Harry Smith Colonoscopy

I knew Harry Smith was dead, but this headline caught my eye:

Harry Smith Colonoscopy to Air on 'Early Show'

Turns out one of the show's anchors is named Harry Smith, which I didn't know, since I find TV news repellent.

HOWEVER

This makes a great excuse to watch some animation by the real deal.

Sarah Doyle

Animated watercolors, titled Dancehall Danceoff, by artist Sarah Doyle. (Great, minus the soundtrack.)

Dancehall Danceoff from Sarah Doyle on Vimeo.

The Samsonadzes

The Georgian version of The Simpsons. Eek. The full story here.

RIP Gumby

Art Clokey, creator of Gumby, died Friday. I remember watching his other show, Davey and Goliath, as a kid, because it was the only animated show that aired on Sunday mornings. It was often tough to decide whether the need for television entertainment outweighed the Godly lessons. So hard to be a nonreligious Jewish kid in Texas.

The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D.

All four episodes of Dash Shaw's The Unclothed Man in the 35th Century A.D. are available on IFC's website. The animation is fantastic. It manages to stay true to Shaw's style without looking like static drawings conferred with halting movement. I particularly like his use of abstract sequences of color and form, which are reminiscent of early twentieth century abstract film—Walter Ruttmann and Oskar Fischinger, for instance. There's also something of Viking Eggeling's Diagonal Symphony in the progression and formation of shapes (though in The Unclothed Man, these transformations are less articulated and more natural) and of Jeremy Blake's color gradations for Punch-Drunk Love, with certain sequences resembling animated Rothko paintings.