Jasper Morello
(2005, Ages 16 and Up)
1/6/23
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The Film Appreciation course I took at Lake Superior College in 2007 was something of a novelty for me. Not only because it was my longest class period at two and a half hours in order to watch full-length movies in one go, but it was also the first media course I ever took that wasn’t focused on books. The class’s objective was to study the artistic qualities of cinema—color, lighting, editing, camera angles, etc.—and explore how the symbolism they offer enhances a film and helps it tell its story. Many of the flicks I studied I’d heard of but never watched prior as a casual viewer, like Rear Window, Singin’ in the Rain, and Citizen Kane, and I am ever grateful for the opportunity. But my absolute favorite in the class—except for A Trip to the Moon, one of the very first films ever made—was this Australian animated short through which we studied cinematic surrealism. And surreal is indeed a fitting word.
Jasper Morello’s career as an aerial navigator for the Authority of Gothia is in shambles, as is his heart and soul. A grave technical error on his part during a previous voyage had resulted in a crew mate plummeting to his death, and Jasper has been guilt-ridden ever since. Adding to his depression is the now all-too-common sight of his people being violently decimated by a mysterious flesh-eating disease, and the fear that his beloved wife and devoted nurse, Amelia, could herself succumb to it at any time. But salvation may be at hand when Jasper is commissioned despite his record to set sail on the airship Resolution and deploy weather beacons in the outer skies. Also on board is Dr. Claude Belgon, an ambitious biologist conducting his own research on the plague. But what begins as a routine excursion spirals into madness when the key to a cure is found in the form of a deadly creature. When this discovery drives the fame-lusting Dr. Belgon to murder, Jasper must overcome his past in order to save himself and bring the life-saving cure home.
I say Jasper Morello, but the name is a misnomer. Sort of. The full title shown within the short is The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, but this is also the collective name of a planned (and as of 2023, unrealized) film series. According to the official website and the Madman Entertainment DVD—both links of which seem to be broken if not entirely defunct for some reason—this is the first of a trilogy, its standalone title being Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship (a.k.a., “The First Voyage”) followed by Jasper Morello and the Return of Claude Belgon (“The Second Voyage”) and Jasper Morello and the Ghost of ALTO MEA (“The Third Voyage”). Following this trilogy of shorts in turn would have been a full-length feature film, Jasper Morello and the Ebeneeza of Gothia (“The Fourth Voyage”).
A bona fide “Shut up and take my money!” moment that at this point may never be, though one can still hope. Still, it won numerous awards the world over and was a nominee for Best Animated Short at the 78th Academy Awards, so there is that. (Interestingly, also nominated that same year was 9, which inspired the 2009 CGI film of the same name about human souls in a bleak, mechanized world.)
Contrary to popular belief, director Anthony Lucas was not inspired by silhouette animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger or her 1926 film (one of the first animated feature films ever made), The Adventures of Prince Achmed, as comparable as their styles are. Lucas’ initial inspiration came from the lush landscapes and giant creatures of 1933’s King Kong as well as the works of stop-motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen. Then, while experimenting with a light table in film school, one of the top lights blew, resulting in one object, a cicada, being backlit, its wings and ribcage revealed in relative detail and the bulk of its body mostly in silhouette. Talk about a happy accident! This became the basis for one of Lucas’ first shorts, Shadowlands, named after this newly-discovered technique which combines 2D and 3D. It reminds me of the “Lumage” technique used in Twice Upon a Time, except instead of bits of tissue paper and plastic, the ships, machines, and many other objects in Jasper are made via clusters of junk metal, a broken hubcap becoming a porthole, a motor engine piece becoming a console, a glass tube becoming a pipe, and so forth. Their bright sheen and semi-transparency breathe a unique life into the intricate, chaotic beauty of the film’s steampunk aesthetic while remaining sufficiently obscured so as not to detract from the main characters:
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Coils and oils, Mr. Kemp?
KEMP: (Turning a steam valve.) Charged and hot, sir.
