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Filmsy - Movie Reviews Blog

    Filmsy - Movie Reviews Blog

    Famous Scottish Characters that Graced Our Screens

    Posted: 21 Sep 2011 05:05 AM PDT

    Sure, Scotland has a great history of famous actors from Sean Connery to Ewan McGregor but we so often find them playing foreign characters. Sean Connery as a Russian submarine commander purely gets away with not even trying the accent because he has sh'tyle and Ewan McGregor plays a character from a galaxy far, far away. So where are the Scottish characters played by Scots or otherwise?

    The fact is that there are a plethora of Scottish characters whether they're a target for taking stick or a caricature of the bold heroic Scotsman.

    Shrek

    Arrgh! A big horrible ugly ogre with a bold Scottish accent. Yep the first Scottish character to appear in our list is the embodiment of a Scotsman isn't he? He's aggressive, brutish, poorly groomed and rarely washed. Above all else he's anti-social and just ever so slightly grumpy. However, at least he comes to be a likeable character and the accent isn't bad for a Canadian (Mike Myers). He even gets the girl in the end, even if she does turn out to be an ugly ginger headed ogre. Hmmm, this is quite realistic.

    Scotty from Star Trek

    A Scotsman in space and he's an engineer. Quite fitting for a country that prides itself on a history of some of the world's greatest engineers and perhaps a tip of the hat in that sense by the Star Trek franchise. Once again however, it's a Canadian that takes up the role as the ever so slightly gruff Scotsman. I see a pattern developing here.

    Scrooge McDuck

    Taking a dive into the world of cartoons once again and we find Scrooge McDuck, uncle to Donald Duck and an immigrant to America. Not unlike so many Scots throughout history. He also shares several other stereotypical Scottish traits such as being a miserly old… well scrooge and being somewhat of a persona for you're a-typical elderly Scottish gent. Voiced in Disney cartoons and films by (you guessed it) a Canadian voice actor named Alan Young, Scrooge became most famous to more recent generations (having been created in 1947) in the cartoon Ducktales where he was as cheap and skin-flinted as ever.

    Renton from Trainspotting

    Finally, a Scotsman played by a Scotsman. It just so happens though that the character is a heroin addict and all round 'colourful' character. Played by Ewan McGregor in his first major role, the story follows Renton in his quest to rid his life of drugs and get a new start in life. With a stellar cast of other great Scottish actors such as Robert Carlyle and Jonny Lee Miller this is a somewhat visceral insight into the Scottish drug culture.

    Connor McLeod from the Highlander

    As they say in the movie; 'there can be only one'. Yep one bad accent and one seriously bad sequel, but at least in this movie the Scotsman is portrayed as the brooding and deep hero with a dark past. Bizarrely, his mentor in the movie is an Egyptian/Spaniard played by the true Scotsman Sean Connery while the Scottish character himself is played by an American born, Swiss raised Frenchman. Oh well, at least that's not as bad as making him an alien in the sequel.

    So that's it, and this is supposedly how the world sees the average Scotsman. In the interpretation of Hollywood the Scots are somewhere between a miserly old codger, a heroin addict and a Canadian?

    The film industry loves a good stereotype.

     

    Jim Anderson is a film buff who loves to see Scottish characters show up in movies. He's recently had his Edinburgh apartment kitted out with a home cinema system.

     

    Walt Disney: Creating the World of Magic

    Posted: 20 Sep 2011 04:43 PM PDT

    Whoever has not heard of Walt Disney and the famous theme parks that he has built in perfect spots all over the world has missed half of their lives. Ever since Disneyland was built, it has become every child's dream to go there and experience the magic that the place brings. Adults who want to experience what it feels like to be a child again would always dream of taking a trip down memory lane where fairy tale castles and far away kingdoms came true. Indeed, the world that Walt Disney had created was a picture of innovation and creativity living up to his famous line, dreams do come true.

    His humble beginnings in Chicago had inspired him to write stories about love, family and faraway kingdoms where anything was possible. His first sketches of Doc Sherwood's horse where he got paid had enhanced his talent and paved the way for his realization that he could draw and that it was in those drawings that he would be known for all over the world. In fact, he claimed to have gotten the inspiration for the world renowned Walt Disney Castle from a classmate's house. Indeed, his drawings and his playful imagination ahs brought him to places that were very different from where he grew up and his exciting stories moved a lot of people that anything is possible if you believed.

    Walt Disney and his brother Roy Disney worked day time jobs to buy the things that they need. Since Walt got a job as an animator, his boss allowed him to bring the company camera home to further his experiments to produce better animated pictures. He took jobs that taught him different techniques not only in drawing beautiful pictures but making these pictures come to life in animation and alter on in film.

    Walt Disney had had a simple life but because of his creativity and his love for innovation, he saw through all the simplicity and paved the way for bigger things to happen. In fact, the accomplishments of Walt Disney have inspired a lot of people in the industry of film to produce more stories that moved people. Today, people enjoy watching movies that are not only well-crafted using the latest technology for film and music but movies that speak about the wonders of life. It is through these films that modern-day fairy tale stories come to life.

    It was a year after his death in December 1966 that his brother Roy instigated the construction of Walt Disney Resort in Florida. Today, millions of people all over the world still wish they could visit the place where magic becomes real.

     

    About the author: David C. is the webmaster of Famous Quotes Index, a website containing close to 30,000 famous quotes and inspiring biographies from renowned authors.