QUEST was the Academy Award winner for Best Animated Short Film in 1997. In some ways, it is a pretty spectacular film--with nice animation of a character who looks almost as if made of concrete and some interesting backgrounds. However, the story itself was rather secondary and seemed more like it was incidental to the basic idea. Additionally, believe it or not, the movie concrete-like man seemed very reminiscent of the German short film, DAS RAD. Now in QUEST's behalf, it was made years before DAS RAD, but I couldn't help thinking that if I wanted to watch a film about giant rock-like creatures, DAS RAD was more interesting and involving.
The bottom line is that this was a neat film--nice to look at and all. But it just didn't jump out at me or leave me with much of an impression one way or the other. Actually, while it lost to QUEST, I preferred a couple of the nominees from 1997. CANHEAD was also a lot like QUEST! While graphically QUEST was superior, CANHEAD had a more interesting and compelling story. And my favorite of the films was WATT'S PIG. Although PIG featured older style claymation, the story itself was really neat and the backgrounds were amazing for stop motion style films.
As for the final nominee for 1997, LA SALLA, I could not find this film and cannot compare it to the other films. If anyone knows where I can find it, let me know--especially since its maker, Richard Condie, has made some wonderful films for Canadian TV--such as the hilarious THE BIG SNIT.
The bottom line is that this was a neat film--nice to look at and all. But it just didn't jump out at me or leave me with much of an impression one way or the other. Actually, while it lost to QUEST, I preferred a couple of the nominees from 1997. CANHEAD was also a lot like QUEST! While graphically QUEST was superior, CANHEAD had a more interesting and compelling story. And my favorite of the films was WATT'S PIG. Although PIG featured older style claymation, the story itself was really neat and the backgrounds were amazing for stop motion style films.
As for the final nominee for 1997, LA SALLA, I could not find this film and cannot compare it to the other films. If anyone knows where I can find it, let me know--especially since its maker, Richard Condie, has made some wonderful films for Canadian TV--such as the hilarious THE BIG SNIT.