Mad, Mad Animation

Ice Age 3 is out this weekend, and according to the first box office reports, Sid, Manny and the rest of the gang are on the direct collision course with Autobots, and guess who is going to win? That's right, the dumb sloth and the saber-toothed squirrel (which is more like a variation of the Wile E. Coyote) are going to slap Optimus Prime silly on his metal head and knock him down.
The animated film took lots of money on his first day of release and will end as number 1 this weekend. No doubt, animated films for kids just cannot lose. But animation didn't become most lovable form of cinema just because big studios grab tons of cash with big and stupid films. There are more people doing independent animation all over the world, and it's artists like them what makes me like this medium so much.

So what I have here is number of animated projects, short films, that once again successfully push the imagination far away from reality with just combination of colors and lines. Bill Plympton, walking gramophones, how to survive Zombocalypse with special survival kit, blue cat and one extremely violent horror scene. Below.

First, is highly appreciated Bill Plympton, one of more outstanding independent and prolific animators. While all animation buffs know who he is and what he has done, Plympton created many short films and only few full length, and all are highly recommended. In addition to his unique ability to display complex ideas and linguistic expressions through simple animation and visual images, he has adult approach toward animation and very often he uses depictions of violence, sex and some controversial issues, although the stories not always well written.
There are number of DVDs with compilation of his short film, and lately another one came out, named Dog Days, which also includes the following short.



For more info visit his studio official website, try to find his films as well.

-------------

Next is strange looking upcoming short animation The Missing Key, which features several sound devices, like gramophone, tape recorder and telephone, with human bodies. Or it can be humans with devices instead of their heads. Either way, such surreal fusion between an object and human is not very common in animation, and reminds me of Rodari's Cipollino, which featured, again, either vegetables with human bodies or humans with vegetables instead of their heads. Great feeling is coming from the short preview of that film, something subconscious probably, but it sure just blows my mind.



Watch another short film by the same director, that he made couple of years ago, and features same strange characters.
More info here and here. Found via Twitch.

-------------

Macabre and violent humor is always good for the laugh, especially when it's so interestingly made.






Visit VDA studio video channel on Vimeo to watch more similar stuff.

-------------

This is probably the coolest cat around. Created by Australian team, The Cat Piano has film noir influences all over it, in addition to striking anime and vintage art-deco visual styles. Narrated by the musician Nick Cave (!), this short currently travels around the world between festivals, and I can't wait to see it myself.



Visit official production blog of that film.

-------------

And finally, how about an ultra violent and bloody animated horror. This preview is the only thing that was made, as a trial, but with intentions to make full length film and video game out of it. I don't think I ever saw such shocking and cruel animation, is it possible that we have here an example of the horror genre's future? After all, you can do with animation what you can't do with live actors, as it clearly demonstrated below.



Found via Twitch.