Pop Quiz: Name the legendary character who did all of the following feats?:
Riding a Cannonball to Safety…which he was able to steer because of his excellent horsemanship.
Escaping Swamp…which seems like no great feat, unless you consider he did it by grabbing his own hair and pulling himself up.
Reaching Into Fierce Wolf’s Mouth….and reaching its tail then pulling it inside out.
Travelling to the Moon…by lassoing the point of the crescent and pulling himself up.
Being Swallowed by a Sea Monster…and escaping by using his boat’s masts to prop open the beast’s mouth.
TIMES UP! PENCILS DOWN
The Answer: Baron von Munchausen.
And who is Baron Munchausen? I’m glad you asked. He is a fictional adventurer, but actually based on a real individual with a mouthful of a name… Karl Friedrich Hieronymus, Freiherr von Münchhausen (1720–1797). He was a German nobleman who served as a cavalry officer in the Russian military with a fondness for storytelling embellishing his own experiences with extravagant and fantastical details.
Later, a writer named Rudolf Erich Raspe embellished these tales to the nth degree and compiled a collection of stories known as "Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia.”
The Baron is the coolest, and to some degree, an idol. I guess you could say he has many of the traits I strive to have, many of which are crucial to being a successful artist. Obviously, he is a good problem solver, and of course, he is adept at thinking outside the box. Then there is his sense of playfulness and humor when it comes to solving those problems. And of course, he is a good storyteller…at least the "real" Baron was a good yarn spinner. Yes, it’s true I have been known to embellish for the sake of a good tale.
If you’ve never read the stories, you must….they are fun and ludicrous. And for those who are not readers, you can check out two films. Most recently is Terry Gilliam’s The Adventures of Baron Munchausen. This is a wondrous Hollywood film with a star-studded cast.
There is an earlier Czech version that is absolutely stunning and visually imaginative, by the director Karel Zeman. He didn’t have a big budget so he utilized some crazy techniques. There are a few documentaries about him out there and his other films are well worth checking out.
And if you’re ever in Prague…which I highly recommend…right next to the Charles Bridge is a small little museum that features a variety of props and replicas from Karel Zeman’s various film projects. As I said, it’s small, you can do it in about 30-45 minutes, but it’s a lot fun with various interactive gizmos.
So I was going to make this blog post a bit longer, but I have suddenly felt the need to climb up to the moon for teatime.
In the meantime you can check out a few of my found object assemblage interpretations of the Baron’s exploits.
The Baron Goes to the Moon
The Baron and the Large Fish