On his Twitter profile, fiercely independent filmmaker Don Hertzfeldt describes himself as a “director of things / 2x oscar loser.” He’s selling himself short on both counts. For starters, “things” is an endearingly modest way of describing some of the most essential short films of the last 20 years, animated or otherwise; from revered early work like “Rejected,” to the trio of vignettes that were ultimately stitched together into a feature-length omnibus called “It’s Such a Beautiful Day,” Hertzfeldt has created a singular universe of stick figures in crisis.
And then there’s the bit about being a two-time “oscar loser,” a distinction that Hertzfeldt earned when “World of Tomorrow” — his first digital project — was a 2015 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Short Film. It may not have won its creator the chance to give a speech on global television, but it did win him a legion of new fans.
And then there’s the bit about being a two-time “oscar loser,” a distinction that Hertzfeldt earned when “World of Tomorrow” — his first digital project — was a 2015 Academy Award nominee for Best Animated Short Film. It may not have won its creator the chance to give a speech on global television, but it did win him a legion of new fans.
- 11/17/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
World of Tomorrow
Written and directed by Don Hertzfeldt
USA, 2015
“You are alive and living and the envy of all of the dead.”
There’s a big irony to this beautiful quote in Don Hertzfeldt’s animated short film World of Tomorrow. It’s delivered from Emily 3.0 to Emily Prime, a clone from the future to a toddler version of herself, who in Emily 3.0’s present is not truly living at all. What’s more, both Emilys are crude stick figure drawings.
World of Tomorrow is a beautiful, funny, surreal, cynical, and ultimately touching animated short about a little girl shown the distant future by a clone of her older self. Humans and clones now live together in the “outranet”, a neural network of thoughts and ideas that has replaced the Internet and provided all of existence with windows into the past. Those too shy to face society have disappeared...
Written and directed by Don Hertzfeldt
USA, 2015
“You are alive and living and the envy of all of the dead.”
There’s a big irony to this beautiful quote in Don Hertzfeldt’s animated short film World of Tomorrow. It’s delivered from Emily 3.0 to Emily Prime, a clone from the future to a toddler version of herself, who in Emily 3.0’s present is not truly living at all. What’s more, both Emilys are crude stick figure drawings.
World of Tomorrow is a beautiful, funny, surreal, cynical, and ultimately touching animated short about a little girl shown the distant future by a clone of her older self. Humans and clones now live together in the “outranet”, a neural network of thoughts and ideas that has replaced the Internet and provided all of existence with windows into the past. Those too shy to face society have disappeared...
- 4/7/2015
- by Brian Welk
- SoundOnSight
Michael C. here. I couldn't wrap up my Sundance coverage without writing about this gem from one of my favorite filmmakers.
Fans of Don Hertzfeldt know there is little point in describing the plot of one of his films. His animated shorts operate on the director's unique blend of absurdist humor, philosophical wonderings, and sophisticated visuals masquerading as crude scribblings, not on traditional story beats. So when I say his new short, World of Tomorrow, is spectacular, right up there with his best work, you just have to take my word for it, so difficult is it to capture its odd appeal in words.
Hertzfeldt took on World of Tomorrow as a quick project between two massively ambitious undertakings, the upcoming Antarctica, his first full length feature, and It's Such a Beautiful Day, his recent triptych of shorts which combined represent one of the new century's indisputable masterpieces. It's a...
Fans of Don Hertzfeldt know there is little point in describing the plot of one of his films. His animated shorts operate on the director's unique blend of absurdist humor, philosophical wonderings, and sophisticated visuals masquerading as crude scribblings, not on traditional story beats. So when I say his new short, World of Tomorrow, is spectacular, right up there with his best work, you just have to take my word for it, so difficult is it to capture its odd appeal in words.
Hertzfeldt took on World of Tomorrow as a quick project between two massively ambitious undertakings, the upcoming Antarctica, his first full length feature, and It's Such a Beautiful Day, his recent triptych of shorts which combined represent one of the new century's indisputable masterpieces. It's a...
- 2/3/2015
- by Michael C.
