Whang-Od is the last practitioner of the head hunting Kalinga tribe of the Philippines' art of tattooing.
She was presumably born in 1917 but because there weren't birth certificates issued in that place and time, no one really has an actual official record of her real age.
1904 World's Fair
To put her in perspective, the Kalinga head hunting tribe was part of several Filipino tribes featured in the Philippine Exhibit in the 1904 World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri.
The tattooed head-hunting, dog-eating tribes of the Philippine Exhibit was by far the biggest attraction of the 1904 fair.
Whang-Od was still a teenager when she started tattooing the headhunters and other women of their tribe. She learned this art from her father. This was well before the second world war.
Their tribal traditional tattooing art was mainly used to adorn the bodies of their tribe's warriors, to celebrate their kills and the heads of their enemies which they bring back home from their battles (this is why they were labeled as head hunters).
The women they tattoo for embellishment, to make them attractive and in preparation for marriage.
Documentaries
Numerous reporters and visitors to their tribe have covered Whang-Od through the years after the world first got to know about her when she was in her late 80s and early 90s. She probably first became widely known outside her tribe through a documentary aired by the Discovery Channel.
Oldest
Today, Whang-Od is over a hundred years old. Their tribe's art and tradition will live on after she has passed on through two grand nieces who have been her apprentices.
We can watch a documentary about her below. This is about two individuals who went to the Philippines to visit the mountain top where Whang-Od's tribe lives in the hope of getting inked by the legendary Philippine national artist.
Over a century ago, Filipino Silver Screen pioneers started producing the nation's first Filipino made movies. But although they were 'silent' movies, they weren't totally silent because the "singing" parts were performed live during the theater screenings.
This was probably because for decades, Filipinos were used to watching stage plays (locally known as zarzuelas and moro-moros) which were much like the stage plays of today which showcase live performances.
Father of Philippine Movies
Although it was not the first film produced in the Philippines, it was the first by a Filipino.
The first film made in the Philippines was La Vida de Jose Rizal (The Life of Jose Rizal) produced five years prior by American Edward Meyer Gross. At this time, the Philippine Islands was still a U.S. Territory.
Incidentally, Nepomuceno bought his first film equipment from Gross on his birthday in 1917 and practiced his movie making skills for two years, until in September 25th 1919, the first Filipino made film was shown in Empire Theater in Manila.
Dalagang Bukid (Country Maiden) was shown on screen with English, Spanish, and Tagalog subtitles. And as earlier mentioned, a song in the film had to be sang live, for each and every screening of the film, along with musicians who have to accompany the singer and play the musical instruments live.
Pioneers in Asia
It is noteworthy to mention that during this time, India, Japan and the Philippines were the only people in Asia who were making films in their part of the world.
Jose Nepomuceno (1893 - 1959)
Jose Nepomuceno went on to produce and direct numerous other full length films and documentaries. He was a photographer, journalist and a foreign news correspondent. Although his pioneering work with cinema was singularly his most important contribution to Philippine history, culture and arts, much more their people's way of life.
It is just unfortunate that all of his pioneering work has been deemed lost.
Dalagang Bukid was a huge box office hit. Nepomuceno produced a sequel in 1920 -- La venganza de Don Silvestre, to continue the story of the country maiden.
These initial successes paved the way for Nepomuceno and other local contemporaries to continue the business of producing films which eventually ushered in the Philippine Movie Industry.
If you are Filipino, don’t you ever wonder how it seems like
every Pixar (or Disney) Animated Film feels so close to your heart? Most times you might feel like it's something you may have grew up watching. And it could feel so ordinary, you might think you are watching a local Filipino film.
Well stop wondering, this is all maybe because behind every one of these films, behind every lovable character,
behind every setting, behind every facial expression, and behind every little nuisance
is a Filipino (or Filipina).
The PixNoys
Yes Virginia, there are a lot of Filipinos working at Pixar
Animation Studios (and Disney) and other Hollywood Animation Studies. At Pixar, they are even called by their moniker,
the “Pixnoys” (short for Pixar Pinoys).
