Directed by Hy Hirsh. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.
Social & External
The people behind it
A deer, disillusioned by the consumerism that defines his life. A lizard, ostracized from society, forever wandering. A chance meeting in the middle of a field. Who will survive? And who will transcend existence? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.
"I think of Odalisque as my first film. It was completed after film school and I worked with just a graphite pencil, a small group of colored pencils and animation bond. It is a trilogy of amorous dreams coming from the imagination of a woman recalling her childhood, her beloved twin so difficult to separate from and becoming an adult sexual person. The aria Sempre Libera from La Triviata by Verdi opens the film and the poem Leda and the Swan by WB Yeats ends it. It was great to work with Michael Riesman who created the sound track. I loved working in NYC in those days with Robin McDaniel, Rebecca High and others." Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2017.
An instructional video that teaches, through stop-motion animation, how to build a bridge over a gorge that can hold heavy military equipment. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2004.
A symbolic reflection on issues of female sexuality, art and identity constructs.
NO NO NOOKY TV posits sexuality to be a social construct in a "sex-text" of satiric graphic representation of "dirty pictures." Made on an Amiga Computer and shot in 16mm film, NO NO NOOKY TV confronts the feminist controversy around sexuality with electronic language, pixels and interface. Even the monitor is eroticized in this film/video hybrid that points fun at romance, sexuality, and love in our post-industrial age. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2017.
Mountain Music illustrates what happens when technology gets too advanced too soon. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
An animated short consisting of 4 segments: bowl, garden, theatre, marble game. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with Harvard Film Archive in 2015.
Directed, assembled by Hy Hirsch.
Possibly the most lucid, vivid, and awesome demonstration of the building up of still images to create moving ones, Pasadena Freeway Stills simply, gracefully and powerfully shows us the process by which we are fooled by the movies. By doing so, Gary Beydler mines a very rich vein of associations and metaphor, without the slightest ostentation. Constructed as a thrilling arc of realization and, in a quite moving way, disappointment, the film is a beautiful articulation of our emotional entanglement with moving images, while simultaneously creating a form in which the illusion of cinema is brought into incredible relief as the film we're watching gradually catches up to the film Gary is holding up to the camera with his hands, one frame at a time. (Mark Toscano) Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2008.
The entire film is divided into four consecutive chosen approaches—the fourth section devoted to a reiteration and extension of the original material. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 1999.
An mutoscope motion picture installation commissioned for the 86th anniversary of the Guggenheim museum. Later preserved and turned into a short film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2000.
Legacy takes the audience on a rapid-fire journey through the evolution of the world, starting with a cosmic bang, evolving through billions of years of plants, animals and the creation of natural resources, ending with man and his bounty – “sitting on his world contemplating his coconut”. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
A surrealist translation of Catholic devotional postcard imagery set into unsettling motion. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2008.
This animated short focuses on the lives of three eccentric people living on a farm in the Ukrainian countryside. Told in a non-linear, stream of consciousness style, the film depicts the deceitful relationship between a master and his two servants.
The animation, music, and optical printing of Kitsch in Synch was produced by Beckett and the students in two classes he was teaching at CalArts. Although a group project, it is clear that Beckett was the director. The playful, catchy soundtrack is used to create a cycle of building tension and release. The brightly colored shapes create approximate symmetrical formations and become more densely layered, with glimpses of iconographic objects and even live footage near the end. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive, in partnership with the iotaCenter, in 2007.
Krumins’ fantasy sets the world of flora and fauna on its ear. At one moment grotesque greenish mushrooms grow, wither and reverse their life-cycle, at another, strange crustacean-like animals speed around on a bed of feathers, next a room is inundated with giant ladybugs… Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.
Beckett cycles through a limited number of drawings, but adds new information to each drawing every time we see it, giving the sense of a world that is infinitely rich and also obviously contained tightly within the edges of the paper. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with iotaCenter and National Film Preservation Foundation in 2007.
In Flesh Flows we see a balance of Beckett’s keen drawing ability, in the probing erotic forms, and his technical acuity, which transforms the carnal images into a compelling, transcendent experience. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with iotaCenter and National Film Preservation Foundation in 2007.
Animated short film. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.
