Волшебник скорости и времени: История одного фильма

1979 and 1988 films by Mike Jittlov

The Wizard of Speed and Time is a 1988 low budget feature film written, directed, and starring animator Mike Jittlov, as well as a 1979 16 mm short film, also by Jittlov.

In the original short film, a young man in a green wizard costume runs throughout America at super speed, much like the superhero The Flash. Along the way, he gives a hitchhiking woman (Toni Handcock) a swift lift to another city and gives golden stars to other women who want a trip themselves. He then slips on a banana peel and comically crashes into a film stage, which he then brings to life in magical ways. Jittlov is a special effects technician, and he produced all of the special effects in the film himself, many through stop motion animation. This short film originally was shown as a segment of an episode of The Wonderful World of Disney. The episode was called "Major Effects" and was aired to coincide with the release of Disney's The Black Hole in 1979. The film segment then began to be shown at science fiction conventions around the country, gaining popularity, prompting Jittlov to eventually create a (semi )fictionalized account, in the form of a feature film, of how this short film came to be.

Mike Jittlov spent 14 years trying to get the film made independently, as he didn't want to compromise his artistic vision for the film (as would've been the case with a studio production). Much like he had done with his short films, Jittlov sprinkled subliminal messages throughout the feature length version of The Wizard of Speed and Time that pushed words associated with positivity and fulfillment.