Don Hertzfeldt
Don Hertzfeldt at his animation desk, during production of "The Meaning of Life"
Born	August 1, 1976 Fremont, California
Nationality	American
Field	Independent film, Animation
Training	University of California, Santa Barbara
Famous works	Billy's Balloon, Rejected, Everything Will Be OK
Influenced by	Stanley Kubrick, Monty Python, David Lynch
Awards	2001 Academy Award nominee 1998 Palm D'Or nominee: Cannes Film Festival 2007 Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking: Sundance Film Festival winner of over 120 other film festival awards

Don Hertzfeldt (born August 1, 1976) is the creator of many short animated films, including the Academy-Award nominated cult favorite "Rejected". Collectively, his animated films have received over one hundred awards and have been featured in over a thousand film festivals and venues world-wide. Before the age of thirty, his films were already the subject of several career retrospectives. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Billys Balloon is a 1998 animated short by animator Don Hertzfeldt. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ... Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... Stanley Kubrick (July 26, 1928 – March 7, 1999) was an influential and acclaimed American film director and producer. ... Monty Python, or The Pythons, is the collective name of the creators of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. ... David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946, in Missoula, Montana) is an American filmmaker. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ... Cannes Film Festival logo. ... The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks alongside the Cannes, France, Venice, Italy, Berlin, Germany, and Toronto, Canada festivals as one of the most prestigious in the world. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year (214th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) was a leap year starting on Thursday. ... Animation refers to the process in which each frame of a film or movie is produced individually, whether generated as a computer graphic, or by photographing a drawn image, or by repeatedly making small changes to a model (see claymation and stop motion), and then photographing the result. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ...

The popularity of his work is unprecedented in the history of independent animation and his films are frequently quoted and referenced in pop culture. Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. ...

Filmography

• Ah, L'Amour (1995)
• Genre (1996)
• Lily and Jim (1997)
• Billy's Balloon (1998)
• Rejected (2000)
• Welcome to the Show/Intermission in the Third Dimension/The End of the Show (cartoons created to book-end the first Animation Show)
• The Meaning of Life (2005)
• Everything Will Be OK (2006)
• Untitled Second Chapter of Everything Will Be OK (announced, 2008)

Ah, LAmour is Don Hertzfeldts first animated short; it was completed as a college project in 1995, and was considered by Hertzfeldt himself to be an embarrassment. ... 1995 (MCMXCV) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 1996 (MCMXCVI) was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year for the Eradication of Poverty. ... Lily and Jim is a short cartoon (roughly around 13 minutes long) by Don Hertzfeldt created in the year 1997. ... 1997 (MCMXCVII) was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Billys Balloon is a 1998 animated short by animator Don Hertzfeldt. ... Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated shorts that kicked off in fall 2003, created and programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... 2008 (MMVIII) will be a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Early life and education

Hertzfeldt was born in Fremont, California where he attended local schools and drew comic books. At 15, he began to teach himself animation with a small video camera.^[1] From a 2001 interview, Don says: "I watched films relentlessly growing up, and was fascinated by visual effects. My family used to make outings to animation festivals in San Francisco every year, so credit my parents for that. I ended up seeing all of those classic [independent] cartoons throughout my teenage years. But animation production for me sort of just happened as a by-product. I've been drawing things and writing things all my life, and animating my stories was always cheaper to do and looked more interesting than low budget live action."^[2] Fremont (IPA: ) is a city in California that was incorporated on January 23, 1956, from the merger of five smaller communities: Centerville, Irvington, Mission San Jose, Niles, and Warm Springs. ...

He is a Film Studies graduate of the University of California, Santa Barbara. He lives in Santa Barbara, California and has to date produced all his films there. The University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) is a coeducational public university located on the Pacific Ocean in Santa Barbara County, California, USA. It is one out of 10 campuses of the University of California. ... Nickname: Santa Barbara is situated on the southward-facing coast at far right. ...

Technique

Hertzfeldt's films often feature hand-drawn stick figures acting out dadaist combinations of slapstick, absurd, and black humor along with heavier existential themes. Hertzfeldt usually creates his films with traditional pen and paper animation, without the aid of computers. Instead he uses 16mm or 35mm film cameras and often employs old-fashioned special effect techniques such as multiple exposures, in-camera mattes, and experimental photography (seen to large effect in titles such as The Meaning of Life, and "Everything Will Be OK"). This lends a more organic feel to his works, most evident in occasional stop-motion animation sequences (as in Intermission in the Third Dimension), as well as in the use of the celluloid and drawing mediums themselves as part of the visuals (as in Rejected and Genre). Dadaism or Dada is a post-World War I cultural movement in visual art as well as literature (mainly poetry), theatre and graphic design. ... Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence. ... The Theatre of the Absurd, or Theater of the Absurd (French: Le Théâtre de lAbsurde) is a designation for particular plays written by a number of primarily European playwrights in the late 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, as well as to the style of theatre which has evolved from... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... Existentialism is a philosophical movement in which individual human beings are understood as having full responsibility for creating the meanings of their own lives. ... Groundbreaking special effects were used in Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith Special effects (abbreviated SPFX or SFX) are used in the film, television, and entertainment industry to realize scenes that cannot be achieved by live action or normal means. ... A four hour long exposure on a Nikon D2h camera is made possible using multiple shorter exposures (using the C.E.M.E.N.T. algorithm). ... Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... Stop motion is an animation technique which makes things that are static appear to be moving. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ...

