Awesome Animation

Animator and Calvin and Hobbes fan Joseph Conover created this CGI short film which imagines Calvin’s alien-fighting alter ego in a rich and fantastic science fiction world. It’s only the briefest of teases, but it makes us crave an entire Spaceman Spiff movie.

Richard Noble’s superbly executed short film tells the story of a fictitious tycoon who hopes to build a theme park bearing his name, but whose obsessive nature, pride, and constant changes to the park’s design becomes his downfall. The title character clearly draws inspiration from Walt Disney and Howard Hughes.

Released in 1981, Hungarian animator Marcell Jankovics’ feature film Fehérlófia is revered for its mix of mythology, fantasy, and psychedelia. Now, for the first time, you can see an official subtitled U.S. release, restored from the original 35mm negative. The full film is available to rent on Vimeo for a limited time.

(PG-13: Language) Bobby Moynihan stars in this hilariously weird animated series about a pot-dealing Manatee, as he chats with friends and family from the comfort of his pool at the zoo. Guests include Ron Funches, Cecily Strong, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, and more. Catch new episodes Saturday afternoons on YouTube.

What Jeremy Schaefer’s animated short lacks in depth, it makes up for with action and style. The premise is simple, yet sets up some entertaining scenarios. Basically, there’s a mercenary who surprises his targets by hiding and popping out of all sorts of boxes. If cats were assassins, this is how they’d do it.

Daihei Shibata created a series of visual illusions for the Japanese TV program Design Ah!, in which each scene starts off with an ordinary premise, but its outcome is very different than what you might expect. Catch the first two videos here.

Artist dP Truong spent over 3 months working on this impressive flipbook animation based on the “I’m Always Angry” scene in The Avengers, as Dr. Bruce Banner transforms into his alter ego Hulk and takes on a massive mechanical enemy. The finished flipbook is made up from a whopping 1093 individual images.

“He used his lungs… to breathe in oxygen!” Elliot Mason presents a song about a totally ordinary guy doing totally ordinary things. Accompanied by a playful animation by Justin Mason, the silly lyrics remind us of the sort of thing Monty Python’s Flying Circus might have created. From the album Life Is Like a Movie.

Elmer Fudd and Yosemite Sam might have lost their guns, but everything else about these all-new Looney Tunes cartoons captures the style and slapstick comedy spirit of the classics. Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Tweety Bird, Road Runner, and all your faves are here. Now streaming on HBO Max. Catch the first episode here.

In the early 1990s, the Nickelodeon series Ren & Stimpy blew up televisions with its over-the-top characters, insane storylines, and unique animation style. Now go behind the scenes of the series, and the madness, chaos, and controversy that creator John Kricfalusi brought with him. Hits VOD on 8.14.2020.

“He understands how you feel. Probably better than you do.” Director Alex Widdowson’s documentary short film uses animation to tell the story of his brother Jamie, a man with a profound learning disability. It delves into his appreciation for the little things in life, and how his family has adapted to their situation.

In this awesome anime short, the council of Ricks sends Morty on an adventure to Tokyo, where he must defeat one of the greatest threats in the multiverse. Naturally, things take an unexpected turn or two. Created by Tower of God director Takashi Sano, and TMS, the animation studio behind Akira among other things.

Artist Simon Stålenhag is known for his incredible vision of dystopian, hyper-commercial worlds. Ilya Plotnikov
a fan of his, has brought a small slice of his work to life by animating images from the book The Electric State, accompanied by music composed by Stålenhag himself.

Max and Dave Fleischer’s 1940s Superman cartoons are beloved. But the quality of the public domain videos online isn’t very good. Jose Argumedo ran the episode “The Bulleteers” through Waifu2x, a neural network upscaling application that recovered an incredible amount of detail, especially compared to the source video.

Developed by Mike McMahan (Rick and Morty, Solar Opposites), Lower Decks is the first official Star Trek animated series since the 1970s. Rather than revisiting classic Trek characters and stories, it’s a madcap comedy about the background players who keep a Starfleet ship running. Coming to CBS All Access 8.6.20.

A cartoon crustacean finds himself out of water, and can’t seem to get anyone to help keep him from drying out at the grocery store. Animator Robert Bohn’s silly short clip for Adult Swim SMALLS has a wonderfully weird vibe, with a sprinkle of down-home Louisiana spice.

After animating for Rick and Morty, Uncle Grandpa, and The Animated Tales of GWAR, Myke Chilian helms this weirdly wacky series about an eccentric boy and his cat. MacGyver-style, they seek out items for the Department of Lost and Found. Chaos ensues. Jemaine Clement and Wanda Sykes co-star. Debuts 7.23.20 on HBO Max.

Matt Colglazier and Charles Benevento’s CG animated short film Spark drops us into a factory where robots do all of the work. After one robot is “retired” by some bullying boss bots, one of its components lives on, and brings joy to the warehouse – at least for a little while.

Nick Murray Willis likes to create animated interpretations of things he hears. In this case, he took 100 of the greatest movie lines of all time and completely changed their meanings through a series of silly and pun-filled vignettes. You Shall Not Pass!

Danger near, danger here! Animator Cyriak is known for his outlandish and trippy visual collages, and they serve as the perfect visual complement to this offbeat track about the end of the world by the enigmatic art rock band Sparks. From the album A Steady Drip Drip Drip.

While stuck at home under quarantine, Dylan Woodley decided to put the time to good use and teach himself how to create 3D computer animation. The result of his efforts is a ridiculously primitive, anatomically-incorrect, but somehow still charming character named “Bimpson.”

Designer Isaac Moores (aka Izac Less) created this fun animation which provides typographic lyrics to Madeon’s dance masterpiece Pop Culture, using logo graphics based on just that – pop culture. Don’t know where they’re all from? Watch this version of the clip.

When a young man decides to sell his dad’s old taxi cab, he finds himself awash in memories both good and bad of his late father. Manu Lopez’s animated short film definitely tugs at the heartstrings with its emotional story and expressive character design.