Creepiest Animated Films/Shorts You Have Ever Seen?
Didn't know where to post this in terms of this particular topic but felt the Movie Forum was perhaps the most appropriate since short animated films are still regarded as films after all. Now with that out of the way, on to the actual topic!
As an Animator I am always on a look out for and watching various cartoons, animated films and shorts to gain "inspiration" for my own work. Whilst doing so I note that an awful lot of cartoons/animated films are actually kinda creepy.
Especially the old Fleischer cartoons, despite the cutesy designs of the main characters (excluding Popeye who of course is not cutesy at all ) there's something very eerie about them I can't quite put my finger on? But the most creepiest of all IMHO has got to be "Swing You Sinner!" My God when people warned me this short was messed up they really weren't kidding! Hell I'd actually go as far as to say I think it's creepier than the animated tv serial "Super Jail"! OK I know a lot of people will likely disagree with me on this but here's the thing, as messed up as it is at least with "Super Jail" you're expecting it to be creepy! After all, you just don't draw in that grotesque style and then just turn around and say "Oops! This show was never meant to be creepy!" Whereas "Swing You Sinner!" at first begins as any other cliched short from the 1920s/30s. The main Dog like character steals a chicken, the police officer sees this and "hilarity" ensues as he pursues the Dog character, Dog character manages to escape by hiding in the Graveyard...Annnnnnd that's when things start to get ugly! I would tell you what happens next but it's one of those things I can't describe, you'd just have to watch it, it has to be seened to be believed! (If you're a mega thriller/horror fan you might want to watch this at night. )
It's so bad (bad as in creepiness terms) a lot of people questioned whether Max Fleischer actually took LSD when he made this only for this theory to be debunked since LSD wasn't even invented yet. (The short was made in 1930 whereas LSD came a few years later).
Funnily enough as well as "Swing You Sinner!", quite a lot of people also find the animated cult classic short "Balloon Land" (by UB Iwerks) creepy as well due to it's villain The Pincushion Man. Although I won't deny "Balloon Land" is quite dark within it's own right but...I found The Pincushion Man quite hilarious actually! So much so I'm really gutted I wasn't the one who came up with him, wish he was my creation. All in all, I didn't find "Balloon Land" that creepy to be honest. "Swing You Sinner!" still holds that crown for me and I have yet to see any other cartoon as creepy as "Swing You Sinner!" (And trust me I've seen a lot of creepy cartoons, none have even come close IMO.)
Who says cartoons are for kids eh?
Now over to you folks, which cartoon/animated film/short do you find the creepiest and why? And have you ever seen a cartoon which is creepier than "Swing You Sinner!"?
As an Animator I am always on a look out for and watching various cartoons, animated films and shorts to gain "inspiration" for my own work. Whilst doing so I note that an awful lot of cartoons/animated films are actually kinda creepy.
Especially the old Fleischer cartoons, despite the cutesy designs of the main characters (excluding Popeye who of course is not cutesy at all ) there's something very eerie about them I can't quite put my finger on? But the most creepiest of all IMHO has got to be "Swing You Sinner!" My God when people warned me this short was messed up they really weren't kidding! Hell I'd actually go as far as to say I think it's creepier than the animated tv serial "Super Jail"! OK I know a lot of people will likely disagree with me on this but here's the thing, as messed up as it is at least with "Super Jail" you're expecting it to be creepy! After all, you just don't draw in that grotesque style and then just turn around and say "Oops! This show was never meant to be creepy!" Whereas "Swing You Sinner!" at first begins as any other cliched short from the 1920s/30s. The main Dog like character steals a chicken, the police officer sees this and "hilarity" ensues as he pursues the Dog character, Dog character manages to escape by hiding in the Graveyard...Annnnnnd that's when things start to get ugly! I would tell you what happens next but it's one of those things I can't describe, you'd just have to watch it, it has to be seened to be believed! (If you're a mega thriller/horror fan you might want to watch this at night. )
It's so bad (bad as in creepiness terms) a lot of people questioned whether Max Fleischer actually took LSD when he made this only for this theory to be debunked since LSD wasn't even invented yet. (The short was made in 1930 whereas LSD came a few years later).
Funnily enough as well as "Swing You Sinner!", quite a lot of people also find the animated cult classic short "Balloon Land" (by UB Iwerks) creepy as well due to it's villain The Pincushion Man. Although I won't deny "Balloon Land" is quite dark within it's own right but...I found The Pincushion Man quite hilarious actually! So much so I'm really gutted I wasn't the one who came up with him, wish he was my creation. All in all, I didn't find "Balloon Land" that creepy to be honest. "Swing You Sinner!" still holds that crown for me and I have yet to see any other cartoon as creepy as "Swing You Sinner!" (And trust me I've seen a lot of creepy cartoons, none have even come close IMO.)
Who says cartoons are for kids eh?
Now over to you folks, which cartoon/animated film/short do you find the creepiest and why? And have you ever seen a cartoon which is creepier than "Swing You Sinner!"?
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Comments
Regards
Mark
Oh I love that guy!
You're right his stuff is very creepy indeed buuuuuut...Nope, "Swing You Sinner!" is still creepier IMO!
The Quay Brothers shorts are also quite similar to Svankmajer's work.
END THREAD!!!
neeeeeeeeeever wanted to look at bloody toothpaste EVER AGAIN after that one
Came here to suggest the same film, great ending!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tECaYQ1AzkM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USZGm9GR7ak
Curse I got beaten to it :D
I do however have something else to share.
It's from a film called the Happiness of the Katakuris
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puen3HM_5l4
There is also this:
The Cat with Hands
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4PR9NZlAB4
https://youtu.be/g1Og5Tg_Jyo
I mean, its batshit right?
http://youtu.be/argbjMdueug
And the opening to The Happiness of The Katakuris
Puella Magi Madoka Magica. It gets really surreal, with these battles against witches that are very artistic and strange looking. It didn't creep me out but I had a weird revulsion to it. I also think using cutesie character designs for something quite dark is kind of weird. If anyone decides to check it out, don't Wikipedia it, go in blind but give it a bit of time to reveal what its doing. Its actually quite good.
That film terrified me as a child. I was really young when I saw it though.
I lasted about 30 seconds, it gave me a headache. That really does look like the creation of someone who has completely gone. Its not even creative or artistic, just flipping weird.
It's batshit alright but not really in the creepy sense, just in the "Are you high? What the hell is wrong with you?!" sense.
Frankly that animation is trying way too hard, when they try too hard they cease becoming creepy IMHO.
Yeah, that was a very depressing film. Films about the threat of a Nuclear bomb and what damage they can do was very popular in the 80's though.
I think I saw a clip of that ages back!
Was that the one?
Les Bessones del Carrer de Ponent (The Twin Girls of Sunset Street)
http://www.stopmotion.cat/bessones.htm
Strange, disturbing, but tremendously done.