Since 1999, Hertzfeldt has photographed all his films to date on an antique 35mm Richardson animation camera stand, believed to be the same camera that photographed many of the early Peanuts cartoons in the 1960's and 70's.^[3]. It is reportedly one of the last remaining functioning cameras of its kind left in America (if not the world), but Hertzfeldt finds it to be a crucial element in the creation of his films and their unique effects.^[4]. Peanuts is a syndicated daily and Sunday comic strip written and illustrated by Charles M. Schulz, which ran from October 2, 1950, to February 13, 2000 (the day after Schulzs death). ...

Exhibition and popularity

Hertzfeldt's films are regularly found in film festivals around the world, touring animation programs like the Animation Show, and on DVD collections. The cartoons are also featured occasionally on television, MTV, Bravo, Sundance Channel, IFC, and the Cartoon Network being a few of the channels that have carried his work internationally and in the USA. The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated shorts that kicked off in fall 2003, created and programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. ... MTV (Music Television) is an American cable television network headquartered in New York City. ... Sundance Channel logo used from 1996 to 2002. ... Cartoon Network is an American cable television network created by Turner Broadcasting which primarily shows animated programming. ...

His work has been credited as being a prominent influence on surrealism, absurdism, and "random humor" in animation in the 2000's, particularly influencing Adult Swim style animated comedy. ^[5] Adult Swim, sometimes rendered [adult swim] based on its logo, is the name for an adult-oriented television programming network. ...

The wide popularity of his films has led to a countless number of online video bootlegs, bringing Hertzfeldt's material to an audience of millions. His production company, Bitter Films, has never placed any of these films online themselves and while they "are not interested in harassing fans", Don is reportedly unhappy with the very poor quality of these video versions, as well as the fact that the bootlegs are frequently re-edited, uncredited, or remixed.^[6]. An assortment of bootleg recordings A bootleg recording (or simply bootleg or boot) is an audio and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority. ... An assortment of bootleg recordings A bootleg recording (or simply bootleg or boot) is an audio and/or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist, or under other legal authority. ...

Hertzfeldt prefers to not sell any of his original or production artwork. Instead, through Bitter Films in the late 90's and early 00's, he annually auctioned pieces off online to raise thousands of dollars for local Santa Barbara charities. Other original artwork has been occasionally given away through the Bitter Films online store through special promotions. Because Hertzfeldt also rarely does signings, his artwork is very rare for animation collectors or casual fans to own. Nickname: Santa Barbara is situated on the southward-facing coast at far right. ...

"The Animation Show"

In 2003, Hertzfeldt created The Animation Show with Beavis and Butt-head creator Mike Judge, a biennial North American touring festival that brings independent animated short films to more movie theaters than any distributor in history. The program is personally curated by Hertzfeldt and Judge. A second Animation Show edition toured throughout 2005, featuring Hertzfeldt's short film The Meaning of Life and films by animators like Peter Cornwell and Georges Schwizgebel. The third season of The Animation Show began its nationwide release in January 2007, featuring new work by animators Joanna Quinn, Mike Judge, and Bill Plympton, as well as Hertzfeldt's own Everything Will Be OK. A stated goal of The Animation Show is to regularly "free the work of these independent artists from the dungeons of Internet exhibition", and bring them into proper movie theaters where most of these short films were meant to be seen. The Animation Show has also launched a DVD series of animated short films, though the content often varies from the annual theatrical programs. The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated shorts that kicked off in fall 2003, created and programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. ... Beavis and Butt-head is an American animated television series created by Mike Judge. ... Michael Craig Judge (born 17 October 1962 in Guayaquil, Ecuador) is an American animator, voice actor, writer, and producer, best-known as the creator and star of the hit animated television series Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Swiss animation film director whose film LHommes sans ombre won various awards. ... Joanna Quinn is a British film maker. ... Michael Craig Judge (born 17 October 1962 in Guayaquil, Ecuador) is an American animator, voice actor, writer, and producer, best-known as the creator and star of the hit animated television series Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill. ... Bill Plympton Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator best known for his 1987 Academy Award-nominated animated short Your Face. ... Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated shorts that kicked off in fall 2003, created and programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. ... The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated shorts that kicked off in fall 2003, created and programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. ...

