Animated Folktale: Kamishibai
'The Canary and the Headphones'
This project was created by Chute 7th and 8th graders with support from Mrs. Kushner and Carolyn Defrin of The Lookinglass Theatre. Students studied an ancient Japanese folktale called The Badger and Teapot which tells of a mischievous Badger who transforms himself into a teapot in order to enrich the life of an old and wise, but poor man from the village. This supernatural transformation eventually brings the old man adventures and riches, but along the way causes a bit of mayhem, as the children of the village try to steal this magical object from the old man.
Two of Ms. Kushner’s 7th grade classes worked to further develop a folktale they created called “The Canary and The Headphones” that a group from the Advanced 8th grade drama class started in their first week with Ms. Defrin. A handful of 7th graders wrote a more detailed story and recorded themselves speaking the text. This story has been made into a animated short film inspired by the ancient Japanese storytelling art form: KAMISHIBAI. This ‘paper play’ which uses drawings and narration has existed throughout much of Japan’s history, and became especially popular again in the 1920s and 30s during the depression as a cheap and accessible form of entertainment, often performed on the back of bicycles.
Then the two classes took photos of themselves performing the story and students used the same process as their Photoshop self-portraits to make themselves into cartoon characters and create backgrounds for each scene. The scenes and characters were animated frame by frame using Photoshop and iMovie.
Two of Ms. Kushner’s 7th grade classes worked to further develop a folktale they created called “The Canary and The Headphones” that a group from the Advanced 8th grade drama class started in their first week with Ms. Defrin. A handful of 7th graders wrote a more detailed story and recorded themselves speaking the text. This story has been made into a animated short film inspired by the ancient Japanese storytelling art form: KAMISHIBAI. This ‘paper play’ which uses drawings and narration has existed throughout much of Japan’s history, and became especially popular again in the 1920s and 30s during the depression as a cheap and accessible form of entertainment, often performed on the back of bicycles.
Then the two classes took photos of themselves performing the story and students used the same process as their Photoshop self-portraits to make themselves into cartoon characters and create backgrounds for each scene. The scenes and characters were animated frame by frame using Photoshop and iMovie.