Super-surreal French illustrated animation

Words: Andy Martin

Based on a 1906 cabaret song of Parisian singer Dranem, this super surreal animation follows a four legged, long armed, pipe smoking dandy as he wanderers around a construction site.

While there we see him meeting a plethora of odd, madcap characters: a buddy made of three dice, a cement mixer with luscious lips and boiler suited nipple welders, to name a few.

How it was made

It was made by Damien Florébert Cuypers as his main graduation project from 2006. He is a Paris-based illustrator and animator who works predominantly with coloured crayons. As well as animation he also has a flair for quick and dynamic portraits.

It has a great loose illustration style created with crayon and the animation reminds me of the bendy style used in the early cartoons from the turn of the 20th Century. It all adds up to a slightly sinister but totally joyful animated short… but those digging implements look mighty painful to use!

And here is a translation of the song.

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Andy Martin is a freelance animation director with over 10 years experience in the field. He also dabbles in illustration and music creation. See his work at his site and follow him at @handymartian.