Ghosts of Insects Past

Father Christmas brings gifts to bugs, and that makes me feel good inside.

Six minutes of enchanted pre-revolutionary bliss 

from the father of Russian animation Wladislaw Starewicz.

Panic at the Village

Last night we watched the very funny and imaginative stop-motion feature Panique au village

(A village called panic is the english title). The movie was written and directed by Belgian creative duo 

Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar, who also provided voiceovers for two of the main characters,

Cowboy and Horse (the other is Indian). Aubier and Patar met in art school, and have been working together

since the late 1980s. Panique au village is the spinoff of their successful tv series by same name, 

whose 20 episodes aired in Belgium between 2001 and 2003.

I loved the low-tech, low-budget, DIY feel of the animation and mad plot, which kept reminding me

of the endless adventures I had as a child with the aid of Barbies and plastic presepe figurines,

and more recent incredible stories staged by my daughters and friends using their toys. 

At the same time, the scenes are rich with amusing, lovingly crafted details: above you can admire

the entrance to the music school and the car of music teacher and Horse's paramour Madame Longrée.

The fast-paced story is full of crazy twists and hilarious gags, including trips to the center of the earth, 

brick stealing underwater creatures and a huge mechanical penguin guided by mad scientists.

If you enjoy out of bounds creativity, absurdist humour and childlike aesthetics, it's an exciting ride! 

Adventures of a Teddy Bear

A big thank you to Jim Le Fevre for sharing this delightful preview of the upcoming Czech movie Kooky's return. Can't wait to see the whole thing! This combined puppet and live action feature was directed by Academy Award winner Jan Svěrák with production design by Jakub Dvorsky from Amanita Design, an animation and game development studio doing beautiful work, for example this videogame and this music video.

Wes Anderson's Acceptance Speech

See a Sea Anemone

Lisa Barcy directed this lovely claymation featuring sea anemones and other wiggling

undersea creatures for Andrew Bird's song Anoanimal (from the 2009 album Noble Beast)

Enchanting Mr. Anderson

Chris Appelhans' preliminary artworks for Fantastic Mr. Fox

Last August, in two of Animalarium's earliest posts, I expressed my excitement about the upcoming Where the Wild Things Are and Fantastic Mr. Fox. After seeing Spike Jonze's movie, I'll admit having mixed feelings about his adaptation of one of my most beloved children's books. Now, I am very happy to say that last night my exceedingly high expectations were more than matched by Anderson's production of Roald Dahl's classic children's story (and not just because I have a passion for foxes). I was absolutely delighted by just about everything in his movie, and so seems Mrs. Dahl. Watch her interview in this short promotional clip, where one can also have a glimpse of the amazing and painstaking work of the stop motion animation team. I had no idea that Wes Anderson had moved into Dahl's house to write the script, then photographed and reproduced every piece of furniture in it! Details like this make me appreciate my favorite director's aesthetically obsessive nature even more...

We sailed away on a winter's day

...thinking of Joanna Newsom, this sweet stop-motion video was produced 

by Jovana Sarver in the Film and Video classroom of her high school in Harrisburg, PA.

the sight of bridges and balloons makes calm canaries irritable!