Editorials
Sanrio’s 1978 Anime Film ‘Ringing Bell’ Is Nightmare Fuel for All Ages [Horrors Elsewhere]
It might be surprising to learn the company behind Hello Kitty once branched out into dramatic filmmaking. And early into this short-lived venture, Sanrio produced one of its most notable films to date. Masami Hata’s 1978 adaptation of Takashi Yanase’s Ringing Bell (Chirin no suzu) found its way to the U.S. in the early ‘80s thanks to RCA/Columbia Pictures. The 47-minute film looks to be a garden-variety cartoon about a lamb, based on the promotional art. However, viewers of this animated obscurity can all agree looks are deceiving.
Ringing Bell starts off in an idyllic, mountainside grassland somewhere in America. As winter comes to an end, a local herd of ewes gives birth to and raises the next generation. This includes Chirin, who is voiced by Minori Matsushima in the Japanese version, and Barbara Goodson in the English dub. Because of Chirin’s habit of wandering off to unsafe parts of the pasture, he wears a bell around his neck. This way his anxious mother (Taeko Nakanishi, Alexandra Kenworthy) can always find him.
Ringing Bell’s cheery demeanor and picturesque scenery fade when the sun goes down, and the sheep’s most feared predator, the notorious wolf Woe (Seizō Katō, Bill Capizzi), pounces on the herd. The merciless hunter quickly finds a meal, but he takes one more life before disappearing into the night. Unharmed and unaware, Chirin crawls out from beneath his mother, who shielded him during the attack. He slowly comes to realize what happened after Woe set his eyes on him. Distraught and furious, Chirin then takes off in search of his mother’s killer.
Chirin decides the only way to defeat Woe is to become his student. The wolf brushes Chirin aside until he witnesses something so bizarre in a world where every action is predetermined. Chirin tries to save a nest of bird eggs from a snake after the mother is killed, but his efforts are in vain. Woe then shares a cold hard lesson with Chirin: some must die for others to live. He proceeds to ask the lamb why he wants to be like him in the first place. Chirin says he does not want to be helpless like the other sheep who stay in a place knowing very well they will be fodder at some point. The wolf is finally convinced to take Chirin under his wing.
Characters becoming the thing they hate is a common idea in storytelling. Chirin is indeed active in his own undertaking, but like so many others in a similar position, he does not consider the full weight of his actions. Nevertheless, Chirin trains day and night with Woe in hopes of achieving power and strength. His body is made tougher to match his new temperament. Chirin’s change is astounding given the adorable, carefree lamb seen earlier. What he ultimately loses in the process, though, is something he may never get back.
The wolf has also put himself in a precarious situation; every day he edges closer to death as he teaches Chirin his ways. Surely he could have avoided everything to come had he just devoured the lamb like nature dictates. An easy explanation for why the wolf instead mentors Chirin is the fact that animals live to further their species; he is acting on a biological desire. There are no other wolves in these parts, after all. Something else to ponder is Woe’s morbid curiosity. Being the apex predator here, a creature such as himself has little if nothing to be afraid of. He takes down bears twice his size with ease, and prey is more than plentiful. Life for the wolf is as simple as it is predictable. So the strange proposal Chirin sets forth would seem intriguing if Woe wanted to shake things up and feel challenged.
The day comes when Chirin achieves his ambition of being as powerful as the wolf, if not more so. His sharp horns have fully come in, and his hooves are as hard as rocks. The demonic ram has only one last test to complete his transformation; he has to destroy his birthplace. Chirin unhesitatingly slaughters a pack of guard dogs before he descends on a herd of helpless sheep much like the one he came from. He is prepared to kill them all until the sight of a lamb crying out for its mother brings him to his senses.
Animation has always acknowledged death in some form or another. Vintage Looney Tunes shows dying is only a temporary setback, seeing as characters regularly walk away unscathed after falling off a cliff, coming in contact with explosives, or succumbing to the weight of a comically large rock. Meanwhile, the more permanent depictions were found in cinema. From classic Disney to various Don Bluth pictures, Western animators of yesteryear broached death, yes, but they often applied an almost mystical gloss to the event. There was also the assumption that things would improve once the shock and pain wore off.
On the other hand, there is no perceivable silver lining to death in Ringing Bell. Chirin experiences loss at various times in the film. Although this story shares elements with Disney’s Bambi, it goes the other way in terms of death. Bambi recovered in a healthy way, whereas Chirin skipped the mourning period altogether in a bid to avoid the unavoidable. He thought becoming a predator like Woe would save him, but his vengeance quest only left him more alone. Chirin spent so much time fighting the concept of death he never took the time to live his life.
Ringing Bell is a brutal watch at any age, especially today when cultural attitudes and standards regarding children’s media have shifted. The nightmarish imagery and psychological horror are startling. This being a story for kids, though, there is presumably a lesson to be learned. Is this a reminder to maintain one’s social station? Or is it a warning about seeking vengeance? Maybe this is another “be careful what you wish for” narrative. The goal here is not too clear, and adults will have a hard time breaking everything down for younger viewers. As bleak as the conclusion is, the open-endedness is what stings the most in an otherwise daring, darkly beautiful, and unique film.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
Editorials
Before ‘The Blair Witch Project’, ‘Alien Autopsy’ Showed How Real Found Footage Could Feel
The line separating artist from con man is a lot thinner than you might initially believe. While I think we can all agree that lying for the sake of profit is actively malicious behavior, isn’t it also true that the faux documentary aspect of The Blair Witch Project is half the reason why that film became such a cultural phenomenon? After all, if there’s one thing filmmakers have in common with stage magicians, it’s that misleading and misdirecting audiences is simply part of the job.
