TheCuteTomato's movie Reviews on Newgrounds

[The Tale Teller]

I don't want to bash to hard on the work of someone I deeply respect and that has taken so much care and time to make this, but I honestly didn't enjoy it. I don't mean to be harsh, as I totally encourage you to do more animations in the future and I will look forward to then, but the animation was too like puppetry and not much like actual animation, which is one of the issues people come across at times with vector animations like these. With vector animation, you're very limited to how far you can extend the limits of the character, which is why in my opinion traditional animation is something very important that should be sustained and be respected as it's own medium rather than an outdated form. The movements of you're characters are bound to a model, so there's not much room for expression. That's why the moments the character's relate to the Tale Teller's stroy have little impact, because for the three instances it's just them moving their heads move a bit up or down and their eyes widen a bit. You don't see a short period of reflection, realization; it's just a small delight. Same with the Tale Teller facing the winter. Literally, the music is at it's loudest and most frightening tone, and the narrator is describing a most dire winter that will define life or death for the Tale Teller, and he's just slightly shaking up and down and frowns a bit. He could be trying to curl up but fails to curl his body more, or tries to find a comfortable postition to sleep on such a hard, rough surface of this concrete piece he lays on, too add stress through the idea that he can't find a moment of control and add investment because the audience could feel frustrated for how the Tale Teller can't get a hold of much of his life, which is heightened in this state. Animation is all about what happens on screen, how much of it. Not just what you say, but how much do the characters have to move in the situation. Animation is the medium that tells stories through movement, and I felt that was very lacking in this cartoon. I hope you find this to help you make your next animations, and I look forward to what you have instore Jazza. (BTW ingore the rating because I don't like to rate any medium but I can't post this unless I rate.)