What happens when you mix 9 shorts from outlaw animators Bill Plympton, Osbert Parker and Adam Elliot on one screen?
You get Trilogy of Trilogies: Animation Extravaganza, which screened on Saturday, June 20th at the Royal Ontario Museum. Featuring 3 shorts each from three top independent animators, it was a compelling mix of styles, stories and artistic gestures.
Adam Elliot: Touching Family Trilogy From Australian Animator
Oscar-winning animator Adam Elliot ("Harvie Krumpet") showcased 3 shorts from his Claymation Family series, detailing the lives of his relatives in Southern Australia.
These sharply written vignettes of family life – "Brother" (1999), "Cousin" (1998) and "Uncle" (1996) were brilliantly constructed, full of left-field laughs and clear-eyed commentary. Beautifully rendered.
Osbert Parker: Jazz and Film Noir-Inflected Shorts
British animator Osbert Parker had 3 offerings: only two of which had anything in common.
The odd short out (and by far the most effective piece) was 1988's "Clothes Animation," which featured stop-motion clothes gyrating to a jazz soundtrack. It's a high-energy piece with a lot of imagination, and was short enough to not wear out its welcome.
Less effective were his more recent pieces: 2005's "Film Noir" and 2006's "Yours Truly." Using a mix of stop-motion and found footage from vintage movies (Parker's clearly a Humphrey Bogart fan), they both tell dark tales featuring dangerous dames, guns and guys with raincoats and fedoras surgically attached to their bodies.
"Film Noir" was a triumph of style over substance, but it started to wear out its welcome once Parker started repeating sequences for little or no reason. The fact that it didn't have an apparent story didn't really help either.
"Yours Truly" had the advantage of a genuine story – housewife kills her husband for a suitcase full of cash and has to hide the body when the police come calling – but repeating sequences from "Film Noir" seemed like a rookie move, especially when the films were so close together.
Bill Plympton: Dark and Hilarious Dog Shorts
Whatever one might think of feature films like Idiots and Angels, it's clear that Plympton's true forté is in his darkly funny animated shorts. Drawn in Plympton's inimitable style (literally: he pencils and colours every frame), his Dog series follows a hapless canine whose desperate attempts to fit in lead to violent hilarity. Imagine Bob Clampett turned up to 11 and you get the idea.
The Oscar-winning "Guard Dog" (2004) follows an over-imaginative hound as he walks his master in the park. Clearly, this dog takes protecting his human highly seriously, warning off birds, butterflies and flowers that might hurt his master. One of the funniest aspects of this short is how Plympton takes us into the dog's mind, and shows how these innocuous creatures could become a danger (the ninja bird is freakin' awesome!). But will this over-protective dog become aware of what could truly kill his master?
"Guard Dog's" first sequel, "Guide Dog" (2006), follows our pooch as he tries his hand at being a guide dog for the blind. However, forces beyond his control thwart his ambitions. Whether it's a flock of sadistic birds or speeding cars, it's clear that merely keeping his human alive is going to be a chore that our hero may not be able to accomplish.
The hapless hound returns for "Hot Dog" (2008), in which our hero joins a firehouse. Initially, things go well and our hero saves the day, and a damsel in distress. But when the firefighters get distracted by said damsel, the courageous canine finds himself battling a fire all by himself. Much mirth and mayhem ensue.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
Join the Conversation