Livraison spéciale

This short, which won a well deserved Academy Award, has got to be one of the most delightfully twisted cartoons I have seen in my life! Through a series of twists and turns so odd that it seems like a combination of Kafka and Hitchcock, we follow three people-a husband, his wife and the mailman-through a most eventful day for them all. It changes their lives most completely. Black humor runs throughout this absolute gem and it is delightfully funny! Though I wonder if the Canadian Postal union feels the same about this one! Most recommended!

This gem of an animated short shows us what can go wrong when you forget to clear the snow and ice off of your stairs. A funny, nicely animated, wonderfully narrated short, and it's easy to see why it won an Oscar. A typically outstanding feature from Canada's National Film Board.

Canadians have a way of twisting noir into humorous shapes.

This one does so both in the story, and more importantly in the way the world is drawn.

The story is an amazingly clever and entertaining journey of right turns. Its more noir than noir and the jags in the story are so extreme they're really funny.

But what makes this valuable is the way that the world, as drawn, complements this. As scenes change, parts of the world melt into and grow from each other. It is itself a series of unexpected causal linkages. See it. Its good.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Poor Ralph fails to clear his snow obstructed porch. He leaves the house, comes back and finds the mailman dead at his door. The poor fellow fell on the ice. What to do with the body? But his wife has a secret of her own. This short film may be just 7 minutes long, but there's a lot happening! If Hitchcock had ventured into cartoons, he might have made one like this. Oh! and there's actually nudity in this one! Can't go wrong with this short film. Another great product from the National Film Board of Canada.

Seen at home, in Toronto, on January 1st, 2005.

82/100 (***)

Just discovered on Thad's Animation Blog this weirdly funny Oscar-winning short directed by Eunice Macaulay and John Weldon. It seems Alice is going out and tells husband Ralph to shovel the walk before he goes to work. He doesn't and when he returns home, he finds the mailman lying dead on the icy pathway. What Ralph does afterwards and the consequences that result changes all three lives (well, two of them anyway) forever...With the exception of the organ music and the narrator who delivers his lines in the same monotone style throughout, this animated short is silent. Despite the brief running time, Special Delivery has so much going on that every twist the narrator tells and the animators show us earns more laughs than the one before. The only other thing I have to say is I'm so glad I live in a place where it doesn't snow. (though occasionally there have been exceptions...)