Press Release Fun: Maybe the best thing I’ve ever heard

I kid not.  This sounds like a high old time.  I received the following message the other day for an event at one of my favorite New York institutions:

"I wanted to let you know that Museum of the Moving Image will screen a new Spike-Jonze-produced film adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP! from March 27 through April 9 as part of our spring recess family programs. I hope you will consider sharing the news with your readers. We will be screening it multiple times daily in Tut’s Fever Movie Palace, a spectacular art work and 35-seat theater by artists Red Grooms and Lysiane Luong. The film, which runs 23 minutes and is suitable for all ages, is included with Museum admission. The full press release is included below. For more information about the production of the film, please see this Globe and Mail article.

Since the Museum of the Moving Image is one of the most amusing places to visit in town anyway (once when I went there you could get an animated flipbook of yourself made) this is just win-win.  I’ll be going.  Here’s the press release in case you want to know more (and don’t you love the term "popular historic console games" when it refers to Pac-Man?):

 

Museum of the Moving Image
35 Avenue at 36 Street, Astoria, New York 11106

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tomoko Kawamoto / 718.777.6830 / tkawamoto@movingimage.us

SPRING RECESS FAMILY FUN AT MOVING IMAGE INCLUDES EXPANDED HOURS, WORKSHOPS FOR CHILDREN, AND HOURLY SCREENINGS OF NEW SPIKE JONZE-PRODUCED MAURICE SENDAK SHORT ‘HIGGLETY PIGGLETY POP!’

Saturday, March 27 through Friday, April 9, 2010

Museum of the Moving Image will be a lively destination for families during spring recess. From Saturday, March 27, through Friday, April 9, the Museum will be open every day, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. In addition to its interactive exhibition Behind the Screen, the Museum will feature hourly screenings of Higglety Pigglety Pop!, a live-action and animated short based on Maurice Sendak’s children’s book and produced by Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are). There will also be hands-on workshops for children and special demonstrations in the galleries.

Spring Recess Family Programs at Moving Image
Saturday, March 27–Friday, April 9

Higglety Pigglety Pop!, or There Must Be More to Life
Hourly shows beginning at 11:00 a.m., last show starts at 4:00 p.m. in Tut’s Fever Movie Palace
Suitable for all ages. 2010, 23 mins. Courtesy National Film Board of Canada and Warner Home Video. Written and directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. Co-produced by Spike Jonze (Where the Wild Things Are), and featuring the voices of Meryl Streep and Forest Whitaker, Higglety Pigglety Pop!, or There Must Be More to Life brings Maurice Sendak’s memorable character, Jennie the Sealyham Terrier, to the screen. Jennie has everything, but decides to pack it all up in a black leather bag with gold buckles and go on a journey. Her dream is to become the star of the World Mother Goose Theater. Combining live action featuring puppets and actors with animation, the film was created by Canadian filmmakers Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski who were nominated for an Oscar for their 2007 film Madame Tutli-Putli.
Free with Museum admission. Space is limited; seating is first-come, first-served.

Moving Pictures Workshop
Daily at 11:30 a.m. (45 mins.)
Ages 6–12. 1:00 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. (60 mins.)
Ages 10 and older. Children learn about the technique of stop-motion animation and create their own animated movies, which are shared online. To view a sample animation created by a workshop participant, go to http://youtube.com/mmieducation. Materials fee: $10 per child ($5 for Museum members). Space is limited; register at the admissions desk.

Gallery Demonstrations:
Kinetoscope at 12:30 and 3:30 p.m.
Watch a film on Thomas Edison’s movie-viewing machine.
Sound Editing at 1:00, 2:30, and 4:00 p.m.
Learn how  the soundtrack for Titanic (1997) was designed, mixed, and layered.

Video Game Technology at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
See how video games were invented, and play popular historic console games.

Every Day at Moving Image: Behind the Screen
The Museum’s core exhibition Behind the Screen immerses visitors in the creative process of making moving images, through a unique combination of interactive experiences, rare and unusual artifacts, one-of-a-kind artworks and demonstrations of professional crafts and equipment. Visitors can make animations, experiment with sound effects, and dub their voices onto a famous movie scene. Behind the Screen also features thirteen playable video arcade games, including Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong, Defender, and Battlezone, and four popular home console games including Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog.

Tut’s Fever (1986-88) is a spectacular one-of-a-kind art work and 35-seat theater created by Red Grooms and Lysiane Luong. An homage to the ornate movie palaces of the 1920s, Tut’s Fever is part of Behind the Screen and has been described as a “surrealistic movie palace.” Every surface is covered with witty Egyptian-inspired motifs and cartoon-like caricatures of larger-than-life figures from Hollywood’s golden age—Orson Welles, the Marx Brothers, and Marilyn Monroe among them.Children discover what makes moving images move and make their own Thaumatropes—nineteenth- century optical toys—to take home. Materials fee: $5 per child (free for Museum members). Space is limited; register at the admissions desk.

Special Holiday Hours for Spring Recess
10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, March 27, through Friday, April 9.

At other times, the Museum is open Tuesday through Friday: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and school groups by appointment.

Suggested Admission
$7 for adults, senior citizens, college students, children 8-18 (includes screenings, but additional fees apply for workshops).
Free for Museum members and children under 8.
(Please note: Strollers must be left at Coat Check.)

About Museum of the Moving Image
Founded in 1981, Museum of the Moving Image is the only institution in the United States that deals comprehensively with the art, technology and social impact of film, television and digital media. It houses the nation’s largest collection of moving image artifacts; screens hundreds of films annually; and offers education programs to thousands of New York City students and teachers. Its exhibitions—including the core exhibition, Behind the Screen—are noted for their integration of material objects, computer-based interactive experiences, and audiovisual presentations.

A major expansion and renovation of the Museum’s facility is currently underway. Designed by architect Thomas Leeser, the project will double the size of the Museum and includes a new 264-seat theater, a 71-seat screening room, new galleries for the exhibition of digital art, and a multi-classroom education center. When it opens in the winter of 2011, the new Museum building will be ideal for showcasing the moving image in all its forms, ensuring the Museum’s place—creatively, intellectually, and physically—as one of the great moving-image institutions of the world.

Museum of the Moving Image is grateful for the generous support of numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. The Museum receives vital annual funding from the City of New York through the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Additional government support for operations is provided by the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, the New York State Council on the Arts, and the Natural Heritage Trust (administered by the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation). The Museum occupies a building owned by the City of New York.

Museum of the Moving Image
35 Avenue at 36 Street, Astoria, NY 11106
Recorded Information Line: 718.784.0077
Website: http://movingimage.us

Filed under: Press Release Fun