ECTOPLASMOSIS! » Animation

Cthulhu Cthursday: The H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival(s)

Jeb Card — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:52:46 +0000

That’s right. Los Angeles this weekend. Portland, Oregon next month. Can’t say I’ve been, unfortunately, but always hear about good stuff getting screened at the fest.

After you watch Mike Boas’ promo above, you can check out the official site for the festivals.

H. P. Lovecraft Film Festival
Promo by Mike Boas [Youtube]

Sunday Supplemental: Aqua Team Hunger Fortress 2

E. G. Gauger — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 16:00:06 +0000

One of the more successful Team Fortress 2 video mini-memes is the Dr. Weird dub. With audio taken from animated shorts preceding episodes of the show Aqua Teen Hunger Force, the new animations (done with TF2 character models in Source Filmmaker) are short, simple, and funny. I post this as an introductory demonstration of the versatility of the game assets, and the ingenuity of the fan community. Enjoy.

Previously:
Meet the Team

Cthulhu Cthursday: Valley of the Arkhams

Jeb Card — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 07:01:58 +0000

What if Frankie and Annette played beach blanket bingo at Martin’s Beach? It might have been something like this music video (click here to play).

Valley of the Arkhams by The Arkhams, Animation by Jonathan Wojcik [Newgrounds]

Potato-dono! Noooo!!!

E. G. Gauger — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:02:21 +0000

Cthulhu Cthursday: Arkham … shit, I’m still only in Arkham

Jeb Card — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 07:01:05 +0000

When I found this last weekend, I watched it obsessively a number of times. It just seems right. Not exactly a vision of prophecy, but for a myth of collapse it will do?

Apocalypse -Cthulhu- Now by Cthulinos [Youtube]
Apocalypse Now intro – In case you’ve forgotten the visual pun [Youtube]

Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Lurking Fear

Jeb Card — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 13:53:14 +0000

Not an adaptation of Lovecraft’s “The Lurking Fear,” but a hybrid pastiche/homage to Lovecraft and Buster Keaton, with a hint of Indiana Jones in a few places

Part 1

Part 2

The Lurking Fear by Eric Koenig [Youtube]

Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Statement of Randolph Carter

Jeb Card — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 05:00:35 +0000

I hadn’t imagined the graveyard in this manner, but it works.

The Statement of Randolph Carter, by Eldritch Animation [Youtube]

Saturday Morning Cartoons: The Investigators

Jeb Card — Sat, 03 Jul 2010 12:15:04 +0000

Chris Lackey just posted these short cartoons of his on Youtube (unavailable for years after being hosted elsewhere). They include the efforts of others in the creative Cthulhu fandom clique (HPL Historical Society, the HPL Literary Podcast) including Chad Fifer and the distinctive voice work of Andrew Lehman. I detect a touch of influence from Mignola’s animated work such as The Amazing Screw On Head (EDIT: These films predate that comic and pilot) (which can be found in another Saturday Morning lineup), and of course a heaping dose of other inspiration (spoilers from the video). There is some genuine charm, and I love the recurring intro.

The Investigators by Christopher Lackey [Youtube]

Sunday Matinee: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

E. G. Gauger — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 19:00:02 +0000

Released in 1958 and a solid classic ever since, the 7th Voyage of Sinbad is a film each of us loved as children, and haven’t watched since. Let Ectomo gently remedy your ignorance. There was more, far more, to this film than a naga, a cyclops, living skeletons, and a dragon. There is plot, intrigue, racism, sexism, classism, orientalism, the Iraq War predicted 45 years early, a hidden protagonist, and salty Muslim pirates.

But even the hoary old stop-motion beasts will be newly appreciated by your CGI-jaded self. Bathe in the simple liveliness of clay, and Harryhausen’s genius for action and anatomy, simmering in an unforgettable Bernard Herrman score (which I highly recommend downloading on its own).

Scott Radke Marionettes

Angel Ceballos — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 20:47:11 +0000

Scott Radke creates beautiful sculptures that take shape into delicate, bizarre and often frightening form.

They offer a darkness. Pretty and sinister. The expressions of his pieces are impactful. Sometimes giving one a feeling of uneasiness as if the piece is alive, then sometimes giving one an urge to protect them. They are helpless and beautiful. They have you under their spell.

Some film makers have brought the creatures to life with stop animation. Check out the Dark Matters project here.

