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
• Full series with questionable English subtitles from Irina Crutcher on YouTube
• Soyuzmultfilm on Wikipedia