Elmer Fudd: Oh Bwunhiwda/You’re so wuvwy.
Bugs Bunny: Yes I know it/I can’t help it. – “What’s Opera, Doc?”
Given that I prefer short stories to novels and have stated categorically that I feel quality is much more important than quantity, you probably could’ve guessed that I also like short films. For purposes of this column I decided to define “short” as anything under half an hour, and as usual I established a few rules to narrow the field; the most important of those limits was that individual TV series episodes were excluded, because to allow them would produce far too wide a field to even consider. Furthermore, since the short film genre is essentially dominated by two formats (the music video and the one-reel cinematic cartoon), I bit the bullet and limited myself to one specimen (and one honorable mention) of each. Even so, there’s more repetition than I would like in two descriptor fields: three of these (and one HM) were directed by the late, great Chuck Jones, and three were produced by grants from the National Film Board of Canada. But it had to be; had I limited myself to one Jones selection and one NFBC selection the column would never have been done. Because the time-scale here is so tight (most of these were made between 1966 and 1976) I’ve decided to list them in alphabetical order.
1) Blackfly (1991) This wickedly funny animated video for an infectious song (don’t say you weren’t warned) was, like so many amazing animated shorts, produced by a grant from the NFBC; I first saw it on the Cartoon Network’s anthology series O Canada in the late ‘90s.
2) Don’t Come Around Here No More (1985) Of all the hundreds of music videos I saw in the mid-‘80s, this one sticks in my mind more than any other; it was rare for a video to achieve this perfect a synthesis of music and visuals, and the fact that I really like Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and love Alice in Wonderland didn’t hurt either.
Honorable Mention: Under Pressure (1981) A striking video for a great song; it was directed by David Mallet (who was responsible for many memorable videos) and often shows up on “best video” lists.
3) Feed the Kitty (1951) Part of the genius of Chuck Jones lay in his realization that short cartoons were primarily a visual medium, and the greater the fraction of the story that could be told purely in images, the better. The only words in this masterpiece are those spoken by the housewife, Violet; Marc Anthony and Pussyfoot make only animal noises, and Marc Anthony’s facial expressions are among the most evocative ever portrayed in ink and paint.
Honorable Mention: What’s Opera, Doc? (1957), also directed by Jones, was the first cartoon ever selected for the National Film Registry, and is widely considered among animators, directors and critics to be the single greatest animated short ever made. It is nothing short of amazing, and only my love for “Feed the Kitty” kept it off of the main list.
4) Horton Hears a Who! (1970) is the first of two TV specials on this list directed by Chuck Jones; this one was his second with Dr. Seuss. Even as a child I recognized that the moral and philosophical implications of the story were far beyond those in most kiddie fare, and the spectacular Maurice Noble design is a feast for the eyes.
5) Icarus (1974) I first saw this odd, haunting claymation film as a filler short between shows on our local public television station in the late 1970s, and I never forgot it (though until the advent of the internet I despaired of ever seeing it again). Unfortunately, it’s very difficult to get a good copy of it despite the fact that it was included in Fantastic Animation Festival (1977).
6) Lady Fishbourne’s Complete Guide to Better Table Manners (1976) is one of the funniest things I have ever seen, and it rewards repeated watching with little details that one might not catch the first time around. Be prepared for “A thousand pardons, I was most revolting” to become a permanent part of your vocabulary. I apologize for the huge, ugly logo some moronic Philistine encumbered this YouTube copy with.
7) Number Three Ball (1970) This short film was produced for Sesame Street by Jim Henson and directed by Frank Oz. Though it’s extremely short, Oz had to build the complicated props by hand, a process that took months; the result is well worth it, because this is probably the most memorable of the many clever and often beautiful shorts which appeared on the show during the early 1970s.
Honorable Mention: E-magination (1969) Here’s another outstanding Sesame Street short, a lovely and surreal pastel animation with a unique, wistful score.
