Bruno Bozzetto & Guido Manuli (1977)

As a live woman performs a striptease, she’s cheered on by an audience of small cartoon men. Some of them pop in the excitement as she brings down the house.

Guido Manuli is one of the most influential Italian animators and film directors. He started a long-standing collaboration with animation legend Bruno Bozzetto in the 60s; together they worked on cult movies like West and Soda, Vip Mio Fratello Superuomo, Allegro Non Troppo and many more. Bruno Bozzetto is an Italian cartoon animator and film director, creator of many short pieces, mainly of a political or satirical nature.

A 60-years career behind, Bruno Bozzetto is esteemed as one of the most eclectic and influential Cartoonists of yesterday and of today. His minimalist style focuses on the content more than the aesthetics to talk about universal themes with an educational approach and through a scratching irony that make his films suitable for a young adult audience.

“Synthesis is the most important goal for an artist. It’s a marvellous and yet difficult goal to achieve.”

Bruno Bozzetto

George Gordon & John Sutherland (1948)

A snake oil salesman tries to sell the American people happiness in exchange for their freedom while one man stands up against him. Sound familiar?

Make Mine Freedom is a 1948 American animated anti-communist propaganda cartoon created by John Sutherland Productions for the Extension Department of Harding College. Financed with a grant from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, the cartoon was the first in a series of pro-free enterprise films produced by Sutherland for Harding. The cartoon depicts a satire of perceived life under collectivist ideology.

Bruno Bozzetto & Guido Manuli (1973)

Lines uttered in all freedom, all joined by a common theme, that is music; from classical to opera music nothing escapes the irreverent and hilarious film’s criticism.

Most of Opera is busy mocking classic opera scenes, but towards its close it turns into social satire, and represents the self-destruction of the world.

Guido Manuli is one of the most influential Italian animators and film directors of his time. He started a long-standing collaboration with animation legend Bruno Bozzetto and together they worked on cult movies like West and Soda, Vip Mio Fratello Superuomo, Allegro Non Troppo, and many more. In 1991 he won the Davide of Donatello Award for Best Screenplay for Volere Volare, a mixed technique feature film. Later in the 90s he directed the TV movie Monster Mash, followed by the theatrical feature Aida degli Alberi in 2001 and the CGI animated series Water and Bubbles in 2008/’09. During the last 40 years he also created dozens of short films that won scores of accolades worldwide. Works such as Opera (1973), Fantabiblical (1977), Count Down (1978), Just a Kiss (1983), and Incubus (1985) were screened and widely acclaimed at every major animation Festival. His energetic style was often compared to Tex Avery.

Bruno Bozzetto is an Italian cartoon animator and film director, creator of many short pieces, mainly of a political Hiii or satirical nature. He created his first animated short “Tapum! the weapons’ story” in 1958 at the age of 20. His most famous character, a hapless little man named “Signor Rossi”, has been featured in many animated shorts as well as starring in three feature films: Mr. Rossi Looks for Happiness, Mr. Rossi’s Dreams, and Mr. Rossi’s Vacation.

Hobo Moon

The Zombie Association of America

Are you tired of living your life like the other brain dead Americans that consume the country? Are you sick of even waking up in the morning to face the day, your monotonous job, and your fellow employees? Do you live your life in fear of the others that surround you? What’s the point of even getting out of your warm, cozy bed to face a cold, uncaring world?  The Zombie Association of America has a solution for you. We will send one of our finest zombies to your home to infect you with their disease within the next twenty-four hours. Do not be afraid. You will be drained of your ambitions, dreams, goals, and any other cares you may have the instant our zombie begins feeding upon your brains. Once our zombie has finished their meal, you will be able to infect others that made life difficult for you. Don’t be the last person on your block to think for themselves. Eat brains today. Call within the next ten minutes and we will send two zombies for the price of one to infect you and your family. Act now. Sorry no COD’s.

Call 1-800-ZOMBIEUSA today!!!

Winston Hacking (2018)

“I’m looking for interaction between things that originally didn’t have any.”

Winston Hacking

The film was made specifically for a group show in Vienna (curated by Clint Enns and Madi Piller) titled From A to Z, that reflects on Micheal Snow’s 1956 animated film of the same name, and his multiplicity of approaches which fluidly transition between media and form.