- FilmExperience
The Simpsons' 26th season premiere may have had fans debating about which character would die, but they were completely taken aback by the show's couch gag.
Acclaimed animator Don Hertzfeldt created the episode's intro, taking viewers into a bizarre and somewhat haunting future world.
The abstract and surreal couch gag transports Homer to the deep future 'sun-date' of Septembar 36.4, 10,535, with rather dark and chilling results.
It reminds us a little bit of the 'Worker and Parasite' cartoon that Krusty was thoroughly confused by in 'Krusty Gets Kancelled'.
Last night (September 28) also saw a recurring character die in the season premiere, while Family Guy aired a special hour-long crossover episode in Springfield.
Hertzfeldt's other works include It's Such a Beautiful Day, The Meaning of Life, and the Academy-Award nominated Rejected. Watch the latter below:...
Acclaimed animator Don Hertzfeldt created the episode's intro, taking viewers into a bizarre and somewhat haunting future world.
The abstract and surreal couch gag transports Homer to the deep future 'sun-date' of Septembar 36.4, 10,535, with rather dark and chilling results.
It reminds us a little bit of the 'Worker and Parasite' cartoon that Krusty was thoroughly confused by in 'Krusty Gets Kancelled'.
Last night (September 28) also saw a recurring character die in the season premiere, while Family Guy aired a special hour-long crossover episode in Springfield.
Hertzfeldt's other works include It's Such a Beautiful Day, The Meaning of Life, and the Academy-Award nominated Rejected. Watch the latter below:...
- 9/29/2014
- Digital Spy
His delightful blend of dot-eyed stickmen and dizzying existentialism – showcased in 2012's It's Such a Beautiful Day – makes Hertzfeldt an unstoppable force in stop-motion cinema
Reading this on mobile? Click here to watch trailer
We take Gromit's eyebrows for granted. The trusty pooch of dithering inventor Wallace projects a vast spectrum of emotions via that small wad of clay that sits above his eyeballs. Manipulating that segment of the model just a millimetre too far in either direction could be the difference between intense elation and unalloyed gloom. In exactly the same way, the sublime output of Austin-based stop-motion animator Don Hertzfeldt projects the complex psychologies of his characters through minute enhancements of facial features. Yet he hasn't given himself much creative wriggle room, as the stars of his movies are all near-featureless stickmen with dots for eyes and a single line for a mouth.
Take Bill, for example, the...
Reading this on mobile? Click here to watch trailer
We take Gromit's eyebrows for granted. The trusty pooch of dithering inventor Wallace projects a vast spectrum of emotions via that small wad of clay that sits above his eyeballs. Manipulating that segment of the model just a millimetre too far in either direction could be the difference between intense elation and unalloyed gloom. In exactly the same way, the sublime output of Austin-based stop-motion animator Don Hertzfeldt projects the complex psychologies of his characters through minute enhancements of facial features. Yet he hasn't given himself much creative wriggle room, as the stars of his movies are all near-featureless stickmen with dots for eyes and a single line for a mouth.
Take Bill, for example, the...
- 5/2/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
★★★★★ Two simply-drawn stick men approach each other on a field of white and share an awkward encounter as they pass. One of them, Bill, inexplicably stumbles through simple sentences and conflates words before they depart, never to see one another again. This was one of the character's initial appearances in animator Don Hertzfeldt's comic strip Temporary Anaesthetics, and reoccurs in his debut feature. The scene succinctly introduces the film's protagonist and also the surreal comic tone present throughout much of the outstanding It's Such a Beautiful Day (2012) - a compilation of the director's triptych of awards-laden shorts.
The story follows the unassuming Bill - recognisable purely by his hat - through an ongoing battle with escalating mental illness. This initially manifests itself as confusion and the odd moment of memory loss but in the proceeding three chapters transforms into pronounced amnesia, elaborate and disturbing hallucinations and physical debilitation. These...
The story follows the unassuming Bill - recognisable purely by his hat - through an ongoing battle with escalating mental illness. This initially manifests itself as confusion and the odd moment of memory loss but in the proceeding three chapters transforms into pronounced amnesia, elaborate and disturbing hallucinations and physical debilitation. These...