Honorable Mention: This Lollipop is Following Me (1971) Sesame Street’s sister show, The Electric Company, also had some incredible animated shorts, of which my favorite was this inexplicable nightmare in miniature. I still occasionally find myself singing this song out loud.
8) Rikki-Tikki-Tavi (1975) Chuck Jones adapted a number of stories from Kipling’s Jungle Book as TV specials, but this was in my opinion the best. The first time I saw it I disliked the way Jones depicted the mongoose’s motion, and also a few silly bits of “business” near the beginning, because I felt they detracted from the serious tone of the story (Orson Welles is the narrator; ‘nuff said). But eventually the rest of it won me over, and it’s now one of my favorite films of any length.
9) What On Earth! (1966) This clever satire from the NFBC was obviously not directed by Jones, but I owe my discovery of it to him because it was featured on his groundbreaking kids’ show Curiosity Shop, which I am still waiting for on DVD. No YouTube video of it is available, but you can watch it on the NFBC website by clicking on the title.
10) Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968) This is IMHO the funniest and most entertaining of the Walt Disney Pooh adaptations; every time I watch it I get the giggles for days over “Well I say now. Someone has pasted Piglet on my window.” Unfortunately, Disney being its usual greedy corporate self, the film isn’t available online, but at least I can show you the heffalump song:
Honorable Mention: The Wizard of Speed and Time (1979) Since “Blustery Day” wasn’t available I figured I would give you one more for the road (so to speak). Keep in mind this was all done with stop-motion animation, without any help from computers whatsoever.
Please feel free to include your own favorites in the comments!
Tom Petty’s video for “Running Down a Dream”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y1D3a5eDJIs
And “Last Dance with Mary Jane”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aowSGxim_O8
Last Dance is a bit macabre, though…
Two things I’d throw out there:
1) PIXAR’s shorts before their animated features are usually outstanding. “Presto”, which aired in front of WALL-E, was my favorite and could have been a Bugs Bunny throwback. “Lifted’ is also very good.
2) Don’t know if you’re a Wallace and Gromit fan, but their shorts (30 minutes long) are outstanding, especially “The Wrong Trousers”, which features a climactic chase that would match the most exciting live action film made.
Unrelated to this post, but Kristof is at his crusade again:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/opinion/kristof-in-obamas-speech-their-voices.html?ref=global-home&gwh=C9ECD03E13BC99EC53C005D4C309D959
Is this true?
I’m not going to sift through Nick Kristoff’s miserable life history to determine if this is true. But if it is, I’d like to know what Mr. Superhero’s response was to the experience of coming upon a number of very young girls in some kind of stockade waiting to have their virginity sold.
What was his response to that? Did he get his ass kicked? Because, I WOULD HAVE! I just don’t understand this. When men see injustice like this – they need to stand up no matter what the price is to their personal safety. They need to STOP shit like this or die trying. I don’t know how many times I’ve found myself in the wrong place at the wrong time and said … “Well, this is where is I die I suppose … because I can’t just walk away from this!”
What did Kristoff do for these little girls? Would I be off base to presume he did nothing and just went back to his cozy hotel room and WROTE shit about it?
P.O.S.
Hi Maggie,
Enjoyed your recommendations and I’m going to check out some of the one I have not seen. I have one for you, The Accountant, from 2001, available from Netflix. It’s 40 minutes, a little over your limit, but it won the Oscar for best short film and is well worth it. Ron
What, no Bambi Meets Godzilla? Shame!
I’m actually not all that fond of “Bambi Meets Godzilla”. I mean, it was funny when it was new, but it’s kind of a one-trick pony. Still, for those rare few who haven’t seen it:
I feel pretty much the same way about “Hardware Wars”.
On a more serious note, the recent short out of Uruguay, Ataque de Pánico!, is a nifty little short that evinces the feel of a 1950’s science fiction invasion film without all the Michael Bay type bombast.