(Jasper retrieves his compass while the captain pulls a level from above.)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Mr. Kemp, airscrew to one hundred revolutions.
KEMP: One hundred, sir. (Pulls on a chord, activating the ship’s propellers.)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Mr. Morello, we are in your hands.
Not unlike the boy from the video game LIMBO (and I must admit this movie was a major influence toward my later love for that game), the human silhouettes’ 2-dimentional cut-out features are so finely detailed that I feel I could imagine perfectly what each character’s 3-dimentional features would look like.
Though monochrome for the most part, color does play an important role. The lit backdrops are hued with various shades to match the specific mood of a given scene. For instance, the sky above Gothia is a pale, orange-tinted yellow to match the city’s smoggy industrial atmosphere and sickly medieval wretchedness. As the voyage progresses, shades of grey become more prominent: a dark steely blue for intense, nerve-racking storms, a dull murky green for eerie, silent sailing, and a refreshing silvery white for the joy and relief of finding land.
In terms of visuals and tone, Lucas took pages from the books, so to speak, of two of his favorite childhood authors: the alternate Victorian English setting and technological early century wonders from the epic adventure of Jules Verne, and the human darkness and bleak melancholy from the gothic horror of Edgar Allen Poe. On this note, I feel it worth reiterating that the ship Jasper first sets sail on is the Resolution, a word meaning a firm decision or intention or the action of solving a problem. During a violent storm, the crew is forced to abandon ship when it crashes into the ghost ship Heironymous, a subtle but significant nod to 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch—most famous for his outlandish but terrifying depictions of Hell. This signifies not only Jasper’s first steps into a world of physical and mental horror, but that his already unstable confidence in himself and his redemption are now at even greater risk of being broken entirely:
JASPER: (Narrating; looking down in disbelief as his compass falls along with the wrecked Resolution) In one fell stroke, the Resolution was destroyed, and with it, my career.
[. . .]
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Kicking down a door and finding the ruins beyond) What the blazes?
[. . .]
DR. BELGON: (Accidently kicks something hollow as he walks; turns to find a pile of human skulls and bones; whispers in shock) My god.
And speaking of dark storytelling, some of the most famous gothic novels from 19th century Britain, like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, are epistolary, meaning they are written as a series of documents: letters, diaries, newspaper articles, etc. While Jasper Morello can’t execute this format by virtue of being visual, it still does a wonderful job at simulating the experience of hearing a scary story through the words of a sensible but kind-hearted English gentleman fighting personal demons on top of the outside ones beyond his human understanding. Through his haunting and poetic journal entries, recited in voice actor Joel Edgerton’s soft and somber tones, Jasper tells us his story like a man who has aged well before his time, broken-spirited and with seemingly little to live for:
JASPER: (Narrating; gazing at the airships flying outside his home.) One degree is not a large distance. On a compass, it is scarcely the thickness of a fingernail. (Picks up his compass) But in certain conditions, one degree can be a very large distance. (Stares, forlorn, at the compass in his hand; hears in his memory a man screaming as he falls helplessly.) Enough to unmake a man.
At the same time, his theme music, with its music box bells, slow strings, and minor key, suggests an optimistic confidence and innocence he’d retained even in adulthood having been shattered forever like a fragile clockwork toy.
Jasper’s status as a social outsider and a professional failure are made evident through his crewmates. Compared to the courteous and refined Jasper, they are almost pirate-like: superstitious and more suited to grunt work and crude pleasures than on higher learning or personal reflection:
(Jasper joins Kovacs and Kemp outside as they observe lights in the sky)
KOVACS: Borealis.
KEMP: No! Souls of the dead, that is!
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Slapping Kovacs on the back amiably) Ah, Kovacs, king of the pork fishers!
(The rest of the crew laugh and cheer as they drink to the huge pork fish on the table.)
Captain Griswald in particular, his temper as pronounced as his Scottish accent, has neither love for nor faith in Jasper after his literal fatal mistake, not only denigrating the young navigator at every turn, but fully expecting him to make this the final voyage for all of them:
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Angrily running toward Jasper as he boards the Resolution.) Get off my ship!
