Surogat (1961)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Dusan Vukotic

Writer:

Rudolf Sremec (writer)

Genre:

Animation | Short | Comedy

Plot:

Simple story about the man who comes to the beach and uses inflatable objects for all of his needs. |

Plot Keywords:

Beach | One Word Title | Twist In The End

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Also Known As:

Ersatz
The Substitute

Runtime:

Croatia:10 min

Country:

Yugoslavia

Language:

None

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Herts-Lion

Movie Connections:

Edited into "International Festival of Animation" (1977)

It gets an A for originality and a C- for artistic style

Regardless how good this cartoon is, I was amazed at how incredibly annoying the opening music was. Fortunately, the actual cartoon turned out to be much better, so don't give up just because the opening music is dreadful! As to the cartoon, you'll probably first notice its minimalist style. In many ways it looks like a Calder mobile and cartoon morphed into one. The odd lines and shapes are very artsy and very indicative of the 1960 "modern" look. To me, a lover of classic cartoons, the style looked just cheap and you could tell by the art work and cel count that it was not a high quality film.

Now despite these aesthetics, the film is actually pretty good--mostly due to a bizarre and very captivating story. An odd little man goes to the beach and begins pumping up little shapes until they become full-sized and apparently normal items--such as beach chairs, tents, etc.. Now here's where it gets weird....he also begins pumping shapes and they become ladies and the picture enters Weirdsville! However, you also find yourself laughing and looking forward to what's coming next.

A clever idea with less than terrific art work.