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Passover
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MICHAEL ELKIN
0
Unique Restaurant Corporation
FA1
-
UNIQUE
SEBASTIAN'S
of West Moontfleid
of Oak Park
Extends Best Wishes
To All
For A Healthy and Happy
Passover
Deli Unique
of West Bloomfield
6724 Orchard Lake Road
737.3890
Will Close Friday, April 1 at 3 p.m.
And All Day Saturday, April 2,
Reopening Sunday, April 3 at 9 a.m.
Deli Unique
of Oak Park
25290 Greenfield Road
967.3999
Will Close Friday, April 1 at 3 p.m.
And All Day Saturday, April 2,
Reopening Monday, April 4 at 11 a.m.
Both Locations Will Be Serving Traditional
Passover Cakes and Fried Matzoh
78
FRIDAY, APRIL 1, 1988
Pinocchio is caught in the act of telling a lie.
nce upon a time,
there was a young
man — well, he was in
his mid-30s anyway — with a
vision. This young man
thought he could produce top-
notch children's entertain-
ment and win the praise and
love of everyone in the forest.
But, in the forest, as in
every dense neighborhood,
there were naysayers
everywhere. "Nay," they said
of his ideas. "Do-gooders have
to watch out for the evil
dragon. And you can't slay
the dragon without the right
ammunition!'
Come meet Lou Scheimer,
dragon slayer. His ammo?
Popular cartooning.
Scheimer, now 59, is presi-
dent and chief executive of-
ficer of Filmation, the com-
pany responsible for Pinoc-
chio and the Emperor of the
Night, a full length animated
feature film.
Is Pinocchio — at once
naive, forthright and
mischievous — a hero for our
times?
Scheimer laughs. "Yes," he
says. "He realy is."
Scheimer is a hero himself
— to kids who have delighted
in the animated adventures of
television's Batman, Super-
man, Archies, Star Trek,
Chostbusters, He-Man, She-
Ra: Princess of Power, The
Lone Ranger, Zorro, the
Peabody Award-winning Fat
Albert .. .
Not bad for a Pittsburgh
native whose early credits in-
cluded cover designs for the
Jewish Criterion.
Now he has designson
Pinocchio. An admitted ad-
mirer of Walt Disney, whose
studio issued the most famous
of seven animated films about
the wooden kid with the big
nose, Scheimer is hesitant to
talk about the competiton,
saying that the studios had
been at loggerheads over his
project. "They tried to sue us,"
he says.
Jiminy Cricket! Suffice it to
say that Scheimer's film is a
continuation of the Collodi
classic and involves a car-
nival, a runaway Pinocchio, a
Good Fairy, an evil Emperor
and enough tsuris and hap-
piness to make Pinocchio
knock wood that he has an
understanding father.
"We started this project five
years ago," says Scheimer.
Five years ago, there was
some doubt in the industry
that full-lengthleatures were
worth doing.
But then along came Steven
Spielberg and his An
American Tail. Build a better
mousetrap . . . "That grossed
$47 million!" exclaims an im-
pressed Scheimer.
Little Fievel Mousekewitz,
star of the family-tailored
film, was suddenly a star to
other animators too. "It pro-
ved you don't have to have the
Disney imprimatur to suc-
ceed!' says Scheimer.
Success is no fairy tale for
Scheimer; he could probably
be even more successful with
this project if there were a toy
tie-in. lbys are not him, he
says. "I'm proud that there
are no toys involved!'
He is also proud of his
animated output. Sure, he ad-
mits, there's a clinker here, a
clinker there. And, yes, he's
heard all the complaints from
parents about programming.
"But adults who yell and
scream about what their
children are watching may be