JASPER: (Silently holds out a document.)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Snatches the paper with a grunt and reads it.) I see the Authority has given me little choice. (Points a menacing finger at Jasper.) But I’ll not tolerate another mistake. Do you ken?
JASPER: (In earnest.) Yes, sir.
[. . .]
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Full of distrust) Course, Mr. Morello?
JASPER: Maintain course and speed.
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Are ye certain?
[. . .]
(The ship hits some sky debris)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Furiously at Jasper) Agh, ye’ve killed us all this time!
It’s because of this alienation that Jasper comes to see Dr. Belgon as an ally and friend. Besides being of Jasper’s social class, the doctor appeals to Jasper’s intellectual side, both aspects of which are emphasized by the elegant harpsichord accompanying many of the doctor’s scenes. He provides the young navigator with the rare pleasure of companionship and the chance to forget his responsibilities for a time:
JASPER: (Narrating; observing an ant farm as Dr. Belgon lectures) Though the doctor was more than a decade my senior, we got on famously.
DR. BELGON: The formicidae are remarkable, each can lift ten times its own weight.
JASPER: (Fascinated) Indeed. Perhaps we should fashion our diet after theirs.
BOTH: (Laugh agreeably)
More importantly, Dr. Belgon is a passenger, and therefore not connected to Jasper’s tragedy. This allows Jasper the comfort of confiding in him without fear of reprimand or judgment:
DR. BELGON: (Wisely to a saddened Jasper) As with the ant, every man has a purpose. He must serve that purpose, no matter the cost.
However, it soon becomes clear where the “good” doctor’s loyalties truly lie. The more fantastic, and lethal, discoveries he makes, the less important the crew’s lives become to him—except for Jasper, as his increasingly sinister, minor-keyed harpsichord highlights. Dr. Belgon takes full advantage of Jasper’s friendship and preys on his concern for his wife, leaving the younger man in yet another moral crisis:
DR. BELGON: (In a fatherly voice to the creature sleeping in its cocoon) Come out, little one. There’s my beauty.
JASPER: (Appalled) For God’s sake, man. Cast it overboard!
DR. BELGON: (Reasonably) Then what remedy will you bring to your wife?
[. . .]
DR. BELGON: (In a tone of awe as the creature begins to hatch) Extraordinary, is it not?
JASPER: The captain must know.
DR. BELGON: (Not listening) The academy will send me back to the island. I will insist, that you command the voyage!
JASPER: (Firmly) No!
DR. BELGON: (In a hurt tone) Morello. (Suddenly nervous) The crew will panic! They’ll kill it!
JASPER: (Narrating) If the creature died, so did Amelia. I could not allow that to pass.
[. . .]
JASPER: (Desperately as he’s unable to free himself from his chain at the helm) For pity’s sake, Claude, don’t do this.
DR. BELGON: (Unmoved) Every man has his purpose. Yours is to get us home. (Gives Jasper a sinister smile) Your wife is waiting.
This is all the more terrible for Jasper because, unlike the last time, this will be not an accident, but a choice: does he alert the crew to the imminent danger of their monstrous cargo at the cost of its priceless blood? Or does he heed the doctor and allow it to live at the cost of his surly crew mates? Either way, Jasper’s hands will be further stained with innocent blood . . . unless he can find the courage to believe himself capable of leaving more than death in his wake and in his legacy.
I’ve always been a supporter of the belief that the shorter story that leaves the audience wanting more is always superior to the longer one that wears out its welcome before the end. As sad as I am at the unlikelihood of this film series ever coming to full fruition, I am glad we at least got this small but grand piece for Victorian gothic fans, unique animation enthusiasts and steampunk aficionados alike. Jasper Morello, both as a man and a movie, brings to its audience the true shadows of shadow puppetry.
