by Rafael Gallegos
Daily Lobo
The Southwest Film Center does it again by bringing the work of animator Bill Plympton back to the screen this weekend.
Plympton’s animated film “Mutant Aliens” will be featured on a bill with work by Joan Gratz, a contemporary of Plympton’s who works in clay. Following the success of the MadCat International Film Festival, this animated festival is a must for those who crave animation that goes beyond the Disney output.
Plympton’s work is as grotesque as it is funny. At once an extreme parody of kiddy animation, namely Pokemon, and a political poke at government, “Mutant Aliens” is unique in its science fiction grandeur.
“Mutant Aliens” opens with Earl the Astronaut preparing for his big launch into space. The first shot of the film is an extreme close-up of Earl’s various body parts in the shower. This sets the tone for what follows, a bit of flesh here, some sex there. Earl and his young daughter Josie say their farewells and Earl is launched.
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Earl is quickly abandoned by the evil, and seemingly indestructible, Dr. Frubar, who then has Earl plead to the planet to give more money to the Department of Space so a tragedy like that will never occur again. Frubar’s plan seems to work, until, 20 years later, Earl returns back to Earth for revenge.
With the help of some badass mutant aliens and his daughter Josie, who is all grown up in all the right places, Earl seeks to get his man Frubar, who has just invented the Adship which broadcasts a commercial from space for the whole world to see.
The story is fairly action packed and just absurd enough to make fun of its genre. Plympton’s sick humor, which we saw earlier in his shorts like “25 Ways to Quit Smoking” and “How to Kiss,” works in a twisted way. His comic book-looking characters have wonderful expressions even when their voices don’t quite match up.
Especially captivating are Plympton’s aliens, some are spawns of Earl the discoverer and some are enlarged body parts of humans.
On par with Vaughn Bode’s “Cheech Wizard” and the work of Ralph Bakshi, Plympton’s “Mutant Aliens” is a cult classic in the works.
Also featured this weekend is Oscar-winner Joan Gratz. She is a leader in the clay painting style (think Gumby). Her award-winning “Mona Lisa Descending a Staircase” is among the works that the Film Center will screen.
Gratz’s work will show at 9 p.m. on Friday, 7 p.m. on Saturday and 9 p.m. on Sunday. Bill Plympton’s “Mutant Aliens” will run 7 p.m. Friday, 5 p.m. and 9 p.m. on Saturday and 7 p.m. on Sunday.
The Southwest Film Center is located in room 2018 in the Center for the Arts. Tickets are $3 for students and $4 for general admission.
