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Alma by Rodrigo Blaas
by amid
December 19, 2009 12:12 am


For a limited time during the holidays, Rodrigo Blaas has made his spooky CG short Alma available for viewing online. Blaas is an animator at Pixar who took time off from the studio and returned to his native Spain to make this independent film. His brother, Alfonso Blaas, served as the film’s art director. The film’s official website is AlmaShortFilm.com.

12/19/09  12:56am
TK says:

Super creepy… but that’s exactly how I liked it! Great to see the whole short online after I missed it at Spark in Vancouver earlier this year.

12/19/09  1:09am

What a beautiful piece of storytelling and animation. They got it right in every sense. The mood, the movements, the textures, the story. Great stuff! This is probably the best piece of animation I’ve seen this year. :)

12/19/09  1:33am
Hans W. says:

Great short! Wonderful story and beautifully executed!

12/19/09  1:44am
Hulk says:

Wow. Really well done and very scary. It’s paced like a nightmare. The upbeat music makes it spookier somehow.

12/19/09  2:43am
J says:

Really great short, it’s really good that artists like Rodrigo Blaas can, and do take time out from their mainstream studio work to create more individual, personal stuff.

12/19/09  2:55am
davidmaas says:

Wow! The animation is fantastic, and the camera and timing is masterly. Designs, shading, FX… I can’t find anything not fantastic. Maybe that the ending was a tad bit too telegraphed?

Congratulations to the makers!

12/19/09  3:34am

This is beautiful and it is as good as Pixar would have made. The story is a horror story but it has so much charm.
Congratulations to Rodrigo and the whole team who worked on it. I can see some familiar names in the credits like my good friend Sergio Pablos.
I hope to see more films from Rodrigo.

12/19/09  4:07am
Mac says:

Very enjoyable. I’m not surprised it comes from a Pixar animator, the look, sound, acting and overall feel was very ‘Pixar’ to me.

12/19/09  4:26am

Simply, amazing…
ALUCINANTE¡¡¡¡¡
A brilliant movement of cameras

12/19/09  5:38am
Alan says:

Fantastic! Great pacing and visuals. Plus a really creepy score…One of the best shorts i’ve seen this year.

12/19/09  9:02am

Loved it! Especially all the subtle warnings.

12/19/09  9:56am
Rick Farmiloe says:

I was on the review committee for the Motion Picture Academy and saw this a few weeks ago. I really loved it….but for whatever reason it didn’t make the short list, so a lot of Academy members won’t see it. I thought it was dark and very clever. Loved the character designs too! Glad you posted it so others can enjoy it.

12/19/09  11:49am
Sharkmad says:

Awesome. One thing… shouldn’t it be a right-handed mitt left on the shelf.

12/19/09  11:57am
BobT says:

I loved the double take the kid does, when he (she?) notices the doll in the window.

I also love how it’s a horror story and actually creepy without ever trying to be dark and horrific.

Great little film

12/19/09  12:55pm
creepy says:

scary and perfectly creepy for the film festival crowds.

12/19/09  1:26pm
Sherrie says:

I loved it! Very well set up, and engaging. I love that the shop window looks like a monster’s open mouth. It was so subtle I didn’t catch it until the final scene.

12/19/09  3:10pm
Wife of an Artist says:

Rod Serling is smiling somewhere…

12/19/09  4:31pm
Major Pepperidge says:

Beautifully done! Alma is wonderfully animated as well. Bravo!

12/19/09  4:49pm
Azz says:

Yay! I saw this at Siggraph this year and it was my favourite out of all the shorts. I’ve been waiting for it to pop online so others can see it. I love it! Especially love the little toy on the bike trying to get out.

12/19/09  5:13pm
Tom D says:

It feels like a Gahan Wilson story, or Edward Gorey, and that’s never a bad thing. I loved it.

12/19/09  5:53pm

LOVED it!! Animation and horror go together like blood and virgins. I’ve seen Grickle, Fears of the Dark, and now this, but I want more please!

12/19/09  6:10pm

Nice little short that ended on a creepy note.

12/19/09  6:14pm
jip says:

I liked the mood and build up and things like that.
But if you’re making something out of the studio system, please make it look like something out of the studio system.
Pixar using pixar eyes probably is necessary for some sort of reason. An independent film using pixar eyes is just bad taste.

12/19/09  7:35pm
Isaac says:

The message seems to be “if someone you’ve never met before has a doll that looks just like you, don’t hang around.”

12/19/09  8:47pm
ZigZag says:

I hope Pixar takes note and pays close attention to this short. Hopefully after studying it, and comparing it with it’s heritage shorts, they’ll remember what it takes to make wonderful, unique bits of film-making again.

Fantastic job, Mr. Blaas.

12/20/09  2:05am
Scott G says:

That was really nice. More stuff like this please. :D

12/20/09  3:50pm
JPDJ says:

Killer. Just great.

12/20/09  4:01pm
wgan says:

very nice indeed, and the idea is creepy and solid, could extend to a full feature animation, these days it’s so hard to have such a nicely done short with good animation and good story, well done!!

12/20/09  6:46pm
Dock Miles says:

Wonderfully done. Place must be called Venus Fly Trap Dolls. I loved the way the shop closed the door so calmly and confidently (and cruelly) as trike-boy tried to escape.

12/20/09  11:06pm
Ariel says:

That was kinda creepy.

Loved the design though. It’s not too often that I see good design in 3D(*but Pixar artists are an exception usually)

It’d be nice to have a job in animation, then have time for a side project. Congrats to all involved in this.

12/21/09  12:27am
Blasko says:

Me gusta! Wow! It’s rare that a CG short blends a handmade stop motion aesthetic with a frosty gloss of computer camera movement and makes it something new and exciting. Loved it.

12/21/09  1:05am
OtherDan says:

Very nice. My playback sucked ass, but I liked very much what I saw.

12/21/09  9:56pm
Tali says:

wonderfully creepy!

12/25/09  10:35pm

Just perfection, I loved it…. Thank you Rodrigo!!!

01/21/10  10:25pm
jared ciron says:

wow….it’s horrifying but not to overlook….it’s full of lesson and application….looking forward for some more rodrigo…thanks a lot…..

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