Fantastic Animation

Dan Meth - Monster Manual

2011-10-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Monster Manual from Dan Meth on Vimeo.

Song by Mixel Pixel.

Allison Schulnik - Mound

2011-10-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Mound by Allison Schulnik from garaco taco on Vimeo.

Credits:
Film by Allison Schulnik
Cinematography by Helder K. Sun.
"It's Raining Today" written by Noel Scott Engel

Terry Gilliam's Do It Yourself Animation Show

2011-08-07T06:05:00.000-07:00

Found over at Io9.

Chad VanGaalen

2011-07-06T17:17:00.000-07:00

Chad VanGaalen - Peace on the Rise (OFFICIAL VIDEO) from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Chad VanGaalen "Molten Light" from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Chad VanGaalen "Red Hot Drops" from Sub Pop Records on Vimeo.

Black Mold : Fuck Ebay from Flemish Eye on Vimeo.

Jiří Barta - Krysař (The Pied Piper) 1986

2011-06-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

Details on the film can be read here.

Will Sweeney - Music Video For Das Pop - The Game

2011-06-23T09:01:00.000-07:00

Das Pop: The Game from Big Active on Vimeo.

V. Tarasov - Перевал Passage, 1988

2011-06-23T08:36:00.000-07:00

Animation based on artwork by Anatoly Timofeevich Fomenko.

Robert Saakayantz - Hey You, Talking Fish / Khosogh Dzuke (1983)

2011-05-18T17:23:00.000-07:00

"Hayfilm Studio, cartoon (based on H.Tumanyan's tale "Talking Fish," financed by Moscow Central TV), 10min. (285m), color."

"Wot A Night" (1931) Van Beuren Tom and Jerry

2009-12-07T05:35:00.000-08:00

Will Sweeney - Music Video For Birdy Nam Nam "The Parachute Ending"

2009-07-26T21:51:00.000-07:00

BIRDY NAM NAM - THE PARACHUTE ENDING Clip Officiel
Uploaded by Has_Been. - See the latest featured music videos.

Here's an amazing animation by Will Sweeney that appears to be inspired by the works of René Laloux. Visit the Alakazam Label to see more from Wil Sweeney.

Found at Meathause Enterprises.

Skinner's Hell Dream

2009-06-10T04:21:00.001-07:00

Artwork & Music by Skinner
TheArtofSkinner.com

Animation by
Jim Dirschberger
EightyFourFilms.com

Malcolm Sutherland - Trailer for "The Astronomer's Dream"

2009-03-23T15:40:00.000-07:00

More at Animalcolm.com

Joop Geesink - Kermesse Fantastique

2008-08-17T06:58:00.000-07:00

Bizarre stop motion of an amusement park, check out the awesome dark ride at the 5:30 minute mark.

Found at the Secret Fun Blog.

Ladislas Starewicz - The Mascot, 1933

2008-08-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

Hayao Miyazaki Documentary

2008-06-25T03:34:00.000-07:00

"This Backstage of Princess Mononoke consists of 3 documentary series directed by Toshio URATANI, who rolled a small VCR for overall of 300 hours (before editing of course!)during his 2-year reporting of Studio Ghibli and its struggles in making the phenomenal animation film Princess Mononoke (released in 1997)."

The rest of the documentary can be found in Riezbien's youtube upload collection.

The Adventures Of Mutilator

2008-06-19T01:38:00.000-07:00

The Quay Brothers - Street Of The Crocodiles

2008-03-24T08:30:00.000-07:00

There are photographs from a Quay Brothers exhibit here and here.

Fantasia - Night On Bald Mountain

2008-03-20T06:10:00.001-07:00

Angel's Egg (1985)

2008-02-18T02:59:00.000-08:00

"Angel's Egg (天使のたまご, Tenshi no Tamago?) is a Japanese anime feature film produced by Tokuma Shoten in 1985. A collaboration between popular artist Yoshitaka Amano and director Mamoru Oshii, it incorporates surrealistic and existentialist qualities but very little dialogue, making it a commonly cited example of progressive anime.

