For those that remember the original tv series (based on the books, of course, which were in fact originally a radio play), you will remember the shockingly bad special effects (themselves outdone only by Tom Baker era Dr. Who effects in terms of sheer awful). The one exception to the BBC standard guy-in-a-bad-rubber-suit effects in terms of quality was the animation of the HHGG screens. I was shocked to find out that they were, in fact, all animated by hand.
I've seen a doc about this, can't find it online now. Here's a brief clip of an example:
I remember the original TV series mainly as being completely, utterly, awesome.
The effects weren't particularly sophisticated, but they fit well enough, and never detracted. You didn't really notice them.
This is more than just a good story distracting one from the visuals, I think; the effects guys did a pretty good job with their limited means, and often those primitive effects really managed to communicate the atmosphere and feeling intended. They did this much better than Dr Who's effects ever did, in my experience: With Dr Who, one almost always had the feeling "ok, this is some guys on a soundstage", but with HHGttG, often it somehow really did seem like they were stowed away on a Vogon spaceship. I'm not really sure how they managed to pull it off as well as they did, though I suppose even in the category of "low budget BBC SF efx" there's a range of budgets...
.. and the hand-drawn "computer" animations were great. Together with the incredible music, they were a real highlight.
There were some lowlights, of course; I remember the scenes on the Heart of Gold as being pretty bad.
[Watching your clip really brings back the memories of the complete bliss of watching that on TV way back when... just hearing the music sends chills down my spine... :]
(Biggest orig HHGG / Tom Baker era Dr. Who fan ever, here.)
Looking back, those effects were bad (like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uynMCvdkp0M#t=2m10s ), but I'll agree with you on this: back then, I never cared or noticed; the whole thing was just pure joy as far as I was concerned.
And in a way these effects just offset the glorious, labor of love animations.
Totally agree about the music. In fact I was just telling someone last night that Justice's "Civilization" always makes me think of the HHGG tv theme music (this comparison fell on deaf ears). One of the best ever intro tracks.
And the opening title sequence with the GOLD ASTRONAUT? Genius. A low budget effect but nicely executed. (for the uninitiated: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywKilWkX4jA )
You have swayed my opinion. I hereby revised my previous comment to confirm that these BBC folks really deserve a geek hero's medal for their work. I suspect you are right that it was often scrounging sets/etc. and it shaped my taste to this day. Much love to those unnamed fx teams.
"The world is a thing of utter inordinate complexity and richness and strangeness that is absolutely awesome. I mean the idea that such complexity can arise not only out of such simplicity, but probably absolutely out of nothing, is the most fabulous extraordinary idea. And once you get some kind of inkling of how that might have happened ' it's just wonderful. And . . . the opportunity to spend 70 or 80 years of your life in such a universe is time well spent as far as I am concerned"
- Douglas Adams on 'Break the Science Barrier with Richard Dawkins', Channel 4, Equinox Series, 1996
OCD/loyalist nitpick: His name is Douglas, not Doug. AFAIK, he did not use that nickname. Can someone please change the title from "Doug Adams' 61st birthday.." to "Douglas Adams' 61st birthday..."?
Pick up a tablet (Android!), connect it to Wikipedia and google's Translate service, and you're a few steps closer to Douglas Adams' universe than he had the opportunity to see. Wikipedia launched just a few months before his death.
He actually started a project along similar lines:
Even Douglas Adams couldn't foresee The Deletionists - people erasing parts of an encyclopaedia with nearly infinite space, because they're not worth knowing about. Or the "I undid your edit, because I don't believe you're right and I have a username, while you don't"-ists. In a way, we surpassed his vision by a large margin, though I don't doubt he always knew we would.
Clicking on the keypad displays different images; anyone worked out the others?
Here's an excerpt from the Guardian:
The doodle features many of the touchstones of Adams's popular writing.
It displays a cup of tea - a reference to one of his Dirk Gently detective novels, called The Long Dark Teatime of the Soul. It also shows a towel, an item Adams wrote was essential when travelling in space).
With a click of a lift door on the doodle, one of Adams's most enduring characters from the Hitchhiker novels, Marvin the paranoid android, is revealed.
There are many references to the Hitchhiker's Guide. With many clicks, some of Adams's best fictional inventions, including the Babel Fish, which can be inserted in your ear to translate any language, are on show.
The sequence of images that appear on the Guide are a reference to:
- The Babel Fish
- Earth's entry in the Guide - "Mostly Harmless"
- "There is an art to flying, or rather a knack. Its knack lies in learning to throw yourself at the ground and miss"
- The Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster - the effects of drinking which is "similar to having your brains smashed in by a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick."
- The Infinite Improbability Drive - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjbtZ4NgtdA
- The creation myth of the Jatravartid people of Viltvodle VI. They believe that the entire Universe was in fact sneezed out of the nose of a being known as the Great Green Arkleseizure
- Mankind are only the third most intelligent species on the planet. Dolphins are more intelligent than man, and mice are more intelligent than dolphins
- Towels are a hitchhiker's best friend
- Earth being demolished by Vogons
- The answer to Life, the Universe and Everything - 42, as calculated by Deep Thought
All of which comes from the Hitchhiker's Guide novels.
Douglas Adams is the only author I've come across who has used recursion in fiction.
"in short, all the paraphernalia common to all restaurants where little expense has been spared to give the impression that no expense has been spared."
Philip K Dick also did a kind of recursion in The Man in the High Castle, where in the story there is another story being written, which is basically the different version of the original story.
Michael Ende's The Neverending Story is quite self-referential. Actually, I think there are many examples of recursion in literature. Not that any of it takes away from Douglas Adams' genius.
I really liked this, except the fact that - for me - it was translated into Danish.
I have only read Douglas' works in English, and the phrase is "Don't Panic" - it's not "Undgå Panik", which is a lousy translation that literally means Avoid Panic.
The little screen can also show several things with very clever references - in fact I have not seen it repeat yet!
BBC series was so much better than the movie.
Hey Google - your earth is spinning in the wrong direction!
It's always left-to-right when it's facing north->south.
Several of those little screens are incorrect.
Unless maybe this is Earth2 and they screwed up the rotation or something.
I had to doublecheck. The only differences in Earth2 were the rarity of three-leaf clovers, peculiarly low sales of pecan-flavored ice cream, and an extra Tricia MacMillan.
I remember picking up "Salmon in Doubt" at the bookstore and reading the cover notes which referenced Adams's passing. I thought it was all meant to be a satire because I hadn't heard that Adams had actually died and he seemed too young. Even 61 is too young
I met him at a book signing at the Boulder Book Store in the mid 90's. He walked to the front of the audience, and said "I'm feeling a bit wobbly today. I was recently in Texas and asked my friend: What do you do for fun in Texas?"
At this point I thought he was going to say, "And we got really drunk." But he said "So we went shopping for cowboy boots." And he proudly showed us his boots.
I highly recommend The Salmon Of Doubt - half of the book is his collected essays and newspaper columns, and he had lots of fascinating ideas about technology, science, atheism and art.
I've seen a doc about this, can't find it online now. Here's a brief clip of an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uynMCvdkp0M#t=2m20s
By hand... Reverse-Skueomorphism before it was cool.