Floyd Norman

“I remember when I was asked by Walt Disney to work on the film Jungle Book an assignment that that came unexpected I hadn't planned to work on the film The Jungle Book back in 1966 but a certain gentleman changed my mind. But I remembered back when I was a small child and my parents had taken me to see The Jungle Book by the Korda Brothers Alexander and Zoltan Korda and I remember watching that film as a child and being so influenced by it, the magic. It was something magical about the jungle, something terrifying of course with Shere Khan the tiger and Kaa the snake. And I remember that cavern filled with gold you know and the way it sparkled in brilliant Technicolor and speaking of The Jungle Book, the version by Alexander and Zoltan Korda, that film starred an actor named Sabu. And when I saw this film I had never even heard of this actor, but I would soon to see him in other films such as The Thief of Bagdad and a number of others. He even did a film I believe at the Walt Disney Studios in the 1960s, he appeared in the film for us. So the great Sabu, something you should check out.”

“The Hidden Fortress probably inspired another filmmaker, George Lucas, and Star Wars got a good deal of inspiration from this film, The Hidden Fortress by Kurosawa. Great motion picture.”

“I was really anxious to see Rebecca. I had seen all of Hitchcock's films in the '50s and '60s, but this film came out a little earlier and I hadn't seen it, and I had no way to see it. Well, believe it or not, I found the most unusual way to watch Rebecca. A friend of mine, an animator, literally had a 35 millimeter projector in his apartment. That sounds insane. This is a projector that you would have in a motion picture theater, but he had a 35 millimeter projector in his in his apartment, literally in his apartment, and he had a print of Rebecca, and I was able to see this masterpiece in his home, and never thought I would view the film in that manner, but great film.”

“Good pal, Spike Lee, great filmmaker. Spike really he was a guerrilla filmmaking filmmaker, and making films back when it was really difficult for African-American filmmakers to get a shot. And so Spike made his first film, She's Gotta Have It, he followed that with School Daze, and then by the time he got around to doing this particular film, Spike was at the top of his game, and a great performance by Denzel Washington.”

“This one happens to be a favorite of my wife Adrienne. I hadn't seen My Man Godfrey starring William Powell, a film that's a lot of fun, but has a social message as well. What I would call a such a tight film, it's it's not long at all. It tells its story, tells it well, and then the film ends, you know, as films should do. When you've told your story, done.”

“I remember when I was asked by Walt Disney to work on the film Jungle Book an assignment that that came unexpected. I hadn't planned to work on the film The Jungle Book back in 1966, but a certain gentleman changed my mind. But I remembered back when I was a small child and my parents had taken me to see The Jungle Book by the Korda brothers, Alexander and Zoltan Korda. And I remember watching that film as a child and being so influenced by it, the magic, it was something magical about the jungle, something terrifying of course with Shere Khan the tiger and Kaa the snake. And I remember that cavern filled with gold, you know, and the way it sparkled in brilliant Technicolor. And speaking of The Jungle Book, the version by Alexander and Zoltan Korda, that film starred an actor named Sabu. And when I saw this film, I had never even heard of this actor, but I would soon to see him in other films such as The Thief of Bagdad and a number of others. He even did a film, I believe, at the Walt Disney Studios in the 1960s, he appeared in a film for us. So the great Sabu, something you should check out.”