Shakespeare: The Animated Tales was a BBC television series of the 1990s that produced 30-minute versions of Shakespeare’s plays with animation done by well-known Russian animators at the Christmasfilms studio. This version of ‘The Scottish Play’ stars Brian Cox.
Click the continue reading link for parts 2 and 3.
From New Zealand comes this completely nonsensical cartoon about a man who stops in for a drink at a saloon and goes on a wild horse ride that has him seeing visions of the Devil. Directed and animated by Bob Stenhouse in 1985.
This is a film made in a workshop run by Quirky Pictures for the BBC Children in Need at the Downsview Special School in the U.K. It’s just insanely beautiful. These kids are learning to be free with various artistic modes and they have made something that is mysterious, magical and wonderful. They are 9 – 12 years old and they make all their paper cutouts, puppets, and props. They storyboard and watercolor and narrate. They have their own little movie studio going into operation. These workshops must be something to see because these results are something very rare. I think the BBC should put together a television show and get all these things on the air.
This animated short is by Joe Bichard and Jack Cunningham. Drill baby drill! On Mars! This is what happens when you run around punching holes in things.
Here’s a short film by Shaun Clark that was submitted by Mew Lab to Candlelight’s Vimeo short film group. Mysterious and dark. I like those hands a lot. My favorite shot is the hand in the candle flame.
Quirky Pictures conducted a workshop for children who animate at the Oxley Park Primary School in the United Kingdom. This one is the story of a button who sets out looking for a friend and finds himself on many adventures. The kids have done beautiful drawings and their voice work gives the whole thing the kind of gentle wit that only clever kids can invent.
This is a cartoon criticism of capitalism by Roman Davydov, from Soyuzmultfilm. It was made in 1963 and captures the early 1960s better than most American cartoons have. It’s look at the struggle of an American worker fooled into thinking he’s doing well because he’s a stock owner in his company is very accurate and should speak loudly in today’s circumstances. The widescreen art looks like it comes straight out of an illustrated magazine advertisement of the time. The finale with all the race cars and crashes is incredible. There is an irritating tendency to refer to films like this one as ‘propaganda.’ Why is it so difficult to criticize capitalism in democracies? Capitalism is simply an economic program and should be under constant criticism and assault from all sides. There is absolutely nothing about capitalism that should protect it from becoming obsolete.
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Ok, do these kids have any idea how good this work is? I think they probably do, because they are a total crack-up. ‘People say I’m spotty, but I say I’m dotty.’ Lots of laughs and excellent dialog from these kids who are going to turn their school (Oxley Park Primary School) into an animation studio very quickly. This is the result of another animation camp from Quirky Pictures.
Shaun Clark and Kim Noce at Mew Lab made The Magic Fish for broadcast on a BBC television show for children. It’s an Italian folk tale about a couple who have very little but get some assistance from an ancient chestnut tree and a magic fish. The animation is full of mixed media painting, paper, and photographs. My favorite part is the ocean with the little boat near the end.
Philip Vose made Umbrella in three months as a fourth year film at Cal Arts in 2008. It’s about a magic umbrella that pulls people right up out of the muck and into a colorful world in the sky. They could use this umbrella down in the Gulf of Mexico right about now.
Lucia was made in Chile by Niles Atallah, Joaquín Cociña and Cristóbal León. It’s made from a series of still photographs. I have no idea what is going on but it sure is scary. Some kind of childhood nightmare or haunting with lots of dirt and broken stuff.
This is the opening and closing animation for a children’s television show in Russia. It was made by Yuri Norstein who works primarily with pieces of painted paper that he moves to create stop-motion animations unlike any others in the world. This is a beautiful piece that captures the storybook imagination perfectly. It looks damned close to being 3-dimensional. But don’t be fooled – Pixar can’t do this. Only Norstein can. He does it with his fingers. Incredible and brilliant and exquisite.
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales was a BBC television series of the 1990s that produced 30-minute versions of Shakespeare’s plays with animation done by well-known Russian animators at the Christmasfilms studio. This version of The Winter’s Tale is Shakespeare’s dark comedy about a king’s jealousy run wild. This little animated version is loaded with gorgeous wintry scenes.
Click the continue reading link for parts 2 and 3.
Shakespeare: The Animated Tales was a BBC television series of the 1990s that produced 30-minute versions of Shakespeare’s plays with animation done by well-known Russian animators at the Christmasfilms studio. This version of The Tempest from 1992 is a masterpiece. It’s simply one of the best film adaptations of Shakespeare I’ve ever seen. The island setting is wonderfully romantic and diffused. The characters are unbelievably expressive in movement. The voice work is superb. Though the script is pared down to 30 minutes, it preserves the essential fun of Shakespeare’s magical work.
Click the continue reading link for parts 2 and 3.
Here’s a 1945 Russian animated feature about a Cossack who is traveling to deliver a letter to the Tsarina in St. Petersburg. The letter is stolen by a devil and the Cossack goes into hell to retrieve it. It’s a dark and beautiful film with a good sense of humor and wonderful character animation. The backgrounds are mysterious and I have seldom seen nighttime so perfectly depicted. It’s based on a story by Nikolai Gogol and was directed by the Brumberg sisters and Lamis Bredis.
Click the Continue reading link for parts 2, 3, and 4.
I found this at Cartoon Brew