[SHORTS REVIEW] Rejected (2000)

 

OR

Title: Rejected

Country: USA

Genre: Comedy / Horror

Company: Bitter Films

Directed by: Don Hertzfeldt 

Year: 2000

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: N/A

Buy on:  N/A

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This short is about a fictionalized version of creator Don Hertzfeldt creating various bumpers for various companies, like the Family Learning Channel.  But unfortunately, most of his shorts were rejected by the companies.  The short showcases numerous surreal situations with the characters who all get swept up the short's terrifying conclusion.

So, I have heard a bit about Don Hertzfeldt's works and I was curious about checking out one of his works.  So, I finally stumbled upon "Rejected" and man, was this short quite a trip!  What I loved so much about this short was the simplistic art style.  It's rare that I see an animated short film that uses mostly doodle like figures for their characters and the doodle like art style really made this film stand out from other animated shorts that I've seen over the years.  I also loved the fact that the characters are up against a white background and there is barely anything in the background, as that actually helped the characters stand out more in the film.  Another thing that I liked about this short film was the surreal nature of the plot.  Even though the plot of this story is mostly about the audience seeing an animator's rejected animated pitches for these different companies, I loved how random the plots tended to get for each character.  Like for example, there is one well-known short in this film where a character was dancing around, until his anus suddenly starts bleeding and he ends up drowning in his own blood.  Or the short where a man picks up a spoon and approaches a huge walking banana.

I don't have that many issues with this short, but a bit of a warning to anyone who wants to watch this film.  This film has a lot of violence, as there are many scenes where the characters are covered in blood or the characters perform violent acts against each other.  If you feel uncomfortable with watching anything that has blood in it, then this short might be a bit of a problem to watch through.

Overall, "Rejected" is one of the most unique films that I have ever seen, and I just absolutely loved the simplistic look of the film, as well as the surreal nature of the story.  I highly recommend this short film to anyone who is a fan of Don Hertzfelt's works or who loves surreal animated films in general!

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[SHORTS REVIEW] The Kitchen Casanova (1996)

 

OR

Title: The Kitchen Casanova

Starring: Carlos Alazraqui, Mary Kay Bergman and Frank Welker

Genre: Romance / Comedy

Company: Hanna Barbera Productions

Directed by: John McIntyre

Year: 1996

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: N/A

Buy on:  N/A

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Being part of Cartoon Network's "The What-A-Cartoon Show," the short starts off with a man named Casanova, who is trying to prepare a delicious meal for his girlfriend, Doris.  Once Doris arrives at his house, Casanova continues preparing the meal for her. But unfortunately, things start to go haywire when Casanova starts reading his cookbook wrong, as a gust of wind comes in and keeps switching the pages to strange recipes (like porcupine pie) and Casanova ends up putting all of the strange ingredients together into one dish.  Once Casanova finally prepares the dish, he and Doris will get the surprise of their lives once they see what the dish actually looks like!

So, I actually seen this animated short when I was a child (although I don't quite remember how I was able to watch this cartoon as a kid, as I didn't have Cartoon Network, until 1998).  But all I ever remembered from this short was the ending.  It wouldn't be until I rediscovered this short on YouTube that I finally found out what this short was and man, was this one of the craziest animated shorts that I have ever seen!  What I really liked about this short was the premise.  Sure, this short is mostly about a man trying to impress his girlfriend by making her a delicious meal, but the way that this short went about that premise was done in such an insane and twisted way and I really loved how twisted the short got at times.  Like, there is one scene in the short where Casanova accidentally chops off his finger when he was preparing the meal and you can see blood spurting out of the wound. I will admit that I was shocked when I first saw this scene, since it's rare for children's shows show any blood (let alone showing a character's limb get cut off in graphic detail) and I was even more shocked that this short got banned because of that scene (although that might explain why I didn't see this short come on TV that often after I watched this short the first time as a child).  Another thing that I liked about this short was the animation.  The animation reminded me of the line boil style of animation that was found in shows like "Ed, Edd n Eddy" and it lent itself well to the crazy plot of this short.

The only issue with this short is that there is some gross humor and the dark humor can be a bit much for some people.  I have mentioned before that Casanova's finger gets chopped off in a graphic way in this short, which is surprising for a children's show and that could turn off some people from this short.  Also, how Casanova's meal turned out at the end of the short is pretty gross and I will admit that I was very grossed out by the meal in the end (although it was clearly accidental on Casanova's part).

Overall, I really enjoyed watching "The Kitchen Casanova!"  While I wasn't the biggest fan of some of the gross out humor, I really loved the twisted nature of this animated short and it's a short that I will definitely rewatch for many years!

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[SHORTS REVIEW] The Dirdy Birdy (1994)

 

OR

Title: The Dirdy Birdy

Genre: Romance / Comedy

Company: Stretch Films

Directed by: John R. Dilworth   

Year: 1994 (2014 - Redux)

MPAA Rating / TV Rating: N/A

Buy on:  N/A

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The short is about an idiotic bird named Purdy who is in love with a blue cat named Fergurina and Purdy spends most of the short trying to get Fergurina's affections.  Unfortunately, the way that Purdy tries to attract Fergurina is by showing off his naked backside to her and of course, this disgusts Fergurina so much that she is constantly beating up Purdy throughout the short.

So, I was actually surprised that John R. Dilworth had actually made animations throughout the early half of the 1990s, since the only animation of John R. Dilworth's that I was aware of was "Courage the Cowardly Dog."  So, imagine my surprise when I discovered this hilarious short that came from the early 1990s called "The Dirdy Birdy!" "The Dirdy Birdy" was quite an unusual animated short as the whole premise of the short is about a dimwitted bird who shows his affections to a cat...by mooning her! At first, I wasn't on board with this short, due to the premise being about a bird mooning a cat.  But after I watched this short, I started to fall in love with the clever humor and animation of this short!  I just loved the moments where Fergurina beats up Purdy every time Purdy moons her, as the many different ways that Fergurina beats up Purdy were hilarious to watch.  I also loved the crazy animation of this short as both Purdy and Fergurina display crazy feats throughout this short, like Purdy pulling out his own heart to show Fergurina or Fergurina beating up the Grim Reaper when the Grim Reaper tried to take Purdy away.  Another thing that I liked about this short was the music.  The soundtrack is pretty catchy and goofy to listen to, and I loved the song "The Big Laugh" by Jurgen Schlachter that plays throughout the short as it's very catchy and goofy and fits so well with the tone of this short.

The only problem that I have with this short was the gross humor.  Thankfully, there isn't that much gross humor in this short.  But the scenes of Purdy constantly mooning Fergurina were a bit too much for me to handle at times.

Overall, "The Dirdy Birdy" is a pretty entertaining short to watch!  While I wasn't the biggest fan of the gross out humor, the humor and the crazy animation all combined to create one of the most hilarious shorts I have ever seen!

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