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As promised, here's a little list of gems from animated short film history. Tried to stay off the beaten path as often as I could, but couldn't help slipping in some classics that are personal favorites. Thread below
1. LA JOIE DE VIVRE (dir. Anthony Gross & Hector Hoppin, 1934) A tone poem: two woodland sprites dance about, atop power lines and among flowers and leaves, while being pursued. Everyone spends some time pulling levers to switch trains, too.
2. THE STREET (dir. Caroline Leaf, 1976) This film deals with a Jewish family in Montreal, Canada as they care for a dying grandmother and the young boy who is impatient to get the room he was promised as soon as she kicks the bucket.
3. THE MAN WHO PLANTED TREES (dir. Frédéric Back, 1987) The story of a shepherd's single handed quest to re-forest a barren valley.
4. SON OF SATAN (dir. JJ Villard, 2005) A foul-mouthed, grisly reproduction of an autobiographical Charles Bukowski tale. (This upload is the best quality I could find, but has some extra material after the film itself)
5. COMMUTER (dir. Michael Patterson, 1981) https://vimeo.com/75682934
6. ASPARAGUS (dir. Suzan Pitt, 1979) unfortunately this film does not appear to be online at the moment, but keep your eyes peeled for whenever it does.
7. JEU (dir. Georges Schwizgebel, 2006) In this animated short, the viewer is placed in a landscape whose scenery constantly morphs and mutates and the helter-skelter world evokes the chaos of modern life. https://www.nfb.ca/film/jeu_en/
8. THE SNOWMAN (dir. John Coates & Dianne Jackson, 1982) On Christmas Eve, a young boy builds a snowman that comes to life and takes him to the North Pole to meet Father Christmas.
9. NIGHTCLUB (dir. Jonathan Hodgson, 1983) The film observes human behaviour in a social situation, hinting at the loneliness felt by the individual lost in the crowd. https://vimeo.com/33634918
10. RECI RECI RECI (dir. Michaela Pavlátová, 1991) In a noisy bar crammed with people, the remarkably diverse clientele interacts with each other through a series of lively bubbles.
11. TRIANGLE (dir. Priit Pärn, 1982) Julie cooks with unwavering dedication for her men.
12. HARMONY (dir. Jim Trainor, 2004) A male God bestows upon animals the gift of self-awareness, which they promptly use to express guilt for their behavior. https://vimeo.com/248042530
13. JUMPING (dir. Osamu Tezuka, 1984) As a boy skips down a street, his stride becomes bigger and bigger, and he then jumps over towns, a forest, the sea, going higher and further.
14. WILD LIFE (dir. Amanda Forbis & Wendy Tilby, 2012) The story of a dapper young remittance man, sent from England to Alberta to attempt ranching in 1909.
15. HUNGER (dir. Peter Foldès, 1973) One man’s descent into greed and gluttony. Rapidly dissolving and ever-evolving images create a contrast between abundance and want. https://www.nfb.ca/film/hunger/
16. DRAWING LESSONS (dir. Maureen Selwood, 2005) A woman finds a tape cassette at a yard sale with an upside down drawing lesson on it from the
well know book, Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain by Betty Edwards. https://vimeo.com/51323037
17. THE CENTAURS (dir. Winsor McCay, 1921) A female centaur enters a clearing in the woods, and picks some flowers. She is soon met by a male centaur, and the two then romance each other. They then seek parental consent for their union.
I'm also curious what everyone else's favorite classics are, please post them here!
