National Film Festival for Talented Youth (NFFTY) 2009

strong animated short. i loved the visual style: strong samurai jack/genndy tartakovsky influence is present, but it the look is still natural and fresh - the filmmaker is not merely aping a hip style, but rather putting his own (even more over the top) twist on it. the characters designs are great and memorable. i particularly enjoyed the horse with his precious toaster and the "bad kitty" - both were strange, hilarious touches. the animation itself seemed solid to me. it felt natural and smooth, and there were very few moments that did not "click." obviously the animator has gained a technical mastery of this art, and he knows how to tell a fun, humorous story as well. sound was the only area i had mixed feelings about. though i felt that the sfx and music complimented the overall story, nothing stood out to me as particularly great. also, i loved the chicken's voice (though it was a little annoying... but i think that was the point, and it worked well in the short), but i didn't think the villian's voice quite fit the character, and some of his lines seemed to not mesh well with the animation/action on screen. finally - fun, interesting live action transitions that somehow manage to not feel incoherent or inconsistent with the animation - that's a trick to pull off, and this film does it admirably. cool movie!