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
Jasper Morello’s career as an aerial navigator for the Authority of Gothia is in shambles, as is his heart and soul. A grave technical error on his part during a previous voyage had resulted in a crew mate plummeting to his death, and Jasper has been guilt-ridden ever since. Adding to his depression is the now all-too-common sight of his people being violently decimated by a mysterious flesh-eating disease, and the fear that his beloved wife and devoted nurse, Amelia, could herself succumb to it at any time. But salvation may be at hand when Jasper is commissioned despite his record to set sail on the airship Resolution and deploy weather beacons in the outer skies. Also on board is Dr. Claude Belgon, an ambitious biologist conducting his own research on the plague. But what begins as a routine excursion spirals into madness when the key to a cure is found in the form of a deadly creature. When this discovery drives the fame-lusting Dr. Belgon to murder, Jasper must overcome his past in order to save himself and bring the life-saving cure home.
I say Jasper Morello, but the name is a misnomer. Sort of. The full title shown within the short is The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello, but this is also the collective name of a planned (and as of 2023, unrealized) film series. According to the official website and the Madman Entertainment DVD—both links of which seem to be broken if not entirely defunct for some reason—this is the first of a trilogy, its standalone title being Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship (a.k.a., “The First Voyage”) followed by Jasper Morello and the Return of Claude Belgon (“The Second Voyage”) and Jasper Morello and the Ghost of ALTO MEA (“The Third Voyage”). Following this trilogy of shorts in turn would have been a full-length feature film, Jasper Morello and the Ebeneeza of Gothia (“The Fourth Voyage”).
A bona fide “Shut up and take my money!” moment that at this point may never be, though one can still hope. Still, it won numerous awards the world over and was a nominee for Best Animated Short at the 78th Academy Awards, so there is that. (Interestingly, also nominated that same year was 9, which inspired the 2009 CGI film of the same name about human souls in a bleak, mechanized world.)
Contrary to popular belief, director Anthony Lucas was not inspired by silhouette animation pioneer Lotte Reiniger or her 1926 film (one of the first animated feature films ever made), The Adventures of Prince Achmed, as comparable as their styles are. Lucas’ initial inspiration came from the lush landscapes and giant creatures of 1933’s King Kong as well as the works of stop-motion pioneer Ray Harryhausen. Then, while experimenting with a light table in film school, one of the top lights blew, resulting in one object, a cicada, being backlit, its wings and ribcage revealed in relative detail and the bulk of its body mostly in silhouette. Talk about a happy accident! This became the basis for one of Lucas’ first shorts, Shadowlands, named after this newly-discovered technique which combines 2D and 3D. It reminds me of the “Lumage” technique used in Twice Upon a Time, except instead of bits of tissue paper and plastic, the ships, machines, and many other objects in Jasper are made via clusters of junk metal, a broken hubcap becoming a porthole, a motor engine piece becoming a console, a glass tube becoming a pipe, and so forth. Their bright sheen and semi-transparency breathe a unique life into the intricate, chaotic beauty of the film’s steampunk aesthetic while remaining sufficiently obscured so as not to detract from the main characters:
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Coils and oils, Mr. Kemp?
KEMP: (Turning a steam valve.) Charged and hot, sir.
(Jasper retrieves his compass while the captain pulls a level from above.)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Mr. Kemp, airscrew to one hundred revolutions.
KEMP: One hundred, sir. (Pulls on a chord, activating the ship’s propellers.)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Mr. Morello, we are in your hands.
Not unlike the boy from the video game LIMBO (and I must admit this movie was a major influence toward my later love for that game), the human silhouettes’ 2-dimentional cut-out features are so finely detailed that I feel I could imagine perfectly what each character’s 3-dimentional features would look like.
Though monochrome for the most part, color does play an important role. The lit backdrops are hued with various shades to match the specific mood of a given scene. For instance, the sky above Gothia is a pale, orange-tinted yellow to match the city’s smoggy industrial atmosphere and sickly medieval wretchedness. As the voyage progresses, shades of grey become more prominent: a dark steely blue for intense, nerve-racking storms, a dull murky green for eerie, silent sailing, and a refreshing silvery white for the joy and relief of finding land.
