Canhead

Timothy Hittle's quirky, Academy Award-nominated "Canhead" features all sorts of funny images in stop-motion animation. It doesn't have the most complex story, but it's an enjoyable short with lots of fun stuff. The only Oscar-nominated short that I'd seen at the time of the Oscars that year was "Wat's Pig" (about a pair of brothers raised apart from each other in medieval Europe). Nonetheless, you'll probably like both shorts, as well as the eventual winner, "Quest".

A rather amorphous figure is on some sort of plain trying to get by. We don't know where he came from or why he is there. As he makes his way he proves to be rather clumsy and careless. Along comes a blue dog who is rather enterprising. The "man" follows him. He ends up in a place populated by "Canheads." They are figures resembling the statues on Easter Island. He does battle with one of them and barely escapes. But there are some surprises along the way. Fascinating use of everyday things to create creatures.

This short, nominated for an Academy Award, is an all-around excellent production. The animation, production values, score-all are extremely well-done. One of the best shorts produced in the last ten years, without a doubt! The detail in many scenes is absolutely amazing. This is shown periodically on the Encore Channel or one of its' subsidiaries and is well worth seeking out. We can only hope someone decides to do another compilation along the lines of The World's Greatest Animation. I have no idea how Spike and Mike missed this one! Maybe they didn't, but I haven't seen it listed on any of their stuff. Highly recommended.

In 1997, CANHEAD was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. Oddly, in some ways, this film was similar to the winning film that year--QUEST. Both feature an odd humanoid character that is gray and somewhat rock-like. QUEST is computer generated and CANHEAD is a stop motion film--using clay and other types of models.

So why did I prefer CANHEAD? Well, QUEST, though beautiful, didn't have a particularly complex plot or sense of humor. However, CANHEAD had more action and a definite sense of humor--the type that 8th graders and immature guys like myself enjoy. Seeing characters puke and bite made me laugh. I know that doesn't sound particularly sophisticated, but that's the truth.

By the way, another nominated film from 97 that I actually liked best was WAT'S PIG. The techniques were very similar to CANHEAD (stop motion clay) but WAT'S PIG had a wonderful story and involved me more than any of the other nominees I saw that year.

Unfortunately, I have not been able to find a copy of the final nominee, LA SALLA. If anyone knows where I can get a look at this film, let me know.