Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase (1992) User Reviews

An unusual animated art survey emphasizing the 20th century

[jimderrick · 8/10 · 20 March 2004]

This short film won an Academy Award for best animated short. It consists of a series of animated reproductions of major art works, primarily from the 20th century, and has an unusual technique for moving from one picture to another. I have been to most of the world's major art galleries. While I am certainly not an art historian, I was able to recognize a majority of the artists and the works portrayed. I was not able to recognize all of them, and I wish they had been labeled.

I recommend this film to anyone studying art or art history for a different twist on the subject matter. The movie is available on VHS from pyramid media, and it is overpriced.

Not a cartoon, but a work of art

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 11 February 2008]

This is the sort of animation that would be best seen by artists and art history majors--though anyone can easily enjoy it. The creators of this Academy award winning short (Best Animated Short--1993) were able to recreate many great works of art and make them morph into other paintings again and again before morphing programs were available for computers. According to IMDb, believe it or not, this effect was achieved with clay and must have taken almost forever to complete! While not a funny or cartoony short, this is a great work of art that can be appreciated by anyone with a little patience and an appreciation for art. Lovely and one of a kind. It deserved to win--it was terrific.

Very Interesting Combination of Art History and Animation

[skennedy-9 · 10/10 · 26 April 2006]

My wife (an art major) and I saw this on PBS' series "The Territory", April 2006. As a hobbyist animator, I was very impressed by the "clay painting" technique (not really claymation, more 2D), and we both had fun trying to name the (many, many) iconic art works. Everything from Munch's "Scream" to Warhol's Marilyn.

The technique involved more or less continuous "morphing" from one work to another, but artistically done rather than much of the mindless photographic morphing. It gives the impression of a "chain of thought" type dream tour through a really good modern art museum.

Great stuff.

art history

[Kirpianuscus · 4 November 2017]

one of fascinating art lesson. for the meet of animation with masterpieces of universal history of art. for the fluid travel from a painting to the other. for a vertigo of colors. and for the nice manner for remind the force of image. in same measure, a pure history lesson . as reflection. about art, artists and about the technique use, who transforms the dreams in reality. after the end of film - the silence. because it is more than a game. but a window to the essence of our civilization. and this does it real, real great.

Only for art lovers

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 25 September 2015]

"Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase" is a 7-minute animated short film from over 20 years ago by Joan C. Gratz that won an Academy Award and a couple more honors all over the planet. It basically includes many famous painting, so if you are interested in the world of art, you will maybe like this one even more. However, I must say, I was not too impressed as a whole. Yes it was a creative idea and the style was nice as well, but in terms of story, it felt fairly empty to me and it got repetitive at some point as it's basically just a collection of known painting, no interactions, no dramatic tension, nothing. Cannot say I am too surprised that this is still Gratz' most known work as, apart from a solid idea, I see no huge talent in here. Not recommended.

Absolutely amazing and a bit overwhelming at times.

[llltdesq · 10/10 · 30 January 2003]

This is an incredible piece of work and just had me groping for words after I saw it the other day. I'm not terribly visually oriented (my skills are more in the verbal realm), so when an almost completely visual short burns itself onto my brain the way this has, that's quite a feat! It begins and ends with Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and has her morph into another piece (I think it's a Picasso, but don't bet the farm on that-I'm not an Art History expert) which morphs into a third and so on. There were more than 30, of which I recognized about ten and could name five or six. Someone more versed in paintings than this humble scribe would probably do much better than I could. But this is an exceptionally fine piece of animation that deservedly won the Academy Award for Animated Short. It moves quite fast (it's only about seven minutes long) and can be a bit overwhelming with its transitions, but well worth watching and most highly recommended.

Art through the ages

[Rectangular_businessman · 10/10 · 13 August 2012]

What a wonderful and beautifully made short.

Personally, I couldn't think in any better tribute to the great masterpieces of art from different ages (Referencing several classic paintings, but also some works of modern art, and there is even a brief reference to comic books) than this, resulting in one of the most incredibly and fascinating animations ever made. This is absolutely beautiful, being a magnificent homage of the timeless artistic creations from different eras and places.

A must see for everyone, not only the animation fans.

The Academy Award was more than well deserved.

Gore Vidal could have said something about this

[lee_eisenberg · 9/10 · 22 January 2016]

The 1992 winner of Best Animated Short features noted paintings morphing into each other. However, there was one scene in "Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase" that caught my attention in particular. At one point the sound of a commercial appears in the background. Author and political satirist Gore Vidal said of the so called War on Terrorism: "'War on terrorism' isn't a goal. It's a slogan designed for advertising, which is the only art form that the US ever created." Here we see art and advertising juxtaposed.

Anyway, this is an interesting cartoon. I don't know of anything else that Joan C. Gratz did, but if she did I would like to see it. Worth seeing.

Remarkable Achievement

[Hitchcoc · 10/10 · 25 October 2021]

I love comments like for people interested in art this is good, otherwise..... That's like saying for people interested in religion, the Bible is a pretty good book. Look at the mastery colors, the careful selection of pieces that can morph into others, and the skill with which it is done.

Not Only for Art Lovers

[hrkepler · 9/10 · 4 June 2018]

One can say that this movie is pretty as picture. 'Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase' is wonderful short animation off 35 iconic art pieces melting and morphing into each other. Beautiful form of 2D clay animation (or clay painting) and wonderful music turns this short film into much more than just a collage and can definitely be appreciated even when you are not much of an art specialist. Just a beautiful movie. An art piece about art.

This short can also be used a sort of a game - how many paintings can you name?

Not Only for the Art Lovers

[hrkepler · 9/10 · 31 May 2018]

'Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase' is wonderful short animation off 35 iconic art pieces melting and morphing into each other. Beautiful form of 2D clay animation (or clay painting) and wonderful music turns this short film into much more than just a collage and can definitely be appreciated even when you are not much of an art specialist. Just a beautiful movie. An art piece about art.

This short can also be used a sort of a game - how many paintings can you name?