Let’s meet a few of them:
Virginia
"Gini" Cruz Santos
Gini is a Filipina animator involved in a ton of Pixar films.
In “Toy Story 2” (1999), she did Woody and Jesse the Cowgirl
(as an Animator).
In “Monsters, Inc.” (2001) she animated Sulley and Mike, (Layout
Artist, Animator and Character Developer).
In “Finding Nemo” (2003) she made Dory come amazingly alive
(Animator).
In “The Incredibles” (2004), she worked on Helen (Elastigirl),
Dash, Violet, Frozone and Edna Mode, (Animator).
She also did animation for these popular animated films: “A Bug's Life”, “Cars”, “Toy
Story 3”, “Up”, “Lifted”, “Brave” and “Wall-E”
Dory
She is probably well known for her portrayal of the family
members of “The Incredibles” and of the lovable character of Dory in “Finding Nemo”.
Gini stated in an old interview that she injected the
Filipino sense of humor and facial expressions, particularly for the character
of Dory, which in Tagalog can only be described as “mali-mali”.
Gini finished Fine Arts, Majoring in Advertising from the
University of Santo Tomas in Manila and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in Computer Arts from the School of Visual Arts in New York.
All the other Pixnoys have said that their natural sense
of humor and willingness in story telling was fully demonstrated and made a
strong impact in many Pixar films especially that of Monsters, Inc. (2001), Finding Nemo (2003)
,The Incredibles (2004), Cars (2006) , Ratatouille (2007), Wall-E (2008), and
Up (2009).
The Incredibles
Pixar (Disney) Filipino
Trivia
Nelson Bohol added a “bahay kubo” (a native
Filipino hut) to an aquarium in one of the scenes of “Finding Nemo”.
Nelson also added a miniature volcano inside the
aquarium which was inspired by the Philippines’ arguably most
well-known volcano, Mt. Mayon.
The name used for the fisherman in “Finding Nemo”
is P. Sherman. “Pee-Sher-man” is how a typical Filipino would actually
pronounce the word “fisherman”. The Filipino language does not include the
letter F.
Monsters University’s library is called the “Bohol
Hall”, of course it was named after Filipino Nelson Bohol who designed it.
In “The Incredible”, there is an island called “Nomanisan
Island”. Only a Filipino would come up with and actually use a name like that.
Get it? “No-man-is-an Island”.
It seems suspicious that the baby in “The Incredibles”
is named Jack-Jack. Filipino nicknames and terms of endearment are normally
single syllabled and repeated.
In much the same way, it is a bit odd that the
dog in “Up” is named Dug. It isn’t a coincidence that certain Filipinos from
the Southern and Middle part of the Philippines would actually pronounce dog as
dug. And yes dogs normally dig up dirt.
Ronaldo “Ronnie” Del
Carmen
Ronnie has worked in various capacities for Pixar, among
them as Story Artist, Story Supervisor, Character Designer, Illustrator and of
course as all around pest (his own words).
Before Pixar, he worked at Dreamworks and Warner Bros.
His films include:
The Inside Out (2015) (Co-director), Dug's Special Mission
(2009) (Director/writer), Up (2009) (Story Supervisor), Wall-E (2008)
(Story/Character Design), Ratatouille (2006) (Story), One Man Band (2005)
(Production Design), Finding Nemo (2003) (Story Supervisor), Spirit: Stallion
of the Cimarron (2002) (Story Supervisor), Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker
(2000) (Storyboard), The Road to El Dorado (2000) (Story Supervisor), The
Prince of Egypt (1998) (Story), Freakazoid! (1995) (Director), Batman: The
Animated Series (1991 to 95) (Storyboard, Character Design)
Ronnie was born in the Philippines in 1959 and graduated
from the University of Santo Tomas with a degree in Fine Arts. Incidentally he has
two other brothers who also work in animation -- Louie, a Story Artist at DreamWorks Animation
and Rick who works as a Storyboard Artist and Assistant Director at Fox
Animation.