Angel's Egg follows the daily life of a young girl in a surreal world of darkness and shadows.

The girl, whose name we do not learn, is the keeper of a mysterious egg. She spends her time collecting bottles and artifacts in a gothic, dead city. A man, whose name also remains a mystery, arrives in the dark town one day riding a machine and wearing a cross on his back. The two meet and talk, though their dialogue consists mostly of the single, repeated question "Who are you?".

Meanwhile, shadow fish appear within the town, and then the many statues which line it come alive and begin hunting the fish with spears.

Inside the girl's vast cavernous 'refuge,' which contains many strange fossils and her collection, the man tells the girl a tale similar to Noah's Ark. He waits for the girl to fall asleep and breaks the egg.

The girl reacts in anguish and follows the departing man, only to fall into a ravine of water and die. Her dying exhalation under the water blossoms into bubbles of 'eggs' on the surface. A symbolic ending of apocalypse and rebirth is mixed with a gradual reveal of the story's world which is highly abstract and ambiguous." - quote source from wikipedia.

PRINCESS IRON FAN (1941)

2008-01-30T09:23:00.000-08:00

This is the first feature length animated film from China. The fluid movements of the characters are the result of rotoscoping, invented by Max Fleischer. "Princess Iron Fan is a simplified is a fictional character from the Chinese classic novel Journey to the West. She is the wife of the Bull King and mother of Red Boy. She is a beautiful goddess living in an underground cave awaiting her husband's return, but also angry at him for his affair with a foxy vixen woman. She refused to lend the Monkey King (Sun Wu Kong) her fan to subdue the flaming mountains. Her fan is extremely large and has magical properties, as it can create giant whirlwinds." - quote source.

The film includes some incredibly bizarre scenes such as the clip above involving the insect inside the woman moving around her organs then climbing out and growing into the animal headed character. There is another strange scene in the film involving a large dragon that is deflated like a balloon, rolled up and taken away.

This can be downloaded at various sizes from Archive.org.

Bruce Bickford - Clay Animation Video For 'BROZO THE CLONE'

2007-12-08T14:39:00.000-08:00

If you dig Bruce Bickford be sure to check out this trailer for a documentary on his life and animation titled Monster Road.

UGOKIE-KO-RI-NO-TATEHIKI(1933)

2007-12-08T14:11:00.000-08:00

"In the early 1930’s Japanese animation was a lot closer to American animation though it differed by using Japanese story telling techniques.

Director Ikuo Oishi was a pioneer of Japanese animation who started his career with his 1924 interpretation 兎と亀 (usagi to kame “The Hare And The Tortoise”).

In 1933 he directed the classic UGOKIE-KO-RI-NO-TATEHIKI 動絵狐狸達引 (Fox and Asian racoon’s cheat on each other)

In old Japan, foxes and tanuki (Asian raccoons) were considered to have almost mystical powers of disguise, deception, and trickery. In this cartoon, a fox disguised as a samurai uses its magic against a mother-and-child pair of tanuki at a ruined temple. The drawing style shows the influence of Max Fleischer on early Japanese animation." - quote source.

THE MAGIC WORLD OF KAREL ZEMAN

2007-12-06T00:40:00.000-08:00

Documentary from 1962

The Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb (segment)

2007-12-06T00:01:00.000-08:00

Visions of Frank

2007-09-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Here's an odd stop motion animation short by Masaki Naito with music by Masaya Sakaue and based on a comic by Jim Woodring. A dvd is available at Jim Woodring's own online store which collects 8 of these strange animations of his comic work. You can find it here.

The Adventures Of Mark Twain (1985)

2007-09-13T18:20:00.000-07:00

The above is one of the more disturbing scenes from this clay stop motion animated film directed by Will Vinton and based on the writings of Mark Twain.

Bruno Bozzetto - Allegro Non Troppo (1979)

2007-07-23T11:42:00.000-07:00

Bolero - Maurice Ravel & Ivan Maximov

2007-07-23T11:29:00.001-07:00

Heavy Metal - B-17

2007-07-11T14:17:00.000-07:00

The Beatles - Yellow Submarine

2007-06-21T14:44:00.000-07:00

Pendleton Ward - Adventure Time

2007-06-14T06:44:00.000-07:00

If there's one thing this cartoon teaches us it's that you don't tell knock knock jokes to flying dragon unicorns, you'll just freak them out! See more of Ward's insane stuff on his website here.

