THE TREASURE PLANET (1982)

"The Treasure Planet" (Планетата на съкровищата "Planetata na sukrovishtata") is a Bulgarian animated sci-fi fantasy film from 1982. Directed by Rumen Petkov and produced by Sofia Animation Studio, it's a short movie at 61 minutes, and it's notorious for its clunky and absurd animation.

The Treasure Planet is a frame story, beginning with a boy named Filipe (alternatively spelled Felipe, Phillip, etc... I'm not sure of a "canon" spelling) who is reliving his memories while stuck in a black hole. The movie shows how he got there via his mission to find Captain Flint's coveted treasure, along with Captain Smollet, John Super Silver, and the rest of the "crewmates" (actually members of Silver's pirate gang).
This film is originally in Bulgarian, but has official English and Czech dubs. Links are at the end ::-)

I first saw a clip from this movie on Tumblr, the iconic scene between Black Dog and Billy Bones. I was fascinated by it and figured it wouldn't hurt to watch. It actually did because it strained my eyes, but I've gone back to this movie many times since then.
I really like it! Despite its rough quality, it's a genuinely enjoyable movie; (most of) the characters are likeable, the premise is interesting, and the design work and music is super cool, with a sort of retrofuturistic vibe.

"Huh? I thought Treasure Planet was a Disney film?" Yes it is, except that came out in 2002, a whole 20 years after the Bulgarian film.
"So did Disney rip this film off?" Surprisingly, I sincerely doubt it. Despite similar premises, they are very different end results.

Content Warnings

• The ending scene of this movie unfortunately has an antiblack charicature.
• Suggestive cartoon nudity in one scene.
• Cartoon violence and some blood throughout.

Links

• Original Bulgarian audio
• Official English dub
• Original Bulgarian audio, subtitled in both Bulgarian and English, and upscaled (but with occasional glitching)
• Brief deleted ending scene (in Czech, read the comments for an English translation. The full Czech dub is linked in the description.)

FACE LIKE A FROG (1986)

"Face Like a Frog" is a 5-and-a-half minute animated short by Sally Cruikshank. Featuring delightfully colourful designs, a silly lighthearted premise, and music by Danny Elfman.
I love this short! If you like it too, you should check out her other animations as well. She has animated for commercials, Sesame Street, and has all sorts of fun things to watch on her YouTube and Vimeo channels.

Face Like a Frog is about a frog named Max, who is stopped on the road by a pretty frog name Gluey. She explains she has a hex on her house that he might be able to help lift. Some surreal hijinks ensue, complete with a musical number by The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, featuring Danny Elfman as a frilly lizard.
From Sally's Vimeo upload: "I was aiming for a giddy, dream-like experience with as much intensity as I could squeeze out of a cartoon."

Links

• Official YouTube upload from Mrs. Cruikshank herself
• Official Vimeo upload

THE WORKS (Unreleased)

If you follow any of my social medias, you will probably have seen me talk about this, and know this "film" has a solid place in my heart!
An unfinished movie from the early-to-mid 1980s, this is a gem of early CGI work, made by the New York Institute of Technology.
In fact, I made a website for it! It would be redundant to say everything again here, so go check it out! It's linked at the end. ::-]

The visuals alone don't reveal too much of the plot, but recently (in 2021) the script became available online.
The script tells the story of an Earth which has long been devoid of human life, since a computer named The Works wiped them out. Humanity now lives in asteroid belts, but that may soon change since a mysterious robot from the Moon (named Ipso Facto) has been sent on a mission to return humans to their old planet.

I'm not sure why I formed such a huge interest in this film but I did! There is something so alluring to the mysteries of lost and incomplete movies. This interest also kindled a love for early CGI, something unfortunately so often called ugly and creepy.
I would be so grateful if anyone shared with me new video clips, information, pictures, and more!

Links

• The Works "trailer"
• The Works construction scene
• My fansite for The Works which has information and links to videos, articles, and galleries. Or click the button below!

A KITTEN NAMED WOOF (1976-1982)

"A Kitten Named Woof" (Котенок по имени Гав, "Kotenok po imeni Gav") is a series of animated shorts from Soyuzmultfilm (Союзмультфильм), a Soviet animation studio that is still around today. There are 5 "episodes" at around 9 minutes long each, and each episode (besides the last one) is comprised of smaller shorts, ranging from 2 to 5 minutes long. These smaller shorts don't have much continuity between them.

