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Everybody Rides the Carousel, 1976
This is a full-length, educational film about the eight stages of life as defined by Erik Erikson. Different animated sequences, often centered on the same characters, illustrate the psychological factors of the different stages of life.
This film uses a mix of real audio (especially in the sequences involving younger children) and acted out sequences. The most famous voice here is Meryl Streep in one of the later sequences. The writing/acting is incredibly naturalistic, and many of the conversations range from the small to the large, such as a conversation between a couple trying to decide whether or not to have a second child, or two parents agonizing over letting their teenage daughter move out of state.
I liked many of the animated flourishes used to illustrate what is happening in the characters' minds--the impulses or insecurities that plague them, but also the joys and pleasures they get out of different experiences.
While I appreciated that there is some diversity to the characters displayed, you can feel the age of the film quite a bit. The characters on-screen are almost all white. Everyone is straight. Everyone is middle class or slightly above. It might be a decent representation of the "average American" of the time, but it also feels a bit narrow in the scope of who is included.
An interesting look at an aspect of psychological history.
Everybody Rides the Carousel, 1976
This is a full-length, educational film about the eight stages of life as defined by Erik Erikson. Different animated sequences, often centered on the same characters, illustrate the psychological factors of the different stages of life.
This film uses a mix of real audio (especially in the sequences involving younger children) and acted out sequences. The most famous voice here is Meryl Streep in one of the later sequences. The writing/acting is incredibly naturalistic, and many of the conversations range from the small to the large, such as a conversation between a couple trying to decide whether or not to have a second child, or two parents agonizing over letting their teenage daughter move out of state.
I liked many of the animated flourishes used to illustrate what is happening in the characters' minds--the impulses or insecurities that plague them, but also the joys and pleasures they get out of different experiences.
While I appreciated that there is some diversity to the characters displayed, you can feel the age of the film quite a bit. The characters on-screen are almost all white. Everyone is straight. Everyone is middle class or slightly above. It might be a decent representation of the "average American" of the time, but it also feels a bit narrow in the scope of who is included.
An interesting look at an aspect of psychological history.