Raggedy Ann and Andy Meet The Greedy

2007-05-30T18:15:00.000-07:00

Insane candy monster found thanks to Bob Flynn.

Super Jail - Bunny Love Pilot

2007-05-21T19:27:00.000-07:00

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From Christy Karacas, creator of the amazing Space War cartoon comes more animated insanity.

Wes Archer - Jack Mack and Radboy!

2007-05-07T03:01:00.000-07:00

If it's good enough for Night Flight, it's good enough for me!

Terry Gilliam - Miracle of Flight

2007-05-07T02:26:00.000-07:00

Gerald Scarfe - Pink Foyd (The Wall)

2007-02-20T21:20:00.000-08:00

"Gerald Scarfe is a comic artist, painter and designer who has worked as a cartoonist for several newspapers, as a designer for opera and animated movies. Gerald Scarfe's cartoons can be seen in The Sunday Times each week. Gerald's most famous animation was for Pink Floyd's 'The Wall'." - quote from here.

An interview with Scarfe can be found here.
A book was released in 2005 collecting Scarfe's work, you can find it here.
And Scarfe on wikipedia.

Ub lwerks - Balloon Land (1935)

2007-02-08T21:34:00.000-08:00

One of the most insane cartoons I've ever seen.

Cornelius "Corny" Cole - Heavy Metal Concept Reel

2007-02-08T17:18:00.000-08:00

Heavy Metal is one of my favorite animated films, it's interesting to see unused material like this.

Takashi Miike - Happiness of the Katakuris (opening credits)

2007-02-01T15:23:00.000-08:00

Ivan Maximov - Fru 89 From Left to Right

2007-01-26T03:16:00.000-08:00

Very bizarre animation from Russia with a great soundtrack of weird electronic noises.

René Laloux - Light Years AKA Gandahar

2007-01-15T03:38:00.000-08:00

Here is another feature length animated film from René Laloux. It is broken into 8 files on youtube. The plot as taken from here... "On the peaceful world of Gandahar, the Council of Women under Queen Ambisextra perceive a new and unknown threat to the world. The warrior Sylvain is sent forth to determine the nature of this threat. He encounters a race of invincible metal men who are making their way across the world, petrifying every person they encounter and then sending the bodies through a portal to return reprocessed into more metal men. Sylvain traces the source of the metal men to Metamorphis, a giant pink brain floating in the midst of the Circumventing Ocean. But Metamorphis appears baffled as to how it could be the source of the metal men, even though all evidence indicates that it is. As the metal men make their way across the land, destroying the last defences of his people, Sylvain realizes his only choice is to accept Metamorphis's offer to be placed in a stasis capsule and awakened in 1000 years time so that he will be able to destroy Metemorphis's weakened future self, which is the real source of the metal men. "

Part 1 of 8

Part 2 of 8

Part 3 of 8

Part 4 of 8

Part 5 of 8

Part 6 of 8

Part 7 of 8

Part 8 of 8

René Laloux and Roland Topor - Dead Times

2007-01-15T03:20:00.000-08:00

Here's another great short film made by René Laloux and Roland Topor. IMDB describes the plot as "What is man ? Man makes war, man kills man, man hunts, man is executed. A montage mixing original drawings by Topor, original shots and stock shots that ironically analyze what man is. ".

Click here to view it.

Fletcher Hanks - Stardust Vs The Mad Giant Experimenter

2007-01-02T11:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, this just barely fits into the "animation" theme but any excuse to talk about Fletcher Hanks is a good one. "Mystery Walker" has made this awesome virtual cartoon based on an original Fletcher Hanks comic strip with great voice overs and mouth animation. Find out more about Fletcher Hanks here.

