Flatworld (1997) User Reviews

A new reality

[huineman · 9/10 · 30 May 2007]

The story of "Flatworld" is a funny and entertaining one, a bit slow at times; nevertheless what this film is worth being watched for is the reality it develops. Let's explain it.

Greaves' second animated short after his 1991 Oscar winning debut displays loads of imagination by means of a three-dimensional environment in which all objects and subjects are actually two-dimensional and made out of stationery. The world resulting is a "Flatworld", coherent and consistent, where people can slip through crannies, one can get rid of an angry dog by just crumpling it, beard is not shaven but erased, police officers shoot no bullets but staples instead and if you get injured, just wrapping some tape around the wound will do.

In another turn of the screw, Greaves allows his flat world to encounter the standard two-dimensional cartoon world, thus enhancing the differences between them two.

Flatworld

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 14 July 2005]

I'm not sure if it is the same makers of Wallace and Gromit, but it is a very good cartoon. On a planet where everything is flat and made of paper lives Matt Phlatt with his cat and fish. He one day (while working) electrocutes himself with TV wires and then after a short while touches a puddle. Then every person he touches could go into a puddle porthole to a world where you are on TV in a 3D world. The cat enters this world first and changes channels with the touch of his remote. Unfortunately, when opening this porthole Matt let out a dastardly TV villain from a cop show. The showdown sequence between them is good. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best Animated Short Film. Very good!

Hilarious fun for the family

[ro_binson · 8/10 · 1 August 2005]

This film is a must for any animation fans, or anyone willing to spend just half an hour watching a very funny film. While there are no great surprises in the story, and no real emotive content, this film tries and succeeds in transporting us to another world where we can escape and forget about life for a time. Flatworld has animation that, while not ground-breaking, is decidedly different and interesting to watch. The characters, despite not speaking a word, still manage to be hilarious and engaging - of special note are the cat and fish! Essentially, we are taken to a grey, dreary world where everything is flat, and the hero of the story goes about his day to day job with a humdrum lack of enthusiasm. However, when a TV wire breaks and malfunctions, he is suddenly zapped into the TV with his cat, whereby he encounters a criminal mastermind amongst other adventures - the story follows his adventures as the remote control suddenly becomes an object of extreme power! Very good, hilarious fun for the family, this film is recommended by the vast majority of those who see it. Suitable for everyone, this universal cartoon should be sought after and supported!

Unique must-see for animation lovers, fun for everyone else too.

[michaeljsouth · 10/10 · 5 September 2005]

This film is a remarkable animation achievement, and, as far as I know, the only one ever done with this particular technique of animation.

The sets are three dimensional, built entirely of paper and cardboard, and the characters are drawn onto little card stock cutouts, one cutout per frame. So they take a shot, replace it with another cutout, take another shot (actually it was two shots per placement iirc).

The effect is amazing. The story takes place in a world made of paper, and artfully explores the implications of that. The VHS version I have has a "making of" at the end of it that will have you watching it again just to catch some of the extra details they tell you about.

This film was truly a labor of love and every frame shows it. If you are into animation, it's worth buying just to see it once. Also a lot of fun for the kids, very imagination-bending.

Truly Innovative

[lightningboy42 · 4 November 2002]

This short film is one of the finest pieces of animation I've seen in a long time. I stumbled upon it one afternoon and I fell in love. The combination of 3D and 2D animation, 2D characters in a 3D cardboard background and traditional cel animation, is incredibly well recieved. The entire sequence of the battle between the hero, Matt Phlatt, his cat Jeff, and the Burglar, attempting to retrieve the stolen money through the water conduit is incredible. There may be no dialogue, but it's not needed. It's by far one of the best animated films that the BBC has produced in a long time.

One of the most creative animation shorts I've seen...

[tommy230 · 9/10 · 21 April 2000]

Flatworld is mind blowing, imaginative, animation short. The whole trick to the movie is the animation is flat three dimensional. Everything up until he zaps himself into the television alternate world is three dimensional. There is no dialogue which is also great because anyone in the world can watch it and understand it. It is unlikely you'll be able to rent this video but if you ever see it on tv, watch it! You will love it! Great film, great effects, great music.

How did this film NOT get an Oscar nomination?!

