Walking (1968) User Reviews

Some interesting artwork...but not a particularly compelling film

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 2 November 2008]

The film consists of various people walking and they are drawn in a variety of ways. As you see cartoons walk or outlines of people or sketches, music accompanies their every move. There really isn't anything more to the film.

WALKING was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short but in this day and age, I doubt if this would be possible. That's because the quality of the animation and stories has risen dramatically over the last decade or two and a pure art film like WALKING probably wouldn't be noticed. Sure, it has some lovely animation here and there, but this isn't consistent. Plus, there really is no plot to the film and even though it's only five minutes long, I have a hard time imagining people sticking with it to the end--I know I had to struggle. In many ways, it looks like an art house film and not much more.

Walking

[CinemaSerf · 7/10 · 6 April 2024]

Ryan Larkin uses a variety of animation styles to depict human beings at work, at play and yes - walking. Dressed and naked, and from different perspectives, we see his impressions of our stride, our expressions and our musculature (or lack of it) as we do that thing that was supposed to distinguish us early on from mammals. At times the artwork is ultra-detailed, at others a less defined - almost ghostlike image is presented - and all to a fitting score that reflects the pace engagingly. There's a lot of work and inspiration gone into this five minutes and it makes one of our more mundane activities quite interesting to watch.

The most unusual short I've seen yet from the National Film Board of Canada (possible spoiler)

[llltdesq · 9/10 · 3 October 2001]

This short is difficult to discuss with a possible spoiler, so I give you fair warning and thus proceed.

Nominated for an Academy Award, this short is most aptly titled. It consists of several people walking. This is one of the oddest productions I have yet seen produced by the NFBC, which is quite a statement in itself. An interesting work and quite well-animated and worth watching if you really like esoteric animation. This will either bore you silly or fascinate you. With that caveat, most recommended

Animation as art

[sbwoodside · 9/10 · 26 March 2012]

This is film as art. Walking is known for being ground-breaking -- the interpretations of the movement of the human body in so many styles, some so natural and realistic they could almost pass for photography, others so abstract they are just a few dabs of paint. The extremes of perspective and style reflected the counterculture and psychedelic culture of the times. Ryan Larkin is an animator's animator, maybe he's not famous in pop culture, but he's famous in industry circles because he opened up new possibilities. Everyone walks all the time, in real life and in animation, and Larkin meditates on the possibilities in such a simple movement.

People walking, that's it

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 30 July 2016]

"En marchant" or "Walking" is a Canadian 5-minute animated short film from 1968, which means 2 more years and then this one will have its 50th anniversary. The writer and director here is Ryan Larkin and this is his most known work today probably still, at least his most successful as it was nominated for an Academy Award back in 1970. It is pretty short and basically all about the styles in which people walk. The colors elevated the material and added some style to it, the nudity on one occasion added nothing really and was probably just included to make it seem more controversial and more grown-up. I know that Larkin is appreciated by many young filmmakers today and I also know that a film about him won an Oscar too, but looking at this one here I cannot see the praise. it also shows that animation in the 1960s was really not great at all if this one is considered a contended for "Best of the Year". I give it a thumbs-down. Not recommended.

Walking as Art

[Rectangular_businessman · 9/10 · 19 July 2013]

While "Walking" merely consists in several sequences of different people walking (Just as the title suggest) is the neat animation style from this short what makes it a worth-watching experience, managing to give a poetical feeling to an ordinary act from everyday life, such as walking. The synchrony between the animation and the music is perfect.

Those looking for a complex or "meaningful" story here will be very disappointed, and I think that some people could even find this to be a pointless exercise of style over substance. Personally, I think that "Walking" Is much more than that: Personally I see as an honest artistic expression which shows that even in the most mundane aspects from life (Which most of us take it for granted) beauty and harmony could be found.

Artistry of Movement

[Hitchcoc · 9/10 · 26 February 2019]

I'm not an artist, but I have some knowledge of painting and drawing. We have here, something that is so avant garde and so physiologically out there that it captures one immediately. Most art teachers would tell their students the hand and the foot are the hardest things to draw and animate. Let's face it. In a five minute film, we are able to view the science of walking in nearly every incarnation.