Reviews

It's so weird to think how David Lynch was considered as one of the possible directors for Return of the Jedi, but I guess that after all the mainstream acclaim The Elephant Man got, such idea didn't seem so crazy back then.

But who knows, maybe it would have been a pretty fascinating film (Though one does have to wonder how much artistic liberties Lynch would have been allowed while working in a project like that)

In all honesty, I respect Lynch's decision. Instead of becoming a director for hire of a project he didn't have any passion, he decided to stay true to himself, even if that meant losing a large sum of money.

And considering the poor reception Dune got, maybe it was for the best, not to mention the utter mess Star Wars has become in the recent years.

At least Lynch was able to focus the rest of his career in more personal, distinctive films which allowed him to fully achieve his status as one of the most unique directors from American cinema.

Even when rotoscoping tends to be a somewhat divisive technique among animators (To the point some of them don't even want to consider it "real" animation), I personally think that it could be done pretty well, often with pretty stylish results. Take for example movies like Waking Life, A Scanner Darkly, or Bakshi's American Pop.

Hey, even some beloved Disney classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs used rotoscoping, so I never got the hate towards this type of visual presentation.

I guess some would say shorts like this one could have been easily made in live-action, with its animation being just a gimmick. But even if that was the case, I think the gimmick worked, because it managed to capture my attention from the very first moment despite the ambiguous nature of the story, giving it a certain hypnotic film from beginning to end.

Without doubt, one of the most macabre works ever done by David Firth. And considering we are talking about the same guy behind stuff like Salad Fingers and Spoilsbury Toast Boy, that's saying something.

Besides of the graphic, gratuitous violence, child murder and necrophilia, there is also a heavy nihilistic vibe here, particularly on its extremely bitter conclusion.

Was this entirely made for mere shock value, or there is any sort of meaning underneath? Who knows. But while personally I don't consider this one of Firth's best works, I do have to admit this is a unforgettable watching experience, going beyond the limits that other edgy online animations wouldn't dare to cross.

And all that in less than two minutes. Wow.

At first glance, the visual aesthetic reminded me of the German short "12 Years" by Daniel Nocke, which also depicted the characters as humanoids with semi-realistic animal heads.

But while "12 years" had a more humorous tone, "Chaud Lapin" had a more tense, eerie feel.

Without a single spoken word, the story is delivered in a rather perfect manner, with the murder plan of the two lovers towards the abusive boar husband becoming evident with each passing minute, leading to an unexpected black comedy element on its conclusion as the icing on the cake.

The result is pretty solid and interesting. Definitely worth-watching!

Not to be confused with the David Firth short of the same name, "Cream" is a strange stop-motion short with some misanthropic undertones: Everyone seems to be a jerk here, displaying some form of cruelty in one way or another.

I must confess I'm not really sure about the meaning behind this, but it was interesting to watch anyway, mostly due its unusual visual aesthetic and the unpredictable nature of the plot, which almost seem to follow some sort of strange dream-logic.

The poster image somewhat spoils the main climatic scene, but the ending managed to take me by surprise anyway. It also gave me the impression this was going to be much more disturbing than it actually was, almost looking as something from a horror film.

Definitely not for everyone, but fascinating nonetheless.

Of all the animations made by David Firth, this might be the most accessible one.

Sure, it does its share of weirdness, but in general lines, the plot is quite easy to understand, with a message delivered in a pretty straighforward manner.

Despite its humorous tone, Cream is a very cynical tale about how the rich and powerful will do anything in order to perpetuate the status quo, being even willing to screw things for everyone as long they are allowed to keep their privileges, with people always falling for their dirty tricks.

Cream might not be a real thing, but if it was, things probably would have turned out as in this short.

Billionaries and corporate overlords are not our friends. They never were, and they never will, no matter how "friendly" they might seem on their social media profiles.

Amazing how some episodes from this actually aired on BBC. And it has a higher score on IMDb than Salad Fingers itself, lol.

Jerry Jackson it's pretty much a cultural artifact of the early 2000s, parodying several trends from that era, particularly mocking some poorly made online animations uploaded to Newgrounds, with its satirical tone becoming more evident as the series progressed.

