Although it is top-heavy with live-action staples like Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind and The Marx Brothers’ war satire Duck Soup, as well as sublime silents like Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and Buster Keaton’s Steamboat Bill, Jr., Movie Camp is also rolling out the red carpet for epochal animated films like Fleischer Studios’ ill-fated 1941 effort Mr. Bug Goes to Town.
Movie Camp will also skew technical, with Joyce and Oldenburg providing insights into the filmmaking process for budding auteurs looking to move beyond the viewing experience. The famed artists will probably remind everyone watching (and learning) that Mr. Bug Goes to Town unfortunately premiered two days before the attack on Pearl Harbor, or that the perhaps accidentally disturbing 1963 bicycle safety short One Got Fat was narrated by Fractured Fairy Tales star Everett Edward Horton and has been extensively sampled in contemporary videos from greats like Boards of Canada and Primus.
TCM’s goal with Movie Camp is to bring some new eyeballs to these old films and shorts across platforms, including mobile apps where many millennials now consume their entertainment. Moonbot has created supplemental online video content and infographics that will accompany each episode on TCM and Moonbot’s social media accounts.
