Sita Sings the Blues

"Sita Sings the Blues" is based on the Hindu epic "The Ramayana". Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina Paley is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by email.


Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the Ramayana. Set to the 1920's jazz vocals of torch singer Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as "the Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told." It is written, directed, produced and animated by American artist Nina Paley.


"Sita Sings the Blues" was released in 2008 only after long negotiations with the copyright holders of the 80-year-old songs recorded by Annette Hanshaw. Following the experience of almost having her film blocked from distribution, Nina Paley released it freely under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike license, and now devotes a significant portion of her time to free culture activism. She is Artist in Residence at the non-profit QuestionCopyright.org.


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Howl's Moving Castle (2004)

Howl's Moving Castle (2004)
Director: Hayao Miyazaki
Writers: Hayao Miyazaki (screenplay)
Diana Wynne Jones (novel)
Release Date: 12 January 2005 (France) more
Genre: Animation - Adventure - Fantasy - Romance


* Cast :

Chieko Baisho ... Sofî (voice: Japanese version)
Takuya Kimura ... Hauru (voice: Japanese version)
Akihiro Miwa ... Arechi no Majo (voice: Japanese version)
Tatsuya Gashuin ... Karushifâ (voice: Japanese version)
Ryûnosuke Kamiki ... Marukuru (voice: Japanese version)
Mitsunori Isaki ... Koshô (voice: Japanese version)
Yô Ôizumi ... Kakashi no Kabu (voice: Japanese version)
Akio Ôtsuka ... Kokuô (voice: Japanese version)
Daijiro Harada ... Hin (voice: Japanese version)
Haruko Kato ... Sariman (voice: Japanese version)
Jean Simmons ... Grandma Sophie (voice: English version)
Christian Bale ... Howl (voice: English version)
Lauren Bacall ... Witch of the Waste (voice: English version)
Blythe Danner ... Madame Suliman (voice: English version)
Emily Mortimer ... Young Sophie (voice: English version)


* Plot :

A young woman named Sophie is cursed by the Witch of the Waste, turns into an old woman, and is unable to tell anyone of her plight.


Unable to continue her job at her mother's hat shop, she goes to the ambulatory castle of the notorious wizard Howl and insinuates herself into his household. Sophie befriends Calcifer, the fire demon who powers the castle and who is bound to Howl by a contract, the terms of which Calcifer cannot reveal.


They promise to help each other with their problems. Like Calcifer, Howl can also see through the Witch's spell, and he and Sophie fall in love. Sophie helps Howl confront his former teacher, and the Witch of the Waste.

Simon's Cat 'Snow Business'

Simon on 'Snow Business'



"Every cat owner remembers the first time their cat sees snow".



A curious cat discovers snow for the first time.

The Piano - Amazing Short 3D Film

An old man shares his life story with his young grandchild through evocative music.


The song is: "Comptine d'un autre été: l'après midi"


composed by: Yann Tiersen
Animation by Aidan Gibbons

Father and Daughter

Father and Daughter (2000)
Director: Michael Dudok de Wit
Writer: Michael Dudok de Wit (writer)
Genre: Short - Animation - Drama


Father and Daughter is a 2000 Dutch animated short film, made by Michaël Dudok De Wit. It won the 2000 Academy Award for Animated Short Film.

The film also received [over / or another other] 20 [awards] [wins] and 1 nomination and is considered the most successful in the series of works by Michaël which attracts the biggest audiences.


* Plot :

A father says goodbye to his young daughter and leaves. As the wide Dutch landscapes live through their seasons so the girl lives through hers.

She becomes a young woman, has a family and in time she becomes old, yet within her there is always a deep longing for her father.

Alexander Petrov: Animation as art

Aleksandr Konstantinovich Petrov (July 17, 1957) is a Russian animator and animation director. Petrov won an Oscar in 2002 for his cartoon adaptation of Hemingways "The Old Man and the Sea".


Petrov's style from the late 1980s onward can be characterized as a type of Romantic realism. People, animals and landscapes are painted and animated in a very realistic fashion, but there are many sections in his films where Petrov attempts to depict a character's inner thoughts and dreams. In "The Old Man and the Sea", for example, the fisherman dreams that he and the marlin are brothers swimming through the sea and the sky. In "My Love", the main character's illness is represented by showing him being buried beneath freshly-fallen snow on a dark night.


His technique involves oil painting on glass. But how does such an artist feel about working in an industry dominated by computer graphics?

The Old Man and the Sea

The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
Director: Aleksandr Petrov
Writers: Ernest Hemingway (novel) & Aleksandr Petrov (writer)
Release Date: 3 July 1999 (Japan)
Genre: Short - Animation
Length: 22min 55sec


The Old Man and the Sea (Russian: Старик и море) is a 1999 paint-on-glass-animated short film directed by Aleksandr Petrov, based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Hemingway. The film won many awards, including the Academy Award for Animated Short Film.


