the weblog of robin camille davis

Les Incroyables et Merveilleuses: “literally roving bands of angry dandies” in post-Revolution France. An anti-rebellion fashion statement from the upper class. Cutting your hair à la victime was in — that is, cutting your hair short the way the executioners did before they guillotined someone. Yeah. Fashion.
L’inconnue de la Seine: the most famous face in [...]

Snacktime Stop Motion from Robin Davis on Vimeo.

Deven & I made this during a long layover in Madrid. We had some extra snacks… but not for long.

Sometimes, the internet just blows my mind.

Remember We’re Back? It came out in 1993. I had it on VHS and really liked it, even though Professor Screweyes’s Eccentric Circus gave me the willies. Anyway, I was thinking about it recently, and it occurred to me that the style of Professor Neweyes’s ship, from my vague childhood memories, seemed pretty turn-of-the-centuryesque. Was [...]

I found this incredible short via Shape and Colour, one of my fave blogs. “Please Say Something” is a short film by David O’Reilly about “A troubled relationship between a Cat and Mouse set in the distant Future.” Watch:
Please Say Something - Full Length from David OReilly on Vimeo.

You guys! The National Film Board of Canada, which made such gems as The Big Snit and Neighbours possible, has made all of their films available for online viewing. PTL!! There are so many good ones, I don’t even know where to begin. How about this one, Sleeping Betty, from 2007?

You want more NFB, you [...]

A cartoon from the Van Beuren studios, which produced animated cartoons from 1928–1936 before being sold to various companies. Interestingly, their main characters were a duo (of humans) named Tom and Jerry, which were not related at all to the later cat and mouse pair from MGM Studios.
I adore cartoons from the 30s! They’re so [...]

From Disney’s Dumbo (1941). Walt Disney was very much influenced by Salvador Dali. Of course, the Disney brand of surrealism is contained within rationality: Dumbo & Timothy are drunk. (What the heck kind of champagne is hallucinogenic? Maybe it’s absinthe?) A truly surreal sequence would be irrational, I think. But story and believability have always [...]

It’s not too often that an animated short can leave you with a sense of horror. So take this opportunity while you can.