Le Mans 1955 (2018)

Year Released: 2018
Type: 2D
Length: 15 minutes 14 seconds
Colour or Black & White: Colour
Genre: Biography, History, Drama
Production Company: Eddy Production, De Films En Aiguille
Director: Quentin Baillieux

Country of Origin: France

Story

An account of the tragic accident during the 1955 Le Mans 24-Hour race from the point of view of one of the drivers, John Fitch.

Author's Comments

Rather than focusing on the accident itself, director Quentin Baillieux has skillfully avoided much of the gore and taken the viewpoint of the driver who was to take over in the race from the unfortunate Pierre Levegh who died in the crash along with over 80 spectators. The animation style is very French and almost minimalistic, but still Baillieux recreates the track, cars and grandstands with detail, with all the buzz of race day. Much of the drama comes from the excellent voice acting and script. Very worthy of a watch especially if you're new to this terrible accident.

Author's Rating

Lovely use of motion blur to portray the speed of the cars.

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

Push Comes to Shove (1991)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 1991

Type: 2D, Hand-Drawn
Length: 6 minutes
Genre: Comedy
Production Company: Big Man Pictures Corp.

Director: Bill Plympton

Story: Maureen McElheron, Bill Plympton, P.C. Vey

 

Storyline: Two businessmen find unique and violent ways to solve their issues with each other.

 

Author's Comments:

 

One of Bill Plympton's best remembered animations and another masterpiece. This has been shown many times on British telelvision over the years, especially at Christmas for some reason.

Author's Rating:

Toonstone (2014)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Year Released: 2014
Type: 2D Computer Generated
Length: 81 minutes
Genre: Western, Action, Comedy, Fantasy

Production Company: Hank and Jed Movie Pictures/Neo Art & Logic

Director: Brent Triplett

Story: Jon Etheridge, Bryan Mahoney, Nate Panning, Tony Schnur, Brent Triplett

Music: Alex Beard

 

Starring:

 

Aerli Austen - Gail (voice)

Sheila Brothers - Margaret (voice)
Jon Etheridge - Alien #1 / Cactus #2 / Casket Outlaw #1 / Crazy Ass Frank / Dynamite Jr. / Mayor / Mrs. Rose / Pretty Boy McCoy / Slim / Stinky Pinky / Town Guy / Trigger Happy Wilson / Two Eyed Jack (voice)
Bryan Mahoney - Doc Jenkins / Casket Outlaw #2 / Dildorado Sheriff / Finch / Town City Deputy (voice)
John Marchioni - Vulture (voice)
Brad McWaters - Casket Dealer (voice)
Cullen Moss - Wild Harry Johnson (voice)
Shaun O'Rourke - Butterfly (voice)
Nate Panning - Dalton / Mr. Purdue (voice)
Tony Schnur - Acondo / Bruno / Cactus #1 / Camel Tocy / Casket Outlaw #3 / Crazy Ass Bill / Dildorado Reporter (voice)
Brent Triplett - Alien #2 / Cactus #3 / Drippy Peters / McConaughorse / Pee Paw / Pinky Outlaw 1 / Tom / Dark Owl / Willie (voice)
Matthew Warzel - Crazy Ass Pete (voice)

 

Storyline: An inept gunslinger with an egotistical talking horse is recruited to save a town besieged by outlaws and evil aliens. 

 

Author's Comments:

 

This was the first animation I ever saw from the Hank and Jed studios. I had never seen any of their other projects such as Doraleous and Associates (the series of which is available on YouTube). Once you get over the interesting style of animation, which actually was quite comical, there was a story that will be familiar to any film buff, but with a few extra gems. The script was great, the voice acting was also great and partnered with their unique animation style this became an original experience. Loved it.

 

Author's Rating: