The Mascot (part 2) - Ladislas Starewicz (The Devil's Ball - Puppet Love)

Part 2 of "The Mascot." Don't be confused by the new characters - Duffy the dog reappears soon!

The best stop-motion film ever made, IMHO. Actually, one of the best short films ever made!

Starewicz had become a master animator by 1933, incorporating techniques never used before and rarely since (such as moving the puppets during the actual exposure to create blurring for fast movement). His use of rear-screen projection is also surprisingly effective.

But more important than these technical details is the great humor of his writing and his sensitivity to character. Each of the dozens of puppets in this film is imbued with a convincing personality; none more so than the title character, known as Fétiche in France and Duffy in England and the U.S. I think the scene of him hanging in a car's rear window is one of the funniest and most poignant scenes you'll find in any film. The character was so successful Starewicz starred him in four more films - if anyone has them, please contact me!

We have CGI now, but all Starewicz had was an imagination that wouldn't take "no" for an answer. Whatever he wanted to see on the screen, he created. And he wanted to see some truly bizarre stuff - every imaginable piece of scrap is called up for service: old shoes, chicken bones, utensils, broken glasses, dolls, monkeys, rats...nothing was off limits.

A sweet, funny, and also eerie film that should be seen by anyone with even a passing interest in animation. Or film, for that matter.

Category:

Film & Animation

Tags:

• stop
• motion
• animation
• Wladyslaw
• Starevich
• Starevitch
• Starewich
• Starewitch
• short
• film
• Fétiche
• Mascotte
• Devil's
• Ball
• yt:quality=high

[todtubetod]

is this the original soundtrack/music or was it added later by some distributor?

[marknyc9]

@todtubetod

I think it's the original music, but the English dialogue was probably added later.

[Zegeebwah]

Oh, either way this is a masterpiece.

[marknyc9]

@Zegeebwah

.

I agree! And in this this 3-part youtube version and the one I put up at the archive, I've fixed a number of editing and synch problems to create the best possible print.

[Zegeebwah]

I have found a 25 minute version of this.

[marknyc9]

@Zegeebwah

.

If you're talking about the one at the Internet Archive, I put it up. It's the same length as this, and virtually identical except for the opening titles.

[madahad9]

@shnazynessmedia Glad there are still those who fondly remember Night Flight. It was a huge influence on me. Every Friday and Saturday night on the USA Channel I was until the wee hours of the morning having my mind wonderfully warped by such things as Web Wilder in Saucer's Reign, De Duva, and The Residents. I gave the deepest thanks to the existance of YouTube where these things will never just fade into oblivion.

[Frizzurd]

stopmotion > CGI as we know it

[ericberner]

You have to struggle and scrape and use what you have to make good art.

[shnazynessmedia]

This is totally my favorite of all three parts. I'd been looking for this ever since I saw it on Night Flight when it was on TBS back in the early 80's.

But personally I think that this is what inspired Tim Burton to do what he was doing. You know...to put the creepy twist on stop motion. Because other than Starewicz there isn't much except for Holiday films. Plus, back before the internet you really didn't know about obscure things like this unless they were on TV.

[stitch1993]

I hope tim burton never finds out about this guy or hes prob gonna remake it. i dont have anything towards time burton and all his original stuff but when he tries to take a classic and puts his spin on it well, you know the rest