I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON! (1997)
Label: Deaf Crocodile
Region Code: A
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 72 Minutes 21 Seconds
Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video,: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)
Director: Bill Plympton
Cast: Tom Larson, Charis Michelsen
Like many cooler Gen-Xers I first became aware of animator Bill Plympton thanks to early '90s MTV, when the "music" channel was still a pretty vital of pop culture. I was a regular watcher at the time, mostly for the indie and alt rock reprieve of 120 Minutes (1986-2000) and the devil-horned Hessian oasis that was The Headbangers Ball (1985-1995). It was on MTV that I first saw the "Noodle Ear", Plympton's rubber-faced MTV promo, which amused me quite a bit, I remember being "into it" every time it aired. Later I would see another one of his longer shorts via another MTV show, the influential Liquid Television (1991-1995), the first season featuring the short "Push Comes to Shove (Enemies)", which really made me take notice of his work. Just as an aside, Liquid Television also introduced me the dystopian sci-fi glory of Peter Chung's serialized Æon Flux, which later became a 10-episode standalone series in '95 on MTV, and a much later film adaptation the less said about the better. These were among the last thing's outside of Nirvana's MTV Unplugged episode that aired in November 1993, that I remember watching on MTV, that and the 13-episode animated adaptation of Sam Keith's phenomenal comic The Maxx, which got a 13-episode run in '95 also. Those three things were probably the last things I ever watched on MTV before I bailed as it continued its's steady decline into reality TV bullshit.
Anway, Plympton's feature-length animated film was The Tune (1992), which I thought was pretty mind-blowing, though I did not catch up to till it was released on VHS after accidentally stumbling upon it a few years later. His next feature animated film was why we are here today, I Married A Strange Person (1997), a truly demented slice of unhinged animation that opens with a fun quote from Picasso, "Ah, good taste, what a dreadful thing!", announcing the film's lowbrow intentions right up front, before showing us two birds copulating in mid-flight, their airbound fornicating causing them to plummet from the sky and into a satellite TV dish, causing a beam of misdirected TV satellite energy into the back of the neck of newlywed Grant (voiced by Tom Larson), which causes a boil to form under his skin, which causes him to inexplicably gain God-like powers that grant him the ability to control and distort reality on a whim, but he finds he has little control over them. This newfound ability is a cause for concern for his new wife Keri (voiced by Charis Michelsen, Bringing Out the Dead), who first discovers his omnipotent powers while trying to consummate their marriage in the bedroom. His newfound ability allows him to torment his neighbor Bud (voiced by John Russo Jr.) who is mowing his yard next door when Grant magically animates a blade of grass which then attempts to kill his neighbor with his own lawnmower, and it nearly succeeds until Grant at the last second transforms the lawn mower into a giant caterpillar. Oddly, his neighbor is sort of thrilled by Grant's powers and tells the Jackie Jason Variety Show, hosted by Jackie Jason, (voiced by John Holderried) about his neighbor's wild illusions, so they bring him onto the show, where he performs after washed-up Borscht Belt comic named Solly Jim, who is bombing big-time until Grant uses his reality-bending powers to save his routine, after which hos powers attract the attention of the evil Smilecorp and its power-hungry CEO Larson P. Giles (Richard Spore) who sends his private security forces, lead by Col. Ferguson (Chris Cooke), to obtain the source of Grant's mysterious powers, which is dubbed the "lobe".
This whole flick feels like Plympton's horny imagination unleashed and unfiltered, chock full of surreal animation and mind-bending non-sequiturs that defy physics and all the rules of reality, delightfully so, from fornicating birds to breasts that are fondled and made into balloon animals, and horny tanks humping each other. There's just no shortage of off-the-wall absurdity on display here, just one mind-melting visual pun after the other, oddball kaleidoscopic sex freakouts, and the way he just plays with the human form like a lump of clay, allowing his imagination to go places that are unseen outside of body-horrors flicks like The thing and Society, and then he goes even further with it, and manages to infuse it with wit and humor, it really feels like a fleshy bad-acid trip, but one that will bring a smile to your face and not send you on a Syd Barrett descent into madness.
Audio/Video: I Married a Strange Person (1997) arrives on Blu-ray from Deaf Crocodile, presented in 1080p HD in 1.66:1 widescreen, scanned in 2K from the original camera negative. This was created with Plimpton hand drawing every frame, which other artist then transferred to celsand painted by hand, then photographed on 35mm. It's been wonderful restored, maintain the textures of the hand drawn cel animation though. Colors look terrific, Plympton's pastel scheme translating quite nicely. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with optional English subtitles. The track is clean, dialogue exchanges and sound effects come through clear, and the songs and score by Maureen McElheron sound terrific, all the better to hear lyrical gems like "Would you love me if I blew up a deli / Got a big fat belly and became real smelly?".
Extras kick-off with a New Audio Commentary by animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock and longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried of Plymptoons Studio. They get into Plympton's work style, how all of his work is unrated and uncut as it is never submitted the mpaa, and into how surreal and weird it is, giving this wild animated flick it's full and proper appreciation. calling it the "Citizen Kane of anthropomorphic sex scenes in animation"
We also get a new 43-min Interview with Bill Plympton about the making of Strange Person!, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile. In the video conference interview he discusses starting up his studio in 1995 after working from home for years, followed by several moves along the way, all close to home, going from painted cell animation to digital editing in 2005 with Guide Dog, and how that digital process was much cheaper, streamlining the process with more money going to the actual artists. He also touches on the positive response to The Tune, the desire to do a live-action film with J. Lyle, which was a failure, and tells a Sundance story about meeting a young Quentin Tarantino who was screening Reservoir Dogs there. He likens his animation to getting to play god, the genesis of Strange Person, collaborating on the script with The New Yorker comic artist P.C. Vey, the writing and animation process, the process of filming cel animation. He also discusses his early adult humor illustrator work for Screw, Playboy, and Hustler, talking about how well they paid, and making his first animated film Your Face. The casting of voice actors for Strange Person is also broached, his choice to post-sync the voice actors, his collaboration with John Holderried who runs his Plympton Studio, the process of writing the songs with Maureen McElheron, inspiration for the title, the film's reception around the world, and the trouble selling the film to a distributor, because there was a bias against non-kid friendly animation. It's a video interview interview and it looks like on his end he was filming from a phone, the mobility of which allows for some footage of his studio, as well as some movement that would not have been out f place in some of his flicks. He also gets into the inspiration for the short films present on this set as extras.
Two very cool extras on this set are are the aforementioned Plympton shorts, we get the 6-min “Guide Dog” (2006) and the 6-min “The Loneliest Stoplight” (2015), which is narrated by Patton Oswalt, both have also been newly scanned and restored for this release. This review is for the standard release version which arrives in an oversized clear keepcase with a 2-sided non-reversible sleeve of artwork. Inside there's a QR code and/or web address for a transcripted version of the audio commentary and Plympton interview. The link for this one does not work, and that is because Deaf Crocodile have made these materials available to all on their website, which s super-cool. On their website just navigate tot he "Fun" drop-down eu and choose "Transcripts, there you will find transcripted materials for 10 of their recent releases. You can find the transcripts for this release HERE.
Special Features:
- Two classic Plympton shorts: “Guide Dog” (2006, 6 min.), newly scanned & restored for this release, and “The Loneliest Stoplight” (2015, 6 min.), narrated by Patton Oswalt!
- New video interview with Bill Plympton about the making of STRANGE PERSON!, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile. (42:41)
- New commentary track by animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock and longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried of Plymptoons Studio.
Screenshots from the Deaf Crocodile Blu-ray:
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