Camille Saint-Saëns is one of my favorite composers from the Romantic era and Spook Sport makes use of one of his gleefully mischievous Dance Macabre in a wonderful display of early experimental animation. McLaren’s animation pairs well with Bute’s sensibilities, creating a “cast” of characters that are mere shapes presented through ink and film. The characters retain their established shapes very rarely, opting to be presented through movement of line instead and represented as themselves through use of colour. It’s a very satisfying piece of animation which does truly feel more akin to a dance performance in terms of storytelling and visual than anything else.
Camille Saint-Saëns is one of my favorite composers from the Romantic era and Spook Sport makes use of one of his gleefully mischievous Dance Macabre in a wonderful display of early experimental animation. McLaren’s animation pairs well with Bute’s sensibilities, creating a “cast” of characters that are mere shapes presented through ink and film. The characters retain their established shapes very rarely, opting to be presented through movement of line instead and represented as themselves through use of colour. It’s a very satisfying piece of animation which does truly feel more akin to a dance performance in terms of storytelling and visual than anything else.
