Special Delivery

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 (***)

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.

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.

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.

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!