Hertzfeldt is widely known because he is active in organizations and because he did some really sick and funny stuff that was rejected by the Family Channel. This has found an audience through file sharing (and festivals) and has built quite an audience.
Unfortunately, most of the other stuff he did was no good or unoriginal. Except this.
He just seems to have trouble finding a creative writer to match his vision and twisted views.
This IS a student film, and avowedly so. This IS almost certainly a response to a specific assignment. And it is crudely drawn in places. But it is clever and worth watching. If he never did anything else, this alone would place him above the "Shrek" crew in my book.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.