"Fight!" - A Stop Motion Beatdown

Last year Emma de Swaef and Mark James Roels directed an awesome felt stop-motion trailer to introduce the 2013 Festival National du Film d'Animation, based in France.  Two rotund men wrestle to victory, but end up finding some common ground.  It's short, simple, to the point, yet I can only imagine the work put into it, as is the case with all stop-motion work.  The use of felt was a great touch, something not seen often.

Johnny & Berry - Hunting For Prey On The Dance Floor

Sang Lee drew from his own life experiences to create Johnny & Berry, a tale of the typical rituals that unfold on a typical bar outing. The alpha-bro offers his tutelage to a less experienced shy fellow, imbuing him with the confidence to tackle a potential mate in the wild with the power of dance.

The sheer silliness of this animated short will probably put a smile on your face..We've all been in a similar scenario at some point or the other. The music featured in the short was Triadzz by Rustie.

Tuzki - Love Assassin

Tuzki is a popular illustrated Chinese rabbit mascot who enjoys the same type of niche popularity as Sanrio's Hello Kitty cast. Created back in 2006, the character became popular over the years in broadcasting, icons for messenger programs and cellphones, as well as various media ranging from comics to animated shorts.

In this latest collaboration with Japanese Studio 4°C, we get to see Tuzki get prompted to kill a mysterious figure with a heart and bazooka in tow. Using a mixture of CG and hand animation, we're given a taste of Tuzki's hatred of ducks and ill fated attempts at romance.

Wind Up Bots

This fun little video by the Argentinian collective called Black Sheep Films (Who also created that fun rollercoaster mashup) features more of their awesome compositing work. Using a mixture of CG and live action, an army of these retro robot constructs seem to descend on the sunny streets of Buenos Aires to wreak some rather harmless havoc. The locals don't seem to mind at all, I don't think I would either. Directed by Fernando Livschitz.

Bored Game™

What a blast to the past...The folks at Dark Igloo set out to recreate the unforgettably campy mid 90's toy commercial style that dominated that era with Bored Game. A tribute to hazy bedrooms, overly enthusiastic flannel donning kids and some seriously gimmicky (yet effective) selling points. They nailed it on the head with their 90's in a blender concept.

A commercial for Bored Game™ - the greatest game never made and fifth place on 1994’s Hottest Holiday Toy List. Starring The Technodrome, Hot Shots Electronic Basketball, Boglins, a GoPro mounted to a slot car, Mall Madness, the TMNT Pizza Thrower, Power Glove, Toe Jam & Earl, Laser Tag, Don’t Wake Daddy and at least one thing you had growing up. Some assembly required.

Cupcake And Dinosaur

Currently in development by Pedro Eboli, Cupcake And Dinosaur is a silly proof of concept opening trailer featuring 'royalty-free video footage abuse,' Skrillex tracks and the rather silly adventures of Giancarlo Luppe (Cupckae) and Jebediah Chan-Wok (Dinosaur).

Epeolatry

Vancouver based animator Jeannette Lee created this abstract and awesomely strange short entitled, Epeolatry.  The title means the worship of words, and is fitting in this segmented short showcasing the meanings of several uncommonly used words.  I'm not gonna lie, a lot of these words were new to me, and I'm especially fond of "tittle," and will try to somehow find a way to use it very soon.  Anyways, I loved the whimsical aspect of the short, and appreciate how something that can teach can feel so silly and mindless at the same time.

Gelato Go Home (Director's Cut)

Directed by the duo known as Alisdair + Jock under the Trunk Animation banner, Gelato Go Home narrates a tale of seasonal migration of an entire fleet of ice cream trucks completely out of their element in a frozen wasteland. Once their wings unfurl, the journey towards warmer climates begins in this rather silly 2D/3D hybrid animated short, which could use some narration by Patrick Stewart or Morgan Freeman to give it that true National Geographic style flair.

As the first snow flake settles on cold concrete, the ice cream vans begin to contemplate the harsh winter ahead. For, like the caribou and the grey goose, the season marks the start of a long voyage in search of sunnier climes.

Neighborhood Watch by Mike Carlo

Animator Mike Carlo, best known for being the animation director on the demented Adult Swim series, Superjail! recently came out with a new short, Neighborhood Watch.  It's a colorful, if somewhat grotesque (not that we're complaining...) piece with a fun retro feel.  The story is simple enough, which is perfect for this over the top short, which definitely shares some thematic similarities to a typical episode of Ren & Stimpy mixed with Duckman. An overly zealous neighborhood watchman finds himself on the hunt for a local pervert. But wait! Further hijinks commence! Here's to hoping that this pilot gets a little attention, Adult Swim could use some fresh content as of late.

The Pancake-O-Matic Rube Goldberg Machine

Happy Eggs linked up with a team of designers to create a Wallace & Gromit-style device that makes pancakes from eggs laid just minutes before. The cracking contraption takes its cue from a free range hen laying an egg to set in motion a chain reaction that makes the world's freshest pancake.

The Pancake-o-matic took a team of four design engineers more than 200 hours to construct and a further 100 to test. The device which will go on display at the Design Museum later this month, uses a wide selection of household objects including an old-style gramophone and an electric whisk and features a luxury nest throne for the hen to lay her egg in. A recipe for deliciousness? Totally.

Half A Pantaloon

Today is Monday. The Day of Tired and Melancholy.  But there is hope!  In the form of this adorably fun animated short about a man who has a habit of wearing "half a pantaloon" (i.e. manly short shorts). With it's whimsical art style and Dr. Seuss-esque narration, we can't help but find ourselves in a slightly improved mood. This is the second short in the series 'Beastly Bards', the first being 'Typesetter Blues' which we featured back in October.

Peste Et Crouton

With the amount of talent at the Les Gobelins academy, it's no surprise that the students regularly engage in full on summer productions with companies. In this case 5 students embarked on an internship with French animation studio Supamonks to create this rather silly short about a duel between generations.

If you grew up glued to your Gameboy, you might find quite a bit to relate with here, especially if you had to deal with parents and relatives desperately trying to get you to take your eyes off of it during scenic roadtrips (Guilty as charged). The short was created by Marion Bulot, Eve Ceccarelli, Jeanne Sylvette Giraud, Sophie Markatatos and Laurent Moing.

Life By A Thread

If there was ever a day where we really needed a silly cartoon, today might be that day. Today's amusing animated short comes courtesy of Jim Sugrue, and is about a poor alley cat who just can't seem to catch a break. Just when he thinks he might have struck alley cat gold (i.e. a warm sweater), several circumstances seem to get in his way. With an f**k you attitude to everything (and everyone) that stands in our way, this is definitely what I'd call an inspirational clip. Of sorts.

Male Superheroes Gone Slu*ty

(Via)

These male superstuds superheroes look pretty damn silly dressed in scantily clad, asset-baring attire. Naturally, it would be even funnier if they weren't so amazingly ripped, maybe some pot-bellies here and there, but I digress. An artist known as fernacular created a small series of some of the more notable superheroes dressed in costumes more familiar with their female counterparts.

Part of the reason why it was made, was to make a point about how silly some female superhero costumes can be. Obviously they're enjoyed by many, even I can appreciate an exceptionally good-looking lady (even if drawn). But perhaps they go overboard just a wee bit sometimes? Something to think about. While I wanted to post this partly for that aspect, I mostly just found them amusing.

3 more after the jump!