A Colour Box

Metamorphic

January 1991 •Italian

It is well known that the disposition of the images drawn by Escher are neither for animation nor for pre-animation; actually, quite the opposite. His images appear to be the carrying out of metamorphic dissolves. A bird gives way to the recognition of a house, which turns into fish, which turns into birds, and so on. Not a single flapping of wings takes place; everything is reiterated and fixed, becoming immersed in and re-emerging from a static continuum. All of Escher is an homage to one of the major animating forces of the cinema: the cross-dissolve. Precisely there, I found cinematic attitudes: in the house which turns into fish and in everything that transforms into something else. I gradually managed to figure out various types of non-existent sequences and then finally found myself dissolved, crossing over metamorphically. —P.G.

The Paintjackers

January 1959 •Russian

When the clock strikes twelve in a toy store a bunch of paint tubes come to life.

Глаша и кикимора

January 1992 •Russian

The Little Witch

January 1991 •Russian

The youngest witch is preparing for the magical exam.

Ivashka from the Palace of Pioneers

February 1981 •Russian

Animation film about boy Ivashka's adventures in the country of fairy tales.

The Game

January 1962 •

In this child's game, a live-action boy and girl draw characters and compete who is better. The girl draws a flower and the boy draws a car that runs it over. Then a drawn lion chases a drawn girl, until it all becomes frightfully serious.

A Place in the Sun

November 1960 •Czech

Oscar nominated animated short film from Czechoslovakia, 1960. Two characters fight over their claim to a small sunny spot on a beach.

1923

February 2010 •English

One of two animation loops directed by Max Hattler, inspired by the work of French outsider artist Augustin Lesage (1876-1954). Based on Lesage's painting A Symbolic Composition of the Spiritual World from 1923.

По дороге с облаками

December 1984 •Russian

Chatterbox

December 1980 •Russian

Planet Sigma

February 2015 •French

On planet Sigma, enormous creatures are trapped inside the ice. And then, all of a sudden explosions erupt from subterranean volcanoes. The ice begins to melt; a global warming concludes the giants’ deep slumber and new life begins. The creatures crawl forth, out of the ice.

The Window

November 2012 •Korean

Sergeant Jeong Cheol-min's squad are in a renovated stock room with no window. The squad members are well known to be a hardworking group until Councellor Hong Yeong-soo comes in and starts causing trouble. Hong Yeong-soo seems to have difficulties adjusting to this environment. Things in the army changes rapidly, Jeong Cheol-min and his crew find themselves under attack perceived as the aggressors.

Bambi Meets Godzilla

July 1969 •English

Bambi is nibbling the grass, unaware of the upcoming encounter with Godzilla. Who will win when they finally meet? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.

Rhinoceros

February 1964 •German

Based on Eugene Ionesco’s play, this is an animated film warning that by conforming to patterns and living en masse, people will become rhinoceroses.

Alarm

June 2009 •Korean

Snooze buttons, sunlight…the inescapable cacophony of alarm alerts: waking up in the morning is a battle between the present and the future state of mind. A dream-like war with yourself and other objects that seem to take a life of its own.

Teeny-Tiny and the Witch Woman

May 1980 •Czech

A deliciously scary story about a boy who outsmarts an old witch-woman before she can have him and his brothers for dinner.

Danemon Ban: The Monster Exterminator

January 1935 •Japanese

The boozy mercenary of the title, based on the actual historical figure of Naoyuki Ban (1567-1615), attempts to rid a haunted castle of spooks.

How Animated Cartoons Are Made

September 1919 •English

Wallace Carlson walks viewers through the production of an animated short at Bray Studios.

Toroid

November 2019 •English

Toroid is an experimental audio-reactive animation work that demonstrates the possibilities of harnessing digital waveforms of electronic origin into a continual source of power. By making the invisible visible, the work bears similarity and inspiration from the extensive quantum energy research at CERN which seeks to uncover and control the particles in and around us. In this era of over-production and over-algorithmic data illusion of choices, Toroid inserts itself in the digital narrative as a power source simulation showing a possibility for ensuring a positive flow of eternal (renewable) energy working in parallel with the natural order.

Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story

July 1987 •English

The final 17 years of American singer and musician Karen Carpenter, performed almost entirely by modified Barbie dolls.