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Table of Contents Page Program Overview 3

Viewer Objectives 6

Suggested Lesson Plan 7

Description of Blackline Masters 9

Answer Key 10

Transcript of the Video 12

Web Resources 16 Purchase of this program entitles the user the right to reproduce or duplicate, in whole or in part, this teacher’s guide and the blackline master handouts that accompany it for the purpose of teaching in conjunction with this video. This right is restricted for use only with this video program. Any reproduction or duplication in whole or in part of this guide and the blackline master handouts for any purpose other than for use with this video program is prohibited.

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Grades K-5

Viewing Time: 11:23

PROGRAM OVERVIEW

Intended Audience and Uses

Paul Bunyan has been produced for language arts and social studies students in both primary and intermediate grades, although it also can be used at the junior high/senior high levels. The program’s structure exemplifies the “tall tale” genre of American folk literature – humorous anecdotes based exaggerated on physical characteristics and comical ways to solve problems. (See An Interview with the Producer in the blackline handout

section of this guide.) This video helps students achieve McREL Language Arts Standard 9, Level I (Grades K-2) Benchmark 1 (Understands the main idea or message in visual

media); Benchmark 2 (Uses a variety of strategies to predict content and meaning through visualization); Benchmark 6 (Understands the similarities and differences between real life and life depicted in visual media); Level II (Grades 3-5), Benchmark 2 (Understands techniques used to convey messages in visual media (e.g. animation); -3-

Benchmark 5 (Understands techniques used to establish mood in visual media); Benchmark 6 (Understands the use and meaning of symbols and images in visual media); Level III (Grades 6-8) Standard 9, Benchmark 5 (Understands how language choice is used to enhance visual media); Level IV, (Grades 9-12), Benchmark 9 (Understands how literary forms can be represented in visual narratives); and McREL Arts and Communication, Level IV, Benchmark 4 (Knows the cross-cultural relationships among art motifs, designs and themes of separate societies).

Program Synopsis

In the opening sequence, seven storks carry Paul to his home in rural Maine. Seven are needed because Paul is such a huge baby. Baby Paul cries so loudly that fish pop out of the ocean and frogs put on earmuffs. When sleeping restlessly, Paul kicks down five acres of trees, so his father puts the infant on a raft pulled by two large frigates heading toward Casco Bay. Paul rolls off the raft as he sleeps. He’s so big, the resulting waves upend the frigates. The youngster is dispatched to Minnesota, where there are fewer people he can awaken with his bawling. But there are plenty of trees, and as it turns out, Paul is a natural lumberjack. He’s grows to gargantuan heights and is able to fell several trees with a single axe swipe. In short order, he hires seven men and names them all “Elmer.” That way, when he assembles them for a chore, he needs to call out only one name. Other colorful characters are added to Paul’s logging operation – Sourdough Sam, the cook who makes almost everything from sourdough; Ole, the blacksmith who uses a rail spike to punch holes in Paul’s

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doughnuts; and Johnny Inkslinger, the bookkeeper who cleverly dispenses with decimal points to reduce ink costs. There is also a menagerie of unusual animals in the logging camp – Sport the reversible dog; Lucy the purple cow; and Paul’s famous pet, Babe the blue ox. The program ends with the story of how Paul and Babe straighten the Whistling River. Paul Bunyan is one of more than a dozen mythical characters in the “tall tale” genre of American folk literature.

Beyond being a humorous series of anecdotes about a lumberjack in Minnesota, Paul Bunyan addresses some important facets of 19th century social history in the United States.

• The belief that bigger is better.

• The can-do, entrepreneurial spirit of 19th century America. -5-

• Pragmatism as a key American trait.

• Manifest destiny and conquering frontier lands.

• Unfettered exploitation of natural resources.

VIEWER OBJECTIVES

After viewing this video and participating in the suggested activities, viewers should be able to do the following:

1. Summarize the story of how Paul and Babe tamed the Whistling River.

2. Name four main human characters in the story and tell how they contributed to the logging camp’s success.

3. Name and describe the three unusual animals mentioned in the story and discuss the use of humor in the program.

4. Tell how the story exemplifies some key American beliefs in the 19th century. (Intermediate level)

5. Discuss whether Paul Bunyan would be a hero today. (Intermediate Level)

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The producers encourage you to make adaptations and changes to the following lesson plan whenever you feel it will enhance your students’ learning experiences. Only by tailoring the material to your unique classroom situation will you be able to maximize the educational experience afforded by these materials.

