Genres: Animation

  • Horseplay

    A half-horse, half-man pursues a young woman who turns herself into the same figure. Using a spare animation style, Straiton deals with a mythological subject that reveals his personal sense of humour. A beautiful film, set to original music, that is stunning in its simplicity.

  • How the Hell Are You?

    Based on a correspondence with a gay friend in the sixties, this collage film is a portrait of a person and a decade. Against a montage of found images, the narrator comments on life, love, and the American Dream.

  • I’ve Got a Little Brother

    A playful look at sibling rivalry orchestrated with the rhythmical beat of the chants kids sing in schoolyards and at home. The fears, latent jealousy, and even cautious approval of little brother are warm and funny. Achieved with simple animation techniques, the film enhances its subject with childlike playfulness.

  • In His Own Image

    An alternate view of man’s development. Zeus, at his drawing board, wrestles with the problem of making the perfect creature for the perfect environment.

  • In Search of the Last Good Man

    Six women meet in an espresso bar and discuss men and relationships. A series of encounters with men who walk in leads to the resumption of the search for the last good man. An upbeat, entertaining film layered with scenes of cut-out animation. “In Search of the Last Good Man” provides a satirical look at contemporary relationships.

  • Jimmy Brown the Newsboy

    This visual poem for children utilizes silhouette paper doll cut-outs and characters to follow a young boy and his pet frog on an early morning paper route. The characters dance in time to the music, a traditional American folk tune, from which the film takes its title.

  • Leaving the Poisons Behind

    Animal, fish and bird pictographs struggle to escape the filmic and musical presence of environmental poisons. Primarily an environmental picture, “Leaving the Poisons Behind” can also be seen as a forum for meditation on the idea of leaving behind personal poisons – smoking, drugs, drinking, abusive relationships, and so on. The film may also be of interest to those who are studying aboriginals and their environmental connections, and to those interested in petroglyphs and other figures from neolithic artists. It is a beautiful film as well as an innovative type of music video in film format, making it accessible to…

  • License to Kill, Part MCMXC

    “License to Kill, Part MCMXC” is a short animated film which reverses the role of hunter and hunted. It is a simple story about a bear who gets a hunting license and goes to the city to hunt man. It is animated by drawings of pencil crayon on white paper.

  • Lifelines

    Animated line drawings combined with photos of a nude model; an interplay of line, form and symbol.

  • Linear Dreams

    “The sound of a heartbeat pumps life into ‘Linear Dreams’, a scratch animation film that moves from the simple lines of the unconscious to representational realism.” – Toronto International Film Festival, 1997 The word “Linear” is composed of two words: “line,” as in drawing and “ear,” as in hearing. The film was produced by drawing both sound and picture directly onto 35mm motion picture film.