Botnik!

BOTNIK! is the most thoroughly enjoyable cartoon short I've seen in a long time. Visually it does have a "retro" look to it, but also injects more modern touches as well (to excellent effect). Exuberance is the word that comes to mind when I've viewed this - the design, colors,animation and music are all filled with such fun energy.

I've had the pleasure of seeing BOTNIK at several screenings, and each time I find some funny little thing I didn't catch the previous time (book titles, visual references etc). The cartoon being about artists (and beatniks!), of course one is treated to the sight of the artwork produced by the characters -- each of these paintings is a mini-masterpiece on it's own, I'd say!

I'm sure the film will appeal to all types of audiences, but at the last screening I was at, there were some artists, and they were not just impressed with the technical aspect of the cartoon, but felt that there was a real (and humorous) insight into the mind of artists.

And I must ad that the music is superb, and fits perfectly with what's on screen.

I think this is really a new "classic" cartoon, something that one will be able to see many times, and it will still be fresh, exciting and funny.