Dreams and Desires: Family Ties

DREAMS AND DESIRES is one of many animated short films that make up THE ANIMATION SHOW VOLUME THREE. This is an excellent collection and although VOLUME TWO was pretty poor, VOLUMES ONE and THREE were both very good and are worth seeking.

The first thing you'll probably notice is all the nudity. While most of it is pretty innocent and not especially salacious, there is quite a bit and the film is a bit crude here and there (with a scene of a dog unloading his bowels on the rug). The second thing you'll probably notice is the animation style--which is wonderful. In some ways, it looks a bit like the cartoons of Bill Plympton--though the hand drawn animation is less detailed but far more billowy and quite beautiful. I don't think they used colored pencils but perhaps pastel crayons--I'm really not sure but it is lovely and unique.

The plot involves an older woman who has agreed to videotape a friend's daughter's wedding. However, the lady ends up mucking up practically everything and the wedding turns out to be a bit of a fiasco. Cute stuff and well worth a look.