SUGGESTED LESSON PLAN

Viewing Strategies

Various strategies may be employed when showing Paul Bunyan to your class. If you are using the folktale as part of your language arts instructional program, the story can help explain fiction and folklore, specifically tall tales. The last segment of the program, “How Paul and Babe Tamed the Whistling River,” also can be used to illustrate various facets of story structure – setting, plot, theme,

character and point of view. The use of humor as a literary device is amply illustrated in the story and allows many opportunities to analyze how comic devices – most notably outlandish exaggeration –

are employed. If you are using the program for social studies, you may find it useful to integrate the story into your unit on 19th century United States history – specifically, settling western lands. Regardless of the curriculum area in which the story is used, you may find it useful to show the program more than once – first without instruction, then with a structured lesson or series of lessons (see below) to help students understand the richness of the folktale from both a language arts and social studies perspective.

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Previewing Activities

The producers encourage you to prescreen the program to familiarize yourself with its content.

Discuss tall tales. Does anyone know what a tall tale is? Help the class understand that a tall tale is a story in which unbelievable, often humorous, things happen, but are told as being true. Often, these unbelievable stories are based on exaggeration, that is, things and events that are bigger, better (or smaller or worse) than they could ever be in real life.

Introduce the Video

Tell the class that they will now see a tall tale, Paul Bunyan. Has anyone ever heard of him? Does anyone know what he did to earn his living? Make certain that your students understand what a lumberjack is. Explain

that it is believed that Paul Bunyan stories began as tales that were told by lumberjacks to entertain themselves at a time when there were no radios, televisions, digital media players or movies. Telling and

listening to tall tales were a way people on the frontier could entertain themselves. Nobody knows for certain when and where the first Paul Bunyan stories were told, but they were popular in the mid and late 19th century, mainly in states where logging camps were plentiful – Maine, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan. If you feel it will be helpful, hand out the Vocabulary List and have your students do this activity individually, in small groups, or as a class exercise.

Post-Viewing Activities

If you wish, use the Discussion Questions – Paul Bunyan to further explore the story. At this point, primary teachers may duplicate and hand out the Make Believe or Real? and

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Solving Problems worksheets, as well as What Happens Next? After your students have completed these exercises, review and discuss their answers. Materials needed for these activities: magic markers or crayons and a pencil. Intermediate level teachers may hand out Paul Bunyan: Between the Lines, a short essay on the underlying messages on how 19th century Americans viewed the frontier and natural resources. Have your students read this essay, then discuss whether Paul Bunyan would be viewed as a hero today. During the discussion pose the question, “How do our views about exploiting natural resources differ from those held by 19th century Americans?” Next, have your students fill out the Analyzing How Paul and Babe Tamed the Whistling River. Ask if there are any questions on the terms, then have your students fill in the appropriate information, either individually or as a small group exercise. Go over the answers after everyone has finished the assignment. If you feel your students will be interested in some background of the program’s production, pass out An Interview with the Producer. Finally, hand out Tall Tale Subjects. Have your students select one of the tales, research the story, and then as an oral exercise, tell the story to the class.

Description of Blackline Masters

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS – Gives questions that may be asked after the program is screened.

MAKE BELIEVE OR REAL? – Helps primary students distinguish between fact and fiction.

VOCABULARY LIST – Introduces unfamiliar words used in the program and encourages students to find their definitions.

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SOLVING PROBLEMS – Reinforces the idea that pragmatism was an important aspect of 19th century frontier life.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? – Helps students understand how information is sequenced.

ANALYZING “HOW PAUL AND BABE TAMED THE WHISTLING RIVER” – Helps more advanced students analyze the story’s setting, plot, theme, characters and point of view.

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE PRODUCER – Gives additional information on the program and how it was produced.

TALL TALE SUBJECTS – A list of fictional and non-fictional heroes and heroines that are the subject of tall tales.

