Humdrum

'Humdrum', spurned out by a UK animation studio more famous for its stop-motion work, is a creative and offbeat little animated film that delivers pure unadulterated entertainment in all seven minutes of its running time.

As with most Aardman films, the definite appeal lies in their ability to take such strikingly simple concepts, attach a slight twist and turn it into something which is utterly compelling in its own unique way. In this case, we have two shadow puppets (both with Scottish accents) making shadow puppets of their own in an effort to while away a particularly dreary afternoon, one them growing increasingly irate in the process. A concept which in itself is both unsettling and hilarious. The action is all rendered by projecting shadows onto a grainy backdrop (fittingly reflective of the film's somewhat uncertain atmosphere); I had my doubts as to just how well this work in practice, but the two central characters themselves are surprisingly vivid and expressive, and in no way restrained by this technique. In spite of its somewhat freaky premise, it remains light-hearted and pleasing throughout, the humour being quirky, wry and neatly character-driven. The brace of voice-overs from Jack Docherty and Moray Hunter is also great.

A lot of viewers have noted the film's high levels of self-awareness, as the characters comment on the absurdity of finding shadows in the least bit entertaining. Upfront self-awareness, as always, is a pretty hit-or-miss line of humour, but in this case I think it serves its purpose. In many ways, 'Humdrum' can be taken as a commentary on the increasingly insistent weirdness found in so many experimental animated shorts today, while still managing to be a brilliant example of one itself, and promoting an animation style that is both innovative and impressive. It's also nicely scripted, with lots of sharp lines and inspired set-pieces (including an amusing sequence demonstrating that radio is, in the words of the more pessimistic shadow 'all the same rubbish these days'), and, above all, an especially clever final 'punch-line' that rounds the routine off perfectly and ultimately makes this wonderful short such rewarding viewing.

Alongside 'Creature Comforts' and the extremely underrated 'Going Equipped', this is definitely one of Aardman's best - strange, freakish, but very, very excellent. And you gotta love that closing moment.

Grade: A

Two shadowy characters sit at home bored with only some `weird animation thing' on the telly. They try various things to stave off the boredom, welcoming the interruption of the door bell before resorting to playing shadow puppets.

Starting out with a reference to `some animation rubbish' being the only thing on TV, this short film sets out it's comedy to be self aware and witty. The animation looks good despite being just essentially animated shadows. The backgrounds (painted walls, corrugated iron sheeting etc) make the film look much better than it would have had it been just shadows on a white background.

There isn't much of a plot to it but the characters make it work. At times the two main characters are a bit OTT but not too much, in fact the characters do work well if you like sarcastic humour. The other characters are good – the double glazing salesman, and the final doorbell ring is pretty funny!

Overall this is a good film from the Aardman stable, which is witty and inventive. If it had a flaw it's that it was a little too self aware with it making several references to itself (`I can't imagine anything more boring than watching shadows') but this is a minor problem as these references are still quite funny.

Some strange creatures are stuck together at a table and are bored to death. One is extremely cynical and impatient; the other is just stupid--I think. They try to play game but have limited resources. They just complain loudly. One makes suggestions and the other shoots them down. Eventually they resort to shadow puppets, but that requires one of them to have an ounce of knowledge. Great fun.

Nominated for the 1999 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film, Humdrum is the tale of two bored shadow puppets who play charades on an afternoon. I don't know if this has been released to video or not but the subtle British comedy should be appreciated by everyone of all ages.

HUMDRUM was nominated for the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film in 2000 and lost to THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA. I am in complete agreement with this, as THE OLD MAN AND THE SEA was a truly amazing film to watch, whereas HUMDRUM was just good old fashion silly fun but had none of the visual impact of THE OLD MAN. Now this does NOT mean that I disliked HUMDRUM--it was wonderful and funny as well as very reminiscent of a past Oscar winner in this same category in 1985 (CHARADE).

The film begins with these silhouettes of two strange creatures talking. Nothing terribly exciting happens, but I loved the first third of the film. The dialog was terribly clever and I loved how the one guy acted when he answered the door. Later, when they started playing shadow puppets, I actually think the movie slowed down a bit. It was still funny, but believe it or not, when the film had less plot it was more enjoyable!! My advice is to see this film. It's funny, cute and nicely animated. While not the Oscar winner, who cares?! It's so well done that frankly this doesn't matter.