[planktonrules · 10/10 · 18 September 2009]

Daniel Greaves won an Oscar for his short, MANIPULATION. I was not particularly impressed by this film and said so in my review. However, a few years later, he made what is probably one of the best animated shorts ever--yet it didn't even get nominated! Now to be fair, the 1998 Oscars was a tough year for this category, as there were so many wonderful and inventive animated shorts. GERI'S GAME (by Pixar) won, though it was among my least favorite of the nominees--and it's still a wonderful film. Somehow THE OLD LADY AND THE PIGEONS lost, as did Alexandr Petrov's sublime RUSALKA--and, as I already mentioned, FLATWORLD didn't get a nomination. While you might be tempted to chalk it all up to a tough year, FAMOUS FRED somehow got nominated and it was a rather annoying and lesser quality film. The only nominee that year I didn't yet mention was Disney's REDUX RIDING HOOD, as oddly, it isn't available anywhere and I've only seen a few tantalizing photos of the cartoon. It's on none of the Disney DVDs and was only briefly shown during animation festivals. Why--especially when the reviews of those who saw it were so positive? So why did I absolutely love FLATWORLD? Well, the biggest two reasons are that I've never seen a cartoon like it and because it's so funny. The animation style is just amazing.

The story begins in an odd world where all the people, animals and cars are paper-thin--sort of like the Paper Mario characters from the GameCube game. They live in a 3-D world that was apparently made up of an elaborate set--very elaborate. The story centers on a nice guy who has two pets--a nice cat and a nasty fish that's always messing with the cat and making it look like the cat is at fault. The interactions between these pets is very funny and it's nice to see the fish be evil for a change.

As this guy is going about his life, there is a bank robbery and the robber switches bags with the nice guy so the cops won't catch him. And, speaking of cops, I loved the big cop--he was a wonderfully drawn character. Now here's where it gets weird...our hero (the main character) has somehow gotten a jolt of energy from a cable that makes it possible for him to jump into puddles on his world and end up in a world that looks like a traditional animated film. Seeing him, the pets, the crook and the cops go back and forth is a real treat--as the styles change so abruptly and are so clever. Even better, later in the film, the traditionally animated characters start slipping into Flatworld.

It's really hard to give an adequate description of the film and I know my ranting over the last two paragraphs might not really make a lot of sense. The bottom line is that this is one of those films you have to see to believe and appreciate. It's currently posted on Youtube (hopefully legally) and I encourage you to take a look. It's great.

Where?

[ellenmarylouise · 9/10 · 28 December 2006]

I would like to get a copy of 'Flat World'. Is it available to buy and where can I get it?

I saw it on TV a few years ago but no one else seemed to have seen it and I found it very funny.

I thought there was a connection with Nick Parkes but there doesn't seem to be any mention of that in any details I have found.

I loved the idea of a stapler mending the roads and the right angle views of traffic, which became a line. There were probably lots more visual jokes which I missed, so I would like to have it to watch again.

An original and witty animation.

Perfect blend of different types of animation

[wmberezowki · 7/10 · 20 September 2018]

This film is lighthearted, fun, and enjoyable for anyone who watches. It involves 2 different types of animation which provides an intriguing aspect for those who love the technical side, and a very cool effect for everyone. I loved the switching between 2D and 3D and the playing with different dimensions. There was nothing bad about this short; an absolute pleasure to watch.

I really love this animation!

[frogmonsterrkp · 10/10 · 16 June 2006]

I really love this short film, its so clever! Saw it a few years back in the BBC Christmas series of animations (when i was living in England) and taped it at the time but i lost the tape and have been searching for a copy of it ever since! (its very hard to find - and this is the first time my google search has brought up anything half decent about the film!) I've tried unsuccessfully to explain the cunning use of paper both as the medium of animation and the material the world is made of in the story. My favourite character has to be the fish - he has such an attitude problem towards the cat! I will have to do a bit more searching and see if i can find it on DVD.

Good Movie Overall

[spillerwilliam · 7/10 · 20 September 2018]

I liked this movie, it was very entertaining and the ideas were great and constantly kept the movie going with fresh scenes that intrigued you after each one. Although the storyline was great and the idea itself was a great thought the idea of stop motion for me wasn't amazing. I personally don't like stop motion and i would much prefer a traditional animation of actual people in the shots. The ending was very good and the story was good its just the stop motion and some unrealistic aspects (such as being able to slip through the door cracks) kind of ruined it for me.

