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Of all the animations created by David Firth, this might be the most light-hearted one.

Sure, it might have its little share of black comedy and sarcasm, but for the most part, this web show seem more focused in the kind of absurd, "random" humor which was so in vogue during the early 2000s, lacking also the horror and macabre elements present in the large majority of David Firth's ouvre.

And the whole series is available online and can be seen in less than fifteen minutes, so why not give it a try?

I have no idea of why the main character is named after a Greek soccer club, however.

8/10.

A bitter sense of irony permeates this short from beginning to end: The plot is absolutely depressing, but the story is depicted through a bright, childish aesthetic, and narrated with a very gentle tone, akin to a fairy-tale despite all the horrible things happening to the protagonist and the incredibly pessimistic thoughts crossing her mind.

In less than ten minutes, the plot of this short somehow manages to be much bleaker than the one from the Joker film, despite the seemingly cute visuals.

Such juxtaposition worked surprisingly well here, without feeling forced or try-hard in any moment, coming up instead as a sincere tale of modern alienation in the increasingly hopeless world where we live.

Even when the CGI used here might not be particularly impressive, the short does a pretty job with its stylish use of imagery, evoking a Kafkian feel on its beginning.

There is a reverse metamorphosis here, however: Instead of being turned into a bug, the main character ends regaining his own humanity through a symbolic rebirth sequence.

The conclusion, in a similar way to the final moments of Mike Nichols' The Graduate, closes the story in an ambiguous note of uncertainty, leaving the viewer wondering what will happen next after the last scene.

A pretty solid surreal allegory which frankly deserves a much higher rating here on IMDb than just 6.1.

8.5/10.

I still remember the first time I watched this episode as if was yesterday: From the moment I saw the first previews of this series on television, I was pretty hyped to watch it, thinking it was going to be a superhero cartoon in the same vein of stuff like The Transformers or Silverhawks. (I also was interested in the zodiac related stuff for some reason during these years)

Watching Seiya cut off Cassius's ear surely left a mark on me; never before in my life I had seen something as gory on television before, much less in an animated series.

Even when this classic anime had several moments that shocked me when I saw it during my childhood, it also fascinated me in a way that stood the test of time, becoming one of my favourite series to this very day.

And it still remains as the best Saint Seiya adaptation. The beginning of the Netflix CGI series is not even remotely comparable, being quite insipid and sanitized by comparison.

A part of the soul of the franchise died without Shingo Araki and Seiji Yokoyama.

Surprised this episode is rated so relatively low, since the final scene could be easily considered as one of the most iconic moments of the whole series, being constantly referenced in later seasons.

What's even more baffling is that much worse, forgettable episodes (Such as the vastly overrated, gimmicky episode "Barthood", which was nowhere as memorable as this one) are rated higher here on the Internet Movie Database.

I guess some viewers are just too biased towards the early seasons of The Simpsons, dismissing these episodes over the "weird" animation (Which honestly looks much better than the eyesore modern look of the show, with an awful color palette)

"Bart the Daredevil" was the episode that put The Simpsons on the map, elevating its status as one of the biggest pop-culture icons of the nineties. And deservedly so, for this was both fun and heartwarming.

The modern "jerk" Homer would have never tried to jump Springfield Gorge to teach Bart a lesson about unnecessarily risking his life; he probably would have done that on purpose for some stupid or selfish reason.

Such kind of characterization was totally lost as the series progressed. The wackier the series became, the more it lost its original essence as a sincere depiction of a middle class American family, becoming a gratuitous parade of guest celebrities, trendy topics, and shallow culture references.

A shame really.

The first short film by Gabriel Reyes that I ever saw turned out to be quite an experience.

Imagine David Lynch making a public service announcement about eating disorders, and the result would probably be something like this strange black and white animation.

While some of the imagery was somewhat understable, most of it felt absolutely random (Such as the smiling guy with the bag of chips, the faceless woman playing roulette, or the piano with legs)

I'm also not sure if this was intended to be serious or humorous, but I couldn't help but chuckle at the scene with the superhero.

I did like its minimalistic aesthetic. Surely, it might seen crudely drawn at first glance, but there was something hypnotic about it.

I have rewatched several times, and I'm still not entirely sure of what this short is supposed to mean.

