"We don't need no education!"
 

      A part-animated feature film adaptation of Pink Floyd's 1979 double-album rock
      project, in which a washed-up rock star called Pink finds his life to be a
      hallucinogenic cocktail of fact and fiction...

      Or something like that.

      It's well known that Pink is actually based on Floyd founder member Syd
      Barrett, the "crazy diamond" who burned too bright too soon.

      "The Wall" divides critics and viewers alike. Floyd fans love the disorder, despair
      and portentous nature of it all. Newcomers to the music tend to be confused,
      put off by the nihilistic approach or indeed, simply bored by the film. Whatever
      your view, "The Wall" is a bold extension of the 5-minute pop promo into
      feature-length territory. It wasn't supposed to make immediate narrative sense.
      It was all about the music and the images used to illustrate the songs.

         

     Artst, satirist and illustrator Gerald Scarfe was the animation designer on
     this eye-opening film and his contribution to the production has been
     detailed and appraised ad infinitum. The face in the wall, Judge Arse, the
     teacher working his class of children through a mincing machine, and of
     course, those goose-stepping fascist hammers remain just as striking today
     as they were when seen for the first time, in the promo for "Another Brick
     in the Wall - part 2". The Scarfe/Floyd connection evolved around, before,
     and after the movie. Designs were conceived for and adapted for use in the
     touring concert of the same name. Images were projected on The Floyd's
     giant on-stage wall and huge inflatable figures were created. 

     But you know, if the narrative (or lack of it) stirrs up critical divisions so
     too does Scarfe's animation. Some argue that his work loses some of its
     nib-scratched, blotching bite in animated form. Scarfe himself has admitted
     there were problems transferring his designs. To begin with, most of the film's
     animation crew were more used to drawing "toons". And then there were the
     restrictions of the production itself - think of the time and cost that would have
     been involved in animating each stab of Scarfe's pen! (remember, this was way
     before the advent of the cgi techniques we're so familiar with today...)

     Yep, production requirements back then demanded a tighter, more solid form
     to animate. But the Hound says Scarfe's art has been cleverly evolved. The rough
     edges have by necessity been smoothed off, but we now have a leaner, clean
     design. It's more focused. And when it works, like the ruthlessly efficient scenes
     of those goose-stepping hammers marching in time to the Floyd's wall of sound,
     well it works bloody brilliantly...

     Floyd's Roger Waters obviously enjoyed the artistic endeavour enough to do it
     again a few years later. This time he contributed to Jimmy Murakami's angry
     animated adaptation of When The Wind Blows...

     It's been twenty years since the launch of "Pink Floyd the Wall" and those
     Scarfe designs have an iconic status in rock and animation circles. The crowning
     glory must surely go to a cameo appearance in that legendary toon series
     "The Simpsons". In the hippie-fied episode "D'Oh-in' in the Wind" (1998) the
     residents of Springfield succumb to the side-effects of Homer's tainted fruit
     juice. Poor old Ned Flanders has a juice-induced hallucination which features
     Scarfe's hammers marching across the road in front of him!

 

     The Wall on DVD

       Pink Floyd the Wall
                 Region 2 / MGM/UA / June 2003

      Pink Floyd the Wall 25th Anniversary (Deluxe Edition)
                Region 1 / Sony / Jan 2005

 

      director:       Alan Parker
     producer:     Alan Marshall
     anim des:     Gerald Scarfe
     writer:          Roger Waters
     music:          Roger Waters / Pink Floyd
     stars:            Bob Geldof
                         Christine Hargreaves
                         James Laurenson
                         Eleanor David
                         Kevin McKeon
                         Bob Hoskins

 

      On the web


       You can't move for Floyd-related pages on the web. Many of these talk about
        the film, though few feature pics. Here are The Hound's particular faves:

       The Wall
       This here Floyd site features some great pics of Scarfe's animation
       projected on stage at Earl's Court as part of a Wall concert - pics take
       time to load, mind...

       Gerald Scarfe
       Scarfe online! - Here's the Great Man's trim official site with all the
       latest news of his life and works, and details of art to buy too.
       Get your cheque books ready!...

       Pink Floyd Hyperbase
       The PF Hyperbase includes this breakdown of the movie, sequence by
       sequence, with numerous interior links to expand the detail. No pics
       on offer, just a ton of old-fashioned stout and hearty information...

       Scarfe Interview     
       Finally for now, here's a fine, informative interview with Mr. Scarfe
       himself in which he discusses the - er - walls he encountered
       during the production...