PerfectLand by Ben Meinhardt | Cartoon Brew: Leading the Animation Conversation

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PerfectLand by Ben Meinhardt

May 2, 2008 2:06 am

PerfectLand is an oddly appealing series of Flash-animated shorts created for MTV by Ben Meinhardt. I’ve embedded the first one below and the other three episodes can be viewed on MTV Overdrive. The shorts have an undeniable “green” theme—peaceful nature-loving creatures are constantly attacked by a heavy polluting, industrial villain—but the concept is saved from typical heavy-handed environmentalism because of Meinhardt’s wildly creative imaginary creatures and his skillful animation, which becomes really impressive whenever the cuddly creatures exact revenge. I’m looking forward to seeing more work from Ben.

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14 comments posted in Shorts

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05/2/08 9:07am	Hasdrubal says:
	That’s odd, people used to be much happier when the steel and tire factories were capable of offering full employment, even though the Cuyahoga River would catch on fire sometimes.
05/2/08 9:30am	red pill junkie says:
	I really liked it. Although coming from MTV, it feels kind of hypocrite. Of course, that’s something Meinhardt cannot control.
05/2/08 10:07am	Dagan says:
	GREAT timing in the animation… Flash-done-right, me thinks! ;)
05/2/08 11:49am	Emily says:
	His film from Vancouver Film School called “Dancing Animals in Love” is one of my favorite flash shorts of all time. I think you can see it at VFS.com somewhere under Showcase.
05/2/08 2:01pm	Gene Hole says:
	the design is like something Winsor McCay might have drawn if he had grown up in the 80’s, but you’re right, something oddly fascinating about it, and great flash animation.
05/3/08 1:26am	Dave says:
	Pretty good, although the plot to all of them is pretty much the same. Threat to nature changes peaceful species into violent destructive force that destroys boss-robot. The end.
05/3/08 9:24am	Stephan says:
	Overkill in morality
05/3/08 7:37pm	doug holverson says:
	Ironic that there’s a Philips 66 gasoline banner ad above it….
05/3/08 9:24pm	Michael J. Ruocco says:
	I saw the Egg Factory one in animation class a few months back. Really great animation & concept behind it, but it sure creeped the hell outta me! I just watched the rest of them. They do have the same plot structure, but that’s OK with me. Besides, it’s nice to know beforehand that the cute little tortured creatures mutate (adapt?) and beat the bejesus outta that Big BossBot & that things turn out OK in the end. It’s kinda like a Road Runner cartoon, except the fact that even though you know what’s gonna happen, but don’t quite know how it’ll get there.
05/3/08 9:37pm	Marty M. says:
	disturbing yet well done
05/4/08 8:03am	Jose Saenz says:
	I absolutely LOVED these! Thanks for the post! They have a sort of Invader Zim vibe. Awesome!
05/4/08 8:44am	The Gagaman says:
	I thought the whole point of the internet was it was to allow anyone in the world to see your stuff, without country restrictions. Stupid MTV web videos…
05/4/08 2:26pm	TempleDog says:
	With ya, Gagaman. Canadian animator, schooled in Vancouver, and we can’t see his stuff here in Beaver-land becuz of those freakin’ post-strike copyright laws. Are ya flippin’ serious?
05/6/08 10:50pm	InFligitation says:
	try this one outside of canada, worked for me…. http://secure.mtv-q.mtvi.com/overdrive/?id=1586120&vid=227205

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