His work is somewhat derivitage of my favourite sculptor Sergio Bustamante. Who’s sculpture of a crocodile on the toilet crying has been my conquest for the last 12 or 15 years. However Scott’s execution is unique and the range of emotion and cloak of mystery his pieces have are truly captivating and unsettling. Our fear of inanimate objects coming to life are burried deep with in them.

Scott’s work was in the recent Alice in Wonderland movie and can be found in this book.

In The Bunyip Moon

C. Brian Hickey — Thu, 13 May 2010 20:21:49 +0000

I was a nervous child. My overactive imagination joined with my natural timidity to make an ongoing horror story of my life, thick with evil spirits and malevolent hands reaching out for my fat little feet from under my bed or pouring like smoke out of eerily anthropomorphic cracks in the plaster. I can trace all of these childhood anxieties to one point, one specific Boogieman that lay lurking in the dank swamps of my own brain: The Bunyip. This is his song.

A brief unnatural history of the thing: long, long ago, before “The Sopranos” and “True Blood”, before the ubiquity of cable TV, hell, even before the city of Boston had cable, HBO was a haven for some really great children’s television from around the world. One such program, standing along side giants like “Fraggle Rock” was “Dot and the Kangaroo”.

It was pretty straightforward fairy tale fare; a girl named Dot gets lost in the Australian Outback, and is rescued by a red kangaroo who throws Dot in her pouch and hops her around the countryside. Together, Dot and her new marsupial friend encounter the creatures of the Australian wilderness, and the children watching learn about faraway ecosystems. It was fun, cute stuff, and the “Riding In The Pouch Of A Red Kangaroo” theme is bouncy enough that you’d expect nothing scarier than an echidna or Yvonne Goolagong popping up.

But, in the way of much quality kid’s television back in the Eighties, it takes a sadistic left turn about midway through. Dot gets lost in a cave, and her own imagination starts playing tricks on her, and much to everybody’s misery and chagrin, we’re introduced to The Bunyip.

And then the whole thing goes straight to Hell.

According to the song (which wouldn’t be out of place on a Nine Inch Nails B-side, with its ominous piano riff), The Bunyip is a horrible creature that:

-is very bad,
-is part animal and part bird,
-is a thousand years old, and
-lives to pursue petroglyph humans, dogs, emus, kangaroos and dogs with nefarious intent

All of these facts, combined with the wobbly lo-fi animation and the echoing keening vocalization of the Bunyip itself, rubbed against my little amygdala in a way I wouldn’t again experience until picking up Lovecraft in high school. That something could be one thousand years old was unnerving. It just made me uncomfortable in a way that other fearful things didn’t. Sure, the Big Bad Wolf was evil, and bent on tearing people limb from limb, but it had some starting point. The Bunyip, my little mind soon figured, had lived a millenium; who said it ever had to die at all?

The segment ends, and Dot is reunited with her kangaroo friend, and the romp through the Outback continues as if nothing untoward had happened. Perhaps Dot’s mind encapsulated the events in that cave, and she promptly forgot about The Bunyip.

I never did. For months, I would look up at the full moon—The Bunyip Moon—and I swear he would be looking back, howling down at me.

Saturday Morning Cartoons: Jiz and the Mammograms

E. G. Gauger — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 18:30:21 +0000

I’m running out of Saturday morning, it being near 11:30 here on the Best Coast, but I want to note my profound appreciation for the dadaist-queer-studies feel of every single of the Jiz clips, which reclaim an 80s backwater of shitty animation and terrible cultural values with the most offensive, nonsensical, and brutally funny redub to land online since the GI Joe PSAs.

Your Daily WTF: “Mani Malaikat” By Arrington de Dionyso

Ross Rosenberg — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 16:33:28 +0000

I’m cheating here. I know this. There was already a Noise du Jour, placed surreptitiously by the ever elusive Miss Gauger, in the early pre-dawn hours, as is her wont. The melodious strains of The Baseballs’s anachronistic efforts could, however, do with a counterbalance. Don’t you think? I am here to provide that very service.

Arrington de Dioyso is a musician who specializes in both Tuvan throat singing and bass clarinet. This may seem like an odd combination. It is, indeed, an odd combination. Should that not be strange enough, his newest album, Malaikat dan Singa, is a collection of poems by William Blake, the famed poet and painter of bizarre shit and/or lizard men. Also, all the words have been translated into Indonesian. So yeah, William Blake as sung by a Tuvan throat singer in Indonesian set to distorted bass clarinet and rhythmic drumming.