Bolex Brothers - Saint Inspector

2006-12-19T13:30:00.000-08:00

From the creators of one of my favorite films, "The Secret Adventures Of Tom Thumb". This 5 minute animated film shows a fat naked saint being inspected by a Terry Gilliamesque robot device in the clouds. More info on this animation can be found here.

Mira Calix - Little Numba

2006-12-10T02:14:00.000-08:00

Frank - Jim Woodring, Animated by Fuyama Taruto

2006-12-10T01:35:00.000-08:00

Purchase a dvd with these and several other animations based on Jim Woodring's material at his official site.

Fantastic Planet

2006-11-25T15:08:00.000-08:00

This is the english dubbed version of the classic animated film from René Laloux and Roland Topor.

Part 1 of 7
Part 2 of 7
Part 3 of 7
Part 4 of 7
Part 5 of 7
Part 6 of 7
Part 7 of 7

Winged Metamorphosis

2006-11-15T00:15:00.000-08:00

NightFlight - The Thing What Lurked In The Tub

2006-11-14T23:59:00.000-08:00

Here's a short weird cartoon that was played on the amazing "Night Flight" tv program that I grew up on as a kid.

Butterfly Ball (sung by Ronnie James Dio)

2006-11-14T23:48:00.000-08:00

"When we first saw this bizarre cartoon in the mid-80's during Night Flight's "Cult Classics" we swore it was Sabbath's Ronnie James Dio singing... and it took us over 20 years to confirm the fact. A very trippy cartoon that was very fitting for USA Network's late-night stoner programming." quote from here.

Fred Stuhr - Danzig "Can't Speak"

2006-11-12T02:44:00.000-08:00

Here's an animated music video made by the late great "Fred Stuhr". Everyone will know him as the guy who helped animate the music videos for Sober and Prison Sex by Tool, as well as an awesome Oingo Boingo video. He was working on a stop motion animated film titled "Motor Creeps" when he died in 1997. It was frustrating having been a huge fan of his at the time of his death to watch his website turn into a memorial. I'm sure he would have made many more amazing things but it wasn't meant to be.

In the dark-blue sea in the white foam

2006-11-12T02:26:00.000-08:00

Really weird Russian cartoon about Neptune taking some kid into his deep sea kingdom to hang out.

René Laloux and Roland Topor - Les Escargots

2006-11-06T13:27:00.000-08:00

Korgoth Of Barbaria!

2006-11-03T10:07:00.000-08:00

When I started this blog I never would have thought I'd be posting something that played on Adult Swim but then came Korgoth. Here in 3 broken down segments is the pilot episode to what (if it gets picked up) could be the best animated show of next year. The fact that Bill Wray paints the backgrounds doesn't hurt it none either. I couldn't help but notice the "october" at the start of the above trailer, and knowing that month has come and gone and still no Korgoth show. With all the outright horrible shows that Adult Swim has, it will be a crime if they don't pick this up.

Click the following numbers to see each segment of the pilot. You apparently have to be signed in to view the third clip.

Korgoth Pilot 1 of 3 - Korgoth Pilot 2 of 3 - Korgoth Pilot 3 of 3

Ladislas Starewicz - The Mascot

2006-10-31T16:35:00.000-08:00

One of my favorite animations of all time. To find out more about Starewicz, click here and here.

Clip 1 of 3

Clip 2 of 3 - Pay attention to the scene that begins at the 4 and a half minute mark. All the strange creatures flying into the doorway of hell, really frightening and bizarre.

Clip 3 of 3

Freakies Cereal TV Commercial (1974)

2006-10-27T05:48:00.000-07:00

This has got to be the weirdest commercial for food that I've ever seen.

The Haunted Ship (1930) - Van Beuren Aesop's Fables

2006-10-27T05:27:00.000-07:00

Suzan Pitt - El Doctor

2006-10-26T06:42:00.000-07:00

Here is a 30 second clip from a 24 minute animated film titled "El Doctor".

"EL DOCTOR is a dark animated poem set in a crumbling Mexican hospital about 1920. Inhabited by surreal characters including the man shot with one hundred holes, the girl who sprouted morning-glories, and the woman who thinks she is a horse, the Doctor prefers to drink. The Saint of Holes and a mysterious gargoyle rearrange the Doctor's fated demise and send him on a dark and twisted journey.

