One Song

The Gruffalo

December 2009 •English

The magical tale of a mouse who sets foot on a woodland adventure in search of a nut. Encountering predators who all wish to eat him - Fox, Owl and Snake - the brave mouse creates a terrifying, imaginary monster to frighten them away. But what will the mouse do when he meets this frightful monster for real?

Warrior Cock

January 2011 •English

A duty-bound rooster fights ancient stone monsters to defend his witless hens.

The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer

June 1984 •English

In Prague, a professorial puppet, with metal pincers for hands and an open book for a hat, takes a boy as a pupil. First, the professor empties fluff and toys from the child's head, leaving him without the top of his head for most of the film. The professor then teaches the lad about illusions and perspectives, the pursuit of an object through exploring a bank of drawers, divining an object, and the migration of forms. The child then brings out a box with a tarantula in it: the professor puts his "hands" into the box and describes what he feels. The boy receives a final lesson about animation and film making; then the professor gives him a brain and his own open-book hat.

The Comb

October 1991 •English

A porcelain doll’s explorations of a dreamer’s imagination.

In Absentia

October 2000 •English

A woman sits alone on a chair at a table in a room on one of the top floors of an asylum. Bright spot lights dot the night, sometimes shining on her window. She sharpens pencils and writes on a page in a copy book. The pencil point often breaks under her fingers' force. She places broken points outside the window on the sill. A satanic figure is somewhere nearby, animated but of straw or clay, not flesh. She finishes her writing, tears the paper from the pad, folds it, places it in an envelope, and slips it through a slot. Is she writing to her husband? "Sweetheart, come."

Ghiblies

April 2000 •Japanese

Ghiblies, a totally different look on the staff of Studio Ghibli as they go through life, work on new animation projects, office jokes, off the wall events, and deciding what to have for lunch.

Imaginary Flying Machines

October 2002 •Japanese

Kuso no Sora Tobu Kikaitachi (Imaginary Flying Machines) is a 2002 Japanese animated short film produced by Studio Ghibli for their near exclusive use in the Ghibli Museum. It features director Hayao Miyazaki as the narrator, in the form of a humanoid pig, reminiscent of Porco from Porco Rosso, telling the story of flight and the many machines imagined to achieve it.

Bug Crawls

September 2004 •English

In a solemn, haunted environment, a small bug crawls over the silhouette of a house.

The Facts in the Case of Mister Hollow

July 2008 •English

The film centers on an unusual photograph dating back to the 1930s. An investigation of its particulars reveals a tapestry of secrets hidden in the details, and a tale of kidnapping and murder captured in a haunting moment.

Abigail

January 2005 •English

As the gap between a burning airplane and the ground gets smaller, one passenger has other things on his mind!

Dragonslayer Quark

December 1987 •English

Cartoon short about Quark the troll, this time as a dragonslayer by chance.

Anamorphosis

April 1993 •English

The Quays' interest in esoteric illusions finds its perfect realization in this fascinating animated lecture on the art of anamorphosis. This artistic technique, often used in the 16th- and 17th centuries, utilizes a method of visual distortion with which paintings, when viewed from different angles, mischievously revealed hidden symbols.

The Phantom Museum: Random Forays Into the Vaults of Sir Henry Wellcome's Medical Collection

June 2003 •English

A display at the strange and wonderful artifacts in a collection of medical curiosities.

Trees

May 1948 •English

A Walt Disney short film.

Madagascar, a Journey Diary

January 2010 •French

Filmed like the travel journey of a Western traveler in search of Madagascar's customs. The pages turn, the drawings come to life, and the luxuriant landscapes of Madagascar appear one after another.

Baby Quark

December 1987 •English

Tells the beginning of the story of Quark: His birth and how he is thrown out by his parents due to his malicious behaviour.

Locomotion

January 1989 •English

Stille Nacht II: Are We Still Married?

August 1992 •English

Stop-motion animated short film with a white ball, a rabbit, and a girl, and a voice singing "Are We Still Married".

The Calligrapher

January 1991 •English

With harpsichord music in the background, a dandy, seated at a table, plucks a quill pen from a ceiling full of them above him, dips it in ink, thinks, then draws a straight line down the page in front of him, out of which sprout six more quill pens, each held by a hand. The calligrapher moves all the hands and pens in unison, drawing an elaborate feathered wing, which comes to live, peeling off the page, and, now a quill pen, slips in to his hand. He tucks it behind his left ear.

Urs

May 2009 •English

For many years, Urs has had to look after his aging mother. But now he sets out for a dangerous journey: He carries his mother up a mountain to find a better place for both of them. But she wants to stay at home.