In terms of visuals and tone, Lucas took pages from the books, so to speak, of two of his favorite childhood authors: the alternate Victorian English setting and technological early century wonders from the epic adventure of Jules Verne, and the human darkness and bleak melancholy from the gothic horror of Edgar Allen Poe. On this note, I feel it worth reiterating that the ship Jasper first sets sail on is the Resolution, a word meaning a firm decision or intention or the action of solving a problem. During a violent storm, the crew is forced to abandon ship when it crashes into the ghost ship Heironymous, a subtle but significant nod to 15th century Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch—most famous for his outlandish but terrifying depictions of Hell. This signifies not only Jasper’s first steps into a world of physical and mental horror, but that his already unstable confidence in himself and his redemption are now at even greater risk of being broken entirely:
JASPER: (Narrating; looking down in disbelief as his compass falls along with the wrecked Resolution) In one fell stroke, the Resolution was destroyed, and with it, my career.
[. . .]
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Kicking down a door and finding the ruins beyond) What the blazes?
[. . .]
DR. BELGON: (Accidently kicks something hollow as he walks; turns to find a pile of human skulls and bones; whispers in shock) My god.
And speaking of dark storytelling, some of the most famous gothic novels from 19th century Britain, like Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, are epistolary, meaning they are written as a series of documents: letters, diaries, newspaper articles, etc. While Jasper Morello can’t execute this format by virtue of being visual, it still does a wonderful job at simulating the experience of hearing a scary story through the words of a sensible but kind-hearted English gentleman fighting personal demons on top of the outside ones beyond his human understanding. Through his haunting and poetic journal entries, recited in voice actor Joel Edgerton’s soft and somber tones, Jasper tells us his story like a man who has aged well before his time, broken-spirited and with seemingly little to live for:
JASPER: (Narrating; gazing at the airships flying outside his home.) One degree is not a large distance. On a compass, it is scarcely the thickness of a fingernail. (Picks up his compass) But in certain conditions, one degree can be a very large distance. (Stares, forlorn, at the compass in his hand; hears in his memory a man screaming as he falls helplessly.) Enough to unmake a man.
At the same time, his theme music, with its music box bells, slow strings, and minor key, suggests an optimistic confidence and innocence he’d retained even in adulthood having been shattered forever like a fragile clockwork toy.
Jasper’s status as a social outsider and a professional failure are made evident through his crewmates. Compared to the courteous and refined Jasper, they are almost pirate-like: superstitious and more suited to grunt work and crude pleasures than on higher learning or personal reflection:
(Jasper joins Kovacs and Kemp outside as they observe lights in the sky)
KOVACS: Borealis.
KEMP: No! Souls of the dead, that is!
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Slapping Kovacs on the back amiably) Ah, Kovacs, king of the pork fishers!
(The rest of the crew laugh and cheer as they drink to the huge pork fish on the table.)
Captain Griswald in particular, his temper as pronounced as his Scottish accent, has neither love for nor faith in Jasper after his literal fatal mistake, not only denigrating the young navigator at every turn, but fully expecting him to make this the final voyage for all of them:
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Angrily running toward Jasper as he boards the Resolution.) Get off my ship!
JASPER: (Silently holds out a document.)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Snatches the paper with a grunt and reads it.) I see the Authority has given me little choice. (Points a menacing finger at Jasper.) But I’ll not tolerate another mistake. Do you ken?
JASPER: (In earnest.) Yes, sir.
[. . .]
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Full of distrust) Course, Mr. Morello?
JASPER: Maintain course and speed.
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: Are ye certain?
[. . .]
(The ship hits some sky debris)
CAPTAIN GRISWALD: (Furiously at Jasper) Agh, ye’ve killed us all this time!
It’s because of this alienation that Jasper comes to see Dr. Belgon as an ally and friend. Besides being of Jasper’s social class, the doctor appeals to Jasper’s intellectual side, both aspects of which are emphasized by the elegant harpsichord accompanying many of the doctor’s scenes. He provides the young navigator with the rare pleasure of companionship and the chance to forget his responsibilities for a time:
JASPER: (Narrating; observing an ant farm as Dr. Belgon lectures) Though the doctor was more than a decade my senior, we got on famously.