Canadians have a real problem with getting rid of pests it seems!
First time I saw “Don’t Come Around Here No More” … I was sitting in nightclub in Perth, Western Australia called “Pinocchio’s”. I had two friends and we were sitting at a table with five ozzy chicks and I was drunk off my ass staring at the TV screen when Tom Petty came on.
I just sat there with my mouth open … after a few minutes of the video I piped up and said … “Did one of you mother fuckers drop ACID in my beer, dammit!?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBGGAjMg9vw
The Mysterious Stranger. You know, for kids.
Love the stop frame animation in The Wizard of Time and Speed.
Interesting also to note that The Blackfly music was arranged by Kate and Anna McGarrigle.
Here’s a short done in stop frame animation by an old friend in 2008. In his own words:
“Murder in Moline”
He has another hilarious stop frame short too: “Infestation!”
Some of my favorite short films…
Tobey Dammit (from Spirits of the Dead) – one of the best (and most accessible) movies Frederico Fellini ever made. Features an amazing performance by Terrance Stamp. Even if you hate Fellini, check this one out.
Nightmare at 20’000 Feet – from Twilight Zone: The Movie; directed by George Miller and starring Jonathan Lithgow.
“Den” and “Taarna” from Heavy Metal
Muse’s Nights of Cydonia music video – 1000 times better than Grindhouse.
Cowboys, lasers, a babe, holograms, kung-fu, a motorcycle, a frikkin’ UNICORN…
That’s an epic music video.
First off, let me get the “long-time casual reader, first time commenter” stuff out of the way… There.
One of my favorites, “Dot”, a stop-motion short filmed with a Nokia cell phone, starring a 9mm-tall heroine:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD7eagLl5c4
Also, Dans le tête (In The Head) is really awesome, although for personal reasons, it’s tough for me to watch:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqgAw4tJqqc
DEVO’s “Beautiful World” is my all-time favorite music video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56u6g0POvo0&feature=player_detailpage
And even though 47 minutes isn’t really considered a “short”, it’s still pretty short by feature film standards, so honorable mention to the 2005 silent film production of Call of Cthulhu.
Awsome. I had not seen several. My favorite of your favorites is “Lady Fishbourne” hands down.
Inevitable follow-up question, Maggie: if you haven’t done this already and have some time to spare, please give us a similarly annotated list of your favorite novels / memoirs and of your favorite movies, both with sex work and / or sex worker(s) playing a protagonist function. They maybe funny but I would encourage you to exclude the “Pretty Woman” or “Irma La Douce” genre. And they need not necessarily be made in the US or originally written in English, which means the novels could be older than 1776. It would take you probably two columns, but I’m prepared to wait for them patiently. In case you have a list of favorite “sex work” paintings and or art work, too, such as Hogarth’s A Rake’s Progress, by all means! Thanks!
I’ve already done these “favorites” columns:
My Favorite Albums & Musical Artists
My Favorite Authors
My Favorite Books
My Favorite Columns
My Favorite Movies
My Favorite Musicals
My Favorite Poems (Part One)
My Favorite Poems (Part Two)
My Favorite TV Comedies
My Favorite TV Dramas
I’ve never done one specifically with sex workers. However, if you hover your cursor over the “resources” tab at the top of the page you’ll see a bibliography and a filmography page, though those are a broad selection and not specifically favorites.
Under Pressure
Hey! they stole that from Vanilla Ice!! Just kidding. I wonder if Laura can identify every movie clip in that video? Even I got some of them.-Vanilla Ice…LOL. I recognized “Nosferatu” (the version we watched years ago), “Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” (Wikipedia has the version wrong. The 1 in the video is the 1 starring Fredric March) and at least 1 movie with Greta Garbo and John Gilbert. I haven’t seen any of the movies they did together yet (unfortunately) but have read about them. I’ve read about “Battleship Potemkin” but haven’t seen it yet so didn’t recognize it.
