Obscure and Interesting Media Share

[KatKing]

This thread is dedicated to obscure or interesting tv shows, shorts, and movies. Emphasis on the "or", something does not need to be obscure to be interesting, and vice versa. Just don't recommend something super well known unless you have a good reason to.

I'm going to start off with my first suggestion, more to come:


Nutcracker Fantasy:



Nutcracker Fantasy is a stopmotion film produced by Sanrio loosly based on the nutcracker ballet. It was released in 1979 and wow. its just an amazing film. The visuals are so strong and striking that i felt like i was being transported to another world. Its quite unsettling at times, but not in the sense of "old media=creepy" that you find on top ten youtube channels. Its more like it was going for scary and overstepped the line in some places. Wouldve defiantly freaked me out as a kid, but i dont see that as a bad thing.

the actual stopmotion could seem amateurish at times, (as in, the movement) but that has nothing on the beautiful sets, staging, character designs, etc. I find it sort of charming. Id rather see grand ideas presented as well as they can be, than have someone sacrifice their creative vision.

The music is also very odd and appealing to me, it uses alot of synths and transforms in weird ways. Theres a killer song in the first half that blew me away in sound and presentation. Its simple but very effective IMO

I heavily recommend the original japanese sub because the english version is not a direct translation. Alot of stuff is cut and changed to the point that a whole 20 minutes is missing from the runtime.

you can watch the full version here:

[KatKing]

"Lesnye Puteshestvenniki", "Forest Travlers"

I dont speak russian so i cannot fully understand whats going on in this animation. The visual storytelling is enough for me to get the general idea though. I was immediately drawn to the character designs here, I find them elegant, unique, and appealing. They strike a good balance between beautiful, cute, and cartoony. Defiantly took a visual note from it for my upcoming comic. The artstyle in general is beautiful.

I also quite like the voice work. Again, I cannot understand what they are saying, but there's a charming, natural feel, simular to early disney productions like bambi, especially with the squirrel child.

The animation is ambitiuos, though it has its limitations. Characters sometimes shift and morph as they move, and the actions can sometimes be choppy or odd. Still, whats good is good, and you can see the effort to go above and beyond, even if they dont quite hit the mark at the end. I much prefer that over consistent mediocracy.

Give this a watch, even if its just a skin through. The style is so lovely, and its only 20 minutes long.

Forest Travlers - Internet Archive

[Misanthropic Monster™]

This is my favorite segment from Disney's Tomorrowland Mars & Beyond! It has some gorgeous hypothetical flora and fauna and always gives me Wayne Douglas Barlowe vibes.

ODOKURO by Aurelio Voltaire - a quaint little tale about a skeletal Sumatran rat-monkey which comes to life in a floating space station full of cursed objects!

DemiUrge Emesis - A mummified cat is tormented by the skeletons of past meals - another stop motion short by Aurelio Voltaire. Narrated by the great Danny Elfman! 

Awesome ident for Nickelodeon

Rakthavira

This ident for MTV is amazing as it is animated by Voltaire and is a homage to Hieronymus Bosch's Hell segment of the Garden of Earthly Delights!

I adore this short, I watch it every year... as the description says 'MTV and SciFi Channel veteran, Voltaire, takes a dark look at gift-giving and the effect it has on the Earth in this one-minute Christmas parable. Animated in stop-motion by Voltaire and narrated by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance.'

Another cute ident

I adore this because it's Halloween related

Transrexia is great, Richard Butler of the Psychedelic Furs narrates this prehistoric postcard of love gone wrong between a stop-motion T-rex and a Pterodactyl.

Just a bunch more Voltaire idents



Yeah, these were all related and pertaining to the great and wonderful Aurelio Voltaire. I wanted a reason to share these with people for years, and I feel they fit the 'obscure media' criteria as nobody I ever show them to has ever seen or heard of them!! They deserve more eyes because they're all beautiful.

[MrsMoe]

This thread is dedicated to obscure or interesting tv shows, shorts, and movies. Emphasis on the "or", something does not need to be obscure to be interesting, and vice versa. Just don't recommend something super well known unless you have a good reason to.

I'm going to start off with my first suggestion, more to come:


Nutcracker Fantasy:



Nutcracker Fantasy is a stopmotion film produced by Sanrio loosly based on the nutcracker ballet. It was released in 1979 and wow. its just an amazing film. The visuals are so strong and striking that i felt like i was being transported to another world. Its quite unsettling at times, but not in the sense of "old media=creepy" that you find on top ten youtube channels. Its more like it was going for scary and overstepped the line in some places. Wouldve defiantly freaked me out as a kid, but i dont see that as a bad thing.

the actual stopmotion could seem amateurish at times, (as in, the movement) but that has nothing on the beautiful sets, staging, character designs, etc. I find it sort of charming. Id rather see grand ideas presented as well as they can be, than have someone sacrifice their creative vision.

The music is also very odd and appealing to me, it uses alot of synths and transforms in weird ways. Theres a killer song in the first half that blew me away in sound and presentation. Its simple but very effective IMO

I heavily recommend the original japanese sub because the english version is not a direct translation. Alot of stuff is cut and changed to the point that a whole 20 minutes is missing from the runtime.

you can watch the full version here:

I LOVE NUTCRACKER FANTASY OMG!!!!

The dreamlike atmosphere of this movie is so good. I really do wish we still got fairy tale films that felt like beautiful fever dreams rather than meta ones that have to constantly remind you about how "smart" they are. Ugh.

I'm just gonna leave a list of cool obscure animated films you can find on youtube because I have so much cool shit to share here. I feel like I could make multiple posts here.

The Plague Dogs (1982) (WARNING: really sad and violent. features animal abuse)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4727C-tBoEQ

Alice (1988) (WARNING: scary imagery)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tK_l74cSPGY

Night on the Galactic Railroad (1985)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOaNT5VXuEU&pp=ygUebmlnaHQgb24gdGhlIGdhbGFjdGljIHJhaWxyb2Fk

Felidae (1994) (WARNING: EXTREME violence and gore. features animal abuse)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiKn-vPXFCc&pp=ygUHZmVsaWRhZQ%3D%3D

Ringing Bell (1978) (ALSO SAD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aavgpyTBof8&t=2435s&pp=ygUMcmluZ2luZyBiZWxs

The Fantastic Adventures of Unico (1981)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlD1cQNFnWs&pp=ygUFdW5pY28%3D

The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb (1993) (WARNING: ....unsettling, I guess???)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZvDJrBXEsDY&pp=ygUidGhlIHNlY3JldCBhZHZlbnR1cmVzIG9mIHRvbSB0aHVtYg%3D%3D