However, as crudely made this series was, it also has an undeniable charm. Watching some of the shorts made me feel nostalgic for the old internet, before social media and advertisements took over most websites.

Sure, there was a lot of bad stuff, with lots of the edgy tryhard content, but at least there was a certain "sincerity" behind the bad stuff. One could tell that even in the most amateurish works the (usually experienced) artists were putting all their heart, unlike the modern scammers using apps to do all the job for them.

Back then, teens made a lot of offensive jokes online, but weren't genuinely hateful. Nowadays, even adults took offense at the most milquetoast content, starting culture wars over the casting of some trashy live-action Disney film. And they are petty, genuinelly hateful people.

As the world keeps turning into a progressively worse place, stuff like Jerry Jackson has a much more innocent vibe, as a relic from better times that won't come back.

A very fascinating series of shorts made by David Firth, creator of Salad Fingers and Burnt Face Man, supposedly inspired in some dreams he had.

Unsurprisingly, these shorts follow a rather nonsensical storytelling, randomly jumping from one thing to another through scenes; but the way in which David depict those scenes always manages to be something quite fascinating to behold, filled with lots of surreal situations and imagery.

The last two shorts in particular were beautifully nightmarish, with a rather visceral feel which manages to be both repulsive yet oddly captivating.

Hope the Sock series continues. Its unpredictable beauty and horror is perhaps one of the most creative online shows I have ever seen.

In a similar way to King of the Hill, Dr Katz was one of those animated sitcoms which I completely overlooked during my youth, but which I have come to appreciate much more as an adult.

While I was aware of its existence thanks to the South Park cameo in the episode "Summer Sucks", I never paid too much attention to the series until very recently, slowly becoming one of my favorite animations from the 90s due its witty humor and clever writing.

This short seems to be some sort of early pilot of the series, with some notable differences (For starters, the Squigglevision animation is much cruder, with the characters not even moving their lips when they speak. Also the titular character isn't a therapist, playing the role of a patient instead) though it does still has its distinctive style of comedy which made this series so unique.

I really wish I had payed more attention to it back then; but I guess it's better late than never.

Of all the animations made by David Firth, this could be easily considered the darkest one. (I mean, besides his shocking music videos "Milkman" and "Ready Err Not")

The third episode in particular went into a very dark territory. So dark the series ended being discontinued because of that, since the creator apparently felt he went to far.

A shame, because the series was getting more interesting with each episode, despite the hopeless bleakness of the plot and the disturbing elements.

The dystopian setting had a vibe reminiscent to the writings of Franz Kafka, but with a much visceral, nightmarish approach.

Definitely not for everyone, but a pretty fascinating work anyway.

Of all the animations created by David Firth, this might be the most light-hearted one.

Sure, it might have its little share of black comedy and sarcasm, but for the most part, this web show seem more focused in the kind of absurd, "random" humor which was so in vogue during the early 2000s, lacking also the horror and macabre elements present in the large majority of David Firth's ouvre.

And the whole series is available online and can be seen in less than fifteen minutes, so why not give it a try?

I have no idea of why the main character is named after a Greek soccer club, however.

8/10.

A bitter sense of irony permeates this short from beginning to end: The plot is absolutely depressing, but the story is depicted through a bright, childish aesthetic, and narrated with a very gentle tone, akin to a fairy-tale despite all the horrible things happening to the protagonist and the incredibly pessimistic thoughts crossing her mind.

In less than ten minutes, the plot of this short somehow manages to be much bleaker than the one from the Joker film, despite the seemingly cute visuals.

Such juxtaposition worked surprisingly well here, without feeling forced or try-hard in any moment, coming up instead as a sincere tale of modern alienation in the increasingly hopeless world where we live.

Even when the CGI used here might not be particularly impressive, the short does a pretty job with its stylish use of imagery, evoking a Kafkian feel on its beginning.

There is a reverse metamorphosis here, however: Instead of being turned into a bug, the main character ends regaining his own humanity through a symbolic rebirth sequence.

The conclusion, in a similar way to the final moments of Mike Nichols' The Graduate, closes the story in an ambiguous note of uncertainty, leaving the viewer wondering what will happen next after the last scene.

A pretty solid surreal allegory which frankly deserves a much higher rating here on IMDb than just 6.1.

