A presidential parade, via “Bolero”
Thanks to the Chicago Tribune’s DC bureau blog, “Swampland,” I came across this cool morphing parade of the nations’ 44 presidents or soon-to-be, from George Washington to president-elect Barack Obama.
I concur with Tribune writer Frank James’ observation that Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” might not be the best choice for a soundtrack — to my generation, it conjures up unpresidential beach images of actress Bo Derek in the 1979 movie, “10.” I agree that a better alternative might have been “Hail to the Chief?”
But the flow of changing images is stunning nonetheless, especially all the shifting foreheads. Some of the morphs are particularly disconcerting, such as Democrat LBJ’s transformation into Republican Richard Nixon. Scary.
Love Harry S Truman’s portrait, but Gerald Ford’s mug is not a good likeness.
In any case, here it is:
Funny how they all have serious and dignified expressions until the mid-70s; then the rest, starting with Carter, are all grinning like television politicians.