Oh yes, there’s also the accompanying video. Not much to say about that. It’s best if you just find out for yourself.

Arrington de Dionyso’s Malaikat dan Singa- “Mani Malaikat” [YouTube] : The Aardvark Speaks : Thanks, antifuchs!

Moustache Monday: His Horse Is Amazing

Ross Rosenberg — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:02:18 +0000

From the same people who brought you Fulton’s autobiography, I present the story of a woman and the moustachioed man who wishes to take her away on his amazing horse.

I’m mostly linking this so I don’t have to be the only one with this on a constant loop in my brain.

Amazing Horse [Weebl's Stuff] : Thanks, VKlaus!

Baman and Piderman Make da Band

E. G. Gauger — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:00:06 +0000

Baman and Piderman hab da Pumkin

E. G. Gauger — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 14:29:04 +0000

Noise du Jour: “Electro Gypsy” by Savlonic

E. G. Gauger — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 12:18:14 +0000

I guess I’ll just go ahead and post this myself, as it’s been the topic in #ectomo for the past week, and also as none of my typewriting monkeys pay a goddamn bit of attention when I scream POST THAT anymore.

The topic for #ectomo is: Hitler sings a song about Qais and his pink robot horse: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3jh84Lt9s4

Baman and Piderman Find Da Sandwich

E. G. Gauger — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 21:44:47 +0000

Cthulhu Cthursday: Shub-Niggurath And Her Performing Cthulhus

Ross Rosenberg — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 16:08:53 +0000

Bookended by scenes from an episode of Rod Serling’s Night Gallery, entitled “Professor Peabody’s Last Lecture” what follows is madness of the highest order. I can’t really explain what ensues but it involves J-Pop and choreographed dance moves.

Ah, the internet and its wonders.

Apologies to Mr. Lovecraft… [YouTube] : GrimReviews

The Tale Of How

Ross Rosenberg — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:31:58 +0000

A stunning short film by the trio of South African artists known as The Blackheart Gang, The Tale of How is the story of a giant octopus who consumes the kiwi bird-like denizens of a tiny island. One of them places messages in a bottle, in the hope that someone will come to rescue them. But who?

It’s a truly beautiful piece of animation and they even have a book/DVD set and an upcoming series of prints available in their shop.

The Tale of How [vimeo] : Super Punch

Chris Ware’s Quimby The Mouse

Ross Rosenberg — Wed, 06 May 2009 13:40:56 +0000

A new short from Chris Ware, this one featuring a recurring character from his Acme Novelty Library series, Quimby the Mouse. This, like his previous shorts, was done for This American Life, in this case for the live performance they did in Chicago. I’m a longtime fan of Ware’s comics and his shorts continue his tradition of excellent storytelling. The fact that it’s set to the wonderful strains of “Eugene” by Andrew Bird is just icing on the cake. Click over to Vimeo if you wish to watch it in its full, HD glory.

Quimby The Mouse [Vimeo]

Noise du Jour: “The Dragon’s Claw” By Justice of the Unicorns

Ross Rosenberg — Fri, 01 May 2009 15:59:24 +0000

Justice of the Unicorns exposes the horror behind the world’s gadgetry in their video for “Dragon’s Claw”, animated by Robert Bruce. Watch and bear witness to the terrible crucible in which your mp3 players and cellphones are forged!

“The Dragon’s Claw” by Justice of the Unicorns [Vimeo] : Stereogum

Your Daily WTF: Mr. Ando Of The Woods

Ross Rosenberg — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 14:40:16 +0000

There seems to be some dispute amongst the animals of the woods as to whether or not Mr. Ando is a penguin as he claims or is, in actuality, a human. There is no disputing that all of the aforementioned animals have the same, human face or that a fish sings a song about loving Mr. Ando and wishing to sleep with him even though he is a fish and smells very fishy. All this from the mind of Takashi Taniguchi.

Mr Ando of the Woods [YouTube] : Pink Tentacle

Japanese Anthropomorpized Animal Movies: Better Than Your Anthropomorphized Animal Movies

Ross Rosenberg — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 14:57:01 +0000

This was going to be included in a Saturday Morning Cartoons post but really, it deserves to be seen alone, in “high quality”, not shoved inside some standard quality SMC playlist. And while it it has already spread across the tubes, it deserves to be enshrined here.