As Christmas approaches, Frannie Stein learns from her snide friend Gloria Oestriger that there is no Santa Claus. Frannie's disbelieving, but her father confirms the horrible truth. Frannie enlists the help of her younger brother, Kenny, and they go to a graveyard to dig up some parts, which they assemble in the Stein basement. Soon, they've finished their creation and are ready for revenge on Gloria. Who says there's no Santa? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Animals band together to save the day when the evil Otto Von Walrus hatches a sinister scheme to accelerate global warming and melt the Arctic Circle.
When things go bad in Beantown, top assassin Killer Bean is called to clean-up the mess. Detective Cromwell finds himself in the middle between Killer Bean and mob boss Cappuccino.
This short film visualizes potential human exploration of the Solar System through a sequence of digitally reconstructed environments based on real astronomical data and spacecraft imagery. Depicting locations such as Mars, the moons of Saturn and Jupiter, and other celestial bodies, it presents speculative human activity grounded in existing scientific ideas, accompanied by narration from Carl Sagan’s "Pale Blue Dot".
In this anime visual album, a mysterious driver heads deep into a postapocalyptic hellscape toward a ferocious showdown with two monstrous opponents.
A brave young animal explorer teams up with two trusty friends to find a powerful artifact before his greedy uncle can get his paws on it.
Cartoon worlds collide in this hourlong adventure starring whiz kid Jimmy Neutron and Timmy Turner from "The Fairly OddParents." When the boys duel over Cindy Vortex, it draws the attention of Jimmy's archenemy, Prof. Calamitous, who teams with Wanda and Cosmo, forcing Jimmy and Timmy to work together to save the world from the all-powerful villain.
A chainsaw-wielding George Washington teams with beer-loving bro Sam Adams to take down the Brits in a tongue-in-cheek riff on the American Revolution.
Scrat comes across a time machine and is transported to various times all in pursuit of his beloved acorn.
An animated short film produced by Pixar included as a bonus on the DVD edition of the 2004 feature film "The Incredibles."
A peaceful alien planet faces annihilation, as the homeless remainder of the human race sets its eyes on Terra. Mala, a rebellious Terrian teenager, will do everything she can to stop it.
This collection of 10 short films produced by Illumination includes: From the "Despicable Me" franchise: Puppy (2013); Minion Scouts (2019); Training Wheels (2013); The Secret Life of Kyle (2017); Santa's Little Helpers (2019). From the "Grinch" franchise: The Dog Days of Winter (2019). From the "Secret Life of Pets" franchise: Norman Television (2016); Weenie (2016). From the "Sing" franchise: Love at First Sight (2017). From the "Lorax" franchise: Forces of Nature (2012).
The film's plot follows that of the game closely. Nariko, a member of an ancient tribe who have guarded an ancient magical sword for thousands of years, is charged with bringing the sword to its destined wielder, a deity reincarnated who will bring peace to the land. But on her quest, Nariko must wield the sword herself against the forces of King Bohan, who wishes to possess the weapon himself.
Schoolboy Donald is torn between his angel and devil sides, though in Donald's case, the devil side isn't hard to resist. But the smoking he's encouraged to do turns him green and gives him regrets, and when the good side shows up and kicks evil's butt, Donald cheers.
This short film continues the adventures of the title character as he tries to retrieve his elusive acorn.
Immediately before the events of The Matrix Reloaded, the crew of the hovercraft Osiris discovers a quarter of a million sentinels drilling through the surface of the earth towards the last human city of Zion. But can the Osiris survive long enough to warn Zion?
An animated retelling of ‘Night of the Living Dead’, in which a group of people in a rural farmhouse struggle to survive the threat of bloodthirsty zombies.
As the Clone Wars sweep through the galaxy, Anakin Skywalker and his new Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano plunge into a dangerous mission to rescue the kidnapped son of crime lord Jabba the Hutt.
Across different eras, a poor family, an anxious developer and a fed-up landlady become tied to the same mysterious house in this animated dark comedy.
The human resistance works to convert a sentinel to their side. Part of the Animatrix collection of animated shorts set in the Matrix universe.
Mayhem reigns supreme in the animated kingdom as whiz kid Jimmy Neutron and Timmy from "The Fairly Oddparents" swap places in each other's worlds.
