The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1965)

A simple line attempts to woo his true love, a dot, away from the unkempt squiggle she prefers. But he'll have to learn to bend before she'll notice him.

Directors:

Chuck Jones, Maurice Noble

Writer:

Norton Juster (original story and screenplay)

Stars:

Robert Morley

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Robert Morley	...	Narrator (voice)

Storyline

A simple line attempts to woo his true love, a dot, away from the unkempt squiggle she prefers. But he'll have to learn to bend before she'll notice him.

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Plot Keywords:

line | dot | squiggle | surrealism | geometry | 

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Genres:

Animation | Short | Comedy | Family | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 December 1965 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Dot and the Line

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

10 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

To give the squiggle an unkempt appearance, the animation drawings were inked on rice paper. The ink bled, creating a textured line that was then Xeroxed onto cel.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Narrator: Once upon a time there was a sensible, straight line, who was hopelessly in love, with a dot.

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Connections

Featured in Great Performances: Chuck Jones: Extremes and In-Betweens - A Life in Animation (2000)

User Reviews

deja vu - I did the production, too, in 1965!

Yes: Amazing coincidence (and shades of the Blair Witch coincidence) Mr. Richard Wiley Jerome and I, Mr. Raymond Kenneth Petry, both of Sacramento CA USA at that time in Arden Junior High School, did Norton Juster's, The Dot And The Line, on his family's home movie camera - we called it, Planar-Vision - the camera had a single-frame feature, and with their tripod looking down on our display board, we pinned variously cloth cuttings of the Dot, velvet hemming for the Line (except when he looked thin and drawn and on-edge, we drew him, on-the-edge) and Squiggle was mohair yarn ... we shot the whole story. For voice we added his little sister, Jeanie, and for hours we re-recorded over our giggles and laughter, till we had it just right and well-timed: then we single-shot each scene straight-through by timings.

In 1965-69, we went to Rio Americano High School, and showed our mathematics class, eventually: We were both scholars: Rich went on to be Salutatorian for Rio Americano in 1969, and matriculated at Stanford, and I took 1st Place in the Central Valleys Math Quiz (against the MAA perfect-top-scorer) in 1969, and matriculated at UCSD, for my BA in mathematics.

The Dot and The Line is a most memorable story done in fun: We're delighted that Hollywood thought enough of it, too.

/rkp