ANSWER KEY

Make Believe or Real? 1. real 2. make believe 3. real 4. make believe 5. make believe 6. make believe Solving Problems: 1. Shipping him to Minnesota. 2. Throw food to them from a narrow gauge railroad car. 3. Sew him back together. 4. Give her green-tinted glasses so the snow would look like grass. 5. Make navy bean soup by placing bonfires around the lake. 6. Use a rail spike to chip a hole in the donuts. 7. Have seven storks carry him. 8. Don’t use decimal points. 9. Freeze it, stake it on one end, and have Babe pull on a rope attached to the stake until the river straightens. 10. Put on earmuffs.

What Happened Next: 1. Paul has been sprayed with water. 2. Paul sets a trap at the North Pole. 3. A blizzard enters the trap. 4. Paul chains the blizzard before it flies over the river. 5. Babe pulls on a rope to straighten the river. 6. Lumberjacks and logs move along the straightened river.

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Vocabulary List: Although sentences will vary, definitions should be similar to the following: 1. A nor’easter is a strong storm from the northeast. 2. Discombobulated means to be confused. 3. Snooze is short, light sleep usually during the day. 4. A frigate is a large sailing ship commonly used in the 16th through 19th centuries. 5. Upend means to turn upside down or on an end. 6. Sourdough is dough left over from another batch to start a new batch of dough. 7. Victuals is another word for food. 8. A flapjack is a pancake. 9. A griddle is a flat iron plate used for cooking food. 10. Meandering means following a wandering, winding course. Analyzing “How Paul and Babe Tamed the Whistling River” Plot exposition: The cantankerous Whistling River blows hundreds of gallons of water on Paul, interrupting his sleep. Rising action: Intent on taming the river, Paul and Babe go to the North Pole to capture some blizzards. Climax: The blizzards freeze the river and after Paul stakes down one side, Babe, pulling on a rope, straightens out the river. Falling action: Being straight, the river is no longer cantankerous. Resolution: Logging and sleeping can now resume uninterrupted. Conflict: Person vs. nature Theme: Creative thinking solves problems. Setting: Minnesota timberlands and the North Pole. Characters: Paul, Babe, the blizzards, the lumberjacks. Point of view: Third person, omniscient.

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TRANSCRIPT OF THE VIDEO

Everybody knew that Paul Bunyan was a hum-dinger of a baby as soon as they saw it took seven storks to carry him to his folks over there in Kennebunkport, Maine! And, my-oh-my! That young-un could cry up a storm! Why, he was louder than a howlin’ tornado, a hurricane and a Nor’easter all rolled into one! Fact is, fish all along the east coast were so discombobulated by Paul’s a-yowlin’ that they popped out the water to escape the racket! ‘Course that didn’t help ‘em any. Why, it got so bad, frogs put on earmuffs to keep out all the hollerin’ and blubberin’! But that wasn’t the half of it! No sir! You see, that young’un kept a-growin’ and a-growin’ – puttin’ on an inch or so every coupla’ hours! Why, he got so big that by the time he was just a few months old, it 37 cows to get enough milk to fill up the tyke so’s he could fall asleep at naptime. But then he’d start a-rolling around so much that he demolished five acres of prime timberland every time he snoozed! Well now, Paul’s dad reckoned that he’d have hire some folks to build a big raft, which he did, and then put Paul on it whenever he napped. Paul’s dad rented some frigates, too, to haul the raft all the way up to Casco Bay – far from the forest and out of earshot. But that didn’t work out too well, either, ’cause when Paul got restless, he rolled off the raft, and into the ocean! The resultin’ waves upended the frigates, and naturally all the sailors toppled into the ocean. Well, Paul did save ‘em and all, but it was decided that maybe he’d be better suited to Minnesota, where the young’un could grow up with fewer people around.

