Saturday Night Cartoons
July 11, 2015 9:02 PM Subscribe
"The Animation School Dropout" (1:30) (2014) has actually been doing animation for over 40 years, including a 'bicentennial' film commissioned by the United States Information Agency (USIA): "200" (3:00) (1975) (previously here). A USIA propaganda production featuring hot dogs AND peace signs? Not bad. [post warning: possible visual triggers for epilepsy]
Late-era psychedelia was Vince Collins' specialty, and he has recently put his best early stuff online at Vimeo, including:
"Euphoria" (3:15) (1974), funded by the American Film Institute, this 3 minute head trip won one of the first Student Academy Awards (the same year Robert Zemeckis got one and 4 years before John Lassiter).
"Fantasy" (3:00) (1976), which Collins describes as "a star-driven spiraling machine of hallucinatory wonder!"
"Malice in Wonderland" (4:30) (1982), a NSFW reinterpretation of the classic tale, with Potentially Triggering body horror starting with turning 'the rabbit hole' into a vagina. (Vice.com interview about it)
"Life Is Flashing Before Your Eyes" (2:45) (1984), a 'music video' collaboration with Louis Motisher which has recently been used as part of an Adult Swim "Off the Air" segment (at 09:20).
He kind of explains here how his flavor of "Independent Animation" disappeared and how he adjusted, which included learning 3D CGI and making 'Interactive Multimedia', another field that died out from under him, so he started making new surreal animated shorts (frequently recycling bits and pieces from his multimedia projects):
"Fun With Computers" (3:30) (2004)
"Unofficial Reality" (3:30) (2005)
"Somewhere Under the Radar" (3:30) (2009) and
"California Reel" (3:00) (2010), two pieces on 'evolving' car culture
"Magical Cat's Journey" (5:30) (2010), Collins' idea of a cat video
"Canned Heat" (3:00) (2011), alcohol, prohibition and other intoxicants
"Back in the Daze" (3:20) (2011), "tripping through a trunkful of memories..."
"The Suicidal Cameraman " (:40) (2011), just the last few seconds in the life of a cameraman who'd seen too much
"The Land of Sunshine" (2:50) (2012), a head trip to Florida
"Absinthe Cadillac" (3:20) (2012), with spiders and fairies
"Instant Clown Party" (2:00) (2013) (no scary clowns, honest!)
"The Lizard of Oz" (3:20) (2013) - this one briefly got into trouble at YouTube, but that's what happens when you give Dorothy a machine gun and make Toto a robot
"Psycho City" (2:15) (2014), Hitchcock references and more, but no birds
It's "Animation Time!" (1:20) (2015)
"Saucer Man" (2:30) (2015), Collins' freshest foolishness, with more story than usual, set in Yolo, California and another planet; but he still can't animate a realistic 'walk cycle' to save his life. 😃 👽 👾 😄
Late-era psychedelia was Vince Collins' specialty, and he has recently put his best early stuff online at Vimeo, including:
"Euphoria" (3:15) (1974), funded by the American Film Institute, this 3 minute head trip won one of the first Student Academy Awards (the same year Robert Zemeckis got one and 4 years before John Lassiter).
"Fantasy" (3:00) (1976), which Collins describes as "a star-driven spiraling machine of hallucinatory wonder!"
"Malice in Wonderland" (4:30) (1982), a NSFW reinterpretation of the classic tale, with Potentially Triggering body horror starting with turning 'the rabbit hole' into a vagina. (Vice.com interview about it)
"Life Is Flashing Before Your Eyes" (2:45) (1984), a 'music video' collaboration with Louis Motisher which has recently been used as part of an Adult Swim "Off the Air" segment (at 09:20).
