Awesome Animation

Animator and illustrator Vier Nev describes A Mind Sang as “a short film about perception, rebirth and transformation.” But it’s also a wonderful exploration of optical illusions and the phenomenon known as Pareidolia, or humans’ tendency to see faces and other body features in places where they aren’t.

Obsessed with a legend about a woman who lives on the moon, a young girl becomes determined to build her own rocket to prove that the myth is true. The trailer for this upcoming animated film gives away too much, but our curiosity is piqued. From award-winning filmmaker Glen Keane. Coming to Netflix Fall 2020.

After landing on a deserted planet, an astronaut finds himself stuck on the surface with no way back into his spaceship. Rok Andic’s animated short reminds us of the slapstick comedy of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, while Rossini’s The Thieving Magpie is the perfect score as Ben attempts to reboard his ship.

Too hyper? Too sleepy? Too fat? Too scrawny? Big pharma has got you covered. Chris O’Hara’s animated short film follows the story of one man’s obsession with pills, and reminds us that while some drugs really can be helpful, that becoming too reliant on them can be a slippery slope.

Phil is a skeleton. He quickly rose to fame on the big screen as a stop-motion superstar. Then, modern effects put him out of business. Michael Shanks’ (aka “timtimfed“) charming short film is a fun blend of live-action, animation, and VFX, and a loving tribute to the great Ray Harryhausen. Behind the scenes here.

After ignoring phone calls about his satanic ways from his brother Ben, musician Sam Seeger was greeted by an ominous voicemail, and rather than just delete it, he added some music and doodled up a little animation to go with. The result is simply internet gold.

Want to create animations for ads, promos, or other videos but don’t have illustration skills? VidToon offers a library of pre-drawn characters, motions, and backgrounds, along with a drag-and-drop timeline editor. It’s a fast and easy way to create animated clips. Grab a lifetime subscription in The Awesomer Shop.

Blackhand typically uses his X-Acto knife to build stuff out of cardboard. But in this clip, he used his sharp hobby blade to cut out silhouettes from 1400 pieces of paper, transforming footage of a dancer’s moves into a stop-motion animation. Original video here.

(PG-13: Language) This animated comedy from the producers of Robot Chicken follows a young man who wants to be a knight, only to find out that his castle is ruled by a corrupt and deranged king. Features the voices of Nicholas Hoult, Tara Strong, Luke Evans, Tony Hale, and more. All episodes on Hulu now (6.12.20).

Jalil Sadool & Adam Meyer of Steamroller Studios present a concept pilot for an intriguing animated series. Spice Frontier is a lighthearted and action-packed story about a starship crew on a mission to track down and recover the last remaining Earth spices in an effort to preserve our world’s culinary history.

Animator Junyi Xiao’s short film The Last Man on Earth Sat Alone in a Room has quite the warped sense of humor. It tells the story of a lonely man who spends his days sitting in front of his computer, and who makes quick work off an alien who comes seeking friendship at his door. But as they often say “karma’s a bitch.”

Pals Jasper and Flip stop by a junkyard in search of treasure, and along the way they make a new friend, sorta. Daniel Broderick and Jared Wangenstein’s AOK quirky cartoon short feels like a great pilot for an animated series in the vein of Regular Show or Adventure Time. The fridge could even be BMO’s cousin.

“Be aware to trim your nose hairs, cause they could put up a fight!” Japan’s state of emergency has been lifted after their initial bout with COVID-19. To both cautiously celebrate, and to remind people to be diligent, disinfectant company SMV Japan released this silly animated music video. Japanese version here.

“What is it going to take to kill Dom?.. Probably his blood pressure.” AOK envisions a day when the Fast and Furious franchise nears its 100th movie. But now that their drivers licenses have been revoked, our aging racers must take to the streets and perform death-defying stunts in mobility scooters.

Adapted from one of Max Aub’s Crìmenes Ejemplares short stories, this atmospheric animation takes us inside the mind of a man who finds himself annoyed by the endless sound of a clinking teaspoon in a coffee cup, and the extreme measures he goes to in order to make it stop.

Jossie Malis‘ animated short delves into a trio of stranger-than-fiction true stories about incredible coincidences which make you wonder if there really is some higher power playing games with humans like pawns on a chess board. (Thanks Rob!)

Two strangers, each living with a lazy eye, find themselves locked away together in total darkness for 10 days as part of an experimental treatment. As they descend into the dark, madness takes hold. Tom Hardiman and Chris Cornwell’s short film is packed with auditory and visual surprises – and inspired by an actual experiment.

(PG-13) Set 100 years in the future, The Seed of Juna envisions a post-apocalyptic world where Earth has fallen to religious fanatics. After being killed on Earth, a young rebel awakens on a strange planet only to face a whole new threat. Filmmaker Álvaro García Martínez envisions his CGI science fiction epic as a multipart series.

“How did he get his license?” David Beukes‘ silly short film is about a dog who meets up with a friend and gives him a ride to the Post Office. This family-friendly, low-fi animation is just the kind of mindless silliness we could use these days.

The Royal Ocean Film Society gathered snippets from animation experts that point out the importance of walking in cartoons. We can learn a lot about a character – even a live one – by their walk, and changing even one element of it can drastically change the character.

Former Pixar animator Erick Oh’s goofy short film is packed with the silliest array of characters we’ve run into in a while. It follows the story of a naked hot dog on a quest to figure out his who he really is, and the other possibly edible folks he encounters along his journey.

Want to make your own stop-motion animation? Animator Edu Puertas shows off a few simple tricks using household items like tape, wire, aluminum foil, and pillow stuffing to embellish your creations with, and give them a more finished look.

(PG-13: Gore) A coyote miraculously survives an attack by a pack of wolves, but remains haunted by horrible visions of the carnage as he attempts to get back to life. Director Lorenz Wunderle’s award-winning short for YK Animation is a brutal and powerful tale of loss and revenge. This one’s definitely not for the kids.