I personally like this episode a lot; feels like a throwback to the old characterization Homer used to have in the earlier seasons (When he was still depicted as a very flawed, but loving father) instead of the insufferable, idiotic buffoon he became much later in the series (In fact, the previous episode, "Trash of the Titans was one of these moments where Homer was at his absolute worst, playing a villainous role)

The jokes were fun and effective, without having to rely on shock value or any topical trend from the era; definitely one of the highest points of a rather uneven season, along with "The Joy of Sect" and "Simpsons Tide".

A fun, little CGI short parodying wildlife documentaries.

I liked a lot how the animation here wasn't only pretty realistic, but also fun and expressive, getting progressively more cartoonish as the chameleon keeps capturing bigger and bigger insects with its tongue.

Compare this with that "live action" version of the Lion King done three years later: While it's true the animation from that film had an impressive level of detail, it also lacked the beauty of the original movie, all in name of having a gritter, "more mature" aesthetic, while small animations like this one proof that it is possible to have a lot of fun with hyperrealistic visuals.

Steve Cutts' work is anything but subtle.

I don't necessarily disagree with the messages from his shorts, but I can see why some people find the way in which said messages are delivered to be extremely preachy and hamfisted.

Here, for example, we have stuff like a Donald Trump robot briefly turning into a swastika before transforming into the dollar symbol, while fighting a bunch of heroes with "justice" written on their shields.

Whatever one could think of Trump or any similar political figure, such kind of imagery is frankly ridiculous and over the top.

I can see Cutts is aiming for a "bitterly ironic" tone here, juxtaposing real life injustices with the naive aesthetic of the saturday morning cartoon world, but still feels cheesy anyway, like that stupid couch gag Bansky made for The Simpsons some time ago.

Looking back to our respective childhoods, it's weird how many famous nursery rhymes and songs for kids tend to include violence and other macabre elements (Doesn't Humpty Dumpty end with him dying?)

We just never pay too much attention to such details because of the fun lyrics and the happy tunes. And also because we were little kids when we heard them by the first time.

Taking that in consideration, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised by the ending of this Canadian short, a very charming cutout animation about a frog and a mouse getting married which ends with both of them being eating by a snake which appears at the very last moment.

But it took me by surprise anyway, considering how happy everything was before the ending.

A quite good short anyway, very enjoyable to watch despite its bitter conclusion.

In a similar way to Flushed Away, this short uses a CGI visual style evoking stop motion; but while in Flushed Away such kind of aesthetic was reasonably well executed, here the animation has a frankly ugly, outdated look which somewhat detracts the whimsical charm the story has.

In all honesty, it's the villains who steal the show here: These ominous crow-like tormentos had an aura of mystery which made me want to learn more about them.

However, it seems their role is merely allegorical, serving only as an obstacle the main character must overcome, as a symbol of those who prey on the less fortunate.

But they looked cool, disregard of the technical limitations.

A brief but effective short but with an unexpected twist at its conclusion.

A little bit unfair, in my opinion, considering the lemonade seller tried to do the right thing at the end, despite his initial intention to trick his thirsty client, but he ends being punished by that choice.

Maybe it was already too late for such kind of change of heart?

Maybe I'm overthinking things, and there isn't any real moral intention behind this amusing little animation.

Now one would question what is even doing a lemonade stand in the middle of the desert in the first place, but then again, the answer is probably cartoon logic.

Weird to think how this actually predates Ivan Reitman's Junior movie by a couple of years.

This episode is often brought up in online discussions about the Liveman series, being often considered the most bizarre moment of the show, if not of the whole "super sentai" genre, involving one of the heroes being "impregnated" by a monster.

On paper, the premise sounds absolutely ridiculous. Yet somehow the actual episode managed to be effectively dramatic, delivering a moving message about the value and beauty of life underneath all the spandex suits and rubber monster goofiness.

The baby monster turned out to be oddly adorable, all things considered. And his death managed to be one of the saddest moments of the series.

I was just a little kid when I watched this series by the first time; I used to watch it religiously (But somehow I missed the final three episodes) even when several of its themes totally went over my head back then.

Sure, at first glance it might seem another Power Rangers-esque series, with all the usual conventions of the genre: Heroes with bright colored uniforms, giant combining robots, rubber monsters and eccentric-looking villains...

But rewatching it as an adult, I was somewhat surprised of how dark and dramatic the plot could get at times, despite being a show for children.

