The Mad Hatter: an insubstantial story in a detailed cartoon universe
Sid Marcus, “The Mad Hatter” (1940) Mocking the faddish nature of women’s fashions, this animated short can be surprisingly critical of the nature of everyday work…
The Last Knit: dealing with a personal inner hell of addiction and compulsion
Laura Neuvonen, “The Last Knit” (2005) Technically this digital animated short is well done but the very simple plot of a woman addicted to knitting a…
All’s Fair at the Fair: a utopian view of materialism, seductive advertising, over-consumption and futuristic trends
Dave Fleischer, “All’s Fair at the Fair” (1938) Best known for their Popeye and Betty Boop cartoons, US animators Max and Dave Fleischer occasionally made animated…
The Land Beyond the Sunset: a very moving and thoughtful film on achieving happiness and peace
Harold M Shaw, “The Land Beyond the Sunset” (1912) Made in 1912 – the same year in which the Titanic set sail for its fateful meeting…
The Beautiful Leukanida: early animated fable of love, jealousy, war and annihilation in an insect universe
Wladyslaw Starewicz, “The Beautiful Leukanida / Prekrasnaya Lyukanida” (1912) In a long career spanning some 55 years in stop-motion puppet animation, Russian-Polish animator Wladyslaw Starewicz produced…
French and French-language Films
The Mascot: a puppet dog’s mission of self-sacrifice results in an amazing masterpiece of stop-motion animation
Wladyslaw Starewicz, “The Mascot / Fétiche Mascotte ” (1933) An amazing and brilliant short work of stop-motion animation, “The Mascot” is one of several masterpieces made…
The Cameraman’s Revenge: the camera as a mirror of human behaviour as performed by insect puppets
Wladyslaw Starewicz, “The Cameraman’s Revenge” (1912) A deftly crafted and delightful animation short, this silent film comments on human foibles as performed by realistic insect puppets…
Feline Follies: the folly of falling hard in love with no regard for consequences in a dark suicidal cartoon
Otto Messmer, “Feline Follies” (1919) By no means a great cartoon or even a mildly interesting one, this animated short is notable mainly for the first…
The Little Pest: beaten up, walloped, drowned – what’s a pesky baby brother to do?
Dick Huemer, “The Little Pest” (1931) Chiefly remarkable for its depiction of sibling-on-sibling violence, this short cartoon stars the boy Scrappy, who would go on to…
Balloon Land: a fantasy fairy land where life is fragile, death is close by and a serial killer is on the rampage
Ub Iwerks, “Balloon Land” (1935) For sure this cartoon with the Hansel-and-Gretel morality fairy-tale plot is weird and dark, and its theme of the fragility of…