Korg 70,000 B.C. (1974) is a story about a Neanderthal family reckoning with a world it doesn't truly understood. Sometimes that world is terrifying, and sometimes it is wondrous.
The opening montage of this Hanna Barbera Saturday morning series does a strong job of expressing that premise.
The montage begins with a beautiful shot of the series' setting: pre-history.
Even the sun-light somehow looks prehistoric here. The imagery (of an unspoiled valley and the mountains beyond...) is bathed in bronze, and we get the impression, perhaps of sepia-tone, of a world long gone.
On the soundtrack, a primitive horn bellows, and again, the viewer is drawn back to another time, another place. This is not our world; but the world that gave rise to our beginnings.
The series' title card emerges, growing larger on the screen, next, informing the audience when in history the series occurs.
In the next grouping of images, we meet Korg and his family. Significantly, we encounter this group for the first time as it ascends a lofty summit.
The family reaches the top of a mountain, and the individuals look around...in awe of what they see.
Once more, this idea explores the primary conceit of the series: that Neanderthal Man attempted to reach the highest frontiers of his world sought to discover what lay beyond it. Sometimes these individuals saw amazing things; other times they met horrors that made them want to hide in their cave.
A frontier, in this case, might mean knowledge. These individuals were climbing, simply, towards increased knowledge, to a better and deeper understanding of the world.
The family reaches the top of a mountain, and the individuals look around...in awe of what they see.
Once more, this idea explores the primary conceit of the series: that Neanderthal Man attempted to reach the highest frontiers of his world sought to discover what lay beyond it. Sometimes these individuals saw amazing things; other times they met horrors that made them want to hide in their cave.
A frontier, in this case, might mean knowledge. These individuals were climbing, simply, towards increased knowledge, to a better and deeper understanding of the world.
If Korg can be said to concern something other than reckoning with knowledge, with attaining the metaphorical summit, the topic would be family.
As we see in the series, the family sticks together -- through thick and thin -- no matter the circumstances. As we meet the actors in the next few shots, we also meet the characters they play. We become acquainted with the family.
We go, pretty much, from biggest to smallest, from adult to child.
As we see in the series, the family sticks together -- through thick and thin -- no matter the circumstances. As we meet the actors in the next few shots, we also meet the characters they play. We become acquainted with the family.
We go, pretty much, from biggest to smallest, from adult to child.
The final run of images in Korg's introductory montage reveal, once more, the dangers of the Neanderthal world. The hunters of Korg's time had to contend with predators and wild animals, for example.
The next few shots reveal other hazards of the prehistoric Earth.
We see a rock-fall, or Earthquake, and a member of the family is drawn away on a rough river current.
But the montage ends, appropriately, on family; on the hearth. At the end of the day -- after all the threats to survival -- the family ends up together around the fire, strengthening bonds.
We see a rock-fall, or Earthquake, and a member of the family is drawn away on a rough river current.
But the montage ends, appropriately, on family; on the hearth. At the end of the day -- after all the threats to survival -- the family ends up together around the fire, strengthening bonds.
Here's the introductory montage to Korg 70,000 B.C. in live-action:
No comments:
Post a Comment