Recent work

Hertzfeldt's most recently completed film, Everything Will Be OK, is partially based on his short-lived 1999 comic strip, Temporary Anesthetics. The film premiered unannounced at the Nevada City Film Festival in October 2006, where it won the Jury Award for Best Film. In 2007, Everything Will Be OK received the Jury Award for Short Filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival^[7] and the Lawrence Kasdan Award for Best Narrative Film at the Ann Arbor Film Festival, among others. Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks alongside the Cannes, France, Venice, Italy, Berlin, Germany, and Toronto, Canada festivals as one of the most prestigious in the world. ... Lawrence Kasdan (born 14 January 1949, Miami, Florida) is an American movie producer, director and screenwriter. ...

According to Hertzfeldt's production journal, Everything Will Be OK is intended to be the first chapter of a three-part story, and he is currently animating the second chapter. Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ...

In 2005, Hertzfeldt wrote and illustrated a short piece called, Dance of the Sugar Plums (or, Last Month on Earth) for the second volume of the graphic novel anthology, Flight. His comic was entirely created on Post-It notes in pencil, with each Post-It faithfully reprinted life-size in the book, over a black background. Flight is a comics anthology series edited by Kazu Kibuishi, showcasing young and innovative arists and writers. ... A pad of fan-folded Post-it pop-up notes, shown still glued together A Post-it note (or simply Post-it), invented and manufactured by 3M, is a piece of stationery with a re-adherable strip of adhesive on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents, computer...

In 2007, Hertzfeldt accepted an invitation from the George Eastman House's motion picture archives to indefinitely store and preserve the historically important original film elements and camera negatives to his collected work from 1995-2005. The George Eastman House Motion Picture Collection in Rochester, New York, comprises over 23,000 titles, including features, shorts, documentaries, newsreels, and paper artifacts. ...

Major awards and honors

In 1998, at the age of 21, Hertzfeldt was nominated for the Short Film Palm D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for Billy's Balloon, where he was the youngest director in competition. Year 1998 (MCMXCVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1998 Gregorian calendar). ... Cannes Film Festival logo. ... Billys Balloon is a 1998 animated short by animator Don Hertzfeldt. ...

In 2000, at the age of 23, Hertzfeldt was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film for his fifth major film, Rejected. 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This class was known as Short Subjects, cartoons from 1932 until 1970, and as Short Subjects, animated films from 1971 to 1973. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ...

In 2001, Hertzfeldt was named by Filmmaker Magazine as one of the "Top 25 Filmmakers to Watch".

In January 2007, Everything Will Be OK won the Jury Award for Short Filmmaking at the Sundance Film Festival. Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival in the United States, and ranks alongside the Cannes, France, Venice, Italy, Berlin, Germany, and Toronto, Canada festivals as one of the most prestigious in the world. ...

In 2007, according to the animation industry website Cartoon Brew, Everything Will Be OK advanced to the final round of voting as a contender for an Academy Award nomination for Best Animated Short, but did not make the ultimate list of five nominees. Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... Although he never won an Oscar for any of his movie performances, the comedian Bob Hope received two honorary Oscars for his contributions to cinema. ...

Collectively, Hertzfeldt's work has received over one hundred and twenty film festival awards. A list of individual awards for each film can be viewed on his website.

DVD Release

Bitter Films Volume One: 1995-2005

An exhaustive DVD collection of all of Hertzfeldt's films from 1995 to 2005 was released in 2006. The short films were remastered and restored in high definition from the original film negatives. The DVD was self-produced and released by Bitter Films, and made available only to fans via the http://www.bitterfilms.com website. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

The DVD marked the first time his student films such as Genre and Lily and Jim were made widely available to the public - many of these works were only previously found on limited-release VHS collections of animated shorts, long out of print. Lily and Jim is a short cartoon (roughly around 13 minutes long) by Don Hertzfeldt created in the year 1997. ...

