Drunky. © Augenblick Studios, 2001.

Drunky
In contrast to Paley's film, there is no soft side to Drunky, an aptly-named work and self-described 'dark comedy' that focuses on the alcoholic existence of a little man who has trouble remembering what he does at night. To give you an idea of the basic scenario of the film, its publicity material describes Drunky's world as "a terrifying place, where the cold metropolitan landscape of seedy bars and dark alleys is populated with sexual predators who prey upon Drunky's ignorance and naiveté." Drunky is subtitled, "In through the Out Door," because Drunky ends up in a gay bar on this particular night, finding the bartender -- a 'Tuxedo Tiger' character -- in his bed the next day. Augenblick hopes to develop this concept into a series (and has recently made an announcement with Film Roman), though at this point I am uncertain as to how far the concept would be modified in that context.

Visually, the film is intriguing. It is filled with strange creatures, many of whom are clearly intended to look like (even more frightening) versions of well-known animated characters. Director Aaron Augenblick explains that he was influenced by the Fleischer studio and other early animations, which he sometimes finds disturbing. He asks, "Does anyone find Betty Boop funny any more? I find her terrifying." Augenblick does a great job of translating the strangeness of some of those early works into his film. However, I think it is less a dark comedy than a commentary on what it means to be alcoholic.

I can chuckle a bit at this guy's experience within the gay bar he stumbles into, with all manner of fancy, fruit-laden drinks presented to him courtesy of others in the bar. But I find a great difference between Betty Boop-like weirdness, with its unpredictable, nightmarish goings-on, and this film, which for me is quite differently disturbing. I admire its style and its authentic creepiness, but the main character bothers me. The reason, I've decided, is that the drunkenness is clearly not a one-night binge (hence the ability to potentially form a series); this character is an alcoholic who is frightened even by himself and cannot find a way out, though he appears to want to. And then he is victimized. Now, I can laugh at frog baseball, death matches between my favorite celebrities, and a lot of other pretty outlandish animated stuff, but there is something a bit too sad, a bit too realistic in this work, underneath its stylized exterior. I can already hear the protests of, 'It's just a cartoon!' coming my way, but for the record, I'm not convinced this is a comedy of any sort. As a one-shot, I'd say this is a memorable film; it's when I start thinking 'series' that I get uneasy.