The piece is an endless barrage of hyperlinked cable television commercials. With equal doses of satire and nostalgia, the promised pleasures of late consumer capitalism are deconstructed through a contemporary form of dĂŠtournement. – Clint Enns

2019 – Best Non-Narrative – Ottawa International Animation Festival
2019 – Best Animation Technique – Ottawa International Animation Festival
2019 – Best Canadian Short – Giraf Festival
2019 – Honourable Mention – Stoptrik Animation Festival

Dave Chappelle (2020)

I think this is something we all can identify with when we’re faced to make big decisions in life. Dave Chappelle makes a good point on the importance of happiness over money.

Dave Chappelle is a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer, best known for his satirical comedy sketch series Chappelle’s Show (2003 – 2006). Chappelle is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Emmy Awards and three Grammy Awards as well as a Mark Twain Prize. Dave Chappelle is renowned for his ability to point out the underlying truths in society and bring humor to serious issues.

Dr. Seuss (1973)

Dr. Seuss on the Loose is an American animated musical television special, first airing on CBS on October 15, 1973. The special is hosted by The Cat in the Hat, who introduces animated adaptations of the Dr. Seuss stories The Sneetches, The Zax, and Green Eggs and Ham.

The Sneetches was intended by Seuss as a satire of discrimination between races and cultures, and was specifically inspired by his opposition to antisemitism.

Steve Cutts (2017)

A satirical story of a rodent’s unrelenting quest for happiness and fulfillment.

Music: Habanera by Bizet // Morning Mood by Edvard Grieg

www.stevecutts.com

Steve Cutts is an illustrator and animator based in London, England. His artwork satirizes the excesses of modern society. His style is inspired by 1930s and 40s cartoons, as well as modern comic books and graphic novels.

Robert Smigel & J. J. Sedelmaier (2011)

Ace and Gary team up to fight crime in their usual, awkward fashion.

Bighead and his henchmen blast Ace and Gary with a flesh ray, transforming them from animated characters to live-action ones, in which they are portrayed by Jon Hamm and Jimmy Fallon, respectively. The gun malfunctions and “unanimates” everyone, with Ed Helms playing Half-Scary, Fred Armisen as Lizardo, Stephen Colbert as Dr. Brainio, and Steve Carell as Bighead.

The Ambiguously Gay Duo is an American animated comedy sketch that debuted on The Dana Carvey Show before moving to its permanent home on Saturday Night Live.

The Ambiguously Gay Duo follows the adventures of Ace and Gary, voiced by Stephen Colbert and Steve Carell, two superheroes whose sexual orientation is a matter of dispute, and a cavalcade of characters preoccupied with the question.

The Ambiguously Gay Duo is a parody of the stereotypical comic book superhero duo done in the style of Saturday morning cartoons like Super Friends. The characters are clad in matching pastel turquoise tights, dark blue domino masks, and bright yellow coordinated gauntlets, boots and shorts. The shorts were intended to satirize suggestions that early Batman comics implied a homosexual relationship between the eponymous title character and his field partner and protĂŠgĂŠ Robin, a charge most infamously leveled by Fredric Wertham in his 1954 book, Seduction of the Innocent, the research methodology for which was later discredited.

The typical episode usually begins with the duo’s arch-nemesis Bighead, a criminal mastermind with an abnormally large cranium. Bighead is usually briefing his henchmen on a plot for some grandiose plan for world domination, interrupted by a debate as to whether or not Ace and Gary are gay. Once the crime is in process, the police commissioner calls on the superheroes to save the day, often engaging in similar debates with the chief of police.

Ace and Gary set out to foil the evil plan, but not before calling attention to themselves with outrageous antics and innuendo, and behaving in ways perceived by other characters to be stereotypically homosexual.

John Halas & Joy Batchelor (1954)

Animal Farm was written by George Orwell in 1945. It is an allegorical novella, first published in England. The book tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. A successful farm revolution by the native animals against the farmer goes horribly wrong as the victors create a new tyranny among themselves.

