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Story from North America
 December 19, 2008 3:26 am
When I presented my 2008 animation picks last week, I didn’t offer up any student shorts on my list. That’s not because I didn’t see any good student work during this past year. Far from it, I saw quite a few nice pieces. Nothing blew me away though to the extent that I had to include it on the list. That’s all changed now because I’ve just seen Story from North America, an awesomely excellent film animated by Kirsten Lepore and Garrett Davis, with music written and performed by Davis. Created at the Maryland Institute College of Art, it is a combination of surprisingly poignant song-driven storytelling and some of the most crazily inventive and funny hand-drawn animation I’ve seen in recent times. The short may have less polish and sheen than other student films, but its originality and creative use of the animation medium makes it one short I won’t be forgetting anytime soon.
40 comments
posted in Shorts, Student, Garrett Davis, Kirsten Lepore, MICA 
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wow. That was very cool. So unique and i love its analog rawness.
Insane! Very funny & inventive.
See, this is why we need the Brew. I would probably never have seen this little gem without you guys keeping watch for us.
Thanks, Amid!
That was fantastic! The animation was great, the father is fun and the subject is good!
It was nice for a student film, but I just couldn’t watch the whole thing.
Good job.
Hey!! the song is cool!!! Could you tell me the chords??
Awesome. The part where the musician turns the page is the kind of inventiveness I would love to see in every film.
Lovely and too long!
i saw this last week–it’s great! it really grew on me throughout.
I loved this.
Terrific vocal performance from the father. Lots of fun!
Absolutely fantastically excellent! Thanks for that mid-winter holiday treat!!!
Triple wow! One of the best shorts I’ve seen in a very long time. Great underlying message for our times too.
Oh I am SO glad you posted this! I have had bits of the song stuck in my head for two days now.
Hehehe… that made my morning. Crazy funny. This student film gets an A.
Haw! Very nice! Pencil on paper animation is a terrific and under-rated medium.
Wow! Thanks so much for posting this, Amid! I’m honored! :)
Not to criticize your pick—because it’s definitely an incredible short— BUT, technically it couldn’t qualify for the list of your 2008 animation piece, because it was made in 2007.
But Hell, it’s your list so I guess you write the rules ;-)
Thanks again for posting this.
I laughed and then I laughed some more. Great little flick!
awesome. a new classic.
that was great.
“Finally you’re becoming human!” Haha!
I love this cartoon. There are a load of inventive choices made in the animation. The song and performance are good, and the father part is the best with a very “Beat Happening” sound that matches the rough visuals. Everything from the designs, movement, lyrics and concept are full of perfect quirks.
“Finally you’re becoming human” .
Maybe that should be our slogan for hand-drawn animation .
So nice to see some animation that is warm ,and artistic , and flawed (i.e. not perfectly “tweened” to death) , and human.
Long live weird and wonderful animation magic. (drawings that live) .
Whoah. i think i met garrett davis at a party once. Good chap.
Loved it.
Oh this was just absolutely wonderful.
That’s what happens when talented people do something THEY want to do, and not attain to what they’ve seen other people do.
That was fantastic.
(I still heartily endorse spider genocide, though)
That was entertaining but a little overly preachy for my tastes.
What kind of drugs do Kirsten and Garrett use? (…and where can WE get some?)
loved the cartoon..though it is a bit freaky…. The spider was cuter than the kid or the dad…. I wanted the spider to sing and the kid to get squashed… The dad looked like some biker leather bear from the Castro… (no offense intended to any biker leather bears here)
Radrappy says,
“That was entertaining but a little overly preachy for my tastes.”
That is the hell of living in this day and age: that something so *clearly* absurd – and stated by the filmmaker to be so! – can be taken as an actual reflection of an actual person’s actual beliefs. What a world, what a world.
loved it. Thanks!
Loved it. Great song, and really fun animation.
The art style reminds me of some of the weirder stuff you might see in a Fantagraphics book.
And heck, whether it’s “preachy” (serious), “absurd” (not), or a little of both, the message is good.
“And heck, whether it’s “preachy” (serious), “absurd” (not), or a little of both, the message is good.”
So, the “message” is good, despite being indiscernible. I guess you are just a fan of didacticism in general. And absurd now = “not serious”. Got it. You sir, must make your parents proud to have such a genius in the family.
too cool!!! this video is very interesting and beautiful: the animation and the song, WOW!!!! Could you tell me the chords of this song?
i don’t think it’s preachy. if the animators wanted to get preachy they’d do something more over the top than the story of a boy and a spider. it’s simple and sweet, and clearly not designed to ’spread an important message to the otherwise oblivious people!’.
You are not getting it, its a reflection to the united states policy to attack before knowing its a thread… the bomb in which the old guy turns is another indicator for this
The story is lame and oversimplistic about world issues. Basically the author is telling us that we should stand by and not defend ourselves from the many enemies of the world. Our enemies are misunderstood. Its okay for them to blow you up, but not strike because that would mnake us more human. What a load of bullshit.
Or it could just be about kid that wanted his dad to stomp a spider, and his dad talking about appreciating life. You know, without the overthinking and stupidity?
Hah! I found the Easter egg at 1:14! The initials of the animator are spelled out in the eggs.(KL)