The animation I chose is “Street of Crocodiles” by Brother Quay. The Brothers Quay are identical twins Stephen Quay and Timothy Quay. They are independent filmmakers from England. In the animations, the fears that are being portrayed are the fear of the unknown, death, and unnatural transformation. They create an uncomfortable atmosphere with a sense of mystery which can create anxiety. The main character goes through a physical transformation with uncomfortable imagery where he has his body replaced with doll parts. Something unique about Brothers Quay’s work is their use of stop-motion animation with their puppets made out of doll parts and organic and inorganic materials. This adds to the sense of how uncomfortable it is. The lack of dialect and use of sound and haunting music also add to the atrophy that they have created. They have left a lasting impact on the animation industry with their unique styles of animation and thematic exploration.
Paprika is probably my favorite “horror” animation that I have seen. It does a great job of having uncomfortable scenes that make the viewers uneasy. I don’t tend to watch a lot of “scary” animations because I feel as though a lot of the more popular ones that I have seen are for younger audiences, so when I saw this I was impressed with how it made me uneasy.
Works Cited
“The Brothers Quay: Top 5 Most Influential Works.” Tongal, 27 April 2022, https://tongal.com/blog/community-guest-post/the-brothers-quay. Accessed 28 October 2024.
Magliozzi, Ron, and Brothers Quay. “Brothers Quay.” Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brothers_Quay. Accessed 28 October 2024.
Śliwiński, Rafał, and Shingo Tamagawa. “Paprika lover.” YouTube, 6 October 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PsPILwHFHs0. Accessed 28 October 2024.
“Street of Crocodiles (1986) clip | On BFI Blu-ray on 10 October | BFI.” YouTube, 4 October 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW3dW4yMLfE. Accessed 28 October 2024.
Totaro, Donato. “Stephen and Timothy Quay.” The European Graduate School, https://egs.edu/biography/stephen-and-timothy-quay/. Accessed 28 October 2024.