Animal Farm is a beast fable, in the form of satirical allegorical novella, by George Orwell, first published in England on 17 August 1945. It tells the story of a group of farm animals who rebel against their human farmer, hoping to create a society where the animals can be equal, free, and happy. Ultimately, the rebellion is betrayed, and the farm ends up in a state as bad as it was before, under the dictatorship of a pig named Napoleon.

Animal Farm is a 1954 animated film directed by animators John Halas and Joy Batchelor. It was produced by Halas and Batchelor and funded in part by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), who also made changes to the original movie script. It was based on the 1945 novel of the same name by George Orwell. Although the film was a financial failure and took 15 years to generate a profit, it quickly became a staple in classrooms across the United Kingdom, the United States and other English-speaking countries like Australia, Canada, and New Zealand into the 1980s.

The film rights for a film adaptation of Animal Farm were bought from Orwell’s widow after she was approached by agents working for the Office of Policy Coordination (OPC), a branch of the CIA that dealt with the use of culture to combat communism.

Maurice Denham provided the voice for all the animals in the film.

Britain’s second animated feature, which, despite the title and Disney-esque animal animation, is in fact a no-holds-barred adaptation of George Orwell’s classic satire on Stalinism, with the animals taking over their farm by means of a revolutionary coup, but then discovering that although all animals are supposed to be equal, some are more equal than others.

Nick Anderson (2020)

*Just a reminder to please vote today!

The Pulitzer-winning cartoonist Nick Anderson has described Donald Trump as an “adolescent wannabe authoritarian”, after the US president’s re-election campaign failed to pull one of Anderson’s cartoons mocking Trump’s inaccurate suggestion that injecting disinfectant could protect against Covid-19.

Anderson put his cartoon The Trump Cult up for sale. The illustration shows Trump with supporters in Maga hats, serving them a drink that has been labeled “Kool-Aid”, then “Chloroquine” and finally “Clorox”, a US bleach brand. The cartoon is a reference to the 1978 Jonestown massacre, where more than 900 people died after drinking cyanide-laced punch at the order of cult leader Jim Jones, and to Trump’s widely denounced idea of injecting bleach to protect against coronavirus. Trump has also been taking the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine as a protection against Covid-19, despite a study showing it has been linked to increased deaths in patients.

But Anderson’s illustration was pulled from sale following a trademark infringement claim made by Trump’s campaign organisation, Donald J Trump for President Inc. Writing on the Daily Kos, Anderson said that he believed the claim was made due to his depiction of Maga hats, and described the situation as “absurd”.

“We live in a strange time when the POTUS can falsely accuse someone of murder with impunity, while at the same time bully a private business into removing content it doesn’t like,” Anderson added.

The Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) and other free speech organisations subsequently got involved, sending a group letter that accused Trump’s campaign of having “misused reporting mechanisms to suppress protected political expression in the form of parody, critique, and satire”, and arguing that the work and those who publish it are protected by the first amendment.

Anderson’s cartoon was reinstated on social media, saying that it strives “to respect IP rights and freedom of speech, but we sometimes make mistakes, as we did here … We’re sorry for any inconvenience this has caused.”

In a statement, Anderson praised social media for recognizing the error, but said there were some “troubling issues” raised by the affair, including that the cartoon was removed less than 24 hours after he posted it, before he had received a single order.

“I doubt anyone had even seen it yet on the site,” he said. “This reveals that the Trump campaign has a system in place, trawling for material they find objectionable. If it happened to me so quickly, it likely has happened to others. How much other content has been removed this way on sites?”

He added: “It must be pointed out: the president of the United States is a hypocrite who complains about the ‘violation’ of his free speech, then tries to actively suppress the free speech of others. These are actions of an adolescent wannabe-authoritarian.”

Trump criticized social media for “completely stifling FREE SPEECH”, after the social media platform put a warning label on two of his posts spreading lies about mail-in voting.

CBLDF executive director Charles Brownstein said the organisation was “sensitive to the issues companies face in balancing competing rights owner issues, and were alarmed to see the president’s re-election campaign exploiting those issues to suppress protected speech”.

“We’re pleased that social media has done the right thing in this case,” he said. “We hope that they will continue to assert the First Amendment rights they and their sellers are guaranteed by rejecting any similar censorship attempts.”