DR. BELGON: The formicidae are remarkable, each can lift ten times its own weight.
JASPER: (Fascinated) Indeed. Perhaps we should fashion our diet after theirs.
BOTH: (Laugh agreeably)
More importantly, Dr. Belgon is a passenger, and therefore not connected to Jasper’s tragedy. This allows Jasper the comfort of confiding in him without fear of reprimand or judgment:
DR. BELGON: (Wisely to a saddened Jasper) As with the ant, every man has a purpose. He must serve that purpose, no matter the cost.
However, it soon becomes clear where the “good” doctor’s loyalties truly lie. The more fantastic, and lethal, discoveries he makes, the less important the crew’s lives become to him—except for Jasper, as his increasingly sinister, minor-keyed harpsichord highlights. Dr. Belgon takes full advantage of Jasper’s friendship and preys on his concern for his wife, leaving the younger man in yet another moral crisis:
DR. BELGON: (In a fatherly voice to the creature sleeping in its cocoon) Come out, little one. There’s my beauty.
JASPER: (Appalled) For God’s sake, man. Cast it overboard!
DR. BELGON: (Reasonably) Then what remedy will you bring to your wife?
[. . .]
DR. BELGON: (In a tone of awe as the creature begins to hatch) Extraordinary, is it not?
JASPER: The captain must know.
DR. BELGON: (Not listening) The academy will send me back to the island. I will insist, that you command the voyage!
JASPER: (Firmly) No!
DR. BELGON: (In a hurt tone) Morello. (Suddenly nervous) The crew will panic! They’ll kill it!
JASPER: (Narrating) If the creature died, so did Amelia. I could not allow that to pass.
[. . .]
JASPER: (Desperately as he’s unable to free himself from his chain at the helm) For pity’s sake, Claude, don’t do this.
DR. BELGON: (Unmoved) Every man has his purpose. Yours is to get us home. (Gives Jasper a sinister smile) Your wife is waiting.
This is all the more terrible for Jasper because, unlike the last time, this will be not an accident, but a choice: does he alert the crew to the imminent danger of their monstrous cargo at the cost of its priceless blood? Or does he heed the doctor and allow it to live at the cost of his surly crew mates? Either way, Jasper’s hands will be further stained with innocent blood . . . unless he can find the courage to believe himself capable of leaving more than death in his wake and in his legacy.
I’ve always been a supporter of the belief that the shorter story that leaves the audience wanting more is always superior to the longer one that wears out its welcome before the end. As sad as I am at the unlikelihood of this film series ever coming to full fruition, I am glad we at least got this small but grand piece for Victorian gothic fans, unique animation enthusiasts and steampunk aficionados alike. Jasper Morello, both as a man and a movie, brings to its audience the true shadows of shadow puppetry.
CREDITS:
All images, audio, and links belong to their respective owners; no copyright infringement is intended.
MAIN THEME:
“The Call” – Briand Morrison and Roxann Berglund
EPISODE SONG:
“One Degree of Freedom” - Sean Zarn
“One Degree of Freedom” - Sean Zarn
All other sound and music clips are from The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello (directed by Anthony Lucas; production by 3d Films Pty Ltd., Australian Film Commission, Film Victoria, and SBS Independent; distributed by Monster Distributes).
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Jasper Morello on Wikipedia
Jasper Morello on Spindly Figures, Anthony Lucas’ Official Website
Jasper Morello on IMDb
Jasper Morello on Rotten Tomatoes
Jasper Morello on Tv Tropes
Buy Jasper Morello on Amazon
^^ Back to Movies, Short Films, and Other Works of Cinema
Download the full 15-minute episode here!
Jasper Morello on Wikipedia
Jasper Morello on Spindly Figures, Anthony Lucas’ Official Website
Jasper Morello on IMDb
Jasper Morello on Rotten Tomatoes
Jasper Morello on Tv Tropes
Buy Jasper Morello on Amazon
^^ Back to Movies, Short Films, and Other Works of Cinema