A few years ago, my oldest daughter invited me to go along with her to New York ComicCon....usually not the sort of place I'd choose to hang out for a few days, as I really hate crowds. Most of the comic book guests and video games didn't interest me very much and I was resigned to just walking about the convention center...bored to tears. That is, until I learned that Bill Plympton HIMSELF was going to be there! I have been a major Plympton fan...and I would now have a chance to meet him! I am sure it wasn't necessarily the highlight of Mr. Plympton's ComicCon experience, but it certainly was for me. I not only got a chance to talk with him but to get a couple nice drawings and autographs. A year later, my daughter met Mr. Plympton again...and this time she bought me one of his amazing books and even had him draw a picture of me inside! This is something I'll definitely treasure.
Why am I telling you this? Well, I just wanted you to know that this is NOT an unbiased review. No, I have a very strong bias towards his wonderful and weird sense of humor and his one of a kind hand-drawn animation. After all, in this age of fancy CGI, you normally don't expect to see an entire cartoon animated with colored pencil drawings...but they work very well. And his bizarre sense of humor in shorts such as Guide Dog, Hot Dog as well as One of Those Days make his cartoons something you won't soon forget.
Bill's latest is a full-length animated film called Cheatin'. It debuts on April 3rd in theaters and will be released on the internet through Vimeo on Demand on April 21st....and I strongly suggest you see it. However, it is very different from his hilarious short films. Instead, Cheatin' is an amazingly surreal and occasionally absurd sort of love story. To understand, you just have to see it to get the full effect. His characters never talk and it's amazing how much feeling they actually convey through grunts, sighs and moans. And, speaking of moans, this love story is NOT for kids...nope, definitely not. There is nudity, a decent amount of cartoon sex and a plot that isn't the best thing for younger audience members. However, it did work in the story and didn't seem gratuitous...most of the time.
The bottom line is that even if you have seen the Plympton shorts, you may be taken totally by surprise by Cheatin'--I know I was. It's incredibly artistic, the music is AMAZING and the film very sentimental and, at times, touching and hilarious. It's a strange confection...but one I would like to see more of from the Plymptoons folks-- especially because it's so unlike what we would normally think of when we think of a cartoon. It's more...an experience.
