Saturday, April 25, 2015

Don Hertzfeldt's World Of Tomorrow

You probably remember Don Hertzfeldt. He's the man behind the animation studio Bitter Films; he gained worldwide attention through Rejected, and kept the momentum going with a few hilarious shorts before releasing Everything Will Be OK. This is the man who made the world take stick figure animation seriously. EWBO was a revelation for myself and, I'm sure, the majority of people who watched the three-part film. The style was simple, the story powerful; it was an emotional powerhouse, as evidenced by Hertzfeldt's many awards and nominations for the film.

If you haven't been keeping up on Hertzfeldt's new work, he has recently released a film entitled World of Tomorrow. Needless to say, I was pretty excited about it. WOT is loosely related to Hertzfeldt's recent book, The End of The World. I don't think it quite tops EWBO (which you can view on Netflix and purchase on the Bitter Films website), as that film will always have a special place in my heart, but it's definitely a film to view a couple of times. 

World of Tomorrow is Hertzfeldt's first fully digital short. It speaks to his character that even though he excels in his style, he keeps finding new ways to create. WOT is available for rent on Vimeo. Most (90%) of the proceeds go into making the next film. It's already wom the Grand Jury Prize for Best Short Film at Sundance, as well as the prize for Best Animated Short at SXSW. Do yourself a favor: take a day, watch all of his films leading up to WOT, then rent WOT on Vimeo. I can't guarantee that your life will be forever changed, but if nothing else, it will put a big smile on your face.

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