I am the doctor.

June 20, 2011 6:43 AM

'Dumbland is a crude, stupid, violent, absurd series. If it is funny, it is funny because we see the absurdity of it all.' Fresh off the critical success of Mulholland Dr. [previously] in 2001, David Lynch set out in 2002 to conquer the internet, creating a paywalled website to feature original content like his short film Darkened Room, an anti-sitcom called Rabbits, and the intentionally lowbrow DumbLand.

Featuring animation, music, sound effects, and voice acting entirely by Lynch, DumbLand is a black and white Flash animation series with a total running time of approximately half an hour. A few notes on DumbLand from Lynch. [Also previously: David Lynch's Weather Report] [And super-previously.]
posted by shakespeherian (13 comments total)

From "A few notes" link: "The Internet is a place where we can all get our own set-up and have full freedom, and that's super important." "The Internet, the way I see it, provides opportunity for experiments so I can try one little bit of something and that can lead to a whole other world. It could lead to a feature film, but maybe not. It's all about ideas and being able to realize them, and it may be just little fragments, but the Internet is kind of good for little fragments, and these may open up other worlds."

Kind of good for little fragments. That's really very true.
posted by three blind mice at 6:50 AM on June 20, 2011

That Lynchian weather report thing reminds me that Timothy Olyphant used to do the sports news on indie 103.1 too. Which I dunno if it's appropriate to mention here but there ya go.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:07 AM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

I haven't been keeping up with Lynch's always-excellent work, so thanks for linking to these. I'm currently enjoying the hell out of Dumbland (which reminds me, in a good way, of the comix of Johnny Ryan, which I love), and look forward to watching Rabbits.
posted by Dr. Wu at 11:53 AM on June 20, 2011

wooo lynch is so fucking good with sound
posted by serif at 12:13 PM on June 20, 2011

I miss the weather report; it's been a 404 since his site became the David Lynch Music Company. There was something really comforting about his calm musing on the California mornings, and of course the ironic contrast of the reports with the content and style of most of his films was an added happy dimension.
posted by aught at 1:22 PM on June 20, 2011

I only watch Dumbland and Rabbits as they were meant to be seen - on a full-sized theater screen and not on a tiny little iphone.

Both of them are productions which he created exclusively for his website. Where do you get the idea they were meant to be seen in a theater when he never intended them for theatrical distribution?
posted by hippybear at 4:11 PM on June 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

My favourite David Lynch thing is The Angriest Dog In The World, which I greatly enjoyed in the Dark Horse series Cheval Noir. He's angry because his owners are morons!

We watched Wild At Heart the other night and it was stupid.
posted by tumid dahlia at 4:28 PM on June 20, 2011

We watched Wild At Heart the other night and it was stupid.

I have never hated any movie as much as I hate Wild At Heart. I hated it so much that I actually cannot recall any details about the movie other than Nick Cage on a bicycle (?) in a tornado a la The Wizard Of Oz. Or something.

I love Lynch, but only because my hippocampus has shunted all memories of Wild At Heart into that black part of my brain where most people put episodes with abusive parents and such.
posted by hippybear at 4:45 PM on June 20, 2011

Nick Cage was on a bike in a tornado? Jesus, I just watched the damn thing and I don't even remember.
posted by tumid dahlia at 8:53 PM on June 20, 2011

Oh cmon, Willem Defoe blowing his own head off with a shotgun was pretty sublime.
posted by bardic at 8:54 PM on June 20, 2011

Oh yeah we watched that bit a couple of times.
posted by tumid dahlia at 9:02 PM on June 20, 2011

Rabbits is still one of the most unsettling things I've ever seen, even after I've seen the re- cut version with all the dialogue in order.
posted by KingEdRa at 2:03 AM on June 21, 2011

Both of them are productions which he created exclusively for his website. Where do you get the idea they were meant to be seen in a theater when he never intended them for theatrical distributi
on?


Portions of Rabbits were used in Inland Empire. Now when I watch Rabbits I have to fight the urge to yell "Run, Laura Dern! Creepy Rabbit Man is about to step back out into the hall!"
posted by KingEdRa at 2:14 AM on June 21, 2011