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As it turned out, it was a right smart decision ‘cause of all the trees there. You see, Paul Bunyan was just natural-born lumberjack. ‘Twasn’t long before he needed some help to run his loggin’ operation. So right off, he hired seven fellers and named ‘em all Elmer. That way, he wouldn’t have to yell out seven different names whenever he wanted ‘em to come a-runnin’. ‘Course, he needed a cook, too, ‘cause lumberjacks do work up a powerful appetite, a-choppin’ and a-sawin’ logs, and cuttin’ down trees all day. So Sourdough Sam signed on to bake and cook for the loggin’ crews. They called him “Sourdough” ‘cause he used the stuff to make everythin’, ‘cept for coffee and soup, of course. He woulda made soup from sourdough, too, if it hadn’t been for the time one of Sam’s barrels of sourdough exploded and blowed a load ‘a navy beans right into the lake next to the loggin’ camp! Well now! Sourdough Sam had the men make bonfires all around the lake and after awhile the water started a-bubblin’ and a-boilin’! Soon enough there was bean soup aplenty! ‘Nough soup for the whole camp for the entire winter! Which was quite a feat considerin’ how many loggers Paul had a-workin’ for him by the time his enterprise was goin’ full steam! Why, the cam’s grub table was 10 miles long! Paul had a narrow gauge railroad built around the table so the meals could be served up right quick! You see, hungry lumberjacks, they don’t like waitin’ for their victuals! No, sir! ‘Course Sourdough Sam had quite a job of feedin’ Paul hisself, who was particularly fond of flapjacks. Why, it took 50 men just to prepare the flapjack griddle. They did it by skatin’ around with pork rinds tied to their shoes. Greased up the griddle real good!

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Took another half dozen men to get the flapjacks on Paul’s plate and a flatbed railroad car to transport ‘em to their final destination up there at the head of the table. Ole, the camp blacksmith, was the feller who made the griddle, as well as the rails and the flatbed – and the rest of the train, for that matter. In his spare time, Ole punched the holes in Sam’s sourdough donuts – which were so tough, only a rail spike could do the job. Well now, with so much food and metal and other things to buy and with so many logs to sell, a bookkeeper, Johnny Inkslinger, was hired to kept track of all the camp’s financial doin’s! Now as you might imagine, it was a challengin’ job. Fact is, Johnny needed an unendin’ supply of ink to write down all the transactions! But always bein’ on the lookout to save a penny or two – or more – he cleverly left out all the decimal points to save on ink costs! Oh, that Inkslinger, he was a sly one! Sport, the reversible dog, liked to hang around Johnny’s office. As you probably noticed, Sport was an unusual pup, his backside bein’ upside down and all. He got that a-way when, one day, an Elmer accidentally cut Sport in half. The woodsman was in such a hurry to sew Sport back together, he just plumb messed up. Didn’t bother Sport any, though. He just ran on his front legs ‘til they got tired, then flopped over and ran on his back legs. Sport wasn’t the only unusual animal in Paul’s loggin’ camp. Nosiree! Lucy the purple cow was another one. Lucy was content all summer long, just a-chompin’ on grass and giving lots o’ milk.

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But in winter, she got all sad and skinny ‘cause there weren’t any grass to eat. But then Paul got Lucy some green-tinted eyewear so’s the snow would look like grass to her. Lucy, thinkin’ the snow was grass, began eatin’ again and a-fore long, was all fat an’ sassy and makin’ lots of milk, just like it was summertime. The year we had spring, summer, fall, winter and winter – the year of two winters – Lucy’s milk turned to ice cream afore it could reach the pail. My, it was freezin’ cold that year. Why, it was so frigid, that words froze up in mid-air and they didn’t come down ‘til the spring thaw! Why, it was so bitter cold that folks’ shadows froze to the ground and they just wouldn’t budge! An’ everythin’ turned blue! That was the year Paul was out a-walkin’ in the woods and found Babe, the blue ox. Paul broke out a-laughin’ when he saw that spunky little critter snortin’ furiously and hoppin’ around ‘cause, bein’ so short and all, he couldn’t see over the snow drifts! Well, Paul took Babe home and warmed him up by the stove. Funny thing, though, was that that little ox stayed blue, even when he was toasty warm. But my, he surely did grow! Why, in no time, he was one of the biggest creatures in the camp. And mighty helpful, too! Like the time he helped Paul tame the Whistlin’ River. Folks called it the “Whistlin’ River” ‘cause it had the impertinent habit of whistlin’ real loud to wake up folks whenever they were a-sleepin’. Yep, that zig-zaggy, meanderin’ body of water was downright ornery. Why, it was so cantankerous it jammed all the logs and slapped the lumberjacks into the water, then flipped ‘em onto the bank – just to be disagreeable!