Cat Shit One — Apocalypse Meow in the U.S. — was a Japanese manga that came out in 1998. It followed the day to day routine of an American recon unit in Vietnam called, yes, Cat Shit One. The various nationalities involved are represented by different animals: Americans are rabbits, the French are pigs, the Australians koalas and so on. Interestingly, the final chapter of volume 1 is titled “Dog Shit One” and features humans.

The proposed series takes place, not in Vietnam, but in Iraq and features turbaned, terrorist camels and “middle eastern music”, which consists of women wailing in a musical way. This makes the moment when the terrorist camels gun down a kidnapped rabbit especially poignant.

Whether or not this is meant to be serious at all is unknown but I have a hard time imagining it as such. It has as much to do with the animals as anything else I suppose; the gravity of the situation undercut as it is by images of a bunny firing an RPG into a truck as camel-terrorist fly through the air with A-Team-like aplomb; and close quarters combat looses some of its oomph when Mr. Flopsy is the one wielding the M4A1. Still, we can perhaps look forward to scenes of hooded camels hooked up to electrodes. That will be fun, won’t it?

Cat Shit One Movie Trailer – The Animated Series [YouTube]

Khoda

Ross Rosenberg — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 14:23:29 +0000

“What if you watch a film and whenever you pause it, you face a painting?”

This question was the inspiration for Khoda, a film by Reza Dolatabadi. Consisting of 6000 paintings and taking over two years to complete the results are pretty impressive and yet, I can’t help but wonder just what was trying to be achieved. Doesn’t any frame of animation fulfill the requirements set forth above or is there more at play here? By “painting” does Dolatabadi mean just that paint was involved, or is it a matter of composition or technique?

Perhaps I’m simply being pedantic. Regardless, it does little to detract from the film as a whole.

Khoda [Vimeo] : Juxtapoz : Reza Art

The Awkwardness Of Bed & Breakfasts

Ross Rosenberg — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 14:59:15 +0000

Let me say right from the start that I am a huge Sarah Vowell fan. Her book Assassination Vacation, from which this is excerpted, was the first by her that I read and from there I’ve devoured everything she has written. Her work, part history part travelogue, are made that much better by dint of the fact that she has an extraordinary ability to convey her enthusiasm for her subjects. The history of presidential assassination my seem compelling but the reader is all the more interested because Miss Vowell is interested.

Susan Chien, also a fan, animates one of those many moments from Vowell’s journeys, detailing the complicated and terrifying traditions of a New England bed and breakfast namely being forced to take one’s morning sustenance with total strangers in another stranger’s house.

Bed & Breakfast by Sarah Vowell [YouTube] : poeTV

Saturday Morning Cartoons L: Golden

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 15:48:14 +0000

Ye gods, this is a momentous occasion! Today is the 50th anniversary of Saturday Morning Cartoons! It seems like just yesterday that John Brownlee posted the first installment, one Saturday morning after waking up still drunk from the night before. Yes, it’s been quite a ride. We want to thank Cthulhu, our mommas, Sidney Poitier and all our fans who have supported us through fifty episodes. This one’s for you.

Of course, this might all be a bit more impressive if it wasn’t a weekly feature and if the installment previous to this hadn’t gone up in, you know, December. Ah well, that’s show business! On to the ‘toons!

•Dog of Man – The first of three delightfully bizarre cartoons by British animator David Firth. It’s the touching story of a man, his dog, and a tumor.

•Home Movies: “History” – If you are a fan of Home Movies then I present to you another classic adventure of Brendan, Jason, and Melissa. If you do not: WTF IS WRONG WITH YOU HOW CAN YOU NOT LIKE THIS SHOW!? IMMA KEEP POSTING THEM TIL YOU LIKE IT!!!!1! BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGLE!

•Alan: An Alternative Super Hero – Alan is a superhero with a very specific power.

•Angst – André has been tortured by the wind his entire life. No wonder, then, that he is terrified of it. Directed by Emiel Penders.

•Dr. Tran: “100% ICE” pts. 1 & 2 – Oh boy, is that a new episode of everyone’s favorite action hero I see? I think it is.

•Video Dating Tape – Jake seems like quite a catch.

Saturday Morning Cartoons L: Golden [YouTube]

Moustache Monday: Animoustache

E. G. Gauger — Mon, 29 Dec 2008 13:54:03 +0000

Bo Henry, art director of “Coraline”.

(thanks Groonk!)

