The Monster Road documentary by Brett Ingram follows legendary animator Bruce Bickford and his fantastic clay animation, learning about the origins of Bickford's talent and ideas. Bickford's initial inspiration was the adventure hero Peter Pan, enjoying the idea of the "Little Guy" Bickford began making his own stories about the little guy. The use of Bickford's own animations in this documentary helps the audience to get close with the animator and understand how his mind works. The music during the clay building has a kind of building feeling of its own which goes along very well with the visuals. The documentary also delves into the personal life of Bickford and his family. This is a great and interesting documentary and very fun to watch. And in the word of Bruce Bickford, "Animation is the most important thing in the world."
10 Reviews
Monster Road just hit DVD
woundupwounded3 April 2006
(^ From the viewpoint of the other person in camera for a short rift about small places, I found the film to at long last find me not alone with the Bickford dilemma. Thanks to Brett for allowing me it drag him up to George's in order to give him an angle on Bruce's work that would inspire instead of horrify.
Monster Road works as a documentary by giving viewers a breather between animation shots. I personally wince at the overload of graphics myself, even tho I've been overdosed to the point of inoculation by it.
"WHY , Bruce, WHY?!" seems to somehow finally been resolved, in a way that takes way too long hanging out with Bruce alone for most to bother.
I hope this hitting DVD will open up the viewing audience to Alzheimer care givers' discussion groups.
Monster Road works as a documentary by giving viewers a breather between animation shots. I personally wince at the overload of graphics myself, even tho I've been overdosed to the point of inoculation by it.
"WHY , Bruce, WHY?!" seems to somehow finally been resolved, in a way that takes way too long hanging out with Bruce alone for most to bother.
I hope this hitting DVD will open up the viewing audience to Alzheimer care givers' discussion groups.
An examination of the life and work of legendary clay animator Bruce Bickford.
20miles-14 March 2004
This is one of the best and most entertaining documentaries I've seen in a long time. An examination of the life and work of legendary clay animator Bruce Bickford. Bickford is an animator and an outsider artist in the truest sense of the word. Like Promethsis, he creates worlds from clay. With an amazing visual style and a light touch, Ingram and Haverkamp bring us into Bruce's onion-like universe. The filmmakers use of stop motion techniques are a perfect compliment to the stop motion used in clay animation. This film deals with questions about creation and creativity, destruction, life, death, the violence of the cold war and it's countercultural aftermath. It is also an examination of the deeply complex relationships that make up family. Winner of the best documentary at Slamdance this year, I hope that it gets some distribution of some kind. Well worth checking out.
Winner
executiveproducer5 March 2005
I'm a fellow director and my film actually competed against this one. I missed the premiere at Slamdance, but felt compelled to see the film that, well... beat mine! I hadn't ever heard of Bruce Bickford, and am not much of a fan of animation, but the story was solid enough to keep my attention. It had a fitting pace that matched it's subject; slow but intense. The subject was interesting and his animation nothing less than AMAZING!!! Overall the film stayed in Bruce's world and was true to it's past, just the way history BIOS should be told. I'm glad this film is doing well, for it's independent in spirit and is inspiring for artists to keep doing what they love, despite the world outside them. Congrads Brett...
An endearing look at little dudes...and big dudes and every size dude in-between...and the man who animates them...and his dad.
jklarl3 March 2004
Animation fans take note: This doc about the life and work of legendary animator Bruce Bickford has it all. A triumph of the little guy, this documentary kicks a substantial number of asses. If you are someone with a sensible ass (and you know who you are), then this film will kick it! See it and find out for yourself! Don't be one of those dudes that gets impaled on the wheel of torture.
Bruce Bickford, The Godfather of Clay Animation
ryandzirk3 July 2009
Bruce Bickford is the godfather of clay animation. This film won multiple awards for multiple reasons. It is completely in-depth and goes straight to the core of Bickford's art. Monster Road brings Bickford's world right to you. As Frank Zappa's house animator, Bruce Bickford spent many painstaking hours of tedious work on his animation. Today, as an independent animator, he continues the same thing. Weather it be 3-D clay animation or 2 dimensional line animation, Bickford makes sure he gets it just right. What a horror show you say? Most people are too scared to pour their brains out through their fingers and make it visible for the whole world to see and very few have the talent and patience to create such a colorful landscape of images that will haunt you for the rest of your days. I appreciate Brett Ingrams efforts in documenting of this LEGENDARY artist.
Oh, my God what a horror show!
Bernnard_Black26 February 2005
I was unfortunate enough to be exposed to this abomination at a film festival recently. I don't know who Bruce Bickford is, but somewhere, an asylum is missing an inmate. This guy's claymation art, while skillfully done and painstakingly detailed, is truly disturbing. The images are almost unbelievably violent and gory; little clay torture chambers, be-headings, disembowlings, and other atrocities are performed on the inhabitants of his claymation universe. God knows the stuff isn't suitable for kids, and even some adults would be turned off by the sheer enormity of his violent, surreal and grotesque work. On another level, the film is just plain, well, bad. A documentary is supposed to educate and inform; this film really does neither, and instead is a simple collection of "interviews" with Bickford in his home, expounding on matters metaphysical and real, all interspersed with snippets of his claymation films. I was left feeling that I knew little about Bruce Bickford, and didn't want to know more.
