An Interview with Local Filmmaker, Chris Harding

by Ashley Duncan
Pawnee High School Warrior
April 10, 2004

WARRIOR: This is your first film. How did you get the idea for He's a Good Monkey?

HARDING: I don't know. I kept drawing these monkeys and robots, which seemed to go together for some reason. I think this cartoon was just a matter of finding an explanation for my doodles.

Looking at it now, I feel like it's maybe a little too obvious or literal or something-- like Oliver Stone, pounding and pounding you in the face with a completely obvious, simplistic idea. But I like it anyway. It's just a little cartoon... no big deal.

WARRIOR: How did you animate it?

HARDING: It's pretty crude. I drew it on paper, scanned everything in, and then animated it all digitally. Whatever your opinions about digital animation, (I realize most of it is kind of ugly) it does allow for great autonomy. What used to take dozens of people and hundreds of thousands of dollars can now be done by one person on four thousand dollars worth of equipment, and in way less time. This will lead to a lot more crap being produced, but it will also let the singular vision of an artist come through more directly in some cases. I think my first attempt is pretty basic, but it's a good starting point and I can't wait to push it further.  I've done a few experiments since this thing that I'm a lot happier with.

WARRIOR: The film is obviously a literal interpretation of Freud's Id and Super-ego. Was that your intention?

HARDING: How old are you?

WARRIOR: 16.

HARDING: From what I've read about Freud, he seems kind of nutty. But even though the brain is obviously much more complicated than an Id/Superego thing, everyone can relate to a feeling of conflict between instinctual impulses and rational planning. So Freud was onto something. I don't know if his science holds up, but he was, at the very least, creative.

WARRIOR: One of Cha Cha's last refuges in the modern world is dancing. But you said that you actually hate dancing. Why is this included in what is otherwise a self portrait?

HARDING: Right, I can't stand dancing. But that is exactly what happens in the film– the Id loves to dance, but is thwarted by a Superego who is embarrassed by dancing, and has the controls most of the time. That's probably the reason I don't like to dance— overactive inhibitions.

Plus, it’s not so strictly autobiographical. A lot of people find some kind of creative outlet. Dancing is just more visual than drawing or writing, so that's what I used.

WARRIOR: In the final scene of the film, you start with a reconciliation between the two selves, but end with the Id crushing the Superego's head.

HARDING: Yes. A subconscious attempt to rationalize my own behavior... It's not my fault I act like this-- my Id killed my Superego.

WARRIOR: A subconscious attempt?

HARDING: Well, there's no statement there. It was just a funny ending. I used the sound of a Dr. Pepper can being crushed when Cha Cha hugs Grey. I drank a lot of Dr. Pepper while I was making this.

WARRIOR: What are you working on next?

HARDING: I'm working with my friends on a series called "Robot Family," and I'm working on a short which is a contemporary adaptation of the Ballad of John Henry. Plus, a secret project that should come out this fall.

WARRIOR: You're really into robots.

HARDING: Yes, but not literal robots. I couldn't care less about robots or futuristic gadgetry. It's just that they make good cartoon characters. The audience assumes certain things about a robot character when they see it. It's useful to have built-in preconceptions to play off.

"Robot Family" is about polite social conventions gone overboard. And with the John Henry story, it's the same theme as the original ballad. Sometimes machines are used for exerting power and control over people, as opposed to performing physical work. But that wasn't the case in John Henry. The steam drill was a good advance... but in the short run, workers' lives are turned upside-down. John Henry was an idiot to fight it. And all dying did was prove the machine could outlast a man. He actually provided the railroad with a sort of field test for their machine. And it passed. But still, there's something so cool about John Henry and what he did, just to exert his own will in a small way and try to be a pain in the butt.

What I wish John Henry had fought against and beat is the time clock. What a wretched invention.

WARRIOR: Speaking of time, thank you for taking some out to talk to me.

HARDING: Thank you, Ashley.

Chris Harding is a local Kansas City filmmaker. He's a Good Monkey can be seen in the Kansas City Filmmakers' Jubilee this Friday.

Ashley Duncan is a sophomore at Pawnee High School and editor of the Arts and Entertainment section of the Warrior.

reprinted with permission of the Pawnee High School Warrior

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