According to wkipedia, work on the film took place in Montreal over a period of two and a half years and was funded by an assortment of Canadian, Russian and Japanese companies. French and English-language soundtracks to the film were released concurrently. It was the first animated film to be released in IMAX.


The film's style is analogous to that used in Petrov's other films and can be characterized as a type of Romantic realism. People, animals and landscapes are painted and animated in a very realistic fashion, but there are sections where Petrov attempts to visually show a character's inner thoughts and dreams. For example, the film contains a scene where the fisherman dreams that he and the marlin are brothers swimming through the sea and the sea and the sky.


* Plot :

The film follows the plot of the original novel, but at times emphasizes different points.

It opens with the dream sequence of an old man named Santiago, who dreams about his childhood on the masts of a ship and lions on the shores.

When he wakes up, we find out that he has gone 84 days without catching any fish at all. He is apparently so unlucky that his young apprentice, Manolin, has been forbidden by his parents to sail with the old man and been ordered to fish with more successful fishermen. Still dedicated to the old man, however, the boy visits Santiago's shack in the morning. The next day, before sunrise, Santiago and Manolin make their way to the seashore. Santiago says that he will venture far out into the Gulf to fish. Manolin wants to come, but Santiago insists on going alone.

After venturing far out, Santiago sets his lines and soon catches a small fish which he decides to use as bait. A big fish that he is sure is a marlin takes his bait. Unable to pull in the great marlin, Santiago instead finds the fish pulling his skiff. An unspecified number of days pass in this manner (it's two in the novel), during which the old man bears the tension of the line with his body. On one night, Santiago dreams of his youth, of how he won an arm wrestling match against the strongest black boy in town. On another night, though he is wounded by the struggle and in pain, Santiago dreams that he and the marlin are brothers, swimming through the ocean together. An extended fantasy sequence is animated here by Petrov. Suddenly, he is woken up; the marlin tries to take advantage of the situation and escape (unsuccessfully). As the fish jumps out of the water, the old man sees for the first time just how big it is.

Eventually, the fish begins to circle the skiff, indicating his tiredness to the old man. With each cicle, Santiago tries to pull it in a little closer. As the fish swims under the boat, Santiago manages to stab the marlin with a harpoon, thereby ending the long battle.

Santiago straps the marlin to his skiff and heads home, triumphant. However, in a short while, sharks are attracted to the trail of blood left by the marlin in the water. Santiago kills one with his harpoon, losing that weapon in the process. He makes a new harpoon by strapping his knife to the end of an oar to help ward off the next line of sharks and manages to kill a few more. Soon, however, the sharks have devoured the marlin's entire carcass, leaving only its skeleton. The old man castigates himself for sacrificing the marlin.

The next morning, a group of fishermen gathers around the boat where the fish's skeleton is still attached. Manolin, worried during the old man's endeavor, brings him food and drink and finds the old man lying in his cabin. When he wakes, he tells him that they had boats searching for him and that his parents allowed him to fish together once again.


* Awards :

* 1999—Cinanima: "Grand Prize"
* 1999—Japan Media Arts Festival: "Grand Prize" (Animation)
* 1999—Montréal World Film Festival: Nominated for "First Prize (Short Films)"
* 2000—Academy Award for Animated Short Film
* 2000—Annecy International Animated Film Festival: "Audience Award", "Grand Prix for Best Animated Short Film"
* 2000—BAFTA Awards: Nominated for "Best Animated Short Film"
* 2000—Buster International Children's Film Festival: "Politiken's Short Film Award"
* 2000—Genie Awards: Nominated for "Best Animated Short Film"
* 2000—Jutra Awards: "Jutra" in the category "Best Animated Film"
* 2000—Mainichi Film Concours: "Ofuji Noburo Award"
* 2000—Saint Petersburg Message to Man International Film Festival: "Special Jury Prize" in the category "International Competition"
* 2000—Zagreb World Festival of Animated Films: "First Prize" in "Category C - 15 Min. to 30 Min."
* 2001—Burbank International Children's Film Festival: "Director's Gold Award"
* 2001—San Diego International Film Festival: "Festival Award" in the category "Best Animation"

The Mouse and His Child

The Mouse and His Child (1977)
Directors: Charles Swenson & Fred Wolf
Writers: Russell Hoban (novel) & Carol Monpere (writer)
Release Date: 18 November 1977 (USA)-
Genre: Family - Animation-
Length: 1:17:05



The Mouse and His Child is a 1977 animated film based on the 1967 Russell Hoban novel The Mouse and His Child. In the United States the film is also known as The Extraordinary Adventures of the Mouse and His Child. Critics panned the film for watering down the philosophical themes in the novel.


