Quasi at the Quackadero

Just watched this Sally Cruikshank animated short on YouTube. Recently awarded the United States National Film Registry list by the Library of Congress, this film has the title character of Quasi invited to go the the Quackadero by his girlfriend along with a little buddy. Lots of weird and wonderful things happen when they go to this place and they're not very easy to describe though if you're a fan of many '30s animation that came from the Max Fleischer studios, you may have a really tripping good time watching this, at least I did. The music also seems to be from the period I just mentioned and, well, just watch the thing if you're in the mood. Okay, so once again this thing is on YouTube...

I must have seen this right around when it was made, as a short before a longer movie. I don't remember what that movie was, but I remember Quasi! My sister and I often mention it. It was the most surreal, mind-bending thing I'd seen as a kid (preteen?), and at the time was so weird it was even a little disturbing, thought nothing in it was really scary. It was just that different. I I've wanted to see it again ever since. I have a preschooler now who watches Sesame Street, and there are animations on that show that seem like they *must* have been made by the same guy, I I miss Quasi all over again. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of this. I can't even tell you what it was about now, but it made a huge impact on me! If you get a chance to see this, do, even if you don't usually like animation.

I saw this in Seattle, WA about 1978. The animated short is about Quasi (a duck) and takes place (of what I can still recall) on a carnival midway that features rides such as "The Ego Trip" (where a plumber taking the ride exclaims "I'm the world's greatest plumber!", etc.) Quite imaginative and a short I would look forward to seeing again.

I saw this once a long, long time ago, and, as I recall, the soundtrack was by The Mystic Knights, and sounded an awful lot like Danny Elfman's Band Oingo Boingo. I subsequently learned that Oingo Boingo once called themselves The Mystic Knights Of Oingo Boingo...

Wonderful, psychedelic short film about a lazy duck (Quasi) whose frenemy Anita lures him to the Quackadero, a kind of crazy carnival with all sorts of weird carnies and barkers. I first saw it in Cambridge at a wonderful little place called Off the Wall that showed obscure short films.

This beautifully-crafted film was evocative and atmospheric, with a strong late 60s/early 70s vibe. And the music by Robert Armstrong and Allan Dodge adds a sometimes nostalgic, sometimes dreamy quality. One of the funnier "exhibits" was the Past Lives Pavilion, where people could go to relive things that supposedly happened to them in earlier lives. I remember one poor guy with his wife watching himself in some kinky hotel room or something and saying at the end, "That never happened to me!" And yes, youll recognize Cruikshank's style in some of the early Sesame Street cel animated shorts. Fantastic.