Animation for Adults

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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Animation for Adults
  • 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.

  • Buzzkill

    Directed by Peter Ahern | 5 mins | 2022
    After hitting it off on a blind date, Rick and Becky decide they're ready to go steady. But as the night heats up, an unexpected discovery reveals first impressions can be deceiving.

  • 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, ...

  • Frog

    Directed by Christopher Conforti | 4 mins | 2005
    A frog, in his attempt to escape the scorching heat of the sun, finds himself in a series of even worse situations.

  • 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.

  • Guard Dog

    Directed by Bill Plympton | 5 mins | 2004
    Why do dogs bark at such innocent creatures as pigeons and squirrels… what are they afraid of? This film answers that eternal question.

  • 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.