What a delight this is. A slice-of-life memoir of sorts about a neurotic (yet normal and recognizable) artist, it fires on all cylinders. Its central metaphor is clever and compelling.
As fast as the dialog is here -- and it is really fast (I watched the British dub), it will occasionally pause to take a breath, lingering for a moment on an illustration of an alleyway, a cityscape, a dripping faucet, or a night sky. All of the tricks cartoonists have are deployed here to wonderful effect - big exaggerated facial expressions, hilarious fantasies which can only really happen in animation, but more than this, there is so much beauty throughout.
This is simply a pleasure to look at: generous, lush color, and the artist's eye for amplifying the essence of things. When I watch it again, I will pause it a lot. There's so much to look at here. Although the style is different, I kept thinking of those New York City montages in Fritz the Cat linking the scenes together. I really appreciate it when animators think to do that.
Funny as this is, there's so much heart to go along with its intelligence and verisimilitude. I sympathize so much with the protagonist, and I suspect a lot of people will, too. I had to rewind during the pizza selection conundrum sequence because I was laughing so hard: I've been there.
All of this is tied together by an excellent, thoughtfully selected soundtrack. I'm taking notes and will have to hunt down a few of these for my mix.
Outstanding.
As fast as the dialog is here -- and it is really fast (I watched the British dub), it will occasionally pause to take a breath, lingering for a moment on an illustration of an alleyway, a cityscape, a dripping faucet, or a night sky. All of the tricks cartoonists have are deployed here to wonderful effect - big exaggerated facial expressions, hilarious fantasies which can only really happen in animation, but more than this, there is so much beauty throughout.
This is simply a pleasure to look at: generous, lush color, and the artist's eye for amplifying the essence of things. When I watch it again, I will pause it a lot. There's so much to look at here. Although the style is different, I kept thinking of those New York City montages in Fritz the Cat linking the scenes together. I really appreciate it when animators think to do that.
Funny as this is, there's so much heart to go along with its intelligence and verisimilitude. I sympathize so much with the protagonist, and I suspect a lot of people will, too. I had to rewind during the pizza selection conundrum sequence because I was laughing so hard: I've been there.
All of this is tied together by an excellent, thoughtfully selected soundtrack. I'm taking notes and will have to hunt down a few of these for my mix.
Outstanding.