A suggestion for discussion

[fpb]

In the last decade or two, the United Kingdom has produced two tremendous cultural phenomena that have gone around the world: the Harry Potter series and the Wallace and Gromit animated movies. SUBJECT FOR DISCUSSION: Do they have anything in common, and do they have anything in common with other British successes such as the Dr.Who franchise or Alan Moore's comics?

Comments

[un-crayon-rouge.livejournal.com]

Well, there's at least one tremendous cultural phenomenon that I've missed, because I know nothing about Wallace and Gromit. As for the other things, I'd go for the simple theory and say people love good stories that don't assume everyone's an idiot (which is what often makes USA-products in these genres so unpalatable.)

Off the top of my head. Oh, and in case I don't get a chance later and/or forget to post about it: Happy New Year, with lots of the good stuff and none of the crappy.

[fpb.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry you missed W&G, but just go and look them up - there are likely to be postings in places like YouTube. Their animator, Nick Parks, has had a virtual stranglehold on the animations short Oscar prize; every time he produced a Wallace and Gromit short (30 minutes each), he walked off with it. We are talking about genius here, and genius of a quality that is difficult to exactly quantify, which is why I would like to see it discussed.