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Reviews
The Year of the French (1982)
Music Sound Track by The Chieftains & RTE Orchestra
My late husband saw some or all of the series; alas, I saw none of it. However, he found a tape cassette produced in 1983 by Shanachie Records Corp., The Chieftains: The Year of the French© 5Shan-79036 (1 Hollywood Ave., Dalebrook Park, Ho-Ho-Kus, NJ 07423), which we have listened to so frequently, especially while traveling, that it's a wonder it still plays flawlessly. There are some vocals, background tavern noise, and the compelling beat of the theme song. It is also copyrighted by Paddy Maloney in the original recording: Radio Telefis Eirann, 1982.
We acquired many albums by The Chieftains; this is one of my favorites -- and I never saw the show!
Creature Comforts (1989)
Animals are "interviewed" about their quality of life in an British zoo
Creature Comforts (1989) sets a standard for "claymation," for animal welfare and animal rights issues, for integration of real life and animated action, and for subtle and outright funny humor. After finding it by chance on a PBS station in the early 1990s, I've tried to track it down, and was pleased to learn that a new version has been made, which I have yet to see.
Wherever Nick Park's figures appear -- be they animal, vegetable or mineral -- in advertising or movies, it's a sure bet that they'll be funny and memorable.
In Park's full-length films featuring Wallace and his dog, Grommit, he endowed these two "stars" with such mundane domesticity that, no matter what country the viewer calls home, we can relate to their comfortable behaviors, e.g. knitting (Grommit), cheese and crackers, reading the paper in the comfy chair. When the bizarre occurs, as it does with Wallace's inventions, we can imagine that we're all capable of such flights of fancy. The same is true in Creature Comforts. We've seen enough TV interviews and talking heads that this seems like another such program -- but funnier.