Each short follows (you guessed it) a kitten named Woof getting into shenanigans with his friend, a puppy named Balloon. Woof is often mentored by a Black Cat, and the Black Cat is often at odds with a Dog living at the same house, who doesn't seem to like any of the others.

This series is very comforting to me. Everything ranging from the visuals, animation quality, character design, music, are all excellent. And my favourite of all, the writing captures the unique imagination of children incredibly well.
I even have some merch for this series- a plushie of Woof (from eBay) and a pin of Balloon (from SovietPostcards on Tumblr)! I keep them around with me a lot, they bring me such comfort to see. ::-)

Unfortunately I can't find the English subtitled version I used to watch on YouTube. It seems like several subtitled videos have been taken down somewhat recently.

Links

• Official full series uploaded by Soyuzmultfilm's YouTube channel
• Playlist of subtitled episodes from Woof the Kitten on YouTube (Only 3-5 available as I type this)
• Full series with questionable English subtitles from Irina Crutcher on YouTube
• Soyuzmultfilm on Wikipedia

TETSUO: THE IRON MAN (1989)

"Tetsuo: The Iron Man" (鉄男 "Tetsuo") is an experimental body horror film directed and otherwise created by Shinya Tsukamoto (who also plays in it). At 67 minutes long, this is a surreal black-and-white film with emphasis on gore and erotic imagery, and it has really interesting practical effects (including stop-motion, yay!).

Being surreal and somewhat non-linear, some of the viewing experience comes from picking apart the plot. Tetsuo follows a nameless Salaryman who has been experiencing strange things ever since he and his girlfriend experienced a sort of "incident" together. His life becomes more nightmarish as more of his experiences revolve around metal, and his body slowly turns into scrap.
I think this film has more of a surreal horror angle at first and suddenly gains a tokusatsu (action) vibe towards the end, which is a bit jarring.

I'm not kidding when I say this film is deeply uncomfortable. I didn't even like watching it very much, and I forwarded past some parts- and yet it has really stuck in my mind since then. (I think that lasting impression is also due to the fact that I had been listening to the soundtrack a lot after watching it, which is really fun.) I can really appreciate this film a lot more after reading about it and its creator; it's one of those films that isn't pleasant to watch, but fun to think back on.

Content Warnings

• Graphic gore (especially in an initial scene, but also throughout), violence, and blood
• Sexual assault (in one scene) & sexual imagery
• Flashing lights
• Body horror

Links

• Wikipedia page
• IMDb page (look how the poster is coloured like the lesbian flag ::-))
• Tetuo soundtrack on YouTube, by Chu Ishikawa and uploaded by Cult Soundtracks (volume warning!!!)

TRON (1982)

"Tron" is a 1982 science fiction movie directed and created by Steven Lisberger and Bonnie MacBird, and produced by Disney (and is likely the only Disney movie you'll see me swearing by liking.)
Another film on this list that is key in the development of CGI, Tron combined live action with CGI elements in a visually stunning production.

Tron follows Kevin Flynn: engineer, arcade owner, previous employee of the tech giant Encom, and hacker. In his search for proof that Encom has stolen his own games he's created, he gets transferred into the digital realm of Encom's computer system, controlled by the MCP (Master Control Program). Kevin has to fight his way out of the hostile system by cooperating with its resident Programs- including Tron, a security program, and Ram, an actuary program.

Tron is a movie that I initially had mixed feelings on. I really wanted to like it, but sometimes I can't get past trying to understand how the world-building could possibly connect to real-life computer systems. (This happened when I watched ReBoot too, but that's another thing, hehe.)
Even so, I've seen this movie multiple times, and I ended up liking it and its sequels (especially the show "Tron: Uprising"). It's incredibly stylish in a way that has never really been replicated. The world is so intriguing to me, and I love the characters and their acting... and the music! So awesome. Even if I wish I could understand the mechanics of the world more, the movie itself is very fun and enjoyable. ::-)

Content Warnings

• Flashing imagery throughout
• "Cartoon" violence and death throughout

Links

• "Tron" Wikipedia page
• Tron OST by Wendy Carlos & Journey, uploaded by vson6 on YouTube
• (I can't find the full film online right now, I may find it later?)