Overall it was a good movie

Really Good

[tommasomarena · 8/10 · 20 September 2018]

I Really liked this stop motion movie. The bast part of it I think is the fact that t has no spoken audio so it can be understood by everyone. I even appreciated a lot the plot, really funny.

A worthy use of hybrid animation with an imaginative concept

[Stompgal_87 · 7/10 · 11 June 2014]

I first heard of this film when I watched Jambareeqi's review of it on YouTube and his opinion of it was very favourable. When he announced that the whole film can be seen on YouTube, I was intrigued to see it; however I was slightly disappointed. While I like the execution of the idea, I was dissatisfied with the lack of dialogue, the slow pacing and the story being a little complicated.

On a more positive note, I liked the use of 2D cut-out characters over 3D backgrounds (similar to those used for stop-motion set designs) and I also liked how the characters were made to look paper-thin. There are several references to the characters being made to look super-flat or created from paper such as the goldfish swimming inside a picture frame and newborn triplets made to look like cut-out paper dolls. Although the colouring of the 3D world may look bleak, the world inside the television is more vibrantly coloured with smoothly-designed minor characters. Despite the story being complicated, it had some funny moments and clever ideas such as the cat playing with the remote control and the robber escaping from the television world to the 3D world. The musical score is epic and cinematic for the film's nature.

All in all, there are a few disappointing aspects but the use of hybrid animation and the concept made this altogether a worthwhile animated short. 7/10.

Ahead of time back then

[fynnprobst-74905 · 8/10 · 23 September 2018]

The movie: "Flat World" is a well done movie when referring to it's date of producing, 1997. Back then there haven't been techniques there are nowadays. Still the movie is interesting and entertaining because of the different locations and characters. All though it wasn't said at least one word one still understands what is going on and what the characters are up to. Nevertheless some scenes where kept a bit long for example when the characters switched the scenerys on and on. You could also predict the next steps that happen at some point. Still it was a well produced movie that I can recommend and rate it 8 stars out of 10.

Flatworld Review

[lucchipr · 8/10 · 26 October 2018]

I think this movie it was pretty good, you could see how was the stop-motion but it seems like a real movie. The movie didn't have talking but it did have music. You could tell really good how the movie was with each part. Then you could see, the place where they film, it was a huge place. The movie to be a stop motion movie it is really good filming with really good music.

A great escape for all filmgoers

[Jeremi101 · 9/10 · 27 September 2018]

Flatworld is a fun, light-hearted film that kept me engaged the whole way through. the world it developed through its combination of traditional cel-animation and cardboard stop-motion was truly spectacular. the overall care and attention to detail that the creators of the film put into the world was truly inspiring. i cant forget to mention the Flipworld that gets introduced in the second half of the film. The quality of the animation and the overall style of it fit perfectly with the film and meshed really well with the cardboard world introduced at the beginning. the film, although a tad bit slow at the beginning, didnt waste any time getting into the story or showing of its animation style. overall this movie was fantastic and would definitely have no trouble watching it again and again and again.

Masterpiece!

[miladbathani · 8/10 · 27 September 2018]

Flatworld is a masterpiece of a stop motion film. It provides the audience with a unique perspective of combining 2 dimensional scenes with 3 dimensional scenes/cell animation. The story doesn't go into too much depth as far as plot wise but it entertains the audience to an extent to where you don't feel bothered to really care. It enriched the way that stop motion films are made today and how they were in its time. I would recommend this film to anyone that is interested in animation and would very much like to watch it again!

Flatworld

[tannere-17853 · 9/10 · 18 September 2018]

Flatworld is one of the best stop motion/animated films that I have ever seen. I love the concept of the world and it's characters. The story is also brilliant imaginative, and it has you wondering what happens next every minute. The 2d/3d mixture adds a great effect to the film. The other great thing about this film is that it has no dialogue so anyone around the world can enjoy it.

Good Film

[willab-04386 · 8/10 · 21 September 2018]

I really enjoyed this film! The merging of stop motion and cell animation provided an interesting contrast between the two "worlds", and the concept of developing a stop motion world based on the mechanics of the materials it's made out of is something that not that many films explore, but which was done really well here. I also felt that the length of the film suited the style and story really well- as much as I enjoyed this, it might have dragged on if it had been too long. All in all, the style and concept were really enjoyable, and I would happily watch it again

Flatworld Review

[logansomerville · 8/10 · 18 September 2018]

Flatworld in my opinion is absolutely ingenious stop motion short film. The way in which the movie switches in and out of stop motion 2D and 3D animation is so unique and extremely entertaining to watch. Another reason I enjoy the movie is that you don't need to know a certain language to understand the film. With many of the ways they use paper to slip through doors or get crumpled up showed different possibilities in a world made of paper.

where to view the movie

[writer_of_simple_words · 10/10 · 1 August 2017]

Just saw that Flat World is on Youtube in all it's crazy entirety. Very funny short movie. So if anybody wants to see it then they can watch it there. Punny enough to tickle my funny bone. Love being able to see it again. One of the best short movies I saw on ShortsHD. I'd recommend that everybody go look it up and watch it.

