Plymptoons – The Complete Early Works Of Bill Plympton

(New Video Edition)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B     Film: B+

 

 

Whether one realizes it or not, they have most likely seen or have seen the influence of Bill Plympton somewhere along the lines.  Whether it’s in a TV commercial, cartoon, film, sketch, TV program, or even advertising the animation work of Bill Plympton is out there.  Plympton is known for his 20 award winning shorts, which are compiled here in this astonishing collection.  His skill with making short black comedy animations can be seen here as he developed and emerged as a creative force.  What’s great about this particular set is the fact that you can see his work mature as we journey through the artists early works and later works of mutilated humor.  His career spanned 30 years and this set contains the complete early works, plus two-never before seen animations.  His Academy-Award nominated “Your Face” is also here as well. 

 

Animation list:

 

Self Portrait

The Turn On

Lucas, The Ear of Corn

Boomtown

Drawing Lessons #2

Your Face

Love in the Fast Lane

One of Those Days

How to Kiss

25 Ways to Quit Smoking

245 Days

Noodle Ear

Human Rights

Environmental

Trivial Pursuit #1

Trivial Pursuit #2

Sugar Delight #1

Sugar Delight #2

Previous Lives #1

Previous Lives #2

Plymptoons

At the Zoo

America Upper and Lower Case

 

 

What is ultimately fascinating about Plympton is that he is the man that turned down a huge deal to work with Disney on the 1992 film Aladdin, but he refused to do work that he would not have the rights to since all the work done for Disney would be their property.  After seeing his work in this collection or even the more known I Married a Strange Person it’s no surprise that Plympton is both proud and protective about retaining his rights as an artist.  Like most true artists, he does not want to bow down to the executive powers that want to control his work.  Instead he trades fame and fortune for his individuality and self-worth.  It’s great to see someone with success through their own means.

 

The shorts run about an hour and a half, but there are also 2 documentaries on this disc that really make for some entertainment.  While his shorts make for a good sit-down it’s nice to have some more insight into the man behind the magic.  All of the shorts are in full-frame with about the best quality considering the age and source of the material.  The quality gets better with some of the newer sketches and you can see that jump as he emerges as a more talented individual.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo sound is also decent considering the only audio is mainly dialogue and/or music.  So this works just fine.

 

It’s great to have all of these shorts in one place and is a mighty fine collection.  Fans will also want to track down some of his other work including feature length films.

 

 

-   Nate Goss