skippy the bush kangaroo: burnsin' down the park

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

burnsin' down the park

Skippy the Bush Kangaroo here, with a quick comment on the first installment of Ken Burn's new documentary showing this week on PBS, The National Parks: America's Greatest Idea.

Mrs. Skippy and I DVR'd Sunday's episode and watched it last night. Admitted conflict: We both looovvved the national parks! ~~At the end of this post~~ I'll list every park we've visited (see above). We personally think that the National Park system is indeed one of the best features our government offers its citizens.

As Burns' premise points out, the idea of setting aside land in this country for use specifically for public viewing and enjoyment is a brilliant one, and apparently, a uniquely American one. The first episode delves into not only this idea, but the mechanics of how this idea evolved in the government of the time (the time being the late 1800's), and the specific individuals responsible for promoting this incredible new paradigm.

Of course, John Muir was highlighted. But so were Stephen Mather, John Colter, Galen Clark and other men who promoted the idea of making parks for the enjoyment of the American public.

Also richly detailed in first episode: how the first two parks, Yosemite and Yellowstone, came into being (Yosemite's land was set aside first, as a state park, but Yellowstone was the first national park).

I'm not a huge fan of Ken Burns' approach. His documentary style has been described as Talking Heads, Slow Music and Old Letters, which I would not disagree with. While this reverential approach worked for something as tragically epic as the Civil War, it rather seemed to be exactly the opposite of what was needed for something as exciting as baseball or American jazz.

And that's a bit of the problem with the National Parks films. As I said before, my wife and I love the parks system, and visit at least one a year. Nothing's more exciting and enriching than exploring the great outdoors, hiking through nature and enjoying new countryside.

But Burns' films make it seem like we're going to church. Sure, there's a lot to be awed by and thankful for, and far be it from me to dissuade anyone from communing with their God through Nature, but there was a severe lack of fun missing from Episode One.

The Narrators of the films are not to blame, as the Voice Actors used read their copy with great skill. Mrs. Skippy and I correctly picked out Peter Coyote (as the Main Narrator), as well as the voices of Phillip Bosco and Tom Bodette. But we missed other famous Voices, such as Amy Madigan, Carolyn McCormick and Tom Hanks. I'll chock that up to those actors doing such a fine job relating the words that I didn't get stuck on whose voice was doing the work at the time.

But, the great thing about a movie about the Park System is that you can watch it with the sound turned down, and it would still be enthralling. Burns' cinematographer Buddy Squires captured some of the most beautiful images found in the Parks, and while the pace of the films sometimes seems as slow as the glaciers in Glacier Bay, the pictures are spectacular.

I'd suggest everyone either DVR this series, or wait till it's out on DVD. It can get to be kind of slow at times. But it's certainly worth watching, if only for the views.

posted by skippy at 10:42 PM |