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But that river went too far one day when it blew 937 gallons of muddy water onto Paul’s face, depositin’ all manner of fish and turtles – and even a beaver! Well now, Paul had had enough of that nonsense and swore he’d straighten out that Whistlin’ River once and for all! So he and Babe sauntered on up to the North Pole with an icicle-filled trap which he set and hid out for awhile behind a nearby chunk of ice. ‘Fore long, a couple of blizzards, contemplatin’ a tasty meal of icicles, blew themselves inside – and, a-course, got trapped! Paul brought ‘em back and chained each one to an opposite side of the river. In a matter of seconds, it froze up solid from one end to the other. Then Paul staked down one end of that froze-up river and hitched Babe to the other. Well, that ox pulled…and pulled…and pulled ’til the Whistlin’ River unbent, becomin’ straight as an arrow. Bein’ so straight and all, it lost all desire to misbehave. ‘Course this all happened a long time ago. But folks still remember Paul Bunyon, the greatest lumberjack of all time!

Web Resources

American Folklore http://www.americanfolklore.net/

Author S.E. Schlosser’s website is generally regarded as the premiere folktale site on the web.

Tall Tales http://42explore.com/talltale.htm

An excellent overview of American tall tales. Has many links to the tales.

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Discussion Questions – Paul Bunyan

1. How many storks did it take to carry Paul? (Seven) 2. Where did Paul first live? (In Maine) 3. Where did Paul move and why? (He moved to Minnesota. He needed to go to a place where he wouldn’t wake up so many people.) 4. Why did it turn out to be such a good move? (There were lots of trees in Minnesota and Paul was a natural-born lumberjack.) 5. Who did Paul first hire and what did the name them? (He hired seven lumber- jacks whom he named Elmer.) 6. Why did Paul give them just one name? (So he would have to call out only one name when he wanted them to gather.) 7. What two things didn’t Sourdough Sam make with sourdough? (Coffee and soup) 8. How did Sourdough Sam make an entire winter’s worth of bean soup? (He had bonfires built around the lake after a barrel of sourdough exploded and beans were blasted into the lake.) 9. How did Paul make certain the lumber- jacks were fed quickly? (He had a narrow gauge railroad built around the grub table to deliver the food.) 10. Who built the train and rail tracks? (Ole the blacksmith)

11. What did Ole do in his spare time? (Hammer holes in Paul’s doughnuts.) 12. Who was the camp’s bookkeeper? (Johnny Inkslinger) 13. How did Johnny save on ink costs? (He left out all the decimal points when making entries.) 14. Was Johnny’s method to save money a good idea? (No, because the entries would be incorrect) 15. How did Sport become a reversible dog? (An Elmer mistakenly cut him in half, and in his hurry to sew him back together, sewed his back side upside down.) 16. How did Paul make sure Lucy gave milk during winter? (Gave her a pair of green-tinted glasses so she thought the snow was grass) 17. Where did Paul find Babe? (In a snowdrift) 18. What things did the Whistlin’ River do that were so annoying? (Woke up people, jammed up logs, slapped lumberjacks into the water) 19. What did Paul use to freeze the Whistlin’ River? Where did he find them? (Two blizzards he found at the North Pole) 20. Do you think Paul Bunyan would be considered a hero today? Why or why not? (Answers will vary.)

Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

Vocabulary List

The program you will see, Paul Bunyan, takes place more than 150 years ago in frontier America. The storyteller uses some words that were commonly spoken at that time. Those words, and a few others you may be unfamiliar with, are listed below. After finding their definitions, write a sentence using each word. 1. Nor’easter

Sentence:

2. Discombobulated

Sentence:

3. Snooze

Sentence:

4. Frigate

Sentence:

5. Upend

Sentence:

6. Sourdough

Sentence:

7. Victuals (pronounced “vittles”)

Sentence:

8. Flapjack

Sentence:

9. Griddle

Sentence: 10. Meandering

Sentence:

Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

Solving Problems

Solving problems was a big part of life on the frontier. Settlers didn’t always have neighbors to help them solve problems. They had to find their own solutions. “Whatever works” became an important approach. Today, we call that approach “pragmatism.” Americans are known for their pragmatism. The people in “Paul Bunyan” solved many problems, usually in comical ways. Below each problem listed, tell how it was solved. 1. The problem: As a baby, Paul woke up people by crying very loudly.

