The films I share in my 31 Days of Oscar lists tend to get lost in the shuffle, so I’ll be featuring them on Short Film Saturday to give them their due. Directed by Vincent-René Lortie Invincible dramatizes a harrowing ripped-from-the-headlines tale in a sensitive, empathetic, and moving way. It’s a film that was most deserving of its nomination, but sadly overlooked in voting. You can watch it below.
An old short disclaimer with a message that’s needed now more than ever.
Earlier this year the animation world lost an unsung hero. Paul Fierlinger was perhaps best known as the writer/director of the Teeny Little Super Guy shorts on Sesame Street. He and his wife Sandra also created the critically acclaimed My Dog Tulip. I’ve linked to some of his work here and recommend you read the great profile Cartoon Brew did on him. Enjoy!
His Alphabet song also from Sesame Street.
During the World War II Hollywood’s biggest animators joined the war effort with entertaining instructional and propaganda shorts. For years these titles were scarce, the most hard-to-find were the Private Snafu shorts directed by the Warner Brothers stable of animation directors including the likes of Chuck Jones, Friz Freleng, Bob Clampett and more along with the voice talent of Mel Blanc in his best Bugs Bunny/Brooklynite voice. However, these have started to become more available since the advent of the Internet. With it being Memorial Day weekend in the US, it seemed an appropriate time to share these.
When I searched my page’s archives I realized I’d yet to feature one of the undisputed landmarks of early cinema, The Great Train Robbery, on my page. So here it is…
An animated short by the inmitable Don Hertzfeldt.
I haven’t posted much lately and I’ve considered many themes that I could begin. That has only fed my procrastination. So, first things first, I’ll try and get Short Film Saturday back up by not trying to stick to a given theme, but rather just trying to post one weekly. Enjoy1
It’s been a while since I’ve done a Short Film Saturday, so I figured I may as well make the the first in 2025 a super-sized one. As you may know quite a few notable titles have been entering the public domain the past few years. So this weekend I decided to post all the Disney animated shorts that have entered. Yes, Steamboat Willie entering last year was big news and opportunists everywhere pounced on it. However, this year’s crop is larger. There are more Mickey and miscellaneous shorts as well as the beginning of the iconic Silly Symphonies series. Enjoy!
And now the Silly Symphonies…
For Short Film Saturday for most of the past year and a half, I have revisited the animated shorts that were presented in snippets by the King of Cartoons on Pee-Wee’s Playhouse. On this blog I’ve presented these shorts in their entirety and will soon post a recap page. Aside from his acting work, showcasing these cartoons is another way in which Paul Reubens, through his character Pee-Wee Herman, left behind a lasting legacy. I hope you’ve enjoyed the retrospective.
This weekend I bring to you a sampling of the Koko the Clown shorts created by Max Fleischer. These films appeared as part of the Out of the Inkwell series. This was a series of silent animated shorts released between 1918 and 1929. For more information on this character go here.
The Movie Rat 