Enjoy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Under_Pressure
Blackfly
Yes, very catchy. I’d never seen nor heard of this, so thanks. Of course, we’ve all been there with inescapable insects, so yeah.
Don’t Come Around Here No More
This is a case where the SONG isn’t psychedelic, but the VIDEO sure is. Anything Alice tends to qualify, though.
Under Pressure
Hey! they stole that from Vanilla Ice!!
Just kidding. I wonder if Laura can identify every movie clip in that video? Even I got some of them.
Feed the Kitty
My all time LEAST favorite Warner Bros. cartoon. I do give it credit though for teaching me to take note of the titles of the individual shorts, and to remember them, so that I knew when to leave the room. I considered this to be be a more reasonable step than just not watching The Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show at all, which was a course of action I did consider.
What’s Opera, Doc?
This, OTOH, is one of my favorite Warner Bros. cartoons. Even the ending is… well, no spoilers, but I will say it’s not what you expect to happen when BB and EF tangle. You can watch it here
Horton Hears a Who!
This one would get me ticked off, but unlike is was in a good way. Narrow-minded jerks. I remember thinking, “Even if Horton was wrong about the dust speck, why do they have to act like that and do that stuff? Let an elephant be wrong and don’t worry about it.”
Icarus
I remember this! Yes, very good, and something to remember.
Lady Fishbourne’s Complete Guide to Better Table Manners
I think I might’ve seen this a long time ago, but I don’t remember for sure. It’s good. Um, I’m not supposed to gnaw on bones? Sorry, my bad.
Number Three Ball
There’s at least two versions of this, the other has ice cream. I wonder if this inspired that toy, I think it’s called K’nex.
E-Magination
Yeah, trippy and good, good and trippy.
This Lollipop is Following Me
That thing always makes me thing of Shirley Temple having a nightmare. Or a bad acid trip. But probably a nightmare. Of course, it also makes me think of this, which is also from The Electric Company. I think it’s probably impossible, as an adult, to watch “Lick a Lolly” with either the innocence we like to think that children have, or the maturity we like to think that adults have. Both videos are lolitastic.
Rikki-Tikki-Tavi
Yeah, this is an old favorite. The silly singing bird cracks me up. The way Rikki’s superhuman speed is shown, well, it’s different from the Road Runner or Speedy Gonzales.
What On Earth?
The scary thing is, the Martians aren’t entirely wrong. But I notice that bridge-building has become more automated. Here’s another thing, though: cars are starting to drive without their parasites on board.
Winnie-the-Pooh and the Blustery Day
I have to wonder about those guys at Disney. Between this, “Pink Elephants on Parade,”* and Fantasia… I think I’m going to ask Krystle Cole the NeuroSoup Girl about it.
The Wizard of Speed and Time
I’d encountered the title, but had never actually seen it. It’s good, it’s cool. Thanks.
* Let’s face it: just getting drunk won’t do that.
You can watch a much better copy of “What’s Opera, Doc?” by clicking on the title in its entry above; I purposefully avoided the one you linked because of those moronic on-screen titles and the terrible sound quality.
Yeah, the one you link to is better.
You know, you could do a list of favorite TV commercials. Most suck, but sometimes something entertaining comes along.
Mine would all be pretty old; remember, I stopped watching network TV in 1980.
I would fully expect Mickey and “My bologna has a first name…” to show up. But yeah, maybe it’s a bad idea.
I have to put my two bits (shave and and a haircut) in for “The Rabbit of Seville.”
where Chuck Jones appears as his alter-ego Carlo Jonzi.
and of course, honorable mention to Long-haired Hare (Hm, music hater) and Rabbit Seasoning (Pronoun Trouble).
I’m a Pooh Bear fan; Especially Eeyore. Eeyore needs love, his widdle tail and floppy mane make him look so sad, and in need of a hug.
And only Chuck Jones could cram 5+ hours of the Gotterdammerung into 4.5 minutes. ❤