While doing some research on “animation” for our upcoming film program Drawn To Life (more info later), I stumbled upon some great autobiographical-tinted animation series, which are distributed via the net (where these vignettes are phenomenally popular). One is Tales Of Mere Existence by LEV (or Levni R. Yilmaz Esq), a wonderful series of witty (live) hand-drawn self-observations. Taylor Jessen writes: Tales Of Mere Existence is not necessarily about interesting stories, It is what it’s title indicates, anecdotes about the gloriously mundane. Everyday stories told not by the Devil on your right shoulder or the Angel on your left, but the voice in the middle of your head that doubts himself, questions everything, and sometimes doesn’t let you get out of bed. An unseen narrator tells the stories in a monotone voice, while his doodled illustrations come together on the screen. The stories deal with issues such as Sex, identity, and social confusion and just about anything else you would have written in your journal in High School. “Tales Of Mere Existence” goes for laughs in fearless ways that shock you even as you nod your head in recognition”. Take a look on Lev’s website, where you can suscribe to his films and comics. You can watch most of his animations on his YouTube or MySpace pages.
Here are some of my favorites:
A second series is Simon’s Cat by Simon Tofield. As a cat lover I find these Flash animations not only highly recognisable but also simply irresistible. The delightful vignettes (three so far) “accurately depict and exaggerate the comical aspects of nature’s odd couples, humans and felines, living together — especially the parts about ‘FEED ME!'”. One of the episodes has recently won “Best Comedy” at the British Animation Awards. Check out Simon’s Cat on YouTube and Simon Tofield’s work on the website of Tandem Films.