Web Animation Watch: 'Wings'' Next Stop' 'Merry Madness' and More
And as always, if you've made (or found) something you think would be at home in a future edition, drop us a line.
Next Stop
This animated comedy short from Jesters Animation screened at over 30 festivals around the world, and has won 5 awards. It's not hard to see why- this gag-filled short about a very eventful subway journey is a cartoony delight. It's wonderfully old-school in style and execution with a train-load of sight-gags and slapstick humour.
Merry Madness & Scary And Strange
We've featured the work of David James Armsby (who publishes his work under the name Dead Sound) on WAW before. His dark, post-apocalyptic worlds and stark imagery really stand out from much of the rest of the web animation landscape. His latest works Merry Madness and its sequel Scary And Strange have a bit of a different approach. Described as a "dark fairy tale", it does have a bit of a Guillermo del Toro meets Neil Gaiman vibe. You can support Dead Sound on Patreon.
Freddie Mercury: Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow
Released to commemorate what would have been late Queen frontman and rock icon Freddie Mercury's birthday and to promote The Mercury Pheonix Trust, comes this new video to his solo track Love Me Like There's No Tomorrow. Directed by Esteban Bravo and Beth David and animated by Woodblock, the filmmakers "wanted to tell a story that was relevant to Freddie's life, but not explicitly about him." They do this through a story of two white blood cells who fall in love, only for one of them to be infected by a virus (which is implied to be HIV). It's a subtle and moving video that deftly handles a tricky topic with sensitivity.
Wings
For a definite change of pace, check out Casey McDonald's student film Wings. A dialogue-free story of a mouse who dreams of flight who forms an unlikely freindship with an injured bird, you'll probably guess where this one is going. But that does nothing to subtract from the pleasure of watching this touching, beautifully animated and cute-as-a-button woodland tale.