8.5/10.

I still remember the first time I watched this episode as if was yesterday: From the moment I saw the first previews of this series on television, I was pretty hyped to watch it, thinking it was going to be a superhero cartoon in the same vein of stuff like The Transformers or Silverhawks. (I also was interested in the zodiac related stuff for some reason during these years)

Watching Seiya cut off Cassius's ear surely left a mark on me; never before in my life I had seen something as gory on television before, much less in an animated series.

Even when this classic anime had several moments that shocked me when I saw it during my childhood, it also fascinated me in a way that stood the test of time, becoming one of my favourite series to this very day.

And it still remains as the best Saint Seiya adaptation. The beginning of the Netflix CGI series is not even remotely comparable, being quite insipid and sanitized by comparison.

A part of the soul of the franchise died without Shingo Araki and Seiji Yokoyama.

Surprised this episode is rated so relatively low, since the final scene could be easily considered as one of the most iconic moments of the whole series, being constantly referenced in later seasons.

What's even more baffling is that much worse, forgettable episodes (Such as the vastly overrated, gimmicky episode "Barthood", which was nowhere as memorable as this one) are rated higher here on the Internet Movie Database.

I guess some viewers are just too biased towards the early seasons of The Simpsons, dismissing these episodes over the "weird" animation (Which honestly looks much better than the eyesore modern look of the show, with an awful color palette)

"Bart the Daredevil" was the episode that put The Simpsons on the map, elevating its status as one of the biggest pop-culture icons of the nineties. And deservedly so, for this was both fun and heartwarming.

The modern "jerk" Homer would have never tried to jump Springfield Gorge to teach Bart a lesson about unnecessarily risking his life; he probably would have done that on purpose for some stupid or selfish reason.

Such kind of characterization was totally lost as the series progressed. The wackier the series became, the more it lost its original essence as a sincere depiction of a middle class American family, becoming a gratuitous parade of guest celebrities, trendy topics, and shallow culture references.

A shame really.

The first short film by Gabriel Reyes that I ever saw turned out to be quite an experience.

Imagine David Lynch making a public service announcement about eating disorders, and the result would probably be something like this strange black and white animation.

While some of the imagery was somewhat understable, most of it felt absolutely random (Such as the smiling guy with the bag of chips, the faceless woman playing roulette, or the piano with legs)

I'm also not sure if this was intended to be serious or humorous, but I couldn't help but chuckle at the scene with the superhero.

I did like its minimalistic aesthetic. Surely, it might seen crudely drawn at first glance, but there was something hypnotic about it.

I have rewatched several times, and I'm still not entirely sure of what this short is supposed to mean.

I personally like this episode a lot; feels like a throwback to the old characterization Homer used to have in the earlier seasons (When he was still depicted as a very flawed, but loving father) instead of the insufferable, idiotic buffoon he became much later in the series (In fact, the previous episode, "Trash of the Titans was one of these moments where Homer was at his absolute worst, playing a villainous role)

The jokes were fun and effective, without having to rely on shock value or any topical trend from the era; definitely one of the highest points of a rather uneven season, along with "The Joy of Sect" and "Simpsons Tide".

A fun, little CGI short parodying wildlife documentaries.

I liked a lot how the animation here wasn't only pretty realistic, but also fun and expressive, getting progressively more cartoonish as the chameleon keeps capturing bigger and bigger insects with its tongue.

Compare this with that "live action" version of the Lion King done three years later: While it's true the animation from that film had an impressive level of detail, it also lacked the beauty of the original movie, all in name of having a gritter, "more mature" aesthetic, while small animations like this one proof that it is possible to have a lot of fun with hyperrealistic visuals.

Steve Cutts' work is anything but subtle.

I don't necessarily disagree with the messages from his shorts, but I can see why some people find the way in which said messages are delivered to be extremely preachy and hamfisted.

Here, for example, we have stuff like a Donald Trump robot briefly turning into a swastika before transforming into the dollar symbol, while fighting a bunch of heroes with "justice" written on their shields.

Whatever one could think of Trump or any similar political figure, such kind of imagery is frankly ridiculous and over the top.

