On flashbacks and the As-yet Unannounced Animated Musical Feature

Did a few walkthroughs this weekend on the story & structure of this project. It's a crime story (whether it's a "based on a true story" story or "any similarity to real persons is entirely coincidental" story depends on how we proceed with the rights. I'll discuss this subject in some detail later, as I did with Lolita: The foreword Nabokov appended to his novel nominally sets Humbert Humbert up as an unreliable (and hence, seemingly unsympathetic) narrator. here is an article about various similarities between Nabokov's and Alfred Hitchcock's use of unreliable narrators and other devices attributed to the influence of 19th century literature.

The Princess Bride: a slightly post-modern version (it was the 80's, after all) of the classic "once upon a time" storytelling frame, with Peter Falk. William Goldman actually wrote The Princess Bride as if he had remembered his own grandfather reading "just the good parts" of an otherwise unremarkable tale to him. Check out SMorgenstern.com, a fan site named after the fictitious "original" author.

Interview with the Vampire: Interview-driven flashbacks. Christian Slater's journalist provides a skeptical-yet-vulnerable entree to Louis' story. Works well when your characters don't age. Ever.

Cannibal! The Musical: This is a courtroom musical drama comedy, where an enterprising young reporter sweet-talks Alferd Packer/Trey Parker to tell his tale. Voted "Movie Most Like A Mormon Roadshow" by me. [A brief article about roadshows. A representative roadshow script.]