Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. Since yesterday saw the rather exciting news that Disney is relaunching Rocketeer I figured why not take a look back at the making of Joe Johnston's ahead-of-its-time rah-rah patriotic superhero flick. When you go back and watch The Rocketeer today you see why it was the biggest no-brainer that Johnston directed the first Captain America movie.
What's interesting to me, in a historical sense, about looking at The Rocketeer today is that it was made during the height of Tim Burton's Batman. Everything quasi-comic book related at that time pretty much had to look like Burton's exaggerated universe. Dick Tracy is a prime example. But Johnston's Rocketeer had a throw back quality to it. It didn't look like the other movies of its type at that time.
As a result that movie feels a little more timeless in retrospect than the other films of the era. It's helped greatly by the incredible score, but I think its secret weapon is how closely it sticks to the design of The Rocketeer himself. The helmet, jetpack and leather jacket are instantly iconic and they didn't try to make it cool to fit the times. They were confident enough in the design that they stuck pretty religiously to how it was drawn.
Today's image shows a miniature of the Rocketeer himself being puppetted for one of the flying shots in the film. It's a gorgeous black and white photo. Hope you dig it!
Since Rocketeer is such a great throwback that owes a debt to a certain fedora-wearing adventuring archeologist, I think it's time to dip into Dr. Jones' world a little bit. See ya' tomorrow for that!
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
Follow Me On Twitter
