Last week I saw The Animation Show (2), it doesn’t seem to be showing in Montral anymore but I thought I’d write a couple of comments for out of town readers who might yet catch it on the big screen.
Although it features some wildly varied styles overall the quality is very good, everyone will have favorites and perhaps hated parts but it’s always entertaining. Well except maybe the “Wicardo” parts but they are pretty short. My favorites were:
- All the Don Hertzfeldt shorts were brilliant in a violent I think he needs therapy kind of way. Very simple visuals but done perfectly. They bring as much if not more expression to the screen as some real actors do. The balloons beating the shit out of kids, otherwise known as Billy’s Balloon was especially rolling on the floor laughing worthy. Rejected was another highlite.
- The Cathedral is visually awesome, not much of a story, actually it’s more like a very basic plot wrapped over a checklist of animation techniques but it’s beautiful enough to make it worth seeing.
- While looking for a link I just realised that my third favorite, Tim Burton’s Vincent was done in 1982. It hasn’t aged at all and you can recognize the Burton look and feel from the first frames. Great little story about a boy who wants to become Vincent Price, narated by Vincent Price.
- Although as in The Cathedral I didn’t think there was a whole lot of substance to Fifty Percent Grey it is still a superb piece of digital art for the 3D fan. Darkly funny too.