I can see Cutts is aiming for a "bitterly ironic" tone here, juxtaposing real life injustices with the naive aesthetic of the saturday morning cartoon world, but still feels cheesy anyway, like that stupid couch gag Bansky made for The Simpsons some time ago.

Looking back to our respective childhoods, it's weird how many famous nursery rhymes and songs for kids tend to include violence and other macabre elements (Doesn't Humpty Dumpty end with him dying?)

We just never pay too much attention to such details because of the fun lyrics and the happy tunes. And also because we were little kids when we heard them by the first time.

Taking that in consideration, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the ending of this Canadian short, a very charming cutout animation about a frog and a mouse getting married which ends with both of them being eating by a snake which appears at the very last moment.

But it took me by surprise anyway, considering how happy everything was before the ending.

A quite good short anyway, very enjoyable to watch despite its bitter conclusion.

In a similar way to Flushed Away, this short uses a CGI visual style evoking stop motion; but while in Flushed Away such kind of aesthetic was reasonably well executed, here the animation has a frankly ugly, outdated look which somewhat detracts the whimsical charm the story has.

In all honesty, it's the villains who steal the show here: These ominous crow-like tormentos had an aura of mystery which made me want to learn more about them.

However, it seems their role is merely allegorical, serving only as an obstacle the main character must overcome, as a symbol of those who prey on the less fortunate.

But they looked cool, disregard of the technical limitations.

A brief but effective short but with an unexpected twist at its conclusion.

A little bit unfair, in my opinion, considering the lemonade seller tried to do the right thing at the end, despite his initial intention to trick his thirsty client, but he ends being punished by that choice.

Maybe it was already too late for such kind of change of heart?

Maybe I'm overthinking things, and there isn't any real moral intention behind this amusing little animation.

Now one would question what is even doing a lemonade stand in the middle of the desert in the first place, but then again, the answer is probably cartoon logic.

Weird to think how this actually predates Ivan Reitman's Junior movie by a couple of years.

This episode is often brought up in online discussions about the Liveman series, being often considered the most bizarre moment of the show, if not of the whole "super sentai" genre, involving one of the heroes being "impregnated" by a monster.

On paper, the premise sounds absolutely ridiculous. Yet somehow the actual episode managed to be effectively dramatic, delivering a moving message about the value and beauty of life underneath all the spandex suits and rubber monster goofiness.

The baby monster turned out to be oddly adorable, all things considered. And his death managed to be one of the saddest moments of the series.

I was just a little kid when I watched this series by the first time; I used to watch it religiously (But somehow I missed the final three episodes) even when several of its themes totally went over my head back then.

Sure, at first glance it might seem another Power Rangers-esque series, with all the usual conventions of the genre: Heroes with bright colored uniforms, giant combining robots, rubber monsters and eccentric-looking villains...

But rewatching it as an adult, I was somewhat surprised of how dark and dramatic the plot could get at times, despite being a show for children.

There was a lot of death, tragedies and dramatic moments, with characters having to overcome several difficulties. Even the lessons given to children at the end of the episode were a bit more complex, often dealing with the value of life and keeping your own humanity in the face of intense hardships.

In other words, it didn't talk down its audience, without sugarcoating stuff as many American shows tend to do.

Shows and movies like that are missing these days, with even the mildest kind of content being deemed "inappropiate" for kids by the censors and moral guardians.

I sincerely believe the antivalues pushed by many modern series (such as materialism, rudeness, willful ignorance, anti-intellectualism and celebrity/billionaires worship) are far worse and more harmful to children than anything featured here.

Liveman might be dark, but is the kind of "dark" show with lots of light underneath all the violence and drama, and I'm glad I had the chance of discovering it before the Power Rangers turned the whole genre into a bizarre teen sitcom.

A charming Taiwanese short about the young apprentices of psychopomps going to Death School in order to learn how to take the souls of the livings, having as its protagonist the adorable little sucessor of the Grim Reaper, who seems to be more interested in knitting.

The animation is quite well done, with very appealing designs and pretty stylish sceneries: Personally I think this short has enough potential to be fully developed into a full feature length film, or an animated series.

Sure, the premise might seem a bit grim (no pun intended), but hey, Cartoon Network used to have a succesful show for kids with Death as one of the main characters, and I personally would love to see more of this premise.