The special features for "Bitter Films Volume One: 1995-2005" include:

• The documentary, Watching Grass Grow: Animating "The Meaning of Life"
• The Animation Show Trilogy cartoons
• "Lily and Jim" deleted dialogues and outtakes
• "Rejected" trivia captions
• "The Meaning of Life" special effects audio commentary
• An extensive 140+ page "Archive" section, featuring rare footage from Hertzfeldt's earliest cartoons, original pencil tests, deleted sequences, abandoned footage, and sketch to scene comparisons
• "Lily and Jim" reunion commentary with the original voice actors
• "Rejected" audio commentary
• Preview of Everything Will Be OK
• "The Animation Show" interviews with Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt
• "Ah, L'Amour" bonus 2005 soundtrack
• 16 page retrospective booklet, featuring liner notes by Hertzfeldt
• Original animated menus and transitions

The first 750 pre-orderers of the DVD received an "exclusive mystery gift": either a 35mm clipping from Rejected that was autographed by Don, or a unique drawing by Don on a Post-it note. The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated shorts that kicked off in fall 2003, created and programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. ... Lily and Jim is a short cartoon (roughly around 13 minutes long) by Don Hertzfeldt created in the year 1997. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ... Lily and Jim is a short cartoon (roughly around 13 minutes long) by Don Hertzfeldt created in the year 1997. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ... Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ... The Animation Show is a touring festival of animated shorts that kicked off in fall 2003, created and programmed by award-winning animators Mike Judge and Don Hertzfeldt. ... Michael Craig Judge (born 17 October 1962 in Guayaquil, Ecuador) is an American animator, voice actor, writer, and producer, best-known as the creator and star of the hit animated television series Beavis and Butt-head and King of the Hill. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ... A pad of fan-folded Post-it pop-up notes, shown still glued together A Post-it note (or simply Post-it), invented and manufactured by 3M, is a piece of stationery with a re-adherable strip of adhesive on the back, designed for temporarily attaching notes to documents, computer...

In 2001, Bitter Films released a limited edition DVD "single" of the popular short Rejected, and a similar 2007 "single" release of Everything Will Be OK is said to be in the works. Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ... Everything Will Be OK is a 2006 animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. ...

View on commercials and controversy

Hertzfeldt has been offered numerous lucrative commercial deals, including one from Cingular Wireless. However, he has turned all of these offers down, as he personally feels that commercials are "lies", and feels that he should not lie to his audience - this was stated in the caption "commentary" of Rejected on the Bitter Films Vol. 1 DVD. Hertzfeldt has promised his fans many times that he'll never have anything to do with making a commercial. ^[6]. Nevertheless, several national ad campaigns have borrowed heavily from his unique style and bear enough resemblance to Hertzfeldt's work as to be mistaken for it. “AT&T Wireless” redirects here. ... Rejected is a 2000 animated short comedy film by animator Don Hertzfeldt that was nominated for a 2000 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. ...

The most well-known instance of this was a series of 2004-2006 television ads for Kellogg's Pop-Tarts, which used black and white stick figures, "squiggly" animation, surreal humor, and even an occasional crumpling paper effect, all very similar to Hertzfeldt's style. Despite these similarities, Hertzfeldt was not involved in any way. It is unclear how much the Kellogg Company was intentionally trying to mimic his style, or if all these similarities are purely coincidental. Frosted Strawberry Pop-Tarts Frosted Brown Sugar Cinnamon Pop-Tarts Box of Pop-Tarts Pop-Tarts are a flat toaster pastry, approximately 75mm by 125 mm, made by the Kellogg Company. ... Kellogg Company (often referred to as simply Kellogg® or Kelloggs®) is an American multinational producer of breakfast foods, cookies and crackers, with corporate headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, USA. Kellogg trades on the under the ticker symbol NYSE: K. Revenues in 2005 were $10. ...

References

1. ^ Scott Timberg, New Times LA, February 2002, "Don Hertzfeldt is the most inventive underground animator in America." March 28, 2007
2. ^ [1]
3. ^ "IMDB", IMDB. 
4. ^ "Don Hertzfeldt audio commentary on Bitter Films: Volume 1 DVD", Bitter Films. 
5. ^ Animation World Magazine
6. ^ ^{a b} "Bitter Films FAQ", Bitter Films. 
7. ^ 2007 Sundance Film Festival Announces Jury and Audience Awards, January 27, 2007, accessed March 28, 2007

March 28 is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... January 27 is the 27th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ... March 28 is the 87th day of the year (88th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 2007 (MMVII) is the current year, a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and the AD/CE era. ...

External links

• Bitter Films Home Page
• The Animation Show Home Page
• Stick Figure Masterpiece - Santa Barbara Independent
• [3] 2003 Don Hertzfeldt "Aint it Cool News" interview
• [4] 2004 Don Hertzfeldt "Aint it Cool News" interview
• [5] 2004 Don Hertzfeldt "Film Threat" interview
• [6] 2005 Don Hertzfeldt "Aint it Cool News" interview
• [7] 2006 Don Hertzfeldt "Aint it Cool News" interview
• [8] 2006 Don Hertzfeldt "Animation World Network" interview
• [9] 2007 Animation Magazine interview
• [10] Archive of interviews at Bitter Films