Will Elder: The MAD Playboy of Art
a documentary work-in-progress
"Bill was the funniest artist MAD ever had" - Bill Gaines, MAD Founder
Will Elder: The MAD Playboy of Art is a documentary journey from the streets of the Bronx during the depression to laying the foundation of American comedy. With a Yiddish sensibility, a pen and a wickedly funny mind, Will Elder and the First Gang of Idiots pioneered the path on which all comedians followed. Irreverent, iconoclastic and hysterical, Elder put the madness in MAD. Will and his cohorts set the tone for the comedy we all enjoy in the 21st Century. The writers, producers and directors of The National Lampoon, Saturday Night Live, the Onion and movies like Airplane, Police Academy, Super Bad and so many more owe much to Will Elder and his brand of comic mayhem.
Fold-in genius Al Jaffee tells side-splitting stories from their childhood in the circumspect Bronx of the 1930s. Cartoonist Arnold Roth relates the craziness behind HUMBUG Magazine, TRUMP and Little Annie Fanny. Analysis of Will's career and art are offered by industry icons Art Spiegelman, Andy Kindler, Drew Friedman, Nick Meglin, Gary Groth, Charles Kochman, Paul Levitz , Arie Kaplan and many more. There are also interviews with Harvey Kurtzman and Bill Gaines from 1983 that add perspective to the legacy that is MAD and comedy in the last half of the 20th Century. Plus the art. The art. The unbelievable Will Elder art in stunning HD. Shot from the originals whenever possible.
Will Elder: The MAD Playboy of Art is in production now and will bring you all the tales of Meshugga Villy and how his youthful practical jokes and mayhem found their way onto the pages of some of the most influential comics and magazines of the last half of the 20th Century. And how his fundamentally Yiddish perspective went on to influence the generations of comedians that followed. This is a documentary not to be missed!
See a work-in-progress screening at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival - April 17 - April 25, 2010. The finished documentary is scheduled for general release - Fall 2010.
If you are interested in donating to the completion of this documentary or for more information contact:
gary@completemontage.com
Fold-in genius Al Jaffee tells side-splitting stories from their childhood in the circumspect Bronx of the 1930s. Cartoonist Arnold Roth relates the craziness behind HUMBUG Magazine, TRUMP and Little Annie Fanny. Analysis of Will's career and art are offered by industry icons Art Spiegelman, Andy Kindler, Drew Friedman, Nick Meglin, Gary Groth, Charles Kochman, Paul Levitz , Arie Kaplan and many more. There are also interviews with Harvey Kurtzman and Bill Gaines from 1983 that add perspective to the legacy that is MAD and comedy in the last half of the 20th Century. Plus the art. The art. The unbelievable Will Elder art in stunning HD. Shot from the originals whenever possible.
Will Elder: The MAD Playboy of Art is in production now and will bring you all the tales of Meshugga Villy and how his youthful practical jokes and mayhem found their way onto the pages of some of the most influential comics and magazines of the last half of the 20th Century. And how his fundamentally Yiddish perspective went on to influence the generations of comedians that followed. This is a documentary not to be missed!
See a work-in-progress screening at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival - April 17 - April 25, 2010. The finished documentary is scheduled for general release - Fall 2010.
If you are interested in donating to the completion of this documentary or for more information contact:
gary@completemontage.com
