Hertzfeldt
There was a time back before YouTube and Google Video when you thought of a short film or animation you had to HUNT for it all over the internets, and there was a very good chance you wouldn’t find it. Message boards, P2P, Google, blogs, wherever. Back then, I was obsessed with Don Hertzfeldt, the brilliant and bitter animator who created Ah, L’Amour, and the absolute classic, Billy’s Balloon. (I’m sorry to whoever originally told me about Billy’s Balloon. I have forgotten who you are though I would love to give you credit here.) I collected many of the animated shorts in various formats but never had a way to post them on this site. Eventually my enthusiasm subsided, and I forgot about the whole thing.
This morning, our friend Mo sent an email with a link to a YouTube version of Hertzfeldt’s most popular piece, Rejected. At some point, the Family Learning Channel hired Don to create some promotional pieces. Normally he doesn’t do these sorts of things, but he accepted, and created a series of spots for the channel. All of them were rejected. There’s a reason for that, but you’ll need to watch them to find out.
Well now, through the magic of Web 2.0, an email reminder, and some simple embed code, I can reveal the brilliance of these animations to you all, especially if you’ve never heard of Don Hertzfeldt before. (If you have, well then, this should be a reminder, like the one Mo sent me this morning.)
My all-time favorite, Billy’s Balloon:
Here is Ah, L’Amour, the dark, but realistic love story:
And last but not least, The Family Learning Channel’s Rejected promo spots:
[thanks to Mo for reminding me.]
My spoooon is too BIG.
I either heard about him from you or Rene.
I was hospitalized for thoughts like these.
The third video is missing. Here’s what I believe was being referred to:Rejected commercials.