The film celebrates the nature of perception and the miraculous. Over five years in production the film was entirely hand painted by artists in Los Angeles and Mexico.

"Tinged with elements of magic realism and Mexican culture, and told using vivid oil colors, American animation El Doctor is a dazzling, haunting and poignant evocation of a man's final moments."
(Chris Robinson, ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE) "

More information on the animator and purchasing details of the film can be found here.

Check out this insane paintng of Superman covered in giant beetles made by Pitt.

Mickey Mouse - Haunted House

2006-10-26T06:07:00.000-07:00

The Skeleton Dance (1929)

2006-10-25T07:05:00.000-07:00

Check out this surreal screenshot of a catterpillar like skeleton with multiple heads.

Tony Millionaire - Ship of Jokes / Maakies

2006-10-05T21:10:00.000-07:00

Tony Millionaire is the creator of many great comics such as Sock Monkey, Maakies and my favorite book released this year, Billy Hazelnuts. Linked above is a flash animation featuring characters from Tony's demented world.

Click the links below to see animated episodes from "Maakies", a Tony Millionaire cartoon featured on Saturday Night Live.

Episode 1 - Tar Trap
Episode 2 - Mermaid
Episode 3 - Clam Shack
Episode 4 - Fear Of Fire
Episode 5 - Vacation
Episode 6 - Drinky The Crow

Also, Tony is working on another animated show for Adult Swim titled "THE DRINKY CROW SHOW."

To purchase some incredible original artwork from Millionaire's comics, click here.

The Blackheart Gang - The Tale Of How

2006-10-03T21:57:00.000-07:00

SSSR - Subtle FKO

2006-10-03T06:08:00.000-07:00

This music video, part of which appears influenced by Al Columbia, was made by the animation group "SSSR".
You can see the trailer for another SSSR / Subtle colaboration here.

Bruce Bickford

2006-10-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a 4 minute clip from a clay animation made by Bickford for a Frank Zappa song. You can find more information and clips from other animations he's made at the official Bruce Bickford website here.

Ray Harryhausen Interview

2006-09-29T06:32:00.000-07:00

'War of the Worlds' - Ray Harryhausen martian test footage

???

2006-09-08T18:32:00.000-07:00

Set to La Bionda's "I Wanna Be Your Lover".

Richard Sala - The Invisible Hands

2006-09-08T18:30:00.000-07:00

Invisible Hands Pt. 1

Invisible Hands Pt. 2

Here are the first two episodes of "The Invisible Hands" featured back in the early nineties on MTV's "Liquid Television". The story and art are based on the amazing comic artist "Richard Sala". I'll post links to more episodes if they pop up.

René Laloux - Fantastic Planet

2006-09-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite animated films of all time! Here is a 1: 51 second clip from youtube.

Click here to watch the animated film in its entirety although with a different score which includes an array of electronic musicians such as Richard D James.

Christy Karacas - Space War

2006-09-08T18:26:00.000-07:00

Released in 1997 and played on MTV's short lived "Cartoon Sushi" animation program, "Space War" features a surreal landscape of crab monsters, robots, giant tentacled beasts, neptune, and other weird things battling it out on a weird alien planet with insane sound effects going off in the background.
A short bio on the animator can be found here.

Webster Colcord - Mad Doctors Of Borneo

2006-09-08T18:23:00.000-07:00

Here's some great claymation of skeletons, gore and monsters, always a nice combination. You can find more information on the animator, "Webster Colcord" and see additional clips from his strange animations at his website.

Bendito Machine

2006-09-08T18:21:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting flash animation of machines sprouting eyeball creatures.

There's a few other animations on the main menu.

Raoul Servais - Operation X - 70

2006-09-08T18:17:00.000-07:00

A very unusual animated short film from 1971. Here is the plot summary from imdb...

