I’ve done a lot of posts on unanswered questions. But now I am doing the opposite.

Below are the answered questions I have about movies in general. I also include my reactions to them.

Note that the questions do not center around specific films. They only focus on overviews.

This is also the first post where I don’t include any opinions.

1: Why were musical films popular in the 20th century?

Because the arrival of sound in movies made it possible for singing to be heard. Musical films also provided escapism from tough times, such as the Great Depression and WWII.

In addition, Broadway shows played roles in inspiring musical movies. Certain stars, such as Gene Kelly, got involved in them, thus attracted wider audiences.

I would never have imagined those being the reasons. But I do enjoy musicals. In fact, they’re among my favorite movies genres.

2: Why are there fewer stop-motion animated movies?

Because the process is extremely involved and takes up a lot of time. It is also more expensive than 2D and CG animation.

Stop-motion animation requires a puppet to be moved very carefully and realistically to be photographed. Since it takes longer than other forms of animation, not only does it lead to higher costs, but also more time needed.

For example, the British claymation film, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit took 5 years to complete using clay figures as the puppets.

To be honest, I am not surprised by this at all. Imagine having to move a puppet by very little and photograph it. There are bound to be lots of errors and frustrations, especially when trying to get them to move realistically.

3: Why are French characters often played by British actors?

There are severely reasons for this:

– The perceived “elegance” of British accents
– The historical connection between the UK and France
– Many British actors are available for casting.
– Production is based more in Britain. Therefore, finding local talent is more convenient.

I actually find this approach peculiar. I feel that it keeps French actors from getting the attention they deserve.

If filmmakers, at least, had non-French actors do French accents (authentic ones, not fake ones), I think it would make the movies more believable and even fairer to the French.

Conclusion

Even though this is a short post, it involves a lot of cool facts. Some of them surprised me. Some didn’t.

I hope you enjoyed learning the answers to the questions. If you have any thoughts, feel free to share them in the comments below.