Rejected

I remember seeing this delightful little short film when I was in high school and thought it was absolutely bonkers! Such absurd sequences with a fruit declaring "I am a banana!" and a little cloud puff freaking out because his anus is bleeding had my teenage version of myself laughing hysterically at something my parents and teachers would undoubtedly find appalling.

It wasn't until later in my life that I discovered the film had been nominated for an Oscar (Best Animated Short - 2000). I was shocked....and delighted! It reignited my hopes for the Oscars (which have since dropped again to the point I no longer watch them at all), but even more importantly it opened me up to discovering more of Don Hertzfeldt's fine work. In fact, he may be my favorite animation film-maker (Hayao Miyazaki comes close). But let's talk about Rejected.

Watch Rejected here first!

Hertzfeldt's masterful short is clearly a satire on the nature of advertising. The narration describes the work of an animator (Don) who is hired to create commercial work for a number of companies. The eccentric work features absurd characters in surreal scenarios that are all too bizarre for any corporate portrayal and thus get rejected by all the employing firms. By the end of the film, the rejected cartoon world begins to implode due to the mental degradation of the animator's psyche, resulting in the amazing finale. This is where Hertzfeldt's style shines, using the paper itself as a layer to the world - characters go flying out of holes and rips in the paper, ripples in the sheet are like tidal waves, and one character knocks on the medium making cracks as if he is trying to escape. This is surreal comedy at perhaps its best. Given the excellent animation work, the thematic undertones of advertising absurdity, and the memorable and often disturbing jokes ("My spoon is too big!"), I can see why Rejected is award-worthy. Don't you?