Flatworld

[ThiagoRodrigues7 · 8/10 · 20 September 2018]

Flatworld is a film that catches my attention, it's admirable watch stop motion animation because it's a hard working job and creative. Some people say that stop motion is something of the past but the producers made it in the present/future situations, and it was great. The fact of everything be made of paper and no dialogues and funny make the film unique and authentic, the sound effects are also a positive point. A film with no dialogue is interesting because everybody in the world can watch. The 2 dimension worlds connected by the tv, for me, was the most amazing part of the whole movie.

Flatworld, a good short film!

[timsolfronk · 8/10 · 20 September 2018]

With a length of about 30 minutes "Flatworld" is in my opinion a good stop motion film. It is partly animated and partly made with cardboards.

The city in that it takes place is represented in greyish colours to show the audience how miserable it is there. The "TV-World" is represented colourful, showing that it is a happier place. The director (Daniel Greaves) has no problem giving the audience this feeling. I love how he plays around with the 2D perspectives. For example, you can at one point see a car from the side, but as the camera turns you can see the car from behind (but the car is still a flat cardboard) and the protagonist (Matt Phlatt) can go through a locked door because he is flat. I also like how he shows that it's all in a "cardboard world" (protagonists shaves with an eraser, guns are staplers etc.). The only thing that I don't like about the film is that it gets a little too "random" for me.

Nevertheless, I can recommend it to every age group.

Flatworld

[noahharkins · 8/10 · 18 September 2018]

Flat world is a fantastic short film that I truly enjoyed. The way it was captured in stop motion was awesome and I like how they show that the characters are made up off paper. My favourite part of the film was seeing the transition they made when the characters went through the puddles.

A comedy that was amazing not for the jokes.

[brianhan-84901 · 8/10 · 22 September 2018]

The short film 'Flatworld' was a highly entertaining movie to watch, with aesthetically intriguing ideas everywhere. The genre, if it had to be classified, would be a comedy, even though its not definitive. The film contains classic slapstick comedy, with the archetype of the 'cop, robber, and the framed' scenario. However, the real beauty of this film does not exist inside it's subtle humour or its well thought out plot. The real interest of mine of the film was inside the making of the film. The film used different types of animation to animate this movie, such as 3D graphics and cel animation. This brought upon the most interesting part of the movie: the mixture of 3D and 2D. The film incorporates the different types of animation into different scenes of the movie, such as characters being 2D and buildings being 3D. Even the plot is affected by this influence. This was one of the most intriguing ways to use stop motion I've ever seen. Even though it was an amazing film, The plot was a bit stereotypical, and easy to predict. However, the idea of the mixture of different types of animation definitely covered that issue up. Overall, 'Flatworld' was one of the most unique and funny films I've ever seen. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone, but especially animation lovers. The short film 'Flatworld' was a highly entertaining movie to watch, with aesthetically intriguing ideas everywhere. The genre, if it had to be classified, would be a comedy, even though its not definitive. The film contains classic slapstick comedy, with the archetype of the 'cop, robber, and the framed' scenario. However, the real beauty of this film does not exist inside it's subtle humour or its well thought out plot. The real interest of mine of the film was inside the making of the film. The film used different types of animation to animate this movie, such as 3D graphics and cel animation. This brought upon the most interesting part of the movie: the mixture of 3D and 2D. The film incorporates the different types of animation into different scenes of the movie, such as characters being 2D and buildings being 3D. Even the plot is affected by this influence. This was one of the most intriguing ways to use stop motion I've ever seen. Even though it was an amazing film, The plot was a bit stereotypical, and easy to predict. However, the idea of the mixture of different types of animation definitely covered that issue up. Overall, 'Flatworld' was one of the most unique and funny films I've ever seen. I would definitely recommend this film to anyone, but especially animation lovers.