Dug's Special Mission (2009)
Pixar Short CGI Film Directed by Ronnie Del Carmen
Ricky Vega Nierva
Ricky Nierva's been working for Pixar for a long time. On one of his new films "Up" where he was the Production Designer, he introduced Pixar's first major Asian-American character -- Russell, the wilderness explorer. Pixar casted an Asian kid to play Russell.
Among his Pixar credits are : "Toy Story 2" (1999), "Monsters, Inc. (2001)", "Finding Nemo (2003) and "Up" (2009).
Ricky was born in the United States to Filipino parents from
Camarines Sur. He graduated from the Cal Arts in Valencia, California.
Nelson "Rey" Bohol
Nelson has a long list of films he was involved in including "Monsters University" (2013), "Toy Story of Terror" (2013 TV Short), "Brave" (2012), "Wall·E" (2008), "Ratatouille" (2007) and "Cars" (2006).
In fact, he has over 31 films credited to him by the IMDb website.
Several Filipino Pixar bits of trivia is attributed to Bohol. It might not be coincidental because he probably may be one the biggest Filipino names in
Pixar today, and having worked there the longest wouldn't hurt.
He designed the
idyllic town of Radiator Springs in the movie "Cars" and have worked in many past animated favorites such as several "Rugrats" films, "Anastasia" and "Titan
A.E."
Chris Chua
Chris is a young Filipino American animator who has a
Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2-D Animation from Cal Arts. , explained the look of
“Wall-E,” which is unlike other Pixar movies: It is monochromatic at times and
has almost no dialogue in some scenes—an animator’s dream, or nightmare.
Chris was born in Manila to a Chinese father (William Chua)
and a half-Filipino mother (Juliet), and finally moved to the United States at a
young age.
His other work include animations in the Dreamworks’ films:
“Sinbad”, “Shark Tale” and “Flushed Away”.
Other Filipino
Animators Include:
Ruben Aquino, a
Filipino who worked at Disney as Art Director, Animator and Supervising Animator.
His animated credits include Dr. Dawson (The Great Mouse
Detective, 1986), Fagin (Oliver & Company, 1987), Ursula (The Little
Mermaid, 1989), Maurice (Beauty and the Beast, 1991), Mc Leach (The Rescuers
Down Under, 1992), Adult Simba (The Lion King, 1995), Powahatan (Pocahontas,
1996), Li Shang, Fa Li (of Mulan, 1998), and Pacha (Kingdom of the Sun, 2000).
His filmography includes, Tarzan (1999), Fantasia (2000),
Lilo and Stich (2002), Brother Bear (2003) and Meet the Robinsons (2000).
He won an award at the 6th Annual International Animated
Society’s Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement for Character
Animation of Shang (in Mulan, 1998).
Mars Cabrera is an
Animator, Layout Artist and Storyboard Artist in Vancouver, Canada. Among the companies
he worked for were Wildbrain, Dreamworks TV, Walt Disney TV, Hahn Film, Nelvana
and Cinar. He was a two-time daytime Emmy winner for his work on “Arthur” the
TV series.
His filmography includes: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, “Silverwing”,
“Joseph, King of Dreams”, “Sabrina” the TV series, “The Mask” and “Pirates of
Dark Water”.
He is a graduate of Fine Arts from the University of Santo
Tomas.
Ralph Fernan is an
Animator at Walt Disney’s and is the Filipino behind Chicken Little. His
filmography includes: “The Pagemaster”, “Once Upon a Forest”, “Quest for
Camelot” (1998), “The Iron Giant” (1999), “The Tigger Movie” (2000), “The
Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle” (2000), “Eight Crazy Nights” (2002) and “Chicken
Little” (2005).
Ralph is a Fine Arts graduate from the University of the
East, Manila.