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLIX: Christmas

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 14:25:38 +0000

Well, it’s not like we could have avoided it forever. This Thursday marks that most expensive of holidays; the day some celebrate an imaginary person’s birthday by giving each other presents and some celebrate an imaginary person breaking into their home to leave gifts for them. Truly, it is the most magical time of the year. In the spirit of such activities, Ectomo presents a small sampling of the plethora of Christmas themed animated specials that have littered the airwaves over the years. We hope you enjoy or, at the very least, do no retch.

• A Charlie Brown Christmas: For the two or three people who haven’t seen this the plot is as follows. Charlie Brown, not understanding the meaning of Christmas, is enlisted to direct a Christmas play but is stymied by everyone’s desire to dance repetitively. He then buys a horribly stunted coniferous tree for the play and everyone laughs. Then Linus quotes the Bible. The End.

• Freakazoid!: “In Arms Way” What other cartoon would have a villain named Arms Akimbo?

• How the Grinch Stole Christmas: Chuck Jones animated version of the Dr. Seuss story with voice work by Boris Karloff. That’s all you need to know.

• Mickey’s Christmas Carol: Back when Disney produced animated cartoons of quality they made this, perhaps one of the best adaptations of Charles Dickens’s classic tale. Consider it the condensed version. The animation in this one, like the above entry, is simply top-notch.

• He-Man and She-Ra Christmas Special: I…I really have no idea. At some point in the 80s He-Man and She-Ra had a Christmas special. This makes my brain weep.

• Monkey Dust: Season 3, episode 2 in which the Paedofinder General interupts a school nativity play, Ivan Dobsky has a “most terriblest nightmare” in which he receives a Playstation for Christmas — likening its complexity to “pong, but with three bats” — and “The International Revolutionary Jihad for the Liberation of the Islamic Republic of Great Britain” prepare to blow themselves up in the middle of a shopping center. All this, and more, in another twisted episode of Monkey Dust.

Lastly, [adult swim], while not allowing anything as convenient as embedding because they are jerks, has a section with all of their Christmas themed episodes in one place. So, if you are looking for your fix of Sealab 2021, Venture Bros., Aqua Teen Hunger Force, Robot Chicken, etc. this is where you want to go.

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLIX: Christmas [YouTube]

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLVIII: The Maxx

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 14:40:31 +0000

Everything good about MTV lives in a world that exists, long since passed, in the memories of those who were there called “Remember When”. It’s a world where Music Television was actually music, on television and where the newest and craziest in modern animation was shown on something called Liquid Television accompanied by shows like Beavis and Butthead, Aeon Flux, The Head, and The Maxx. It is a place that many look back on with great fondness with good reason.

My relationship with MTV was not immediate. It was instead something that I had to acquire through a middleman, my family not having cable. It was something that I could only watch whilst visiting a friend or, in the case of The Maxx and Aeon Flux, by having it taped by my friend Will. It was a weekly ritual, the same VHS cassette exchanged back and forth, previous episodes taped over to make room for my fix. If I had more foresight, I would have no doubt bought extra cassettes so a to preserve the series but, alas, I was not the forward thinking in my youth.

The Maxx remains a show that, upon repeated viewings all these years later, has lost none of its impact. It still works, at least for me. Surely, it can be argued that, in its abbreviated form, it is lacking in comparison to the comic book that spawned it, and there is some truth there. The relationships that tie all of these wounded characters together are explored far less here, especially the relationship between Julie and the titular hero. This can be forgiven though, no television series could have really handled Sam Keith’s twisted, meandering story and psychological musings. The man himself could barely handle it, his panels cramped and scattered, requiring arrows to guide the reader’s eye.

The TV show is, then, The Maxx distilled and in that regard it succeeds brilliantly. Keith’s artwork animates beautifully and the voice work and music are some of the best in a cartoon. It is a starkly melancholy show, something I’m not sure everyone was expecting from a cartoon. Featuring none of the bombast of Aeon Flux or The Head it was instead an exploration of trauma, violence, and, ultimately, redemption. It is a show well deserving of your Saturday morning if you’ve not seen it before and well worth it for those who have; to sit down and look back to the world of “Remember When”.

Just a note: Take a look at this while you can for the YouTube Police’s wrath is swift and brutal.

