Plymptoons

1991 animated shorts

Rating: 12/20

Plot: Compilation of shorts by animator Bill Plympton.

I've always liked the idea of Bill Plympton much more than the actual product although I did used to enjoy the MTV shorts they used to show in between these things they used to show called music videos. When these are short enough (his audience would have to be somebody with a very short attention span) and burbling with that crazy dark creative energy he's known for, these really work as entertaining little tidbits. "Your face" is pretty brilliant. I also liked the onslaught of 10-or-so second snippets near the end of the collection, and the "How to Quit Smoking" piece was cute. Unfortunately for this collection, there's a lot of stuff that nobody but Bill Plympton's mother would really want to see. She'd keep some of this in a box in the attic with all his old report cards and elementary art work. I really sort of wish there were times during my most mundane days when somebody would tap me on the shoulder and I'd turn around and the shoulder tapper would have a television sitting on his head and on the television would be a Bill Plympton short and I'd watch it and laugh and then thank the shoulder tapper and then walk away. I'm not sure if watching all of these at once (or in two installments) is recommended.