What Is The Best Short Animation Ever

[BLenning]

I was going through Scarecrow's animation section and was so amazed and overwhelmed by the amount and level of animation that comes out of the independent and commercial studios every year. I began to wonder, "What animation would I pick as the best out of all of them?" Would it be the timeless "Walking" by Ryan Larkin, the ingenious "Your Face" by Bill Plympton, the hilarious "Rejected" by Don Hertzfeld...or the thousands of other contenders out there?

I was stumped so I thought I would send out this question into the animation public to see what your response is...What film would win your vote for "Best Short Animation Ever" and why? I look forward to your input so that I can go back to Scarecrow and make an expedient choice;)

[David Roomes]

Great question. I personally haven't seen enough animation to make that call. I think there's probably a few hundred animated bits at ScareCrow that I haven't seen yet. But now I want to go check them all out. Are the three you mentioned available at Scare Crow? I haven't seen any of those three.

[mish]

Super question!  My top favorite changes all the time.  Here are some I could watch endlessly:

Warner Bros. classics:  "Rabbit Seasoning", "The Old Grey Hare", "The Big Snooze", "Duck Amuck", "Porky in Wackyland"

An independent short I've seen in festival collections:  "Balance".  It's a gorgeous and thought-provoking puppet animation about, well ... balance.

A Sheridan student film: "Capital P" about a kid who's afraid of the dark and has a wild experience with a toilet on a dark and stormy night.  Nearly flawless.

Another independent film I've seen in festival collections:  "Technological Threat".  Hilarious homage to the classic WB style with early computer animation.

I'm also a fan of the Rocky and Bullwinkle shorts, along with most of Jay Ward's other stuff.

Don Hertzfeldt's "Ah L'Amour" and "Lily and Jim".  Funny via familiarity.

I also like the old opening credt sequence for the series "Mystery" on PBS.  Great Gorey drawings with just the right touch of movement and sound fx.

Check 'em out if you can, and please share your own suggestions!
-Michelle

[BLenning]

Hello All!

Sorry for the posting tardiness, so let me get down to responding...
Okay to start, David, here are the links to the films I listed earlier (that way you can save some $ ;0)

Ryan Larkin's "Walking" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Bv1AitXm2Q
Bill Plimpton's (sorry for the earlier misspelling  ) "Your Face" http://www.veoh.com/videos/v421750xrcYdWb6
Don Hertzfeld's "Rejected" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vSb-nV8l2QY

Hey Mish! That is a seriously fabulous list to go through, I haven't heard of some of these like the "Balance" piece. I definatly am looking forward to taking some time off and sitting down to savor these new animation gems this next weekend I really love the Mystery scernario, I remember watching watching it on PBS as a wee one and being fascinated by the opening sequence (I also used to love the "Ladybugs Picnic" on Sesame Street that was done by Bud Lucky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTuU0bwy79I ). I've seen it again recently and it is even more impressive then I remembered.  Also great Warner Bros. choices! But I would have to add 2 more just cause I'm a Chuck Jones freak, the first being "Feed the Kitty". The expressions on Marc Anothony's face are priceless http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Nw6TTIGAI . The other one is "What's Opera Doc"  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzhDHkdbLlA

Oh man more suggestions...Oh boy...I feel the animated geek welling up in me like a Dr. Jekyl Mr. Animation thing.

Okay I would have to toss out there Princes & Princesses (originally Princes et Princesses) by Michel Ocelot http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ3HamqYzjM&mode=related&search=  (This video isn't the best quality and doesn't include the whole thing so I might try to rent this one). This animation boggles the mind to think that the whole thing is nothing more than cut out paper (with the occassional 2D effect but not enough that would stop one from going mad animating this film). The animation is so beautiful and the incling of knowledge of how much work Michel Ocelot had to do to get it to that level makes me light headed with disbelief and awe. Here's a demo of how he animated the piece http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBConNL_C_k&mode=related&search=

Well I have to cut myself off for now so that I get everything ready for Monday am, but thanks again for the referrals; I look forward to heading down to Scarecrow and checking them out (lame pun but it was neccessary  )
Please keep the referrals coming because the more the merrier (at least I will be merrier :0) Thanks again for the great feedback!

[tessmartin]

'Tale of Tales' by Yuri Norstein

-tess

[lindaloo]

Sounds like we need to hit Scarecrow and have some viewing parties!!!