Bill Plympton is a crazy genius, and that statement has never ringed more true than after watching his latest full-length magnum opus Hair High (only just recently released here, I believe). You either love him or you’re annoyed by him, and both for the same reasons; his animation style is slow paced, absurd, twisted and gross. You either get his sense of humor or you don’t. Or maybe you just need to be in that special mood to watch one of his little fares. Either way you’re in for a roller coaster ride you might wish you could get off of but can’t. So just sit back and enjoy the ride.
It’s alive!! IT’S ALIIIIIVE!!!!!
Set in the 1950s, Hair High tells the story of Bud, a teenage outcast new to his high school who quickly becomes the slave of Sherri, the school queen, after making her look foolish in class. Much to her boyfriend Rod’s chagrin, the star quarterback, the pair fall in love and decide to go to the prom together. Said quarterback vehemently disagrees and makes the duo drive off a cliff. The new couple romantically perishes in each other’s arms at the bottom of the lake, only to magically come back to life one year later in an advanced state of decomposition, crashing the prom and crowning themselves king and queen, thus making their unrequited romance come full circle. Makes total sense. Amidst all the hilarious non-logic hi-jinks lies even more juicy sub-plots of irrationality in the most nipple-biting, eye-poking, nail-ripping, chicken-humping, lung cough-upping, sundae-eating, sheriff clubbing and frog-electrocuting scenes you’ll ever bear witness to. Literally. This one guy in a chicken suit starts humping everything in sight at a football game, including the referee. Worth the price of admission alone.
Storyboard art. The film is as amazing, if not more, than the original sketches.
Plympton has amassed an impressive cast to voice his kooky characters starring Sarah Silverman as Sherri, Dermot Mulroney as Rod and sitcom writer Eric Gilliland as Spud, and featuring Ed Begley Jr., Beverly D’Angelo, David Carradine, Martha Plimpton and Craig Bierko, with special guest voices Matt Groening and the incomparably insane Don Hertzfeldt, another mad genius who should be locked up, and by locked up I mean bless the universe more often with new twisted shorts (I dare you to watch a Hertzfeldt without your jaw dropping to the floor and your brain imploding. It can’t be done).
The hair, the clothes, the cars, the profuse sweating… ah, the ‘50s…
Only in retrospect could I really appreciate this feature ‘cuz I realize Plympton is sometimes best taken in small doses, more specifically, his short films. With shorts such as Parking and his Oscar-nominated Guard Dog being his latest offerings, sitting still for almost an hour and a half in front a slow-paced Plympton film would take its toll if not for the amazing characters and some of the best animation ever produced. The way this man draws facial expressions proves he truly understands animation and caricature; there is no mistaking his knowledge in conveying emotions with exaggeration and physical pratfalls. Add to that his wonderful use of forced perspective and there’s no denying you’re watching an original ‘Plymp-Toon’.
Plympton with humping chicken (aka ‘Krazy Kock’) and art director Lori Samsel
