War Story

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 1989
Type: Stop-Motion, Clay
Length: 5 minutes 11 seconds
Colour or Black & White: Colour
Genre: Documentary, Biography, History, Comedy, Drama
Production Company: Aardman Animations
Director: Peter Lord
Animators: Peter Lord, Nick Park, Jan Sanger

Photography: Andy MacCormack, Tristan Oliver, David Sproxton

Dubbing Mixer: Aad Wirtz

 

 

Story

 

The basis for this animation was a historical interview conducted by Peter Lawrence in which he interviews Bill Perry about his wartime experiences on the home front to comical effect. This film was part of the 'Lip Synch' series of short animated films. Lip Synch was a series of five short films commissioned by Channel 4 in 1989; a series that also included Creature Comforts. 

 

Author's Comments

To start with what an excellent interview to work with. Bill Perry seemed like an interesting and funny man to be around. Peter Lawrence did an excellent job with the interview. Aardman Animations attention to detail was so good and their animation a joy to watch. This is one of my favourite animations of this era. I could watch it again and again and still find something new.

Author's Rating

Canhead

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 1996
Type: Stop-Motion, Clay and other models
Length: 7 minutes 36 seconds
Colour or Black & White: Colour
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy
Production Company: None
Director: Timothy Lee Hittle
Animator: Timothy Lee Hittle

Director of Photography: Chris Peterson
Sound Recording & Mixing: Grey Larsen 

 

Story

 

A hungry man must cross a chasm to be reunited with his faithful dog. In his quest he must overcome the unwanted attention of a huge creature with a can for a head.

Author's Comments

By the time animator Tim Hittle got round to making his second short subject featuring his characters Jay Clay and Blue, he had worked on some big stop-motion production such as 'The Wrong Trousers' and 'The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)'. The animation here is better than in his previous film 'The Potato Hunter' and he has employed the services of a talented cinematographer 'Chris Peterson', which helps to make the production immensely more satisfying on the eye. This animation can be watched here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Potato Hunter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 1991
Type: Stop-Motion, Clay and other models, also Hand-drawn 2D [short segment]
Length: 7 minutes 18 seconds
Colour or Black & White: Colour
Genre: Fantasy, Comedy
Production Company: None

Director: Timothy Lee Hittle

Animator: Timothy Lee Hittle

Sound Recording & Mixing: Grey Larsen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Story

 

A hungry man has to use his wits, strength and his playful dog to hunt down grazing potatoes. 

Author's Comments

A simple premise that offers much more as an animated short than it would as a live action film. It is a low budget piece of work, but the animation is exemplary for the time and could easily be compared favourably with the work that was coming out of Aardman Studios. An interesting side note is that Paul Harrod was given a credit as 'Spud Wrangler'. Harrod went on to become a production designer for big budget animations like 'Isle of Dogs (2018)'. The animation can viewed here.

 

 

Author's Rating

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pass the Ball (2022)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 2022
Type: Mixed Media (Stop-Motion, 2D, 3D)
Length: 2 minutes 38 seconds (YouTube version)
Colour or Black & White: Colour
Genre: Sport, Experimental
Production Company: Spy Films (YouTube Channel)

Directors: Many (See Animators)
Animators: Nathan Boey, Podenco, Leo Franchi, Vincenzo Lodigiani, Mario Forero, Kaho, Dina Amin, Vickie J. Boschiero, Vincent Raineri, Caroline Kjellberg, John Kim, Mert Kizilay, Ilgi Candar Dyer, David Rowley, Wendy Eduarte, Morgan O'Brien, Marcus Bakke, Steve Savalle, Allen Laseter, Andy Gregg, Jaren Tigani, Alex Delker, Tushar Pandey, Ameen, Vishalvarghese, Gaurav Chandrakar, Yat Fung Leung, Lego Lam, Knifeson Yu, Sabine Volkert, Ivyy Chen, Tung Wu, Jin Shen Wong, Brandon Kisereu, Salman Hashmi, Ryan Kane, H. Kristen Campbell, Joe Bichard, Nicholas Luchak, Serkan Goncagul
Sound Design & Mix: Jose Correa 

Story/Idea

 

The idea was to create a 3 second piece of animation involving a ball and pass it on to another animator from another country for them to continue using any style they choose.

Author's Comments

From the original idea we get to see the imagination and styles from many people around the world. The talent that is on display here is great and encouraging for the future of animation. The animation style tends to favour traditional art using stop-motion techniques with only a handful of other animations using 3D. At the time of writing the animation could be viewed here.

Author's Rating

Toy Story (1995)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 1995

Type: 3D Computer Generated
Length: 81 minutes
Colour or Black & White: Colour
Genre: Adventure
Production Company: Pixar/Walt Disney Animation Studios
Director: John Lasseter
Story: John Lasseter, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Joe Ranft
Screenplay: Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, Alec Sokolow
Music: Randy Newman

Starring:

Tom Hanks - Woody (voice)
Tim Allen - Buzz Lightyear (voice)
Don Rickles - Mr. Potato Head (voice)
Jim Varney - Slinky Dog (voice)
Wallace Shawn - Rex (voice)
John Ratzenberger - Hamm (voice)
Annie Potts - Bo Peep (voice)
John Morris - Andy (voice)

Story

Woody is worried about losing his place as Andy's favourite toy when a new toy arrives.

Author's Comments

The best computer generated animation in 1995 and well-deserved of it's rating. 3D animation has come a long way since then so the limitations of 1995 are beginning to show now, but my rating is based on my opinion at the time and date that I watched it.

Author's Rating:

Adam (1992)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 1992

Type: Stop-Motion

Length: 6 minutes

Colour or Black & White: Colour

Genre: Comedy

Production Company: Aardman Animations

Director: Peter Lord

Story: Peter Lord

Music: Stuart Gordon

Cinematography: David Sproxton

Starring:

Nick Upton - The Hand of God

Story

The Hand of God creates Adam. He must now learn the ways of the world.

 

Author's Comments

 

A simple idea done with great humour and clever animation.

Author's Rating: