Skip to main content

The Color of the Great Pumpkin

Support Provided By
peanuts2.jpg

The 1966 animation It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown had everything a Peanuts cartoon should have: cheery music, kid's humor, philosophy, the angst of Linus, the exploits of Snoopy and the officiousness of Lucy. According to LA-based animator Justin Hilden and his essay "Color Design in It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, however, it also made terrific use of color. In the images here, for example, we move from day to night, from cheerful pumpkin-picking to the moody hues of evening. "While we have been busy watching Linus wrestle his pumpkin homeward," Hilden writes, "the very air around the characters has changed and we can feel the coolness of night and a hint of the excitement that darkness will bring to Halloween." Hilden's essay gives readers a new way to enjoy the film and understand how it achieved its particular kind of emotional power. Thanks to Motionographer for the tip, and happy Halloween!

Support Provided By
Read More
Gray industrial towers and stacks rise up from behind the pitched roofs of warehouse buildings against a gray-blue sky, with a row of yellow-gold barrels with black lids lined up in the foreground to the right of a portable toilet.

California Isn't on Track To Meet Its Climate Change Mandates. It's Not Even Close.

According to the annual California Green Innovation Index released by Next 10 last week, California is off track from meeting its climate goals for the year 2030, as well as reaching carbon neutrality by 2045.
A row of cows stands in individual cages along a line of light-colored enclosures, placed along a dirt path under a blue sky dotted with white puffy clouds.

A Battle Is Underway Over California’s Lucrative Dairy Biogas Market

California is considering changes to a program that has incentivized dairy biogas, to transform methane emissions into a source of natural gas. Neighbors are pushing for an end to the subsidies because of its impact on air quality and possible water pollution.
A Black woman with long, black brains wears a black Chicago Bulls windbreaker jacket with red and white stripes as she stands at the top of a short staircase in a housing complex and rests her left hand on the metal railing. She smiles slightly while looking directly at the camera.

Los Angeles County Is Testing AI's Ability To Prevent Homelessness

In order to prevent people from becoming homeless before it happens, Los Angeles County officials are using artificial intelligence (AI) technology to predict who in the county is most likely to lose their housing. They would then step in to help those people with their rent, utility bills, car payments and more so they don't become unhoused.