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLVIII [YouTube]

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLVII: Turkey And Fixings

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 16:17:46 +0000

And by that I of course mean one Thanksgiving special followed by a group of random, animated detritus. Yes, this week is Thanksgiving — real, American Thanksgiving, not that cheap, Canadian imitation — the day on which we can all stuff ourselves with food until we collapse into a carbohydrate induced coma and after which we begin the long, arduous task of celebrating Christmas for a month.

Also, this is my six hundred and sixty sixth post. Coincidence? Who cares!?

• A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving: I’m of two minds when it comes to Charles Schultz’s creation in both print and on screen. Part of me loathes its saccharine sweet sentimentality and its trite, overtly Christian preaching and another part admires the man’s artistic and creative ability and the cartoons remain firmly fixed in my animated childhood memory. It is perhaps a testament to Peanuts that my usually dominant, cynical side uncharacteristically loses this particular battle.

• Home Movies: “Curses”: I’ve touted my love for Home Movies before so all I will say is if you don’t like it you are insane or brain dead. In this episode our diminutive filmmakers explore the use of foul language and its humorous effects. Make sure to watch out for the hidden surprise right before the credits.

• The Ren & Stimpy Show: The second episode — counting the pilot — featuring the adventures of everyone’s favorite dog and cat. Also featuring Log! I’m sure this will be pulled by the end o the day so get it while it’s hot.

• Dexter’s Laboratory: “Opposites Attract”: Another show that rarely shows up on YouTube and will most surely be pulled. Not the best episode featuring Genndy Tartakovsky’s diminutive mad scientist, but you take what you can get.

•Korgoth of Barbaria: Dear [adult swim], I’m writing to inquire as to what, exactly, is wrong with you. No really, I would like to know why you continue giving asshats like Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim money to churn out hours of retarded pap while shelving truly brilliant ideas like Korgoth of Barbaria. If you find men dressing in drag to be that funny, might I suggest you export your Tim & Eric stuff to England, it is my understanding that they too like that sort of thing. Afterwards, you can pull your heads out of your asses and start to produce more shows that are, you know, good. Regards, Ross Rosenberg

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLVII: Turkey And Fixings [YouTube]

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLIV: Grave Of The Fireflies

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:07:52 +0000

Starting off your Saturday on a bit of a down note, Ectomo presents Isao Takahata’s Hotaru no Haka, Grave of the Fireflies, based on the book by Akiyuki Nosaka of the same name. Released in 1988, with animation production by Studio Ghibli, Grave of the Fireflies tells the story of Seita and his younger sister Setsuko, orphaned after the loss of their parents in World War II; their mother in the fiire-bombing of Kobe, and their father who served in the Imperial Japanese Navy. Forced to live with a relative, who treats them as little more than a burden while selling their mother’s kimono’s to buy rice for herself, they eventually leave and take up residence in an abandoned bomb shelter.

Grave of the Fireflies is a tough film to watch, and a movie which begins with the death of the young, main character was probably not what many audiences were expecting to see when it was released in Japan as a double feature with Hayao Miyazaki’s My Neighbor Totoro. It is also the only Studio Ghibli movie the Disney does not have the rights to distribute in the U.S., meaning that it has not seen the same, widespread release here. It is a film that should be seen at least once, whether one is a fan of animated features or not, remaining just as powerful now as it was 20 years ago.

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLIV: Grave of the Fireflies [YouTube]

Global Warming And Animal Suicide

Ross Rosenberg — Mon, 29 Sep 2008 17:37:37 +0000

Quercus, which is Portugal’s Association for the Conservation Nature, wants you to know that the fight against global warming must go on. Humans must continue their efforts to battle this planet-wide crisis because if we don’t, the chimps are going to start hanging themselves. They just want you to know that. No pressure or anything.

Quercus – Global Warming [Dailymotion] : Drawn! : fubiz

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLIII: Potluck

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 27 Sep 2008 15:11:01 +0000

It’s catch-as-catch-can this Saturday on Ectomo. Strolling through the fields of internet, harvesting what we could, no particular theme presented itself, no one flavor stood out. So today it’s a stew of animation goodness, a hodgepodge of styles and tastes; because sometimes you have to make the best of what’s lying around.

Dr. Tran “Dickable Afternoons”: “Remember those good times at home, in the 1800s, back when you and the neighborhood rowdies would romp around, kicking an old piece of rope? And then Mom would call you inside, where you’d all gather at the dining-room table, while she served up a steaming hot plate of Dr. Tran’s Old Fashioned Peppermint Dickables.”