There was a lot of death, tragedies and dramatic moments, with characters having to overcome several difficulties. Even the lessons given to children at the end of the episode were a bit more complex, often dealing with the value of life and keeping your own humanity in the face of intense hardships.

In other words, it didn't talk down its audience, without sugarcoating stuff as many American shows tend to do.

Shows and movies like that are missing these days, with even the mildest kind of content being deemed "inappropiate" for kids by the censors and moral guardians.

I sincerely believe the antivalues pushed by many modern series (such as materialism, rudeness, willful ignorance, anti-intellectualism and celebrity/billionaires worship) are far worse and more harmful to children than anything featured here.

Liveman might be dark, but is the kind of "dark" show with lots of light underneath all the violence and drama, and I'm glad I had the chance of discovering it before the Power Rangers turned the whole genre into a bizarre teen sitcom.

A charming Taiwanese short about the young apprentices of psychopomps going to Death School in order to learn how to take the souls of the livings, having as its protagonist the adorable little sucessor of the Grim Reaper, who seems to be more interested in knitting.

The animation is quite well done, with very appealing designs and pretty stylish sceneries: Personally I think this short has enough potential to be fully developed into a full feature length film, or an animated series.

Sure, the premise might seem a bit grim (no pun intended), but hey, Cartoon Network used to have a succesful show for kids with Death as one of the main characters, and I personally would love to see more of this premise.

I have some hazy memories of watching a couple of scenes from this animated short during my childhood, being completely confused by its content.

I even thought I imagined it at one point.

Now that I have finally rewatched it on its entirety as an adult, I finally got its message much better. I found it amusing and clever, even though the art style used here (With the characters partially resembling stick figures, mixed with the visual attributes usually attributed to what the modern internet refers as "boomer cartoons", and the result is frankly unappealing in my opinion)

Gratuitous nudity aside, this is a pretty clever tale of a man overcoming his inner demons, with the ending recognizing that while these undesirable parts from ourselves can be dominated, they are never fully gone.

A fun little short about an ordinary guy who suddenly finds himself fully clothed in a world where everyone is entirely naked.

It might not be a life-changing experience, but it was amusing to watch from beginning to end, taking full advantage of the medium to develop a premise that probably would be a little bit too awkward to perform in a live-action format, with a simple but charming art style.

The final twist at the end, (With everything basically being revealed to be "just a dream") was a little bit predictable, but fun to watch anyway.

Definitiley a worth-watching experience with a likeable everyman protagonist.

I personally would like to see a sequel to this.

6/10.

Short Subject (Better known as Mickey Mouse in Vietnam) is a brief underground animation satirizing the way in which the American youth was lured to fight in the Vietnam War through fake promises of fame and glory, just for many of them to die in that senseless conflict.

Here, Mickey symbolizes the innocence and naivete of these young soldiers, crushed by the tragic, violent reality of war. In that sense, the short manages to deliver its message in a pretty effective manner disregard of any technical limitation.

However, I must say the first version of this short I saw a few years ago (which was entirely silent, before the original soundtrack was eventually rediscovered) had a much eerier vibe, giving a bleaker impression.

I frankly don't know why this has an Imdb page, but then again, this old Internet meme was consider relevant enough to also warrant its own internet Wikipedia page, so here we are.

For those who are too young to remember, the "Dramatic Chipmunk" was a brief clip from a Japanese show edited to a dramatic musical cue just at the moment when a praire dog was doing a weird face while staring at the camera, becoming a huge internet hit back then, having thousands of reuploads, parodies and alternate versions everywhere online.

It was big enough to be referenced in South Park (Though by that time, the meme was already losing its popularity)

Dramatic Chipmunk comes from much simpler times, when brief clips of cute animals acting weird was enough to capture the attention of the whole internet (Think about stuff like Lolcats)

I guess that compared with modern internet memes, which are either nonsensical, or way too politicized (Often made out of spite in order to "own" the other side), this little praire dog feels way more wholesome and authentic.

I frankly will take old memes above the awful content made by the so-called "influencers" from TikTok or artificial intelligence garbage regurgitated by bots.

After a recent rewatch, I have to admit it made chuckle a bit.

A mere soundtrack change is able to create a whole world of difference, as it is shown here: Originally intended as a segment for Fantasia accompanied by Debussy's Clair de Lune, the same animation directed by Samuel Armstrong was later included in the movie Make Mine Music, this time substituted with the song Blue Bayou.