Armand Serrano is
a Visual Development Artist at Sony Pictures Animation. He worked with Sony’s
very first animated feature, “Surf’s Up” (2007). He was also involved in “Cloudy with a Chance
of Meatballs” (2009) and “Open Season 2” (2009).
He previously worked at the Walt Disney Feature Animation
Studios.
Armand’s film credits include “Mulan” (1998), Tarzan (1999),
“Lilo & Stich” (2002), and “Brother Bear” (2003).
Armand finished Civil Engineering at the University of Santo
Tomas.
Anthony Ocampo worked
at Stargate Digital, a visual effects studio where he won a Visual Effects
Society Award in Outstanding Models and Miniatures in a Televised Program,
Music Video or Commercial, for his Trojan horse work on the USA Network
Productions special, “Helen of Troy”.
Anthony is a fine arts graduate from the University of the
Philippines.
Among the Awards of Pixnoys Include:
For “Finding Nemo”
Ricky Nierva - Outstanding Character Design in an Animated
Feature Production
Gini Santos (nominated) - Outstanding Character Animation,
The American Screenwriters Association
Gini Santos - Outstanding Character Animation in an Animated
Motion Picture (for "Speaking Whale"), Visual Effects Society Awards
For “Cars”
Carlos Baena and Bobby Podesta (nominated) - Best Character
Animation in a Feature
For “Ratatouille”
Pixar Won Best Animated Feature
For “Wall-E”
Ronaldo Del Carmen (nomintated) - Storyboarding in an
Animated Feature Production, Annie Awards
For “Monsters, Inc.”
Ricky Nierva - Outstanding Character Design in an Animated
Feature Production, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films
For “Monsters University”
Ricky Nierva (nominated) - Production Design in an Animated
Feature Production, Annie Awards
Ms. Maria Lea Carmen Imutan Salonga was born in Manila February 22, 1971.
One of those Filipinos locally known as Martial Law Babies, she is affectionally known as "Lei" or "Tata". Many other Filipinos have similar shortened or repeating one syllable names.
Lei began her "singing" career at the age of ten, recording the cutesy "I Am But A Small Voice".
She also went on to host her own musical TV show, "Love, Lea" and become a cast member of a popular variety show.
Other than having such a natural vocal talent and quite well-known in the Philipines which is a nation that boasts of musical abilities left and right, she was probably on her way to being a "typical" city girl living in Manila (taking up a pre-med course). Finishing a degree is big and foremost for Filipino families.
Video: Miss Saigon 25th Year Gala Finale, London 2014
Broadway Fame
But auditioning and finally being selected as the first "Miss Saigon", everything totally changed literally overnight for Lea. The Musical Miss Saigon premiered at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane in London, on 20 September 1989 and as they say, the rest is history.
Her second call to fame, was when she landed the part of the singing voice of Princess Jasmine in the Disney film "Aladdin" in 1992 and then as the singing voice of the movie "Mulan" in 1998.
She played Mei-Li in the Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song, September 2002. And Lea made her concert debut at the prestigious Carnegie Hall on November 7, 2005. She played the role of Fantine in the musical revival of Les Miserables at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway, March 2007. She also played the role of Eponine.
In 2011, she was named a "Disney Legend".
She uses the name "Manang" as her online name. This means an elder sister in the native language.
Lea is now married and mother to a daughter, Nicole Beverly.
Incidentally, she was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world.
International Awards
Now we should be amiss if we didn't mention that she was the first Filipina to win the prestigious Tony Award for her role as Kim in the Broadway Musical "Miss Saigon".
She was the first full-blooded Filipina to have won the Olivier (1990), and the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, and Theatre World Awards (1991) for Best Actress in a Musical for her smashing work in "Miss Saigon".
Outside of Corazon C. Aquino (President of the Philippines, 1986-1992, she is probably the most well known Filipina of her time.
Video: Lea Salonga - The Song That Changed My Life
Yes, she still sings and performs to this day. The bonus, it looks like she didn't age at all.
