Comparing Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith to Tim Burton :: Compare Contrast Comparison

Comparing Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith to Tim Burton Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith's Baloney (HENRY P.) and Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas illustrations encourage us to see the world through a distorted lens. I would like to compare how similar but yet how different the two illustrators are in the way they show their work in a distorted view. Scieszka and Smith have made Henry P. a different kind of sci-fi adventure of a boy explaining to his teacher why he was late to school. Smith has detailed the illustrations as they follow what the text says with a distorted twist. For example, when Henry was explaining that he ended up on the planet astrosus with astro guys, Smith illustrated an astro guy with pointy eyebrows, a sharp nose, and a red spiky tongue flicking out to catch Henry in his red space suit. The astro guy is not what we expect from an alien like creature, he had an odd shaped, distinctive head that would make heads turn twice. The effect of Smith's illustrations here make us look at the world critically. Henry's red space suit makes you get a feel for his personality and makes you wonder why his story is interesting. Scieszka shows another distorted way of Henry's world of imagination, when Henry says, "I was only three seconds away from zerplatzen all over the speelplaats" (Scieszka). Smith creates this by showing the backside of Henry (focal point) falling through the red space, past the white shadowy moon. One of his silver gloves flying alone through the air by the odd, jagged, red rocks. Smith varies the in your face colors surrounding Henry to make him look like he is actually falling through space. The streaks pointing toward the center (Henry) creates a striking image by the brightness of the tones. Henry said, "I suddenly remembered...that falling bodies obey the law of gravity. And I haven't learned the law of gravity yet. So I stopped and came to szkola" (Scieszka). Smith does not let him stall in space, he has him floating in the red sky among the orange-whitish clouds with sparkles in his eyes. The green of Henry's body and clothes contrasts with the red/orange and makes him the focus of the page. The illustrations do not pay attention to gravity by being off balance. Smith has made this story colorful and exciting through his illustrations.