Closed Mondays

I saw this film on video when I was about seven years old. It was on a tape of various animated shorts, including "Sundae in New York". This was the last film to play, and I have to say I was astounded. Even as a child, I admired the haunting beauty of the animation, and the simple but surreal plot line. I already was a fan of Wil Vinton's work in "Return to Oz", but this film showed a unique creativity that still affects me to this day. I think that it is a crime that it is not available on DVD, and should be offered alongside some of Jan Svankmajer's work. The end (which I will not reveal) still makes me wonder about the nature of the man in the museum.

A charming parable about thin border between life and art. A drinken man in an art gallery in evening. His discoveries , his experiences and the truths front to it.

A wise and seductive crafted short animation , a simple story about illusions and reality and one of perfect ends.

But the precious gift is the final feeling, a mix of nostalgia and tenderness , flavors of childhood and feeling of be older, both working in interesting manner together.

A parable, many. Useful for fair status of experience profound unique.

The result is a kick to reflection about significant things defining the life.

This claymation short film starts with an old man, jolly off wine, coming into an empty art gallery and being quick to dismiss much of what he sees as rubbish. However as he walks around, the static images and works do more than remain this way and instead start to speak to him in different ways.

There is a point in this short film about the power of art to be alive and speak to the viewer and I mostly liked the idea behind this short where the various words come alive to the way that they are either silly, moving or everything in between. The idea is good and at points so is the short film – particularly in the sudden poignancy of the conclusion, however for me I found myself more appreciating the film and the idea than I did really enjoying it. The reason for this is two-fold. Firstly the animation. I appreciate it is now over 40 years old, but it is rather ugly in the delivery – in some cases it works (for example the transforming robot) but in others I found it as a barrier to watch – I know this is superficial and unfair to the content, but for me it was as such. The second thing that gave me pause was that some of the examples of the art coming alive didn't work – and again I use the transforming robot as an example, it seemed too silly and out of nowhere. Had all the examples had something to bring to the table it would have been better but again this robot example stuck with me as being out of place considering the good ending it was building to.

This won the Oscar for the year and in a way I do not begrudge it because I like the idea and aspects of the delivery, but I would be lying to say I did not struggle with some of the animation and the content at the same time. I appreciated it as a whole, but I did not necessarily enjoy it as such.

To clear the record and correct you all. Bob Gardiner wrote, directed, and made Closed Mondays and California Raisons. Vinton claimed both films along with many others that Gardiner made. Vinton in no small way contributed to Gardiner's decline in later years and helped to cut down one of the greatest minds in the history of stop motion animation. Vinton was a partner in these projects, but its Gardiner's vision and execution that gave the world these films. Please, if you are to discuss these films further, give Bob Gardiner the credit he deserves and thank him, not Vinton, for Closed Mondays. Thank you for time and enjoy this great piece of stop motion animation.

The 1974 winner of Best Animated Short depicts a man looking at artwork that appears to come to life. I especially liked the malfunctioning computer. One might interpret Will Vinton's "Closed Mondays" as a look at the relationship between humanity and the art that we produce. There's even the question of how to define art. I wouldn't call this my favorite Will Vinton cartoon, but I enjoyed it. Personally I don't think that enough people get to see the nominated animated shorts. They tend to be far more interesting than the features voiced by the celebrities of the moment.

Anyway, this one is worth seeing. It's too bad that Phil Knight took over Will Vinton's studio and fired Vinton from it.