Ark: In the future a mysterious pandemic has decimated the population of the world. Survivors have retreated to huge ships and set out for uninhabited lands. The exodus has begun, under the leadership of one man.

Log Driver’s Waltz: I was reprimanded for not including this in my Canadian themed SMCs of a few weeks ago, so I include it here now. Chicks dig log drivers.

Strange Invaders: Some couples want to have a baby so badly, they don’t care how they come by it, even if it falls, glowing, from the sky. Watching this, an episode of Invader Zim featuring space aliens who resembled human babies came to mind. Could this have been the inspiration for Vasquez and Co.?

The Tick “The Tick vs. The Tick”: It was mentioned in the ectochat earlier this week that the SMCs needed more Tick, and I agree. In this episode, The Tick and Arthur go to a superhero nightclub. However, it seems that there is already another gentleman who goes by The Tick, and he’s not ready to give up the name. Also, “I’m the Evil Midnight Bomber, What Bombs At Midnight!”

Dr. Tran “Quiet Log Time”: “I’m gonna kill you.”

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLIII [YouTube]

There Will Come Soft Rains

Ross Rosenberg — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 16:41:18 +0000

Uzbek director Nazim Tulyakhodzhayev’s short, animated adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s short story of the same name. The tale of a robotic house mindlessly continuing its tasks even after the human residents have been wiped out by nuclear war.

There Will Come Soft Rains [YouTube] : DIGITAL DJ

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLI: Paprika

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 15:08:28 +0000

An apology in advance to those readers who appreciate more of a mix in their Saturday Morning Cartoons, more of a grab-bag of treats with which to satisfy their dilettantish sweet tooth. Today we present a meal, a robust, full flavored dish chock full of aromatic spices and out of control insanity. Today Ectomo is proud to present Satoshi Kon’s Paprika.

Paprika is set in the near future and focuses on a new type of psychotherapy treatment called dream therapy. Using a device known as a “DC Mini”, therapists are able to enter the dreams of their patients. The story begins with Doctor Atsuko Chiba, who uses the alter-ego known as Paprika during therapy sessions, counseling one Detective Konakawa Toshimi. The nature of the sessions is a closely guarded secret as the use of the DC Mini is unsanctioned, and its existence is being kept from the press. Things quickly go wrong, however, when three of the machines are stolen, and so begins the story proper.

The themes present in Paprika are well-trodden by Kon. He has almost a singular obsession with the human subconscious — especially in terms of a larger, societal subconscious — and pop culture. Paprika does not stray too far from this territory but the torrent of imagery that Kon throws at the viewer makes the experience feel fresh nevertheless. It also strikes me upon each subsequent viewing how much Kon is seemingly aping Hayao Miyazaki —probably the most successful current animator coming out of Japan by western standards. Whether this is intentional or not I cannot be sure, but he does it well enough, and sparingly enough, that the film is not bogged down by a feeling that one is watching, say, Spirited Away II: The Revenge

Paprika really is a fantastic film, and for those of you who are not as enthusiastic about anime, or who downright loathe it, I would still urge you to give it a try. Kon’s work is unlike most of Japanese animation that makes it to our shores and I feel that, given the chance, it may surprise you.

Saturday Morning Cartoons XLI: Paprika [YouTube]

An Ancient Rivalry

Ross Rosenberg — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 14:06:46 +0000

Some wars are timeless, their beginnings receding into the haze of aeons past. None are so bitter as the ages old feud between the regal unicorn and the gentle Monodon monoceros. Here, now, a final battle is to be fought, upon hallowed ground to which both claim as their birthright. Can anyone stop these two foes before the annihilate one another? Will Cecily and her trusty dragon-steed Windstar, make it in time to broker some sort of peace between these two? Why is Cecily’s boyfriend on a date with some other girl? The answer to these questions and more lie within Unicorn vs. Narwhal!

Unicorn vs. Narwhal [YouTube]

Saturday Morning Cartoons XXXIX: Oh Canada (Mostly)

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 15:24:01 +0000

Ah, Canada, that frozen wonderland to the north, with its lush, rolling fields of moose, beer waterfalls, and socialized medicine. Truly, it is a snow covered Eden. This week’s Saturday Morning Cartoons is (mostly) presented by Canada, featuring animators (mostly) from Canada, or films distributed (mostly) by The National Film Board of Canada. If you are so inclined (and you should be) all of these videos, with the exception of the first, can be viewed in a higher resolution on YouTube.

