The Wizard of Speed and Time
Encyclopedia
The Wizard of Speed and Time is a 1989 low-budget feature film
written, directed, and starring animator Mike Jittlov
, as well as a 1979 16 mm
short film, also by Jittlov.
costume runs throughout America at super speed, much like the superhero
The Flash
. Along the way, he gives a pretty girl a swift lift to another city, gives golden stars to other women who want a trip themselves. He then slips on a banana
peel and comically crashes into a film stage, which he then brings to life in magical ways.
Jittlov is a special effects technician, and produced all of the special effects in the film himself, many through stop motion
animation
.
This short film originally was shown as a segment of an episode of 'The Wonderful World of Disney'. The episode was called 'Major Effects', and was aired to coincide with the release of Disney's 'The Black Hole' in 1979.
The film segment then began to be shown at science fiction conventions around the country, gaining popularity, prompting Jittlov to eventually create a (semi) fictionalized account of how this short film came to be, in the form of a feature film.
), into a feature
-length 35 mm film. The feature version recounts the exploits of a special effects "wizard" (played by Jittlov) trying to fulfill his dream of making a full-length movie. The tricks of movie magic are exposed; but so are the tribulations of the independent moviemaker working around the heavily-unionized Hollywood film industry.
Many scenes in the movie turned out to be only too prophetic, according to Jittlov. In the film, a director, Lucky Straeker (Steve Brodie
), and a producer, Harvey Bookman (Richard Kaye), bet over whether Jittlov can actually complete a major effects assignment, and Bookman does everything in his power to thwart Jittlov.
The feature film is also filled with subliminal messages, many hidden in single frames during the "Wizard Run" sequence (which was remade and expanded from the original short film), or hidden in electrical sparks generated by various happenings in the film.
The feature film was filmed in 1983, released to theaters in 1989 (though it was never widely distributed), and was later released on VHS
and laserdisc
. Although there is no official DVD
release yet, Jittlov's fans have (with Jittlov's knowledge and at least tacit approval) created a DVD image file, and made it available for free on peer-to-peer
networks until such time as an official release is realized.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
written, directed, and starring animator Mike Jittlov
Mike Jittlov
Mike Jittlov is an American animator and the creator of short films and one feature length movie using forms of special effects animation, including stop-motion animation, rotoscoping, and pixilation...
, as well as a 1979 16 mm
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
short film, also by Jittlov.
1979 Short film
In the original short film, a young man in a green wizardMagician (fantasy)
A magician, mage, sorcerer, sorceress, wizard, enchanter, enchantress, thaumaturge or a person known under one of many other possible terms is someone who uses or practices magic that derives from supernatural or occult sources...
costume runs throughout America at super speed, much like the superhero
Superhero
A superhero is a type of stock character, possessing "extraordinary or superhuman powers", dedicated to protecting the public. Since the debut of the prototypical superhero Superman in 1938, stories of superheroes — ranging from brief episodic adventures to continuing years-long sagas —...
The Flash
Flash (comics)
The Flash is a name shared by several fictional comic book superheroes from the DC Comics universe. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in Flash Comics #1 ....
. Along the way, he gives a pretty girl a swift lift to another city, gives golden stars to other women who want a trip themselves. He then slips on a banana
Banana
Banana is the common name for herbaceous plants of the genus Musa and for the fruit they produce. Bananas come in a variety of sizes and colors when ripe, including yellow, purple, and red....
peel and comically crashes into a film stage, which he then brings to life in magical ways.
Jittlov is a special effects technician, and produced all of the special effects in the film himself, many through stop motion
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
animation
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
.
This short film originally was shown as a segment of an episode of 'The Wonderful World of Disney'. The episode was called 'Major Effects', and was aired to coincide with the release of Disney's 'The Black Hole' in 1979.
The film segment then began to be shown at science fiction conventions around the country, gaining popularity, prompting Jittlov to eventually create a (semi) fictionalized account of how this short film came to be, in the form of a feature film.
1989 Feature film
Years later, Jittlov was able to remake the short, as well as incorporate portions of some of his other short films (such as Time Tripper and AnimatoAnimato
Animato is a compilation of short films by Mike Jittlov, using extensive use of stop motion, pixilation, kinestasis, animation, and multiple exposures. It featured The Interview, Swing Shift, Rocketman, The Leap, Time Tripper, and Fashionation.It was screened at Filmex in 1977...
), into a feature
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
-length 35 mm film. The feature version recounts the exploits of a special effects "wizard" (played by Jittlov) trying to fulfill his dream of making a full-length movie. The tricks of movie magic are exposed; but so are the tribulations of the independent moviemaker working around the heavily-unionized Hollywood film industry.
