How to Kiss

This short by Bill Plympton was included on the PLIMPTOONS DVD. This 60 minute set of early Bill Plympton shorts is a must-see for animation freaks, but since it's not his latest stuff, such wonderful shorts as GUIDE DOG and PARKING aren't included. Most of the shorts are "fall on the floor laughing" funny and only a crabby old curmudgeon couldn't enjoy these films!

While this isn't the best film Plympton ever made, it sure is a very good one and it's hard not to like the film since it has such a twisted and funny sense of humor. A serious-sounding narrator gives a lecture on how to kiss. Yet despite the serious tone, the animations are hilarious--with all kinds of insane mayhem occurring while this couple kisses. It's incredibly bizarre and will make you laugh at the ludicrousness of it all.

Surreal and sick--it's yet another reason to see and enjoy the work of Plympton.

Bill Plympton is an acquired taste, one I have acquired. This short is outrageous, strange and at times unnerving, to say the least. Which is pretty much the norm for his work. This is an excellent, if somewhat bizarre, short, although those who harbor the mistaken notion that animation is strictly for children are likely to run screaming from the room before the first minute has run in the one! Well worth finding. Recommended with the caveats expressed above.

The combination of very straightforward dull narration and exaggerated, insane drawings are what make this animated short interesting. It's also a good example of the wild humor of creator Bill Plympton, who just loves wild drawings of people's faces and the things that happen to them.

Here, we learn about (1) French kissing; 2) the heavy-makeup kiss; 3) the moist kiss; 4) the first kiss; 5) the firm kiss; 6) blowing a kiss; 7) the suction kiss; 8) the nibble kiss; and, finally, 9) the big passionate kiss. All of these are explained in a monotone, very serious manner, which is what makes the visuals even more outrageous.

We learn valuable things such as women advised not to wear too much makeup before one kisses, or the correct amount of moisture on the lips, etc. Like many of Plympton cartoons, this is dry wit and very dark humor as we see horrible things than can happen to human heads, just in the act of kissing. A few of them are a tad bit - just a tad - exaggerated (we hope).

This was included in the DVD titled, "Plymptoons: The Complete Early Works Of Bill Plympton."

A quick tour on the kissing process, that holds still by such classics as the French Kiss and others. We see a couple who are performing the kisses the narrator mentions, as we find out the dangers of several sorts of kissing. Like eating each other, or cutting each others heads off. You know, stuff like that.

Pretty funny Bill Plympton short, although it takes some time to really get started and the narrator voice is perfect for putting you asleep. Couldn't he find someone else to do the job? But the animations are really good and the idea is pretty funny. A fun one to watch when you got a couple of minutes of spare time.

6/10.