Product Details

• Directors: Brian Jennings, Bill Kroyer
• Format: Animated, Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Tapeworm Video Dist
• VHS Release Date: January 12, 1998
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6304829906
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #366,117 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Independent animator Bill Plympton first received widespread public attention when his outré "Your Face" (1987) was nominated for an Academy Award for Animated Short. His short films--some as brief as 15 seconds--made between 1985 and 1991 showcase his unique talent much more effectively than his ponderous features, The Tune and I Married a Strange Person. Plympton's earliest films indicate that he experimented with a variety of techniques--cutouts, cel animation, stop motion--before finding his personal style: colored pencil drawings on paper to illustrate bizarre, metamorphic transitions that build to an absurd climax. Eyes slide up foreheads, lips elongate, mouths rotate, bodies distort, and heads explode in loose, scribbly sketches. Plympton is not a great animator: he uses only four to six drawings per second, less than a Saturday-morning series (full, Disney-style animation requires 12 to 24 drawings per second), and his attempts to tell a coherent story through his drawings invariably fizzle. But in off-the-wall shorts like "Your Face," "25 Ways to Quit Smoking," and the 15-second "Plymptoons" made for MTV, he emerges as an entertaining and highly original filmmaker. Not rated; suitable for all ages, although bizarre imagery may frighten small children. --Charles Solomon

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 61 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent DVD, December 29, 1999

By 

J. Paulsonn (Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: World's Greatest Animation (DVD)

The 16 animated shorts on this DVD represent a wide array of animation styles, all Academy Award winners and nominees from 1978-1990.

They are: CREATURE COMFORTS (Nick Park - winner, 1990); BALANCE (Lauenstein - winner, 1989); TECHNOLOGICAL THREAT (Kroyer - nominee, 1988); THE CAT CAME BACK (Barker - nominee, 1988); YOUR FACE (Plympton - nominee, 1987); A GREEK TRAGEDY (Van Goethem - winner, 1986); ANNA & BELLA (Ring - winner, 1985); THE BIG SNIT (Condie - nominee, 1985); CHARADE (Minnis - winner, 1984); SUNDAE IN NEW YORK - (Picker - winner, 1983); THE GREAT COGNITO (Vinton - nominee, 1982); TANGO (Rybczynski - winner, 1982); THE FLY (Rofuscz - winner, 1980); CRAC! (Back - winner, 1981); EVERY CHILD (Fedorenco and Lamb - winner, 1979); SPECIAL DELIVERY (Wheldon and Macaulay - winner, 1978).

A thoroughly delightful collection!

8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The world according to Plympton, March 22, 2000

By 

Michael Sean (Seattle, WA - US) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plymptoons - The Complete Works of Bill Plympton (DVD)

Thanks to frequent exposure on MTV and several touring animation festivals, Bill Plympton's distinctive style is now widely recognized, even if the man behind the pencil isn't. While it's not really 'the complete works,' this DVD collects an hour's worth of his early short films, from his cut-out animation piece "Lucas, The Ear of Corn" from 1977 to 1990's "Plymptoons," a medley of his numerous 'microtoons' that were featured regularly on MTV's "Liquid Television." He earned a 1988 Oscar nomination for Best Animation with "Your Face," a musical short scored and sung by Maureen McElheron (who Plympton would work with again on his feature film "The Tune"). For the sake of completeness, we also get his television commercials for "Trivial Pursuit" and "Nutrasweet," a public service message on acid rain (another MTV staple), and his 1987 TV pilot for "Love In The Fast Lane," a series that never got picked up. Whether you already know the man's work, or you just enjoy attending animation festivals, this disc is a decent showcase of some of his short films. For more by Bill Plympton, check out "Mondo Plympton," which features more of his recent work.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AKA Plymptoons done the right way...., August 14, 2004

By 

Erich Mohr "Arandil" (Sonoma County, Ca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Plymptoons - The Classic Works of Bill Plympton (Special Edition) (DVD)

If there is any confusion between this DVD and 'The Complete Works of Bill Plympton', relax, this is very nearly the same DVD.

The "Classic Works" differs from "Complete Works" in that it is a more complete version than the previous VHS and DVD editions of "Plymptoons". The director's commentary, which was badly needed in the first transfer to DVD, finally makes an appearance in this version. Bill's commentary is the reading of some notes at the beginning of each short, some technical, some biographical, all interesting in spite of the monotone in which it is delivered. But, hey, Bill never claimed to be an actor. This version also has a few more 'extras' in the form of a stills gallery. The gallery has some key frames, as well as concepts passed over from "25 Way to Quit Smoking". Also, at the end of "Plymptoons 1990" there is a little extra film footage. There are also a few additional shorts in the 'Rarities' section.

This version is also more NC-17 than the older releases, which are more PG. NOTHING Bill does should ever be called PC, so please don't expect moments of happy smiley crap to come floating out of the screen. The interviews are frank, with some colorful language and explicit footage of some of his later works. For those wishing to encourage the younger animator, the "Complete Works" version is much better suited for the younger audience.