The solution:

2. The problem: Hungry lumberjacks needed their food fast.

The solution:

3. The problem: Sport was cut in half.

The solution:

4. The problem: Lucy became skinny in winter and didn’t give any milk.

The solution:

5. The problem: The lumberjacks needed hot meals during winter.

The solution:

6. The problem: Tough donuts needed holes.

The solution:

7. The problem: Baby Paul was too heavy for a stork to carry.

The solution:

8. The problem: Johnny Inkslinger used too much ink.

The solution:

9. The problem: The Whistlin’ River was ornery.

The solution: 10. The problem: Frogs were bothered by Paul’s crying.

The solution:

Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

Make Believe or Real?

Directions: Color the pictures. Then, on the line below each one, tell whether the picture shows something that could be real, or whether it is make believe.

1. __________________________

2. __________________________

3. __________________________

4. __________________________

5. __________________________

6. __________________________

Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

What Happened Next?

Directions: Six pictures from “How Paul and Babe Tamed the Whistling River” are found below. Cut out the pictures and place them in the proper order, as the events took place in the story. Below each picture, tell what is happening.

Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

Analyzing “How Paul and Babe Tamed the Whistling River” Directions: Analyze the folktale according to the story elements listed below. Be succinct. Plot – Exposition: Plot – Rising Action: Plot – Climax: Plot – Falling Action: Plot – Resolution: Conflict: Theme: Setting: Characters: Point of View:

Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

Paul Bunyan: Between the Lines

Paul Bunyan is perhaps the most famous of all American tall tales. It has been popular for roughly 150 years. One reason is that it is highly entertaining. There are some very funny things that happen in the story. But, between the lines, the story also tells us a lot about how Americans viewed their world in the 19th century. (Almost all folktales tell us something about the culture from which they come. Paul Bunyan is no exception.) The story takes place during pioneer days, when people settled vast areas far from the east coast of the United States. Many of those people came from Europe, where their chances of making a better life for themselves and their children were limited. Coming to America, where it was said that “the streets were paved with gold,” created a feeling of great optimism – that life would be much better than it was in Europe. That optimism is reflected in the story. Paul makes a great success of his logging operation. People on the frontier had to do things for themselves. Often, there weren’t any tradesmen nearby. So frontier Americans had to use their wits to build and fix as best they could. By necessity, they became highly practical individuals – or “pragmatists,” people who do “whatever it takes” to solve problems. This quality is seen in Paul and his employees again and again, usually in ridiculously humorous ways. For instance, Paul puts green-tinted glasses on Lucy so she will think snow is grass; Johnny Inkslinger doesn’t use decimal points to save on ink costs; Ole uses a rail spike to punch holes in donuts. Of course, how individuals view their world changes over the years. Able to chop down entire forests with a few swings of his axe, Paul was viewed as a hero. Today, such wholesale destruction of forestland is frowned upon. With a much larger population, far fewer wilderness lands – and a much better understanding of how the environment works – few in our country would view Paul’s destruction of forestlands as heroic. Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

An Interview with the Producer Guide writer Barri Golbus recently interviewed Warren Colman, the producer of Paul Bunyan, to learn more about the program and its production.

BG: There are many American folktales. Why did you select this one? WC: The story met the three criteria we’ve established for all the programs in the “Folktales around the World” series. First, it has to be a story that students will enjoy watching. In this case, I felt the story’s humor, silly and ridiculous as it is, would be highly appealing to our target audience. Second, all our stories have to mirror some key cultural factors from its country of origin. Paul is really the perfect 19th century hero – big, strong and clever – who is able to tame the wilderness. He’s very much the ideal pioneer. And third, the story had to lend itself to a visual presentation. How can you go wrong with a purple cow, a giant blue ox, seven lumberjacks named Elmer, a whistling river and a couple of blizzards? BG: Is Paul a typical folktale hero? WC: More precisely, I’d say he’s a typical American tall tale hero – one who’s big, clever and has superhuman qualities. He’s cut from the same cloth as Pecos Bill, John Henry, Davy Crockett, Mike Fink and some others. BG: Heroes who overcome adversity.

WC: Exactly. Remember, these stories for the most part come from the period of westward expansion. Anybody who knows anything about that era understands the immense difficulties pioneers faced every day. People enjoyed hearing about heroes doing heroic things. It was a way they could escape the brutal realities they faced, or as a way to escape a very humdrum existence. I think at least to some degree that’s the psychological genesis of these tales. Just imagine trying to eke out a living with very primitive tools in western lands. These stories entertained, but they also reflected a hope that hard work and intelligence would conquer the land.

