Music and more with claudecat17 (aka Chris Davlin)!

People of a certain age probably know of Harry Nilsson. His life was a complicated and fascinating one, worthy of a trip to Wikipedia at the very least. There are documentaries too. He was a fascinating guy, innately talented but seemingly cursed in various ways.

A few of the more fascinating aspects of his life include his longtime friendships with everyone from John Lennon to game show host Bert Convy, and his reluctance to tour. He rarely did much of anything to bolster a career that stretched back to the early 1960’s, long before he became famous when his version of “Everybody’s Talkin’” , which he didn’t write (Fred Neil did) became a hit after being used in the film Midnight Cowboy. Nilsson had many high highs (in every sense), including Grammy awards, great critical and artistic success, fame and fortune. But also many low lows…

There’s the infamous “lost weekend” with Lennon, during which they were drunk and unruly for far longer than a few days, doing things like heckling those poor nice Smothers Brothers. His flat in London that was the scene of the deaths of both Mama Cass Elliot and Keith Moon. The embezzlement of his entire music fortune by a woman that would be set free after a mere two year prison sentence.

To say that Nilsson led an at once charmed and cursed life would be an understatement. Throughout all the ups and downs though, Nilsson did what he wanted, both personally and artistically. The Point!, first televised in 1971, was one of the ups, and probably my favorite thing he ever did. Ten year old me was entranced!

For those that may not recall, The Point! was an animated fable presented to the world as an ABC Movie of the Week, featuring music by Nilsson. His involvement didn’t end there however. In fact, the whole thing was his idea, conceived during an acid trip, as so many unique and timeless works of art were in those halcyon days of yore:

“I was on acid and I looked at the trees and I realized that they all came to points, and the little branches came to points, and the houses came to point. I thought, “Oh! Everything has a point, and if it doesn’t, then there’s a point to it.”

The fable is a captivating one, with themes of acceptance of those different than the rest, father/son bonding, even a touch of the Homeric, as the main character Oblio is cast out and set on a strange and ultimately revealing journey fraught with mystery and self-discovery. Just a nicely bizarre little tale that has a moral, told in a highly entertaining way, with Nilsson’s innocent yet weighty music guiding the viewer through the strange and surreal landscape and story.

The animation itself isn’t technically great. It’s of that limited, not too many frames per second variety that became the norm as theatrical cartoons died and TV took over. I blame Scooby motherfucking do for any love that crap gets, which is now quite a bit, what with aging hipsters and all.

What’s charming and really quite special however is the style of artwork used. It’s at once watercolory and cartoony, in a highly imaginative and surreal way. A few may recall those old Tootsie Pop ads with the owl, which look a lot like this style. Not too cute, not too overtly abstract (but close), and utterly perfect for the story being told. Even without Nilsson’s music it would be well worth viewing.

But the music really does put this over the top, providing familiar respite from the strangeness of the Pointless Forest and at times providing extra understanding of or empathy with the characters. “Me and My Arrow”, which was a fairly big hit song, is a fine way to further illustrate the important relationship between Oblio and his beloved pooch. Other times the music is less obviously story related, but it’s always welcome and cheery, making the bizarre and at times scary environs and characters found on their journey more whimsical.

My personal favorite among the musical interludes is “Think About Your Troubles”, heard as Oblio begins his forced exile from home and family. The theme of everything returning to elemental sources and being reborn is conveyed astonishingly well in the space of a few minutes of highly melodic and erudite pop song bliss. The perfect way to gird oneself for the questions and non-answers to come as Oblio and Arrow seek something they’re not even aware they’re looking for, maybe the meaning of it all, maybe nothing but adventure.

Other highlights include the bouncing trio of fat ladies, a nod to Homer’s sirens perhaps, though they symbolize joy more than anything else. The voice work is also quite good throughout, with Brady Bunch tot Mike Lookinland (Bobby) surprisingly good as Oblio, and veteran “man of a thousand voices” Paul Frees doing pretty much everyone else. Frees may be familiar to some as the voice of Boris Badenov on the old Bullwinkle show, and he did lots of work for Disney as well, plus lots of ads (he’s Cap’n Crunch!), and even a few Beatle voices on their old 60’s cartoon show – remember that? Sort of a latter day Mel Blanc, albeit slightly less talented and lower paid. Nobody beats Mel, even if he was a credit hog..

I should mention that The Point! relies heavily on the narrator/dad character, played originally by Dustin Hoffman – that’s what’s below. Later telecasts had others in the role, even Alan Thicke! The home video version that I have has Ringo Starr, and he does a fine job despite the illogic of having a dad with an English accent. Just adds to the odd charm overall, and recalls Yellow Submarine, which is in many ways the ancestor of this animated fable.

I was happy to find that The Point! is available in its entirety on YouTube, either the Ringo or Dustin Hoffman version, even the Thicke. Highly recommended, but at the very least I’d implore anyone with an interest in pop music to sample the soundtrack album, which itself includes some narrated bits. “Think About Your Troubles” alone is well worth the investment of time. In fact, I’ll include it here, as the clip includes the nicely illustrative animated sequence as well. The point here is that I love The Point!, and hope you will too, or at least the music.

I can’t recommend this enough, both the movie and the soundtrack. It’s something I watch every year, usually around the holidays. It helps me cope with a time of year that can be painful. The ads alone…