Commissioned by David Bienstock, creator of the New American Film Series at the Whitney Museum of Art to raise funds for the second season of the series. The film was projected at the end of each program and a box to receive donations was placed at the exit of the theater. Whitney Commercial ran for two or three years until the Museum agreed to sponsor the series on its own which has continued to the present season. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.
Related Movies
The Room (1967)
A small white box. Everything happens in that little world. A woman's face comes out from the side of the room and roars, birds peck at human flesh, trains run through, and a couple quarrel begins. When the billiard ball penetrates the room, the billiard ball changes into various shapes ... Each room is a world, and what happens there is a microcosm of modern times.
Dream Journal, May 2016-February 2017 (2017)
Experimental narrative animation using hobbyist 3D animation and inspired by niche genres of computer-generated erotica.
Munro (1961)
A four-year-old boy is drafted into the army. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2004.
Chase (2017)
Shot in Ireland and Poland - a journey that explores ideas of decision, choice, consequence, circumstance and time among other things, a personal perception on how we try to find whatever it is we are searching for.The film looks at objects, people, and places which share common properties, our connection with one another and our environments in the very similar yet very different paths we share.
John Henry and the Inky-Poo (1946)
In this Puppetoon animated short film (an Academy Award Best Short Subject, Cartoons nominee), legendary American folklore figure John Henry (voice of Rex Ingram) goes to work for the C&O Railroad, which shortly thereafter buys an automatic steel-driving engine, The Inky-Poo. John Henry matches his strength against the engine, saying that any man can beat a machine because a man has a mind. Can he prevail? In 2015 this film, deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant", was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with UCLA Film & Television Archive in 2009.
Jasper and the Beanstalk (1945)
The Scarecrow trades Jasper a handful of beans for his harmonica. Jasper plants the beans and climbs up the resulting beanstalk and, at the top, finds a beautiful girl in a golden cage playing a golden harp. Jasper rescues her from the Scarecrow, brings her down the beanstalk, and spends the rest of his days dancing to the music his girlfriend plays on the harp. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in partnership with UCLA Film & Television Archive in 2009.
Prelude 14 (1996)
Prelude 14 begins in deep brilliant red which darkens into deeper reds and lavender shapes, disrupted by a variety of colors settling into browns and grays and shapes most rock-like, all of which is then shot-thru with sufficient yellow to break up all hard-edge form and give a molten aspect to the mixtures of shapes.
Tectonic Plate (2016)
In a bold and original approach to memory, this Lettrist-inspired film maps an anxiety-ridden plane journey from Tokyo to Helsinki without the aid of photographic images. A variety of interventions on the film strip are combined with an atmospheric sound design to create a subjective story of displacement and containment. In an age when experience is increasingly mediated through digital technologies, Taanila seeks out an alternative language in the sensuous surfaces of the celluloid material.
The Great Cognito (1982)
The film tells of a music hall impressionist who caricatures personalities from the second world war. Animated by Barry Bruce at Will Vinton Productions. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2012.
Technological Threat (1988)
Human fear of technology is portrayed in this very amusing futuristic parody. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2013.
Sundae in New York (1983)
A character closely resembling then-mayor Ed Koch sings a variation on the "Theme from 'New York, New York'" in an entirely clay-animated film depicting a variety of locations and celebrities associated with New York City. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2006.
Nightingales in December (2012)
This metaphorical surrealist tale is an allusion. NIGHTINGALES IN DECEMBER is a trip into the memories, and the fields of the current realities. What if the Nightingales were working, instead of singing and going south? Is the innocence the only savior of birdsongs? There are no Nightingales in December... What is left, is only the history of our beginning, and our end.
Next Door (1990)
An old square-headed man tries to watch TV while a little girl makes a playful ruckus outside. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2006.
Palm Springs (1989)
This short is about a purple dinosaur named Sigmund, who likes to bounce on top of trees. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
Winter (1988)
This delightful story is simply about a boy wanting to go outside and play in the snow. After getting all bundled up by his mother, the boy has found that he is unable to move! Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2011.
Somewhere in the Arctic... (1986)
A polar bear is hunted by Eskimos. But suddenly the hunt gets interrupted. Preserved by the Academy Film Archive.
Bambi Meets Godzilla (1969)
Bambi is nibbling the grass, unaware of the upcoming encounter with Godzilla. Who will win when they finally meet? Preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2009.