The footage used here is almost exactly the same to the "Clair de Lune" version, with only difference being a small cut to make a water reflection sequence a bit shorter.

"Blue Bayou" is a nice song, and the animation used here is pretty gorgeous, but I personally think the original "Clair de Lune" version is simply much better, being in perfect synchrony with the music.

Strange how it took until the year 2000 for the public being finally able to witness this animation as it was originally intended to be, and tragically enough, it was 24 years after the death of its director.

A very beautiful discarded sequence from the original Fantasia, quite gorgeously animated.

Shame it wasn't included in said film, since it would have been a great addition to an already wonderful movie.

The alternate version from Make Mine Music set to "Blue Bayou" is also pretty lovely, but in my humble opinion, the animation fits much better with Debussy's music, as it was originally intended.

Sad how modern Disney wouldn't even consider making something like this, being focused instead in making endless sequels or trashy live-action remakes with none of the charm their timeless classics had.

Two pieces of chess engage on a deadly battle while humans are not looking.

And basically, that's it.

I think the premise is good, is just that not much is done with it, feeling more like an animation test than a proper short, having a certain "incomplete" feel, particularly during its sudden conclusion. Then again, this was an student film, and taking that in consideration, the result is quite impressing.

For some reason, it reminded me a bit to another short, named "Chateau de Sable", which also focused on a epic battle on a very small scale, told from the perspective of a little child imagining the whole thing.

I personally think "Chateau de Sable" was far more effective on its execution, but at least the nice CGI animation was enough to make Draw a worth-watching experience.

6/10.

The very first short by the Portuguese filmmaker Daniel Sousa, who was nominated for an Academy award in the year 2013 for his "Feral" animation.

Here, Sousa does a very interesting adaptation of the Greek myth of Theseus and the Minotaur, from the perspective of the latter: Here, the Minotaur is given a very sympathetic portrayal, as the lonely recluse of a labyrinth filled with mirrors, unable to communicate with his half-sister Ariadne without being reduced into a beastly state which terrifies her.

As expected, the Minotaur dies at the end; but his death is shown as an unjust, almost treasonous act: Here Theseus gives his enemy a false sense of hope before offing him.

A very stylish tale with a great atmosphere, which deserves a much higher score here on imdb than just a mere 6.1.

I had somewhat mixed opinions about this film the first time I watched it: For starters, I got the impression Willem Dafoe was miscast, being completely different of the idea I had of Jesus Christ.

In retrospect, I guess I completely missed the point of the movie, which was to give a take a different approach from all the previous, far more reverent film adaptations of the Gospel, focused on the divine side of Jesus, while in this version focused in his human side instead, struggling with his role as the Messiah, being so filled with doubt that at moments almost seems to be a madman.

Even today, I can see why the movie was so controversial, often going with many beliefs commonly accepted by many christians all around the world (From subtle things, such as the Virgin Mary herself doubting about "the voices" Jesus keeps hearing at the beginning, to far more shocking elements, such as the infamous Mary Magdalene love scene)

It was such a different perspective I had some trouble to merely consider it during my youth. After all this time, I still think there is a certain haunting elements which makes me understand perfectly well why so many people find it to be so blasphemous even today.

Particularly how reasonable the devil sounds at moments (Specially during the "last temptation" scene, in contrast with the inscrutable nature of God, so indifferent and distant which at moments it almost feels like He was completely absent in this story.

It might not be as gratuitous as Mel Gibson's overrated gorefest, but I think this might be the bleakest Jesus movie of all time, with him struggling alone with the devil in cruel world, with the strong possibility of God only existing inside his own mind.

Very haunting, but quite memorable nonetheless.

What a charming little short.

Sure, the story might not be particularly groundbreaking (Being basically another tale about how the life of a lonely character is changed once he adopts a dog) but it's still a pretty enjoyable watching experience anyway, mostly due the imaginative, nicely done visuals, and the overall gentle tone of the story.

The little "bait-and-switch" twist near its conclusion was cleverly executed.

While I have yet to see some of the other nominees at the same category from the same year, I can see why it ended winning the award for best animated short in 2013: It's quite pleasant, with a cozy feel from beginning to end.

Definitely worth-watching.