The Sandman

Along with Nightmare Before Christmas this short shows that stop-go-animation isn't just for kids. Dark, Haunting tale of a boy's journey up the stairs to bed.

Don't watch this before going to bed yourself!!

I saw this in one of the Spike & Mike festivals years ago & would say that this is probably my all time fave short. Very simple & short, but quite devastating. I have been trying to track this down on DVD..... The story of the creator is tragic, had he lived longer, I'm sure he would have rocked the animation world. The story is the classic, oft told tale of a kid afraid to go to bed because of what might lurk under his bed. It is told (if i remember correctly) without proper dialogue (I think there are mutterings by the characters, but not of an intelligible language). I assumed from the dark tone & detailed sets & figures that this one came from Eastern Europe, but was quite surprised to find it was not the case. Think Quay brothers, but with real characters in clay & in color.

If it hadn't been for MONA LISA DESCENDING THE STAIRS, there's a very strong chance that THE SANDMAN would have won the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film--it was that striking and groundbreaking. Paul Berry created a stop motion world very similar to his later projects such as THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE Christmas and JAMES AND THE GIANT PEACH. While the animation is not quite as fluid here in this early film, you can clearly see that it led to these very successful Disney films. Sadly, Barry died at age 40 and his output was quite limited.

So what did I like about this film? Well, the character designs were amazing and the sets had a strange and twisted quality that was both charming and creepy. As for the story, I am probably in the minority here, it was really good up until the surprise ending. I thought it was too creepy and disturbing and knocked the film from a 9 to an 8--this is certainly NOT a film to show to young and impressionable kids. Of course, for an older crowd, they'll probably love the sick finale. Watch it and see for yourself.

This is an exceptional and brilliant film.

Easy to define it as creepy short animation. Obvious, too easy.

In fact, a smart crafted, scene by scene, story , using memories from our children about monsters under bed, defining the poverty in precise terms, like the darkness fear of child , reminding old fashion shadows in room and , not last, the parent care for his children.

The Sandman is almost a hypnotic presence and the food for its kids symbolic at whole.

In same measure, fists of clues, from drum of boy to clock and the last kiss of mother for her baby and the loneliness in a too large room. And, sure, the moon.

Dark story, admirable crafted, wise used .

In a quiet town, in a dark house, a young boy playing with his drum is sent to bed at the top of the long stairs. With only a candle for light the boy is a bit scared and thinks he sees all many of things in the shadows and that every noise is sinister. As chance would have it though, he may not be wrong as, unseen by him, a character may be trying to get to him in his room with sinister motives – but is the Sandman real or is it all in the boy's overactive imagination.

Everyone knows that the Nightmare Before Christmas was a Tim Burton film, but not enough credit is given to the animator Paul Berry who was responsible for the unique Gothic feel given to the stop motion characters and the film as a whole and it is in this short film that he shows his worth. The story is a simple horror tale told in the style of a brief Gothic poem; the plot is simple and does keep the tension up and the ending is shocking in its simplicity – but parents will want to vet it before children watch it as it does end with some images of the sort that tend to linger in the mind and may cause some serious nightmares.

The animation is brilliant; although it lacks the budget (and hence gloss) of Nightmare but it is no less stylish and imaginative for it. Like I say, it is atmospheric and the ending is memorable and pretty creepy even for me. Since Berry's unfortunate death in 2001, we will not see any more work from him but with both this and Nightmare, he showed his eye, his talent and his imagination in a way that deserves and receives recognition. A great little short that everyone that watched Nightmare should make the effort to track down.