- 5/1/2013
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
One of animation’s purest qualities is the correlation between effort and result, so pure that even attempts to obscure the former allow the latter to be recognized and appreciated. It should perhaps be no surprise that one of the finest writer/animators of the last fifteen years, Don Hertzfeldt, has built an increasingly impressive body of work from stick figures and “crude” ink-and-paper drawings, a celebration of the material and physical challenges of hand-made animation. His first feature, It’s Such a Beautiful Day (2012), is currently in limited release and affirms Hertzfeldt as a true virtuoso, constructing an emotional narrative of existential meditation from swaths of banal occurrences, nightmarish hallucinations and devastatingly funny memories.
Those familiar with Hertzfeldt’s previous work like film festival darling Billy’s Balloon (1998) and the Oscar-nominated Rejected (2000) will recognize certain central themes at the core of his work—dark absurdity, relentless Zen-like repetition, sterile...
Those familiar with Hertzfeldt’s previous work like film festival darling Billy’s Balloon (1998) and the Oscar-nominated Rejected (2000) will recognize certain central themes at the core of his work—dark absurdity, relentless Zen-like repetition, sterile...
- 10/7/2012
- by Kurt Shulenberger
- MUBI
Great news for the late comers! An Evening with Don Hertzfelt at the Alamo South Lamar just became one long night- another show's been added!
Cult animator and Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt (The Meaning Of Life, Rejected, Billy's Balloon) joins us at the Alamo for a rare one-night-only event: A selection of Don's classic animated shorts return to the big screen, culminating in the exclusive regional premiere of his newest film, I Am So Proud Of You. His longest piece to date, I Am So Proud Of You is the eagerly anticipated second chapter to Everything Will Be Ok, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Jury Award in Short Filmmaking and named by many critics as one of the "best films of 2007". The screening will be immediately followed by a live on-stage interview and audience chat with Don Hertzfeldt.
Like all of Hertzfeldt's films, I Am So Proud Of You...
Cult animator and Academy Award nominee Don Hertzfeldt (The Meaning Of Life, Rejected, Billy's Balloon) joins us at the Alamo for a rare one-night-only event: A selection of Don's classic animated shorts return to the big screen, culminating in the exclusive regional premiere of his newest film, I Am So Proud Of You. His longest piece to date, I Am So Proud Of You is the eagerly anticipated second chapter to Everything Will Be Ok, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Jury Award in Short Filmmaking and named by many critics as one of the "best films of 2007". The screening will be immediately followed by a live on-stage interview and audience chat with Don Hertzfeldt.
Like all of Hertzfeldt's films, I Am So Proud Of You...
- 10/7/2008
- by Brad Parrett
- OriginalAlamo.com
We are excited to bring out one of our favorite animators, and favorite filmmakers in general - Don Hertzfeldt to the Alamo South Lamar for one night only Saturday October 11th.
Don will be bringing out a selection of Don's classic animated shorts, culminating in the exclusive regional premiere of his newest film, I Am So Proud Of You. His longest piece to date, I am so proud of you is the eagerly anticipated second chapter to Everything Will Be Ok, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Jury Award in Short Filmmaking and named by many critics as one of the "best films of 2007". The screening will be immediately followed by a live on-stage interview and audience chat with Don Hertzfeldt.
Like all of Hertzfeldt's films, I Am So Proud Of You was single-handedly animated and photographed by hand without the use of computers. It was shot entirely on an antique 35mm animation stand,...
Don will be bringing out a selection of Don's classic animated shorts, culminating in the exclusive regional premiere of his newest film, I Am So Proud Of You. His longest piece to date, I am so proud of you is the eagerly anticipated second chapter to Everything Will Be Ok, Winner of the Sundance Film Festival's Jury Award in Short Filmmaking and named by many critics as one of the "best films of 2007". The screening will be immediately followed by a live on-stage interview and audience chat with Don Hertzfeldt.
Like all of Hertzfeldt's films, I Am So Proud Of You was single-handedly animated and photographed by hand without the use of computers. It was shot entirely on an antique 35mm animation stand,...
- 9/29/2008
- by Lars Nilsen
- OriginalAlamo.com
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