Straeker: There are your film cans, but you can't move them.
Jittlov: Why? Are they stuck to the floor?
Straeker: No, to the system!
Many scenes in the movie turned out to be only too prophetic, according to Jittlov. In the film, a director, Lucky Straeker (Steve Brodie
Steve Brodie (actor)
Steve Brodie was an American movie and television actor.Born John Stevenson in El Dorado, Kansas, he took his screen name from the Steve Brodie who claimed that he jumped from the Brooklyn Bridge in 1886 and survived...
), and a producer, Harvey Bookman (Richard Kaye), bet over whether Jittlov can actually complete a major effects assignment, and Bookman does everything in his power to thwart Jittlov.
The feature film is also filled with subliminal messages, many hidden in single frames during the "Wizard Run" sequence (which was remade and expanded from the original short film), or hidden in electrical sparks generated by various happenings in the film.
The feature film was filmed in 1983, released to theaters in 1989 (though it was never widely distributed), and was later released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
and laserdisc
Laserdisc
LaserDisc was a home video format and the first commercial optical disc storage medium. Initially licensed, sold, and marketed as MCA DiscoVision in North America in 1978, the technology was previously referred to interally as Optical Videodisc System, Reflective Optical Videodisc, Laser Optical...
. Although there is no official DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
release yet, Jittlov's fans have (with Jittlov's knowledge and at least tacit approval) created a DVD image file, and made it available for free on peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer
Peer-to-peer computing or networking is a distributed application architecture that partitions tasks or workloads among peers. Peers are equally privileged, equipotent participants in the application...
networks until such time as an official release is realized.
- The two "real" police characters played by Philip Michael ThomasPhilip Michael ThomasPhilip Michael Thomas is an American actor. Thomas's most famous role is that of detective Ricardo Tubbs on the hit 1980s TV series Miami Vice. His first notable roles were in Coonskin and opposite Irene Cara in the 1976 film Sparkle...
and Lynda Aldon are named Mickey (Polanko) and Minnie (Smith), respectively, in the film and the police dog's name is Pluto. - Two characters are given names related to cigarettes: Lucky StraekerLucky StrikeLucky Strike is a brand of cigarette owned by the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and British American Tobacco groups. Often referred to as "Luckies", Lucky Strike was the top selling cigarette in the United States during the 1930s.- History :...
, Bookman's director and Dora Belair, an assistant to a competing show's producer. - Jittlov's mother and brother appear as themselves.
- A special birthday song, "Merry Birthday To You" http://web.archive.org/web/19980416000846/http://wosat.remulak.net/lyrix-bd, was composed to avoid potential licensing issues for the traditional "Happy Birthday to YouHappy Birthday to You"Happy Birthday to You", also known more simply as "Happy Birthday", is a song that is traditionally sung to celebrate the anniversary of a person's birth...
". - Some parts of "The Wizard's Run" have been changed, mostly reflecting Paige Moore's starring role.
- In the stunt driving shots from the car-chase scene, the Pluto, the police dog in the back seat, was played by Jittlov wearing a coat over his head.
- As shown in the film, Mike Jittlov has an aversion to shaking hands.
- Actor Philip Michael Thomas was asked by television producers if he had ever played a police officer, and he replied "Yes, I was a cop in a feature film." ... this led to his being cast in "Miami ViceMiami ViceMiami Vice is an American television series produced by Michael Mann for NBC. The series starred Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas as two Metro-Dade Police Department detectives working undercover in Miami. It ran for five seasons on NBC from 1984–1989...
". - Cameos in the film include science fiction and film industry personalities (Forrest J. Ackerman, Angelique PettyjohnAngelique PettyjohnAngelique Pettyjohn was an American actress and burlesque queen. She is best known in show business for her appearance as the drill thrall Shahna in the Star Trek episode, "The Gamesters of Triskelion".-Biography:...
, Ward KimballWard KimballWard Walrath Kimball was an animator for the Walt Disney Studios. He was one of Walt Disney's team of animators known as Disney's Nine Old Men.-Career:...
, Will RyanWill RyanWill Ryan is an American voice actor and producer–writer–composer, well-known for singing about the American West. In the late seventies he teamed up with Phil Baron as Willio and Phillio. They had regular gigs on television, radio and comedy clubs and universities throughout the US...
), as well as actual "Big Name" stars (composer John MassariJohn MassariJohn Massari is an American composer and sound designer. He is perhaps best known for scoring such films as the 1988 cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Mike Jittlov's The Wizard of Speed and Time, his theme to The Wonderful World of Disney, and creating the sound design for Lady Gaga's...
