Not Stanley is a very strange work, which is hardly uncommon for animator and director David Firth. In this series we follow the rambling monologues of an American who doesn't know his own name and likes shouting, which doesn't exactly sound good on paper.
Thankfully, there are many things going for it. The visuals are artfully made from photographs, collaging them together and then animating them digitally. The sound is also put together well, with well mixed sound effects when necessary but the star turn is David Firth's vocal and written portrayal of 'Stanley'.
For a monologue to work, it requires us to empathise or understand the character giving it, and while the main character is angry and speaks about surreal and sometimes disturbing subjects everything he says has some ring of truth to it, even if it's twisted. Firth does a great job of making 'Stanley' audibly arresting and compelling, even though there's little that we can actually like about him.
Finally, the script is very funny, for all the reasons given above. Even though little of consequence happens, interest is kept throughout and you could quote pretty much every line for years. So if you're on the fence, why not check it out?
Thankfully, there are many things going for it. The visuals are artfully made from photographs, collaging them together and then animating them digitally. The sound is also put together well, with well mixed sound effects when necessary but the star turn is David Firth's vocal and written portrayal of 'Stanley'.
For a monologue to work, it requires us to empathise or understand the character giving it, and while the main character is angry and speaks about surreal and sometimes disturbing subjects everything he says has some ring of truth to it, even if it's twisted. Firth does a great job of making 'Stanley' audibly arresting and compelling, even though there's little that we can actually like about him.
Finally, the script is very funny, for all the reasons given above. Even though little of consequence happens, interest is kept throughout and you could quote pretty much every line for years. So if you're on the fence, why not check it out?