Mary Poppins

My teaching of U.S. history always includes a week of studying the Constitution with an emphasis on the Bill of Rights. The First Amendment, indisputably the most important amendment, consumes two of those days. Issues that we examine and questions that we ask stretch our understanding of those “unalienable rights” that Thomas Jefferson wrote about in the Declaration of Independence: Does freedom of speech, for instance, extend in full measure to individuals or groups whose expressions/beliefs are abhorrent to large segments of our society?

The battle of the studio-made movie versus the independent auteur rages on in Hollywood but a Spanish revolution of new voices has changed the scene dramatically. No longer are Latino directors part of a fringe network making foreign language films seen only in art houses. Suddenly in crossover English new Latino directors from Mexico have found an international audience and entered the mainstream of movie magic. Born within four years of each other and all self-taught, three filmmakers in particular, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron, have broken the foreign language film barrier by moving seamlessly back and forth between Spanish and English-language films, bringing to their more commercial productions the rhythms and perceptions of their Mexican heritage.

I've occasionally referred to someone I was writing about as "legendary." Sometimes their legendary reputation is infamous or notorious. Sometimes the legend is for a pattern of positive, uplifting acts, or maybe even for a certain sense of humor. But this is the first time I've been able to write about someone being a legend, and it just so happens they can actually provide documentation attesting to their status as a legend. Today, at Disney World in Florida, the Walt Disney Co. is naming Burbank resident Bob Broughton a Disney Legend.

o7"Wherever I am, there's always Pooh, There's always Pooh and me. Whatever I do, he wants to do, 'Where are you going today?' says Pooh: 'Well, that's very odd 'cos I was too. Let's go together,' says Pooh, says he. 'Let's go together,' says Pooh." f7 Pooh, of course, is Winnie the Pooh and the person Pooh is always with is Christopher Robin. It is hard to imagine anyone in the world who doesn't know Pooh and Tigger and Eeyore and Roo, or who has not gone to Buckingham Palace with Alice.

Burbank native Leslie Iwerks took on the daunting task of compacting 35 years of history on George Lucas' visual effects company, Industrial Light & Magic, into her documentary on the company's evolution that will be seen this weekend on Encore. In the hour-long piece, "Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible," several of the visionaries who created some of the most mind-blowing scenes in film are interviewed, including Lucas. Narrated by Tom Cruise, the documentary features clips from "The Abyss," "Jurassic Park," "Twister" and "Transformers," and behind-the-scenes footage illustrating how techniques were invented and perfected over the years.

Created timeless animation for such films as "Pinocchio," "Bambi," "Peter Pan" and "101 Dalmatians," and authored four books Frank Thomas, one of the most talented, inventive and influential animators in the history of the art form, a member of Walt Disney's elite "Nine Old Men," and a pioneering animator who worked on many classic shorts and features during his 43-year career at the Disney Studios, passed away on Wednesday, Sept. 8, at his home in La Cañada Flintridge. He was 92 years old. No funeral is planned but details regarding a life celebration will be announced shortly.

TODAY GLENDALE A tai chi beginners class starts at 8 a.m. at the First Congre- gational Church of Glendale, 2001 Canada Blvd. The cost is $4. For information, call 243-2109. Glendale Youth Alliance, Inc.'s Fourth Annual Focus on Youth Pancake Breakfast and Car Raffle is from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Glendale Police Department Community Room, 131 N. Isabel St. Breakfast cost is $3 per person or free with purchase of a $10 raffle ticket. A new Ford Focus is the grand prize.

An article in last week’s Time magazine chronicled an experiment run by Harvard economist Roland Fryer Jr. In the experiment, students in hundreds of classrooms in multiple cities were bribed with different amounts of money to achieve good test scores and not fight with one another. The experiment was run in schools in Chicago, Dallas, Washington, D.C., and New York. What, in your opinion, are the advantages and/or disadvantages of this strategy? Or do you side with the critics who say kids should not be rewarded for things they should be doing anyway?

TODAY GLENDALE Take Off Pounds Sensibly meets at 9:15 a.m. for a weigh-in and 10 a.m. for a meeting at First Lutheran Church, 1300 E. Colorado St. For more information, call (800) 932-8677. The Los Angeles Zoo presents "Destination: Dinosaurs at the L.A. Zoo," featuring robotic dinosaurs, fossil-dig boxes, a puppet show and a maze, through Nov. 21 at 5333 Zoo Drive, Los Angeles. Admission is $10, $5 for children 2 to 12. Hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily.

JOYCE RUDOLPH Johnny Whitaker, who handles the title role in the film "Tom Sawyer," will be a special guest at the 2 p.m. screening today at The Alex Theatre in Glendale. Also attending is Richard M. Sherman, half of the team that wrote the score and screenplay for the film. Sherman will discuss the making of the film. The film is based on the classic Mark Twain novel, "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer." The score for this musical adaptation was co-written by Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman ("Mary Poppins" and "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang")