| Plymtoons a safe way to hallucinate in the comfort of your living room
Wahoo! Berserk animator Bill Plympton's Plymtoons is now on DVD! Thats as cool as... er... Plymtoons on DVD!
What? you want me to be more specific? OK, fine: Bill Plympton is the maverick animator known for his twitchy coloured-pencil-on-paper look, and his faces-twisting-into-nightmarish-shapes style. Plymtoons collects all his earliest stuff into a mind-bending 60-minute extravaganza. As for the disc itself, read on....
INTRODUCTION
Amusingly, the man who interviews Plympton in the intro is none other than Lloyd Kaufman, Troma Entertainment honcho and creator of the Toxic Avenger. It is a stroke of genius to pair these two, as both are justifiably famous as purveyors of the outrageously weird, enemies of the restrictions of good taste and staunch champions of independent film. Plympton and Kaufman seem to immediately recognize each other as kindred spirits. (Although Kaufman looks disappointed when Plympton doesn't join him in cursing the Big Devil-Worshipping Conglomerates that dominate the media.)
Plympton provides some interesting insights into the animation biz. He also answers the dreaded where-do-you-get-your-ideas question with a simple answer: hallucinogens.
At seven-and-a-half minutes, the intro zips along, in no small part due to Kaufman's childish antics. He steals valuable studio stuff when Plympton's not looking, and turns into Beavis and Butthead whenever the discussion threatens to become too educational.
Plympton: I really haven't done much horror...
Kaufman: You have not been to a whore? Is that what you said?
Plympton: ...If you check out my Web site, under The Plympton Diaries...
Kaufman: ...Did you say you have diarrhea?!
After that, they let Plympton hold the microphone for a while.
THE FEATURE
Collecting all of Plymptons early stuff into one volume, this disc is essential for Plympton fans. The DVD format works particularly well here, as you can initiate your friends into the twisted marvels of 25 Ways to Quit Smoking or One of Those Days instantly, without waiting for the thing to either rewind or download. That's important when you're dealing with a brilliantly funny film that's only a few minutes long. You'll want to just sit and watch through the whole DVD the first few times, but once the disc is in your collection, its nice to be able to just have a little sip now and again.
SPECIAL FEATURES
Plympton's audio commentary is simply a little introduction to each short film. Once he's had his say, the rest of the piece carries on without him. It's a bit like reading a brief explanatory blurb prior to each piece. Still, we learn some interesting facts about the films, and the result is much better than listening to one of those commentary tracks where the director runs out of things to say early on, and resorts to simply describing the movie we're watching. (I've listened to enough of those already.)
The Rarities feature gives a glimpse of some rare interviews and film snippets. Slideshow shows a number of Plympton's hilarious National Lampoon comic strips, (some of which inspired his animated films)and the Watch Plympton Draw feature does exactly what it says on the tin.
VERDICT
If you're a Plympton fan, you need this disc. If you're unfamiliar with this twisted genius work, check out his stuff at Atom Films (atomfilms.com), become a fan, and then get the disc. If you're a fan who already owns Plymtoons on videocassette, you can probably give this one a pass, although you might be tempted to rent it if the special features appeal to you. |
