The Whole Dam Family and the Dam Dog

Contrary to one reviewer's opinion on The Dam Family Edison Studio short film, this movie was allegedly based on a popular series of postcards depicting the Dam Family, a novel twist on a profane word that drops the letter N.

Edwin Porter, creative genius of 1903's The Great Train Robbery, puts his idea of transferring pop art onto film when he introduces each member in a "breaking the fourth wall" format. This is the first time cinema has taken a pop art phenomenon and created a movie of it, something that is so popular today in films like the Marvel Studio's action heroes.

What's novel of Porter's singular portrayal of each member is the text masked on the bottom of the screen describing the name of the individual Dam family. Porter seemingly anticipated the Chiron title effect we are so familiar with on today's TV news shows.

As mentioned elsewhere, there is stop-motion animation in the titles within the movie's framework. This is one of the earliest examples of film animation, this time manipulating both letters and a figure of a dog to create titles going in and out of frame.

The final third of the film is rather static with a held-down camera wide shot showing the family in action at the dinner table. This is the portion where the Dam Dog is seen disrupting the otherwise dysfunctional Dam Family's placid food feast. From a historical perspective the Edison movie breaks new ground. Otherwise, don't expect this to be a blockbuster if it is reissued to be shown at your local cinema.