Common Sense Note
Parents should be aware that this video features much claymation violence and frightening situations, such as an aunt risen from the dead as a zombie. There's also some profanity. But the video will prove worthwhile to more mature kids and adults, for its multilayered humor and visual mastery.
Families who watch this video may want to discuss the different types of animation and claymation each family members enjoy. How do the shorts use animation and claymation for social commentary? How is that like other favorite series, such as The Simpsons?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Nancy Warren
The title story, Creature Comforts is a pseudo-documentary about zoo animals. Various interviewed (animated) animals wryly comment on what it's like surviving the confinement and monotony of zoo life.
"Wat's Pig" tells the medieval morality tale of separated twins. "Not Without My Handbag" makes absurdist comedy of the consequences of failing to read the fine print. "Adam" demonstrates the difficulty of being the first clay creature of a not-so-nice creator.
In addition to the title flick by Nick Park of Wallace and Gromit fame, claymation kings Peter Lord and Boris Kossmehl deliver comical and implausible plots and scintillating visuals. This is a perfect tape for both teenagers and their parents who can appreciate the eccentric sensibility and multiple levels of humor.
As in other claymation videos, the medium allows the humor to go in bizarre directions. Younger children will laugh at the accents of the animals and their strange behavior in the zoo exposé, Creature Comforts While older children and parents will howl at the dialogue of this 1989 Oscar winner as animals speak out about their treatment "inside."
"Wat's Pig," a 1996 Oscar nominee, offers a fast-paced medieval action fable and "Adam," also nominated in '91, will entrance younger viewers with its clever clay-play.
"Not Without My Handbag" is in a category all its own: "night of the living dead" horror-animation undercut by brilliant comic touches. The suspenseful music adds to the fear factor while the ridiculous story, which features the devil in charge of a washing machine company, can't help but make you laugh. Its unique style will keep adults and older children riveted.
Fans will also like Wallace & Gromit in Three Amazing Adventures, Chicken Run, and Flushed Away, as well as the two TV series based on the Creature Comforts short.
Rate It!
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ViolenceModerate cartoon violence. Babies are dropped, and knights do violent battle in "Wat's Pig" devil aims a gun at a little girl in "Not Without My Handbag" impatient creator threatens clay creation with his fist in "Adam."). The devil kills a little girl's aunt and the aunt returns as a zombie from hell in "Not Without My Handbag." |
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LanguageModerate profanity in "Not Without My Handbag." |
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