Within the world of animation, most experimentation occurs within short format productions, whether they be high-budgeted commercials, low-budgeted independent shorts or something in between. The growing number of short film festivals around the world attest to the vitality of these works, but there are few other venues for exhibition of them or even written reviews. As a result, distribution tends to be difficult and irregular. On a regular basis, Animation World Magazine will highlight some of the most interesting with short, descriptive overviews.

If you have the QuickTime plug-in, you can view a clip from each film by simply clicking the image.

This Month:

Snout (2003), directed by Tilmann Vogt, Germany, produced by University of Applied Sciences Mainz, Germany. Contact: Tilmann Vogt [E] til@til5.com; [W] www.til5.com.

Birthday Boy (2004), directed by Sejong Park, Korea/Australia, produced by Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Contact: Ruth Saunders, distribution manager, Australian Film, Television and Radio School (AFTRS), Balaclava & Epping Rds, North Ryde NSW 2113, Australia; [T] (+61) 2 9805 6455; [F] (+61) 2 9805 1275; [E] ruth.saunders@aftrs.edu.au.

Cretaceous Christmas (2003), directed by David Derrick, Jr., U.S.A., produced by CalArts. Contact: David Derrick, Jr., 25825 Tournament Rd. I-3, Valencia, California 91355; [T] (661) 284-2715; [E] tiff_dean@yahoo.com.

OÏO (2003), directed by Simon Goulet, Canada, produced by Amoniak Films. Contact: Simon Goulet, Amoniak Films Distributions, 5425 rue Bordeaux, bur. 315, Montreal, Quebec H2H 2P9 Canada; [T] (514) 529-1029; [F] (514) 529-1206; [E] info@oiofilm.com; [W] www.oiofilm.com.

Karl and Marilyn (2003), directed by Priit Pärn, Estonia, produced by Eesti Joonisfilm (Estonia) and Kinoproduction Oy (Finland). Contact: Kalev Tamm, producer, Eesti Joonisfilm, Roo 9, 10611 Tallinn, Estonia; [T] (372) 677-4228; [F] (372) 677-4122; [E] kalev@joonisfilm.ee; [W] www.joonisfilm.ee/.

Snout explores the kid game of “got your nose.” © Tilmann Vogt.

Snout
What if a curious stripteaser would retire with a razorblade in the pharmacy? What if a baggy teenager would run 100 meters with a sleeve in the zoo? What if a polar bear would harvest grapes with a birthday cake in the closet? These and other million-dollar premises are ripe for the picking at animator Tilmann Vogt's Wheel of Forging (http://tilfive.de/Wheel05.html). You only think he's kidding - this random premise generator with more than nine billion possible answers is in fact a highly subversive tool that Hollywood producers have obviously been using for years. I only had to press "refresh" seven times before I was rewarded with the downright uncanny pitch "What if an American shark would imitate politicians with a dinosaur puzzle in a wine glass?" Take that to Cartoon Network and odds on you'd be told "Lose the wine glass, and I think we can make room for it in fall 2006."

All right, stop writing down premises and take a look at Vogt's demo reel. Tilmann's latest short is Snout, a kid-friendly exploration of the concept of "got your nose" dramatized by Snout the Pig and Snatch the Rat. (What if a doubtful flyer would climb a tree with a mantrap in the backyard?… Sorry.) Snout is a snorer, and a bother to his suitemate Snatch, who's having trouble sleeping. One morning Snout wakes to the discovery that his oinkerly facial protuberance has gone AWOL. Is it in the sheets with him? Nope. Is it under the bed? Negative. Is it — wait a minute. Snatch has a suspicious pink nose-shaped item at his side. It's only a pair of binoculars, though, as Snatch demonstrates by putting them up to his eyes and scanning the distant horizon. So Snout keeps looking.

Trying on several items from the toy box, Snout attempts to substitute for his missing nose by planting other objects on his mug, but stuffed animals and a Rubik's Cube just don't cut it. Meanwhile Snatch, eyed with increasing suspicion by Snout, is demonstrating the multi-purpose nature of his new binoculars, which, coincidentally, can also be used as a pink flowerpot with holes for two flowers and a very tight pair of shorts. Alas, Snout starts to sneeze, and his disembodied nose joins in, sneezing the rat out of his "shorts" and into a very guilty expression. But Snatch explains that Snout's snoring has been keeping him up nights, and steps are taken to relieve the problem through the convenient removal of yet more body parts.

Snout’s characters are 3D, performing in a charming refrigerator-art-quality 2D set. As in Vogt's previous shorts Tobi and Ben Nevis' Nap (2002 and 2001, respectively), the comic timing is a bull's-eye and the acting is strong. Snout was produced as Vogt's senior thesis at the University of Applied Sciences, Mainz, in a traditionally budget-free academic environment (he paid his composer by designing his business cards). Other items from his reel can be viewed at his Til5 Website, including a cheerfully Stan Freberg-esque switcheroo where a commercial for pest spray is done in the form of a perfume ad. It makes you wonder: What if a curious phrenologist would win a marathon with a coconut in a paper plant?