The Cat Piano by Eddie White and Ari Gibson

By
on

We’ve mentioned Eddie White and Ari Gibson’s stylish short The Cat Piano on the Brew several times before. They’ve just posted the entire short online. Enjoy it below, and get more info about it at their studio website The People’s Republic of Animation.

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  • http://cheekyentertainment.blogspot.com Craig Clark

    Stylish indeed. Power to the Peoples Republic of Animation and the narration of Nick Cave.

  • Isaac

    A rare combination of an extremely shallow plot, and a voiceover that takes itself too seriously. It’s a parody of itself.

    Another unusual combination is the fluid animation, contrasted against the characters’ awful faces and poses.

  • http://blissfulignorance551.deviantart.com/ A.J.

    i love this piece, excellent art direction, and i love the idea

  • Chris Leonido

    Wow, this was very interesting. I hope Eddie and Ari do something again in the future.

  • Chris D

    Now that was really, really, awesome. This short would not have been so much fun to watch had the script been lackluster, thankfully the poem really adds something special to this short. I truly did enjoy every aspect of this; the color schemes, the design, the music, the poem. Glorious.

  • http://www.onanimation.com Dan Caylor

    That was AWESOME. Loved it. Beautiful.

  • startend

    @Issac

    What makes the plot shallow? Or the faces ugly? Would it have been better if they were able to get the likes of Keith David to narrate?

  • http://joelbrinkerhoff.blogspot.com/ Joel Brinkerhoff

    Lovely, thank you, thank you.

  • Mario

    @Isaac

    Wow, Isaac, chill out a little man, that shallow over-intelectual-criticism you just puck out it’s also a parody of itself.

    I personally loved it, it’s amazing, creepy and beatiful at the same time. Truly one of the best shorts I’ve seen this year.

  • http://doujinshiland.blogspot.com Adam

    I loved the various designs of all the different background characters. They were all interesting and unique. This is a wonderful short.

  • Mesterius

    Amazing. Just fantastic to see how much scope, excitement and emotions these guys can stuff into eight and a half minutes. The story may arguably be somewhat thin, but the way they pull it off makes it more than worthwhile. And the consept feels worthy of a feature!

  • Vegaswolfie

    I like poems…

  • http://goldenagecartoons.com Matthew Hunter

    I really like this, and the other one, “Carnivore Reflux”. Watching both back to back, I can see influences of Dr. Seuss, Tim Burton, Jack Kerouac, Roald Dahl, John Dilworth, “Yellow Submarine”, “Twice Upon a Time”, 1940′s film noir, even anime.

    If these guys keep making stuff like this and it catches on, it could really gather a cult following. Count me as a fan!

    Term for a potential Aussie animation craze: Ani-”mate”!

  • ZigZag

    I cannot say enough how thrilled I am to have finally found a truly unique voice in animation today. It’s as though I’ve traveled through a desert of trite or self-important or obtuse animated shorts for years (“Geri’s Game” being the last time I was truly impressed with a director’s vision), and finally someone handed me this tall drink of water.

    Anyone who appreciates animation, raymond chandler and film noir would find this a fantastic nod to this heritage of storytelling. I simply adored how you could hear how Nick Cave, Eddie White and Ari Gibson took the story exactly seriously enough, but not too much so. It was as if I could hear them both grinning as the words were spoken. Of course it wasn’t a serious, moody piece – leave that for the emo and goth kids. This was a pitch-perfect, one-of-a-kind short that was amazingly unique and true to itself.

    Consider me indoctrinated into the manifesto, as I would be proud to be a member of the People’s Republic. Keep it up, fellas.

  • http://midnightheist.deviantart.com/ Scott G

    That was great :D

  • http://www.rauchbrothers.com Tim Rauch

    It was a pleasure to meet “Eddie and the guys” in Annecy this year… a young, smart and energetic bunch. It’s no surprise they’ve been so successful, these guys are on fire. Bravo!

  • http://bakertoons.blogspot.com/ Charles Brubaker

    That was awesome. Enjoyed every minute of it.

  • http://adasport.com Roman

    I shure that U can do somethings like this only for ADA’s contest and will win $10,000!!!

    Really!

    You have a big talant!!!

  • Salsicha

    I loved it! The characters had lovely expressions and I’m a big fan of the whole film noir feeling. I hope we get to see more from White and Gibson!

  • http://gagaman.blogspot.com Gagaman

    Very haunting an atmospheric. I was quite surprised to look up the Cat Piano to find out that it was actually real! It’s just crazy enough to be fiction yet there it was 300 or so years ago in Italy. Darn.

  • Roland

    Done right, self-parody is critic-proof.

  • http://mruttan.ca Jack Ruttan

    The language, design, and production values were good. But the story lacked. Simply throwing a nameless villain out of a window is not an interesting conflict. I felt uncomfortable that the cats were getting the Maus treatment. Maybe something that brought out character more would have worked better.

  • http://tresswygert.blogspot.com Tres Swygert

    Beautiful piece, and very captivating. As well as inspirational, thanks for sharing! :)

  • http://www.andylyon.com Lyon

    i like monty python’s mouse organ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9nGyPz9uT0

  • Mitch Kennedy

    This was a very very cool film. As great as the narration was, I think the film would have been just as strong without any words at all! The visuals are great, so why use so many words?

  • http://www.hunteachother.com Max W.

    Some nice animation, but a pretty boring and predictable story… I need more than slick visuals to be satisfied I guess.

  • http://2dwannabe.blogspot.com robcat2075

    Interesting to watch but I was disappointed that the actual rendition of the cat piano was so unimpressive musically.

    I had great anticipation for it because I have had cats and have stepped on cats’ tails and know they don’t make precise musical pitches or even repeatable, predictable sounds. So I was wondering how they might make this concept plausible. But they didn’t.

    I’m going to venture that the historical Cat Piano it refers to never existed. The drawings of it are fanciful at best (48 keys and 8 cats?), seemingly made by someone who hadn’t thought the concept thru too thoroughly. A renaissance-style urban rumor I’d say.

    But I liked the look. The wall-to-wall narration, not quite as much.

  • http://www.cannedgeek.com/ Kyle

    Overall very cool stuff. There’s plenty to like here. The art style for one is very appealing and noir-ish, though there are certain shots that really push the art and animation. Shots like the mimed suicide attempt are so warped and impacting I wish the whole short was like that. Although my interest never wavered it is worth noting the lack of any direct conflict. The story is essentially: there was a problem so they went to the tower and solved it. And yes, I too was hoping to hear the cat piano. The use of normal organ sounds and wailing cats mixed togther was a surprisingly ordinary sound choice, especially considering the rest of the sound design is so strong. Anyhow, I’ll leave it there. But definitely a neat animation that’s worth discussing. The PRA are certainly one of Australia’s standout animation studios.

  • http://ryuuseipro.deviantart.com John Paul Cassidy

    I was very impressed by this short! Love the beat-style narrative and film-noir style. The anthropomorphic cat character designs are very well done here. Overall, it was very well thought-out and conceived!

  • Leah

    I watch this from time to time and I love it more and more. The critics out there should at least have something to show in lieu of their negative comments.