Special Delivery

For what seems like the one millionth time, the National Film Board of Canada produced a cartoon that was either nominated for or won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film. It seems like this government agency long sponsored and encouraged short films and I only recently discovered these gems. While I am sure there are some losers among them, I have been rather consistently impressed by the work--particularly the ultra-strange film THE BIG SNIT.

Here with SPECIAL DELIVERY is another ultra-strange and dark film. A man accidentally kills a postal worker and this oddly sets off a series of very unusual events--many of which are way too depressing to be seen in traditional animation. This, combined with the irreverent sense of humor make for a very enjoyable film.

By the way, there is a NAKED ANIMATION ALERT!! You'll see a tad of male frontal nudity here, but since the animation isn't the most realistic style, most probably will not be particularly offended.

This is a good story.

It is, however, entirely told by a narrator; rather blandly indeed, but it still makes for a pleasant listening.

The art is classically quite good, yet I have one issue with the entire thing: it doesn't add anything to the narration. In a way, it misses the point of being an animated film. To me, the pictures should come first, and if possible be self-sufficient.

I don't think that the opposite is true, that Special Delivery can tell its story without the narrator. To verify, I'd have to wait until I forget the events, and watch it without the sound, which is not going to happen.

Anyway, there's this flaw in the execution, but it doesn't make it bad in the least. It's a good tale, told with an average delivery instead of the expected special one.

Despite a darkly-humorous story and some moderately stylish (if unpolished) animation, 'Special Delivery' has yet to leave much of an impression on me. The main reason is something that's been praised in other comments on this site, the narration: it's so flat and descriptive that it undercuts, rather than enhances, the animation, and yet it's really unnecessary, supplying almost no information that isn't obvious in the animation itself. The character design, staging, and action are all competent, but add nothing to the story. The result is a cartoon which could just as easily have been a live-action short film, or even a short story, without losing anything.

"Alice" heads off to her judo class leaving husband "Ralph" with one instruction - clear the snow from the path! He forgot! When he returns home he finds an uniformed corpse at his front door. It's the mailman - and he's clearly slipped on the ice and will post no more. Bundled into the house by a panic-stricken "Ralph", he must now think of a plan to get shot of the body before he ends up on the wrong end of a costly lawsuit. Firstly, though, he decides to finish of the man's delivery round so suspicion wouldn't fall on his home, but he leaves his keys in the wrong trousers, gets apprehended by the police trying to break into his own house and that leaves the unsuspecting "Alice" to come home to a forced window, a naked postie and an half drunk bottle of Scotch. Turns out she had romantic history with the postman - so now it is her who must find a way of disposing of the body! It's only then she realises that he's not just passed out, but deceased. Did "Ralph" do it? She flees and when he returns from his trip to the cop shop, he sees there's no longer a body (or a wife) so decides it's best to just forget all about it and sit by the fire... I did quite enjoy the black humour here and the daftness of the last two minutes with police and coroner deciding that convenience was the better part of valour. The simple, snowy, animation is effective and Sandy Sanderson's narration keeps his tongue well in his cheek.

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!