, a pre-"Miami Vice" Philip Michael Thomas). The only "lookalike" used in the film was a Woody Allen impersonator who appears in two scenes when Mike is being chased by the Keystone Cops through the studio lot. - Several subliminals are embedded throughout the film
- The poster for the film was done by artist Kelly Freas, who put a number of subliminal images into the painting; Freas also printed the faux film titles seen on the producers' bulletin board.
- The fans in the climactic theater scene provided their own costumes.
- The opening credits read "Directed By The Man In The Green Jacket". Mike Jittlov wears a green jacket throughout the film.
- The scenes where Mike speaks to the Union representatives were all shot at the same desk in the same room, with veteran voice-overVoice-overVoice-over is a production technique where a voice which is not part of the narrative is used in a radio, television production, filmmaking, theatre, or other presentations...
artist Will Ryan playing all the representatives. The film union seal shows a vulture with a twisted strip of film in its talons. - Cinematographer Russell Carpenter would go on to work on such films as The Lawnmower Man, The Indian in the CupboardThe Indian in the Cupboard (film)The Indian in the Cupboard is a 1995 American fantasy film based on the children's book of the same name by Lynne Reid Banks. The story is about a boy who receives a cupboard as a gift on his ninth birthday...
, TitanicTitanic (1997 film)Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
, Charlie's AngelsCharlie's Angels (film)Charlie's Angels is a 2000 American action comedy film directed by McG, starring Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, and Lucy Liu as three women working for a private investigation agency...
(and the sequel Charlie's Angels: Full ThrottleCharlie's Angels: Full ThrottleCharlie's Angels: Full Throttle is a 2003 American action comedy film. It is the sequel to 2000's Charlie's Angels. It opened in the United States on June 27, 2003, and was number one at the box office for that weekend and made a worldwide total of $259.2 million.The cast again includes Cameron...
), Shallow HalShallow HalShallow Hal is a 2001 romantic comedy film starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Jack Black, and Jason Alexander. It was directed by the Farrelly Brothers and filmed in and around Charlotte, North Carolina as well as Sterling and Princeton, Massachusetts at Wachusett Mountain.- Plot :Hal Larson is a...
and Monster-in-LawMonster-in-LawMonster-in-Law is a 2005 romantic comedy film directed by Robert Luketic and starring Jennifer Lopez, Jane Fonda, Michael Vartan and Wanda Sykes. It marks a return to cinema for Fonda, being her first film in 15 years after Stanley & Iris. The screenplay is written by Anya Kochoff...
. - Composer John MassariJohn MassariJohn Massari is an American composer and sound designer. He is perhaps best known for scoring such films as the 1988 cult classic Killer Klowns from Outer Space, Mike Jittlov's The Wizard of Speed and Time, his theme to The Wonderful World of Disney, and creating the sound design for Lady Gaga's...
would go on to work on such films as Killer Klowns From Outer SpaceKiller Klowns from Outer SpaceKiller Klowns From Outer Space is a 1988 American comedy horror movie, made by The Chiodo Brothers and starring Grant Cramer. It is the only Chiodo Brothers' directed and written film – they have worked in many other projects in other roles, such as producing and visual effects...
, Skeletons, Retro Puppet MasterRetro Puppet MasterRetro Puppet Master is a 1999 horror film written by Charles Band, Benjamin Carr and David Schmoeller, and directed by David DeCoteau...
and such television shows as POV Murder and Prison Break: Proof of Innocence. - The film's musical score that plays during "the Wizard's Run" was recently used in a trailer for the Toy Story 3Toy Story 3Toy Story 3 is a 2010 American 3D computer-animated comedy-adventure film, and the third installment in the Toy Story series. It was produced by Pixar and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It was directed by Lee Unkrich. The film was released worldwide from June through October in Disney Digital...
videogame. - The Flash's around-the-world run in the Justice League UnlimitedJustice League UnlimitedJustice League Unlimited is an American animated television series that was produced by Warner Bros. Animation and aired on Cartoon Network. Featuring a wide array of superheroes from the DC Comics universe, and specifically based on the Justice League superhero team, it is a direct sequel to the...
episode "Divided We Fall" is a pretty clear homageHomageHomage is a show or demonstration of respect or dedication to someone or something, sometimes by simple declaration but often by some more oblique reference, artistic or poetic....
to "The Wizard's Run". - A Spanish language dubbed version was released onto VHS under the title El Mago De La Velocidad Y El Tiempo.