"A man in a gas mask briefs his country's top generals on a new weapon, a gas named X-70 that quickly turns "rats and Asiatics" into lethargic, comatose, contemplative lumps. The victims do not die, explains the scientist, so the weapon is within the country's Christian tradition. Bombers are immediately sent toward the enemy (unnamed, but it is the Vietnam era). A sex-crazed in-flight computer gives the pilot bad coordinates, and he lets loose bombs of X-70 on what turns out to be a friendly Western nation, Nebelux. A mask-wearing squadron goes to Nebelux and finds unexpected damage. How will the soldiers, the generals and the scientist react?"

Max Fleischer - Swing You Sinners

2006-09-08T18:16:00.000-07:00

Here's another strange cartoon by Max Fleischer. There's more spooks and monsters in this one then you can shake a stick at.

The above is a short clip, below is the full cartoon.

Hieronymus Bosch - Bucket Head Music Video For "Spokes For The Wheel Of Torment"

2006-09-08T18:12:00.000-07:00

Hieronymus Bosch's artwork animated in a music video!

Gerald Scarfe - "Welcome To The Machine" Pink Floyd Music Video

2006-09-08T18:10:00.000-07:00

Apart from his political cartoons, Scarfe is probably best known for the animation work he did for the movie verion of Pink Floyd's album "The Wall" as well as imagery he made for their tour, posters, shirts, etc from that time period. Previous to that he made a very surreal animated video for Pink Floyd's song "Welcome To The Machine".

Jan Svankmajer - Meat Love and Flora

2006-09-08T18:05:00.001-07:00

Meat Love

Flora

Svankmajer is an artist of many mediums as can be seen at his website. His style always indulges in the surreal and unusual. He's made dozens of films, most if not all incorporate live action alongside stop motion to create a peculiar sense of reality. He's been credited as being an influence on Tim Burton, The Quay Brothers, Terry Gilliam and many other creative individuals, myself included. If you aren't familiar with his films I would recommend Alice, Little Otik and Conspirators of Pleasure. And be sure to check out the Svankmajer section at the "Animation Of Heaven And Hell" website. You can view clips from several of his films there.

Andrey Khrzhanovskiy - The Glass Harmonica (segment)

2006-09-08T18:01:00.000-07:00

Andrey Khrzhanovskiy is a Russian animator who's made a small handful of animated films over the last 40 years. This paricular animation of his is shown in a cut down music video version that apparently shows the highlights from the original 19 minute long version. If you'd like to see the original uncut it is included in the "Masters Of Russian Animation Volume One" dvd series. If you're a fan of "Fantastic Planet" or any other animated film by René Laloux, I'm sure you'll enjoy this.

Tim Burton – Vincent

2006-09-08T17:52:00.000-07:00

Before The Corpse Bride, Beetlejuice and Edward Scissorhands, Tim Burton made "Vincent", his first film from 1982 that runs around 6 minutes long. The film is shot in black and white stop motion and is narrated by Vincent Price. The film is based on a poem written by Burton about a boy who wants to be like Vincent Price.

Max Fleischer - Betty Boop

2006-09-08T17:39:00.000-07:00

Max Fleischer was a pioneer in the animation business, responsible for creating the animation technique of rotoscoping. This involved drawing animation on top of frames from a live action film. This animation technique went on to become an important part of Ralph Bakshi's animation style.

Fleischer was also responsible for introducing the first cartoons with sound in 1924. He used rotoscoping and sound to include popular contemporary jazz musicians of the time such as Cab Calloway and Louis Armstrong in his cartoons. In the Betty Boop cartoon "Minnie The Moocher" Cab Calloway is shown animated as a bizarre walrus like character performing all the insane body movements Cab is known for. He's also shown animated as a giant mutated horny freak with a white beard in "Old Man Of The Mountain".

To find a wide selection of Betty Boop cartoons that you can download, be sure to check out those available at archive.org.

Betty Boop - Minne The Moocher (With Cab Calloway)

Betty Boop - Old Man Of The Mountain (With Cab Calloway)

The Quay Brothers - "His Name Is Alive" Music Videos

2006-09-08T17:23:00.000-07:00

Here's a strange animated music video made by the Quay Brothers for the band "His Name Is Alive".