Animation for Adults
A selection drawn from the rich and varied history of animation, with an eye to works for general audiences that push their stories and design into bravura realms. This month’s spotlight falls upon two feature-length films by Marcell Jankovics—a purveyor of trippily colorful folk tales who was Hungary’s best-known animator.
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Skhizein
Leaving November 1
Directed by Jérémy Clapin | 13 mins | 2008
“I am exactly 91cm from myself,” frets Henry, the central figure in this Annecy-and Cannes-awarded account of a life uncentered. After being struck by a meteorite, Henry finds that he must negotiate to the material world—sitting in a ... -
Palmipedarium
Leaving November 1
Directed by Jérémy Clapin | 10 mins | 2012
Clapin followed up his acclaimed short "Skhizein" (2008) with this wordless and unsettlingly ambiguous fable about a boy who encounters a scraggly avian creature while duck hunting with his father. It’s a short whose placid surfaces b... -
Backbone Tale
Leaving November 1
Directed by Jérémy Clapin | 9 mins | 2004
Clapin’s first short is a game of Tetris as much as it is a love story. It centers on a man whose spine bends at a striking right angle: his eyes can gaze only downwards, his hat perched on the back of his head. The appearance of a wom... -
Big Fish & Begonia
Directed by Xuan Liang and Chun Zhang | 105 mins | 2016
“Spirited Away” meets “The Little Mermaid” in this gorgeously crafted fantasy blockbuster—a tale of shapeshifting, interspecies love and sacrifice sprung from ancient Chinese fables. The teenaged Chun—one of a mythical race of beings residin... -
Rocks in My Pockets
Directed by Signe Baumane | 89 mins | 2014
Armed with a surrealist sensibility and a wicked sense of humor, New York-based Latvian animator Signe Baumane has long probed the thorny parts of life as a woman. Here, hand-drawn imagery combines with papier-mache sets and stop-motion techniques in an ... -
The Opposites Game
Directed by Lisa LaBracio and Anna Samo | 5 mins | 2019
"What is the opposite of a gun? A classroom erupts into a war of words
as students grapple with this seemingly simple question in Lisa LaBracio
and Anna Samo’s adaptation of Brendan Constantine’s “The Opposites
Game”. Entirely hand-crafted b... -
There's Too Many of These Crows
Directed by Morgan Miller | 4 mins | 2016
A hungry poacher and his wife trigger a series of reprisals. A short film about aggression and escalation. -
Fantaisie in Bubblewrap
Directed by Arthur Metcalf | 4 mins | 2007
The final minutes of a society of vocal bubblewrap as it faces its apocalypse. -
Life In Transition
Directed by John Dilworth | 4 mins | 2005
"Life in Transition" is a visual and symbolic journey depicting the continual
transformations of life. -
Bathtime in Clerkenwell
Directed by Alex Budovsky | 3 mins | 2003
This animation is based on Stephen Coates' composition under the same title and is about The Great Revolution of the British Cuckoos, who bravely took over London, forcing all the people to move inside the cuckoo clocks. This film was totally improvised, ... -
Teat Beat of Sex
Directed by Signe Baumane | 4 mins | 2008
It is a take on sex from a woman’s point of view. Shocking! -
The Lost Tribes of New York City
Directed by Michael Capobianco, Andy London, and Carolyn London | 3 mins | 2009
Urban Anthropologists, Andy and Carolyn London interview some of New York City's more overlooked citizens. -
Warm Reception in L.A.
Directed by Candy Kugel and Vincent Cafarelli | 5 mins | 1987
A story of an author's struggle for success - the glamor and dreams of Hollywood and the check that's on the way. -
Beyond Noh
Directed by Patrick Smith | 4 mins | 2020
"Beyond Noh" rhythmically animates 3,475 individual masks from all over the world, beginning with the distinctive masks of the Japanese Noh theater and continuing on a cultural journey through ritual, utility, deviance, and politics. -
Frank Film
Directed by Frank and Caroline Mouris | 9 mins | 1973
Winner of the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, Frank and Caroline Mouris' kinetic short charts Frank's journey from daydreaming kid to groundbreaking artist. -
Everybody's Pregnant
Directed by Debra Solomon | 7 mins | 1997
A rough ride through the rocky terrain of modern day baby-making.