ANIMATED SHORT FILMS - 5
Sintel by Colin Levy (2010) (USA/Holland) (15m)
Sintel is a fantasy animation film by American visual effects artist Colin Levy, created on the open source 3D animation software, Blender. It closely resembles a well-liked style of Japanese (Anime) computer animation. It is the story of a young girl on an all-consuming quest to save the pet dragon stolen from her - and exact her revenge. What Sintel lacks in subtlety is made up for by its beauty, ambition and cool ending. Levy is an artist who understands film language.
Vincent by Tim Burton (1982) (US) (6m)
The king of the macabre revealed his hand in this stop-motion animation film - made when he was 23 - in which a young boy dreams of being horror legend Vincent Price. It was not his first short film but it introduced him to the wider film world as a darlky humorous director, which would lead on to his first successful feature film, Beetle Juice. Having Vincent Price narrate this short animation film was probably one of his most salient career moves.
Keith Reynolds Can't Make It... by Felix Massie (2008) (UK) (6m)
Keith Reynolds Can't Make It Tonight is a sly animation to have on the Best of the UK page because it is apparently set in the USA (though the spelling of 'tonight' ensures we all know that it is in fact British). It tells the story of Keith Reynolds, a man who has worked at the same company for eight years and believes he is going to be promoted today, the key to getting his co-worker, Sarah, to like him. It all, of course, goes horribly and amusingly wrong.
Shave It by Tereso & Maldonado (2012) (Argentina) (4m)
Shave It! was written and directed by Jorge Tereso & Fernando Maldonado, two filmmakers from South America. When they sent me Shave It!, I immediately posted it on the Facebook page, before belatedly adding it to the website itself. It tells the story of a monkey who, with his jungle home being torn down by mankind, decides to shave off his fur and head for the city. However, his money cannot make him happy and he yearns for the jungle...
