Tropic
Sprockets by Ian Brockway
The
Oscar Shorts: Animation
With
this current crop of Oscar nominated shorts, last year's quirks of Quetzalcoatl
have gone the way of nostalgia and cuteness, and I find myself pining for the
adumbrated anxieties of 2012. Ah well, fear not.
First,
there is a entry from the creators of "The Simpsons", "The
Longest Daycare" starring the adorable positively jaundiced Maggie Simpson
and directed by David Silverman. Maggie
is starting her first day at the Ayn Rand School for Tots. One wonders why. But
anyway, there is all the good natured irreverence you might expect here,
combined with Matt Groening's inimitable animation. Baby Maggie yearns for
stimulation, while being left in a heap of anonymity known as the "Nothing
Specials". Much of the film zeroes in on Maggie's quizzical face as she
tries to find meaning in a trivial tottering world that babbles with a brightly
colored and nonsensical ennui. A Raggedy Ayn Rand doll is the film's best joke
but diehard Simpson fans will be pleased.
Next,
director Minkyu Lee spins a tale that makes little Evolutionary sense in
mentioning the Garden of Eden. Nevertheless "Adam and Dog" is
a charming tale that mixes the beauty of
Eastern calligraphy with Disney's "The Jungle Book", given that the
human characters have melting eyes and round faces. The film is a testament to
the bond shared between canines and homo sapiens, and it retains the haunting
riddle-like poetry of a zen koan.
Marital
discontent has never seemed so sweet in "Head Over Heels, which echoes
Pixar's "Up" with its inclusion of the comic curmudgeon, a crowd
pleaser for any short. This film is so sweet that even its claymation figures
appear to be formed by candied fruits.
In
"Fresh Guacamole" the director known
as PES, born Adam Pesapane uses his customary anarchistic style, in using
weapons of mass destruction and commerce to create a rather turbulent bowl of
guacamole. The short is as surprising as it is festive and thoughtful, owing a
great debt to animator Jan Svankmajer and doing the legacy of Surrealism proud.
"The
Paperboy" directed by John Kahrs and produced by Disney is a stylish
homage to the romantic films of Tom Hanks and Albert Lamorisse's "The Red
Balloon" (1956). The film is a
technical dazzle with its black and white cinematography that recalls the
glamour and humor of "Desk Set" and while the romance is quite
predictable and a bit anemic, there is enough bounce and verve here to make your eyes pinwheel.
And
once again The Gruffalo appears, that beloved self-deprecating woodland
creature that is quasi-hippo, rhino and porcupine. This is a sequel to the
first Gruffalo outing directed by Johannes Weiland and Uwe Heidschotter. While
its cute-factor is hard to deny, little novelty is to be found here. This time
The Gruffalo's daughter is up against the big bad mouse who is just a passive
anal retentive pipsqueak. There is fondness in familiarity.
More
astonishing though is the film "Dripped", an entry from Leo Verrier.
This story, an homage to Jackson Pollock, is as musical as one of his Action
paintings and it will stimulate as well as delight. Also worthy of note is
Richard Mans "ABiogenesis", a metallically poetic study of
technological growth that highlights our earthly limitations.
As
pleasing as they are, the technical wizardry found in these films are sure to
satisfy. After spending this past year
in Mesoamerican Mayhem, the delights of a Disney-inspired handprint with
googly-eyes and all, provide a welcome anodyne.
Write
Ian at redtv_2005@yahoo.com
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