The Indescribable Nth (Steve Moore, 1999)
A love story of a boy born with his heart inside of a snow globe. This award winning 1999 independent short was produced at Character Builders in Ohio.
The Frog, The Dog & The Devil (Bob Stenhouse, 1986)
Bob Stenhouse offers an animated ode to the "nation of drunkards" (as New Zealand was tagged in the House of Lords in 1838). Set in 1902, a shepherd tricks a Mackenzie barman out of a bottle of ‘Hokonui Lightning', but too much pioneer spirit sees him haunted by the devil's daughter (or a case of delirium tremens). The Chicago Tribune called the macabre humour and distinctive look "lushly conceived". It won the Grand Prize at the Hamilton International Animation Festival (1986) in Canada, and was nominated for a 1986 Oscar for Best Short Film (Animated).
(nzonscreen.com)
American Pop (1981)
Sony has been digging around its vaults and putting some treasures online, uncut even. And while I'm not a huge fan of American Pop it does have it's moments. The rotoscoping reminds me of Linklater's A Scanner Darkly. The story, covering generations through American history, is very much like Coppola's Godfather. The same year Disney would release The Fox and The Hound, which should give you a rough idea of where animation was at the time. Bakshi's last animated feature had been Lord of the Rings, which had had some mild success. There had been some expectation of more Tolkenesque movies and that certainly wasn't what American Pop delivered.
I do remember seeing American Pop on the VHS rental shelves back when I worked at the video store. And I recall it didn't get a lot of rentals. I know my first viewing didn't connect. I was a kid and American Pop bored me, which makes sense. American Pop is very much a movie aimed at an adult audience. Bakshi doesn't aim low here. He's not interested in holding your hand, even at the risk of losing you. If I can point to a problem with the movie I'd have to say it's the lead characters. By the time we get to the 70s and Pete the dope pusher I'm pretty much checked out. I just don't care if Pete gets that record contract. He's just not a likable guy and I can't find anything besides the music to relate to the guy. Or maybe that's the point.
Question. Do animation fans like this movie?
Be a Dentist
Love this movie. But why does it make me think of this:
Is there some secret message going on here?
What On Earth! (Les Drew/Kaj Pindal, 1966)
A team of Martian scientists conclude their study of the "earthing" and his way of life in this ducu-mated film!
Time to learn something
Interestingly enough (if you're into that sort of thing), Canadian rail-lines are why we now have time zones.
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