Le Nez, Alexandre Alexieff and Claire Parker, 1963

Alexandre Alexieff invented pinscreen animation: the technique used to make this film.



ETA: whoops, got a little excited there.

Sophie's Place, Larry Jordan, 1987

The eternal enternainment of the eternal spirit.

More Larry Jordan. I love Larry Jordan.

Metal Dogs of India, Chel White, 1985

Funky rhythms and handprinted film.

Our Lady of the Sphere, Larry Jordan, 1969

Great film from Larry Jordan.

The Fly, Fenrec Rofusz,1980

Oscar winning film documenting the POV of a fly.

The Hasher's Delerium, Emil Cohl, 1910

Very early animation from Emil Cohl, way before Nancy Reagan told us to "Just Say No!"

REJECTED! Don Hertzfeld, 1999

In the spring of 1999, the Family Learning Channel commissioned animator Don Hertzfeld to produce promotional segments for their network.

The cartoons were completed in five weeks. The Family Learning Channel rejected all of them upon review, and they were never aired..."

And there's more rejection still herein. Lots and lots of rejection. Hertzfeld was nominated for an Academy Award for this film, but did not win. MORE REJECTION.

Moonbird, John Hubley, 1959

Academy Award winning film directed by John Hubley and voiced by Mark and Ray Hubley.

Sebastians Voodoo,Joaquin Baldwin, 2009

This short film just won The National Film Board of Canada's NFB competition, netting Mr. Baldwin a kickass laptop and editing suite. Well done.

Unfaithful Portrait, Ewa Bibanska, 1982

Polish animator Ewa Bibanska's take on the perils of letting a hairy dude take over half of your face.

Wait, no, that's not right...

What Maggie's Thinking, Matt Groening, 1987

Before The Simpsons became the longest running primetime sitcom, it started life as a humble series of short animated sketches that ran during The Tracy Ullman Show.


This short first aired on October 11, 1987.

5/4, Ivan Maximov, 1990

I've restrained myself admirably, and held back from posting another Maximov cartoon for a good long while. I'm proud of myself.

Soundtrack by some guy called Dave Brubeck.

Clutch Cargo, Cambria Studios, 1959

Normally, I try to post animation that is good, or at least interesting, or entertaining, or well written.

Clutch Cargo is none of that, and more.

Clutch Cargo stumbled blindly onto the pages of history by virtue of its own cheapness. The makers of the series rarely employed any animation at all - not that they ever claimed to. They used whatever means they could to avoid animation, but the most infamous was a technique invented by cameraman Edwin Gillete known as Synchro-Vox, which superimposed footage of a moving human mouth over a still drawing. The effect was disturbing, but very memorable.



See? It's utter crap, but it's going to haunt your dreams forever.

Crusader Rabbit; Episode 1, Alex Anderson/ Jay Ward, 1950

Crusader Rabbit was the first American animated series made especially for television. It was produced by Jay Ward, who went on to bring us the very popular series Rocky and Bullwinkle.

Give up Your Aul Sins, Brown Bag Films, 2001

Kids telling Bible stories! Is that guaranteed delightful or what?*






*YES. Yes it is.

Father and Daughter, Michael Dudok deWitt, 2000

This, lovely, simple, melancholy film won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2000.

Rehearsals for Extinct Anatomies, Brothers Quay, 1988

Brothers Stephen and Timothy Quay hardly need introduction. Which is odd, because the world they inhabit is so dark and strange. They revel in shadow and decay, and find grace in the grotesque.

This might be my favorite of their films.

Zvahlav, Klara Kohoutova, 2006

Czech animator Klara Kohoutova's unorthodox take on Lewis Carrol's Jaberwocky.

Weighing and Wanting, William Kentridge, 1997

South African animator William Kentridge animates drawing. He works into each drawing as he films, erasing, smudging, changing, building and destroying.

Five Minutes of Murder, Jozef Nepp, 1966

Does what it says on the tin.

There are subtitles for the (minimal) dialogue;however, the person who put this up was kind enough to offer a translation, which I've reprinted below the video.


Director: I've noticed that you are very much interested in films that offer MURDER, and I want your needs maximally satisfied in the next few minutes. Have a good time.
...

Director: Well, I hope you've had plenty of fun.
Man: Sir! You are not an artist but a sadistic beast! As such, you must be exterminated!
...
Young man: Aren't you ashamed? You killer!
...
Old man: Don't you know taking the justice in one's hand is inadmissible?
...
Woman: Won't this disgrace ever stop?...

Clinic, Alexandre Bubnov, 1993

Dark, surreal humor from Ukranian Studio Borsifen.

In 2 parts.

Bambi Meets Godzilla, Marv Newland,1969

The one. The only. The LEGENDARY!

Two beast enter, one beast leaves!


GET READY FOR


BAMBI MEETS GODZILLA!!!111!11!

It's kind of predictable, really.

Gas Planet, Eric Darnell, 1992

Continuing with the theme from yesterday, in a way.

A fun bit of computer animation from Pacific Data Images, 1992. The perils of a ... GAS PLANET.

Knorsong: Fopje Flauw Mopje

Roughly translated: "dumb joke." From the Belgian show Big en Betsy.

I am not posting this because it is of particular historical relevance, or because the animation is dazzling.

I am posting it because there is not any way a person can watch this and be bummed out. Because farts are funny. Even if you are too high and mighty to admit it, you think farts are funny. If you do not think farts are funny, you are cold and dead inside. Nobody likes you because you are no fun to be around at all.

Lolly Lolly Lolly Get Your Adverbs Here, Phil Kimmelman, 1974

Schoolhouse Rock, 1974. Written and Performed by Bob Dourough.

Duck Amuck, Chuck Jones, 1953

One of the best Chuck Jones cartoons evar.

Munro, Gene Deitch and Jules Feiffer, 1961

Oscar winning short about Munro, who is four.

excerpt from It's a Bird, Charley Bowers, 1930

I tried to find the whole thing for you, but I couldn't.

Muto, Blu, 2008

The Italian animator and graffiti artist who calls himself Blu is an interesting fellow. He is best known for making animation by painting on walls. Muto was made in Buenos Aires and Balden, and includes the sequence Fantoche.

Les Escargots, Rene Laloux and Roland Topor, 1965

Rene Laloux and Roland Topor are best known as the creators of the 1973 cult animated feature Fantastic Planet.
Roland Topor was also a founding member of the Panic Movement with Alejandro Jodoworsky, and an actor who appeared in, among other things, Werner Herzog's Nosferatu.

The Mighty Heroes: The Junker, Ralph Bakshi/Terrytoons, !966

As I understand it, Terrytoons was fairly notorious for wanting to crank out animation as cheaply, crappily and quickly as possible. Ralph Bakshi directed this series when he was a young man of 27. It bears the early marks of his thoughtful television character design, which was styled specifically to work well with limited animation.