That’s why I’ve developed a habit of mostly ignoring the moral quandaries behind many of film and television’s biggest “hoaxes” in favor of appreciating the narrative elements that drive productions like Mermaids: The Body Found and even Animal Planet’s highly underrated The Cannibal in the Jungle. However, if there’s a definitive case of a highly publicized broadcast fooling the world into taking it seriously, it has to be Fox’s infamous 1995 TV special Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction.
It’s been over three decades since that eerie footage first haunted television screens right at the peak of the ’90s ufology craze, and in that time, the video has taken on a life of its own. From countless parodies and references in everything from The X-Files to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater (as well as John Dower’s recently released tell-all documentary The Alien Autopsy Scandal, which I’d highly recommend to genre fans everywhere), there’s no denying the legacy of the Alien Autopsy video. However, I rarely see the tape discussed as what it truly is: a highly convincing found footage film directed by a passionate stage magician and brought to life by masterful practical effects work.
That’s why I’d like to invite readers to join me on a deep dive into one of the most infamous broadcasts of all time in an attempt to reevaluate the footage as a fascinating narrative experience rather than a complete hoax.
The TV Special That Convinced Millions It Was Real
Ray Santilli next to Extraterrestrial replica in ‘The Alien Autopsy Scandal’
For starters, regardless of whether or not you believe that there was in fact an extraterrestrial crash in Roswell during the summer of 1947 and that some form of autopsy was performed on the victims, the producers behind the black & white recordings, Ray Santilli and Gary Shoefield, insist that their video was a “restoration.” Though I’d argue that the proper word is “remake”of genuine footage that was too damaged to air on television. That’s why the duo went on to recruit filmmaker and eccentric magician Spyros Melaris and sculptor/monster designer John Humphreys to bring their version of the autopsy to life and sell it to the highest bidder.
This is where the story of the Alien Autopsy as a narrative experience really begins. Melaris claims that his approach to the faux recording consisted of striving for extreme period accuracy in both shooting equipment and setting while also planting subtle details that would initially seem like mistakes but could later be revealed to actually fit the time period. That being said, the filmmaker was under the impression that the short would be released for free as a PR stunt, with the team later producing and selling an informative documentary chronicling exactly how the footage was faked and commenting on how easy it is to manipulate public perception with a good old-fashioned magic trick.
This obviously isn’t how things went down, and that’s likely the reason why Melaris has since distanced himself from everyone else involved with the project. Yet, no amount of behind-the-scenes drama can undermine the genuine effort that went into making the short as impressive as it is. From the sourcing of real animal organs from a local butcher to make the organic part of the creature more lifelike to the highly detailed sculpt that made use of a hollowed-out underlayer that could be filled with fake blood and assorted viscera, there’s a reason why so many Hollywood specialists are still impressed with the artistry on display here.
Of course, the believability is only half the story, as I think that the best part of the autopsy is how Melaris builds on the existing tension by obscuring certain details and often embracing the chaos of what a real examination of extraterrestrial life could feel like. The camera often goes out of focus at just the right time to make certain effects hit even harder, and we can only speculate as to what the hazmat-suited doctors are gesticulating about during the operation. There’s a real air of mystery to the whole thing that almost makes it feel like a cosmically terrifying, cursed film containing forbidden knowledge that civilians were never meant to see.
So when Fox’s Fact or Fiction brings in the specialists to comment on the film and its otherworldly subject, it’s no surprise that we end up with one of the most memorable mockumentaries of all time – albeit one where the participants are unaware that the footage they’re commenting on is basically a large-scale practical joke. A joke that the network was obviously in on, as many participants claim that the TV special cut out significant portions where guests point out that they believe the footage to be an elaborate hoax.
The Lasting Impact of the Hoax Turned Cultural Event
Regardless, I remember going to bed terrified after watching reruns of the special and thinking about the respected pathologist who claimed that the body was almost certainly inhuman, with even effects maestro Stan Winston commenting on how difficult it would be to recreate some of these visuals through practical puppetry. That’s not even mentioning Jonathan Frakes’ dramatic hyping up of the disturbing imagery as if he was talking about the tape from The Ring, with his spooky demeanor here likely being responsible for his later role as the host of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction a few years later.
Personally, I’d argue that the Alien Autopsy phenomenon had just as much of an impact on me as a horror fan as The Blair Witch Project, a film that was almost certainly influenced by the success of this immensely popular hoax (to the point where they even produced their own TV special commenting on Heather’s found footage). Even if Fox didn’t intend to produce a narrative feature about the aftermath of the Roswell crash, the end product still holds up remarkably well as a highly entertaining mockumentary exploring the idea that we may not be alone in the universe.
While neither Santilli nor the rest of the production team has ever commented on this, I also think it’s very likely that the idea of a faux Alien Autopsy could have been influenced by Dean Alioto’s The McPherson Tape/UFO Abduction. I’ve already written about how this granddaddy of found footage was co-opted by rogue ufologists who began selling bootlegs of the tape at conventions as if it were real evidence of a close encounter, so it’s not that much of a stretch to imagine that Santilli and company could have heard about this phenomenon and been inspired to come up with their own highly profitable hoax.
At the end of the day, it’s unlikely that the Alien Autopsy film is recreating any real footage from Roswell, but I can still appreciate the short and the accompanying television event as a standalone horror story that still influences the way we see found footage to this very day.
After all, the possibility that something could be real is often much scarier than finding out for sure – and that’s why I think Alien Autopsy: Fact or Fiction is still worth revisiting three decades down the line.
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