BG: So in a sense, these stories help us understand the pioneer experience?

WC: I think so. There’s something else about Paul and some other tall tale heroes: they don’t fit into conventional society. There’s a school of thought that says that many, if not most, pioneers found it difficult to cope with the social constraints of the more urban cultures on the eastern seaboard. BG: In what ways didn’t Paul fit in? Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

Name _________________________

An Interview with the Producer, page 2

WC: Well, if you recall, his crying, his restlessness and his size made it difficult for him to live among others. So he’s shipped off to Minnesota, where there are far fewer people and lots of land. Of course, there is a whole collection of outcasts in the American literary tradition – nonconformists who really aren’t able to fit into conventional society. Queequeg in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick and Roslyn in Arthur Miller’s The Misfits are two examples that come to mind. BG: There is a unique aspect to Paul, though, something different than other folktale heroes. I’m referring to his entrepreneurial talents.

WC: Yes, you’re absolutely right. And that’s another thing that I think makes him so appealing to Americans. We love success. And it’s clear that Paul is a very successful businessman. He really knows how to save time in the workplace: he uses just one word, “Elmer,” to call seven people.

BG: Let’s talk a little about the various approaches you took in the production. Tell me about the editorial approach first.

WC: It’s traditional in storytelling to use the vernacular, so I wrote the script using a strong dose of 19th century pioneer dialect. Our voiceover artist, Tim Dadabo, ad libbed some lines, also. I normally don’t encourage improvising during recording sessions, but I trust Tim. He has pretty much a perfect-pitch ear when it comes to improvising. He’s working on a Disney animated film at the present, a featured role, and he snagged the part largely through his improvisa- tional gifts.

BG: How about the visual portion?

WC: Visually, this is somewhat of a departure from our first two programs in the series, The Bear Prince and Yoshi, the Lantern Maker. They were more dramatic in nature, not comedic, and their visual approach reflected that fact. We were looking for funny-looking characters and comical action for Paul Bunyan. So we came up with a funny design for Johnny Inkslinger, for example, a kind of ridiculous super-accountant from a visual standpoint. We aimed for an exaggerated comedic appearance for Sourdough Sam and Ole the blacksmith. And of course, Sport the reversible dog has a very, very funny bit when he runs after the rabbit. I’ve viewed that scene probably a hundred times, and I still laugh at Sport’s legs and paws flailing around as he runs. It’s absolutely goofy and ridiculous. You may have noticed the lumberjacks’ hats in the year of two winters scenes. We made the earflaps curl up slightly and stick out somewhat, which gives them a comical appearance. Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

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An Interview with the Producer, page 3 BG: What about the soundtrack? WC: The soundtrack presented some unique challenges. For the music we decided on a mix of Americana, comedy and folk music. The sound effects were very challenging. We normally use about six tracks for the sound, but we doubled that number for this program: one for the narration, two for the music and nine for sound effects. BG: Why so many? WC: Sound design for animated comedy is very different than a sound design for an animated drama. Creating a comedic sound track requires more illusory, non-realistic sounds, as well as many more musical stings and pings. So the Foley artist had to create more sounds from scratch, not just choose offerings from a sound effects library. Sometimes the sounds are a combination of two, three or even four individual sounds to get the correct effect. And then there’s the job of balancing all the sounds with the voice and music tracks so the overall aural effect is clear and esthetically pleasing. BG: Sounds pretty complex. WC: Well, the entire process, not just the sound production, is extremely complex. The end product, though, should look very organic and simple. If it does, then the project has been a success from an esthetic perspective. Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.

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Tall Tale Subjects Directions: American tall tell heroes and heroines are listed below. Choose from the list, research and read the story, then tell the story to your class. If the character is based on a real person, be sure to mention it in your presentation. Davy Crockett Calamity Jane Febold Feboldson Joe Magarac Pecos Bill John Henry Johnny Appleseed Mike Fink Molly Pitcher Captain Alfred Bulltop Stormalong Flatboat Annie Aylett C. Bruckner Casey Jones Johnny Kaw Tony Beaver

Paul Bunyan © 2009 Colman Communications Corp.