Sarah Watt 

(30 August 1958 – 4 November 2011)

Bundaberg and Bears

Blizzard Nemo???

Documenting Nemo: 

Personal Photos from New England

 Sally says about Nite Owl -
 "I heard this song on Bob Dylan's Theme Time Radio Show and just had to animate to it. 
The lyrics were a bit odd when I really listened to them, but the rhythm was a treat."

 I have a copy of the above CD and I saw Bob Dylan play the 
Byron Bay Bluesfest, where their mascot was a night owl.

Bob Dylan onstage at the Byron Bay Bluesfest

”But Dylan’s Not Dead” ”Oh ... Isn’t He?”

 I also wrote in the Dylan post about my shoes -
"Note: see all that mud?

It cost me a pair of shoes.
When I tried to pull my muddy shoes off, without undoing the laces, I ripped the sole off one, and ended up throwing them in the bin.
But they were my oldest pair, and I got some good mileage out of 'em ... even though their sole/soul departed on the night;- )"

A blogger named Raj who I  have followed off and on, has been putting a nightmarish cabaret series  together from old movie clips, which is a little darker than Sally's bizarre cabaret, but neither one would be entertaining to be in to me.
Midnight's Cabaret: SWEETEST DREAMS

Candilicious?

This photo and the one above
from last night at the temple

Hansel and Gretel

And the eight ball in the opening scene of Sally's cartoon has been an important archetype in my life, as well as a few other sync bloggers.

Andras Jones #88

http://thesyncbook.com/
author/Justin/page/2

 Sally says of the cartoon segment  above -
"You should see the beautiful cells that were painted for this

cartoon hell sequence in the movie TWILIGHT ZONE. 
The girl in the parochial school uniform is Nancy Cartwright, 
voice of Bart Simpson! 
This segment was directed by Joe Dante."

Harvey, Oswald, 

Australia Day and Rabbits

Dingo - The Trickster

Oswald the rabbit

Sally says about this one -
"A spooky story about Whinsey and opossums in an old hotel."
What???

Possum - Opportunity

 Sally says -
"I designed and directed these main titles in 1987. 
 They were done at Playhouse Pictures in Hollywood. 
A couple of years ago I was driving with the radio on, and I heard Mick Jagger talking about how he disliked them. 
He sings the title song. 
Hah!"

This post could probably go on for ever, so I'll end it with this last Sally Cruikshank animation, since it is the Year of the Snake.
 Sally says -
"An airport story I wrote long before "Snakes on a Plane." 
For fast readers only. 
This used to be on my site as gif animation, now set to music in Flash. 
With Anita, Whinsey, and Mr. Pickles."

Snakes on a Plane director David R Ellis 
    died January 7, 2013

Snakes On A Plane Sync