ANIMATION EXPRESS (Mongrel, 2003-09). Rating: NNNNN DVD package: n/a Rating: NNNNN
Each of these 26 shorts from the NFB is a gem, the best of them masterpieces of the animator’s art, the worst visually appealing exercises in shifting shapes, textures, line and colour.
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Madame Tutli-Putli uses stop-motion to tell the story of an old woman who brings all her possessions and memories along when she boards an eerie midnight train. The modelling is richly detailed and the figures slightly caricatured, except for the eyes. They’re disturbingly human. I’m guessing it’s a CG composite, but that’s only a guess – sadly the set has no extras.
In Robes Of War, a man who emerges from the tears of a woman wearing a burka morphs into a soldier. Her fingers become other soldiers. The black-and-white animation is simple. The message is complex.
Sleeping Betty takes off from John Tenniel’s classic Alice In Wonderland illustrations in a comic fable about a young beauty who won’t wake up and the prince who comes to save her astride a Tex Avery-inspired horse. It’s very funny and, like all these films, propelled by a lively, listenable score.
EXTRAS Widescreen. English, French audio. No subtitles.