He kind of explains here how his flavor of "Independent Animation" disappeared and how he adjusted, which included learning 3D CGI and making 'Interactive Multimedia', another field that died out from under him, so he started making new surreal animated shorts (frequently recycling bits and pieces from his multimedia projects):
"Fun With Computers" (3:30) (2004)
"Unofficial Reality" (3:30) (2005)
"Somewhere Under the Radar" (3:30) (2009) and
"California Reel" (3:00) (2010), two pieces on 'evolving' car culture
"Magical Cat's Journey" (5:30) (2010), Collins' idea of a cat video
"Canned Heat" (3:00) (2011), alcohol, prohibition and other intoxicants
"Back in the Daze" (3:20) (2011), "tripping through a trunkful of memories..."
"The Suicidal Cameraman " (:40) (2011), just the last few seconds in the life of a cameraman who'd seen too much
"The Land of Sunshine" (2:50) (2012), a head trip to Florida
"Absinthe Cadillac" (3:20) (2012), with spiders and fairies
"Instant Clown Party" (2:00) (2013) (no scary clowns, honest!)
"The Lizard of Oz" (3:20) (2013) - this one briefly got into trouble at YouTube, but that's what happens when you give Dorothy a machine gun and make Toto a robot
"Psycho City" (2:15) (2014), Hitchcock references and more, but no birds
It's "Animation Time!" (1:20) (2015)
"Saucer Man" (2:30) (2015), Collins' freshest foolishness, with more story than usual, set in Yolo, California and another planet; but he still can't animate a realistic 'walk cycle' to save his life. 😃 👽 👾 😄
Dear Sir: I received my CD-ROM encyclopedia in the mail today and I have some questions
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:38 PM on July 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 9:38 PM on July 11, 2015 [5 favorites]
Interesting tale of adaptation though. I'm sure I'll be there soon too. I wonder how many people still use Infini-D though.
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:04 PM on July 11, 2015
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:04 PM on July 11, 2015
Fun bit of synchronicity, I have 200 on dvd thanks to the A/V Geeks.
I loved the hell out of 200 but somehow hadn't caught wind of what he was up to now. Thanks.
posted by RobotHero at 11:27 PM on July 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
I loved the hell out of 200 but somehow hadn't caught wind of what he was up to now. Thanks.
posted by RobotHero at 11:27 PM on July 11, 2015 [2 favorites]
Maybe just for safety's sake, a note that some of these animations have fast strobing colored light changes? Might be bad for those who are sensitive. Great find though, I always loved 200 and wondered if there was more like it!
posted by Queen of Robots at 2:16 AM on July 12, 2015
posted by Queen of Robots at 2:16 AM on July 12, 2015
a note that some of these animations have fast strobing colored light changes
Shows how old I am, I assumed that would be understood when I wrote "animation" and "psychedelia". An obvious oversight... MODERATOR PLEASE HOPE ME with whatever's the best "seizure warning" wording currently usable!
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:51 AM on July 12, 2015
Shows how old I am, I assumed that would be understood when I wrote "animation" and "psychedelia". An obvious oversight... MODERATOR PLEASE HOPE ME with whatever's the best "seizure warning" wording currently usable!
posted by oneswellfoop at 2:51 AM on July 12, 2015
I thought 200 was better set to the Grateful Dead's US Blues. Even if the song is longer than the film's runtime.
posted by ardgedee at 3:08 AM on July 12, 2015
posted by ardgedee at 3:08 AM on July 12, 2015
I'll bet the animators behind Blockhead's "The Music Scene" video had seen some of Collins' early 2D work. If he hadn't come up relatively late in the 'psychedelic' trend (and '74 WAS relatively late for that), I would say he influenced everybody who hadn't already influenced him.
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:01 AM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
posted by oneswellfoop at 4:01 AM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
Another nugget, distributed on CD-ROMs: What If Telephones Weren't Interactive? Others included Willie Nelson Mandela (which included his iconic bird-to-bell transformation) and Thai Q (a multiple choice quiz challenging the player to name Thai dishes).
And, of course, his contribution to Sesame Street.
posted by BiggerJ at 7:30 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
And, of course, his contribution to Sesame Street.
posted by BiggerJ at 7:30 PM on July 12, 2015 [1 favorite]
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