* Plot :


The Mouse and his son are the two parts of a single small wind-up toy, which must be wound up by means of a key in the father's back. After having been unboxed, they discover themselves in a toy shop where they befriend a toy elephant and toy seal. The child mouse proposes staying at the shop to form a family, which the other toys ridicule. After falling from a counter and becoming broken, they are thrown in the trash. Outside, they become enslaved by Manny the Rat, who runs a casino in the city dump and uses broken wind-up toys as his slave labor force. With the aid of a psychic frog, the mice escape and meet various animal characters on a quest of becoming free and independent "self-winding" toys. They rediscover the elephant and seal, who are somewhat broken down, and manage to form a family and destroy the rat empire.

Donald Duck Collection

Studio: The Walt Disney Company
License: Public Domain
Genre: Family - Animation - Comedy
Length: 43min 55sec


Donald Duck is an American cartoon character from The Walt Disney Company. Donald is a white anthropomorphic duck with a yellow-orange bill, legs, and feet. He usually wears a sailor shirt, cap, and a red or black bow tie, but no trousers (except when he goes swimming). Donald's most famous personality trait is his easily provoked and explosive temper.


According to the Disney canon, particularly in the 1942 short Donald Gets Drafted, Donald's full name is Donald Fauntleroy Duck. Donald's birthday is officially recognized as June 9, 1934, the day his debut film, The Wise Little Hen, was released. However, in The Three Caballeros (1944), his birthday is given as simply "Friday the 13th", which is in reference to the bad luck he experiences in almost all his cartoon appearances. Donald's Happy Birthday (short) gives his birthday as March 13. Donald Duck is a well-known and very popular character especially in Scandinavian countries.


Donald's voice, one of the most identifiable voices in all of animation, was performed by voice actor Clarence "Ducky" Nash up to his death in 1985. It was largely this semi-intelligible speech that would cement Donald's image into audiences' minds and help fuel both Donald's and Nash's rise to stardom. In 1969, Disney On Parade which toured all over the United States and Canada, hired Ellard Davis as the live voice of Donald Duck. Mr. Davis did the voice for 3 years. Since 1985, Donald has been voiced by Tony Anselmo, who was trained by Nash for the role. Donald is a V.I.P. member of the Mickey Mouse Club.

Popeye The Sailor Collection

* First "Popeye The Sailor" Collection :




* Second "Popeye The Sailor" Collection :




"Popeye The Sailor"
Studio: Delta Visual Entertainment
License: Public Domain
Genre: Family - Animation - Comedy

1st Collection Length: 01: 08: 36
2nd Collection Length: 01: 08: 49



Popeye The Sailorman was created by cartoonist Elzie Segar in 1929 and first appeared in the comic strip Thimble Theatre. Although Thimble Theatre was originally based on the exploits of Olive Oyl s family, Popeye soon became the star.


He became a film star in 1933 with an appearance in a Betty Boop cartoon before going to star in almost 600 cartoons. His obsession with spinach helped increase consumption in America by 33%, and a grateful industry erected a statue in his honour in Crystal City in Texas in 1937, making him the first cartoon character to be immortalised in public sculpture!


As of January 1, 2009, 70 years since the death of his creator, Segar's character of Popeye (though not the various films, TV shows, theme music and other media based on him) has entered the public domain in most countries, but remains under copyright in the United States.

Gulliver's Travels (1939)

Gulliver's Travels (1939)
Directors:Dave Fleischer & Willard Bowsky
Writers: Jonathan Swift (novel) & Edmond Seward (story)
Release Date: 22 December 1939 (USA)
Genre: Family - Adventure - Animation - Fantasy
Length: 01: 12: 39
License Public Domain



Gulliver's Travels is a 1939 Academy Award nominated cel-animated Technicolor feature film, directed by Dave Fleischer and produced by Max Fleischer for Fleischer Studios. The film was released on Friday December 22, 1939 by Paramount Pictures, who had the feature produced as an answer to the success of Walt Disney's box-office hit Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The sequences for the film were directed by Seymour Kneitel, Willard Bowsky, Tom Palmer, Grim Natwick, William Henning, Roland Crandall, Thomas Johnson, Robert Leffingwell, Frank Kelling, Winfield Hoskins, and Orestes Calpini.


Gulliver was the tenth animated feature film ever released, and the first produced by an American studio other than Walt Disney Productions. The story is based upon the Lilliputian adventures of Gulliver depicted in Jonathan Swift's 18th century novel Gulliver's Travels.



* Plot:

Gulliver washes ashore on Lilliput and attempts to prevent war between that tiny kingdom and its equally-miniscule rival, Blefiscu, as well as smooth the way for the romance between the Princess and Prince of the opposing lands.


In this he is alternately aided and hampered by the Lilliputian town crier and general fussbudget, Gabby. A life-threatening situation develops when the bumbling trio of Blefiscu spies, Sneak, Snoop, and Snitch, manage to steal Gulliver's pistol..