REJECTED & BITTER: FILM BY DON HERZFELD

This past weekend I was introduced to the work of animated cult film animator Don Hertzfeldt. In the spring of 1999, the Family Learning Channel commissioned animator Don Hertzfeldt to produce promotional segments for their network. The cartoons were completed in five weeks. The Family Learning Channel rejected all of them and they were never aired…Rejected is a series of these and other supposedly commissioned advertisements that were rejected immediately upon review. At the end of the film, the entire animated world collapses in upon himself in a sequence that blends traditional animation, stop-motion, and experimental photography. The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2000. The short became a massive online viral hit. Don is currently in production on a 6th animated short at his studio Bitter Films productions in Los Angeles.