• The Cat Came Back: From Cordell Barker. Mr. Johnson has a yellow cat, which he is desperately trying to rid himself of. His efforts prove…unsuccessful.

• Last Time in Clerkenwell: Russian animator Alex Budovsky’s follow-up to Bathtime in Clerkenwell featuring more mind bending flash animation and infectious music.

• The Danish Poet: Torill Kove’s 2007 Oscar winning mediation on her birth, and the serendipitous events which led to it. Simple, clean lines lend this one a children’s book aesthetic which works perfectly.

• Ryan: Directed by Chris Landreth, Ryan is an animated tribute to Canadian animator Ryan Larkin. Thirty years ago, at the National Film Board of Canada, Ryan produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Winner of an Oscar in 2005, it’s a film whose visuals tell just as much of its story as its dialogue does.

• How Wings Are Attached to the Backs of Angels: Craig Welch’s fantastic, creepy, surreal, Gorey-esque little film about a scientist’s quest for knowledge that is, perhaps, reserved for beings other than mere mortals. Cross hatching should be used more often in animation.

• Yellow Sticky Notes: Nine years worth of Jeff Chiba Stearns’s To-Do lists, written on sticky notes, animated with, well, sticky notes. Trust me, it works.

• Harvey Krumpet: I’m a big fan of Australian animator Adam Elliot’s work, having first seen his shorts Brother, Uncle, and Cousin through The Animation Show. Harvey Krumpet, narrated by Geoffrey Rush, continues the tradition of Elliot’s intimate storytelling; detailing the life of Harvey Krumpet, from his birth in Poland to the end of his life in Australia.

Saturday Morning Cartoons XXXIX: Oh Canada (Mostly) [YouTube]

Wladyslaw Starewicz’s The Mascot

Ross Rosenberg — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 16:30:51 +0000

This short film, by Polish stop-motion animator Wladyslaw Starewicz, tells the story of Duffy (known as Fétiche in France). A stuffed animal, Duffy is on a quest to bring his young mistress, sick with scurvy, an orange. It is a quest that will take him through Hell and back. Starewicz was a master of his craft, sometimes employing the use of insect carcasses — their limbs reattached with wax — as puppets. Duffy proved to be one of his most popular creations, and Starewicz featured him in three more films. If you’re a fan of stop-motion animation The Mascot is a must see.

Update: Switched to a YouYube playlist as the original player, located here, kept auto-playing.

The Mascot [YouTube] : MONSTER BRAINS : Fantastic Animation

Saturday Morning Cartoons XXXVIII: Fantastic Sandwich

Ross Rosenberg — Sat, 02 Aug 2008 14:03:04 +0000

A meaty treat for you to sink your teeth into this morning, loyal viewers. Consider this more of a brunch than a breakfast if you will. To celebrate the stupendous event of the release of the first season of the outstanding Freakazoid! we present four, crazed episodes. Nestled in between these delectable treats lies a surreal, French delicacy: La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet). If you have any questions about your meal, the waiter will be happy to answer them:

• Freakazoid!: “A Matter of Love”, in which Cosgrove gets himself a girlfriend; a girlfriend who may not be what she seems. HUGGBEE!

• Freakazoid!: “The Wrath of Guitierrez”. Guitierrez zaps Freakazoid into a video-game world in order to destroy him.

• La Planète Sauvage (Fantastic Planet) René Laloux’s amazingly bizarre science fiction classic set in a future where human, called Oms, have been taken by the gigantic Draag to their home planet and kept as pets; but the the siren call of freedom is strong and rebellion is fermenting among the Oms. Fantastic Planet is one of those films whose effect on me has not been lost, even after multiple viewing. It remains just as strange and wonderful as it did when I first saw it.

• MUSICAL INTERMISSION Thanks, Evil Jim!

• La Planète Sauvage continues, everyone take your seats.

• Freakazoid!: “The Island of Dr. Mystico”. Freakazoid is entrusted with transporting the city’s top villains to the remote country of France. Oh crap, is that Candlejack in that pic-

• Freakazoid!: “Virtual Freak”. Picture this: In a normal mall, in a normal arcade a game is being assembled by two men named Bob who both share a secret desire to date Agent Scully of the X-Files. The game is rumored to be neato torpedo. OR IS IT!?

Saturday Morning Cartoons XXXVIII: Fantastic Sandwich [YouTube]