Lovely.
Gitzy5 July 2004
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful, wonderful. This film gives me hope in humanity.
Go see it if you can find it. His art is unbelievable, and his attitude is boldly refreshing. Bruce was there when I saw it and it was like being in the presence of a holy creature. We should all aspire to be our own versions of Bruce Bickford.
It reminded me a bit of American Movie, but this was much more uplifting. It made me want to go outside and climb a tree.
Go see it if you can find it. His art is unbelievable, and his attitude is boldly refreshing. Bruce was there when I saw it and it was like being in the presence of a holy creature. We should all aspire to be our own versions of Bruce Bickford.
It reminded me a bit of American Movie, but this was much more uplifting. It made me want to go outside and climb a tree.
Beatrice Hides
tedg1 June 2006
I was shown this by a young claymation filmmaker, someone I like. She's doing a claymation Dante and I'm sure it will be something important to some of you.
What she likes about this fellow is the purity of his life and therefore his art. There is no room at all for reflecting on meaning or greater perspectives, what people often call "intellectual." His heart is in his hands, that is essentially his entire life and this is impressive because we can see both. Each endorses the other.
The first remark I might make is about what we are intended to see and know: that this was a wounded soul, shot through in several ways and apparently both autistic and obsessive- compulsive. Like Crumb, a similar personality and the subject of a similar movie, his slightly interesting art takes on a grander meaning in this context. Both had a younger brother kill themselves.
But I walked away from this with another perspective from the fourth metalevel. The first level is that this is art about other art, continuously morphing among recognizables. The second is his life as art. The third is the film artifact that was distilled as a whole thing itself as a documentary. The fourth is the context I was seeing it in, with a talented young claymationer.
There are only three main ways of telling a story. Only three roots. These can be cleanly traced back to Shakespeare, Cervantes and Dante, each of which defined a language, a literary tradition and a method of reflection and folding. You might usefully characterize these are being based on adjectives-adverbs, verbs and nouns respectively.
Those that makes the most effective literature and film to my mind, a conscious mind, are the first two. Indeed this film itself is in the Cervantes tradition: a world that defines a person with urges.
But the man within is distinctly in the Italian tradition of storytelling: humans live and in living invest their surroundings with life. These humans bump into each other. They don't merely illustrate life, they ARE life and any story worth telling is attached to lives.
What this man has made with his little scenes are different hells and purgatories, very much in the Dante tradition but without the resonant references. I am convinced that this can be engaging storytelling, but it can never be art, surely not using cinema. Yes, I know: Antonioni, Bertolucci, Scorsese, Pasolini, Coppola, even Fellini. Each had one success, and that was when they escaped their Italian constraints. Unless they change the world somehow and it would have to be by a great man (sadly, a man) they won't be able to ever have lifealtering art in this tradition. Only empathic tales.
Watch this for tools, not lives.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
What she likes about this fellow is the purity of his life and therefore his art. There is no room at all for reflecting on meaning or greater perspectives, what people often call "intellectual." His heart is in his hands, that is essentially his entire life and this is impressive because we can see both. Each endorses the other.
The first remark I might make is about what we are intended to see and know: that this was a wounded soul, shot through in several ways and apparently both autistic and obsessive- compulsive. Like Crumb, a similar personality and the subject of a similar movie, his slightly interesting art takes on a grander meaning in this context. Both had a younger brother kill themselves.
But I walked away from this with another perspective from the fourth metalevel. The first level is that this is art about other art, continuously morphing among recognizables. The second is his life as art. The third is the film artifact that was distilled as a whole thing itself as a documentary. The fourth is the context I was seeing it in, with a talented young claymationer.
There are only three main ways of telling a story. Only three roots. These can be cleanly traced back to Shakespeare, Cervantes and Dante, each of which defined a language, a literary tradition and a method of reflection and folding. You might usefully characterize these are being based on adjectives-adverbs, verbs and nouns respectively.
Those that makes the most effective literature and film to my mind, a conscious mind, are the first two. Indeed this film itself is in the Cervantes tradition: a world that defines a person with urges.
But the man within is distinctly in the Italian tradition of storytelling: humans live and in living invest their surroundings with life. These humans bump into each other. They don't merely illustrate life, they ARE life and any story worth telling is attached to lives.
What this man has made with his little scenes are different hells and purgatories, very much in the Dante tradition but without the resonant references. I am convinced that this can be engaging storytelling, but it can never be art, surely not using cinema. Yes, I know: Antonioni, Bertolucci, Scorsese, Pasolini, Coppola, even Fellini. Each had one success, and that was when they escaped their Italian constraints. Unless they change the world somehow and it would have to be by a great man (sadly, a man) they won't be able to ever have lifealtering art in this tradition. Only empathic tales.
Watch this for tools, not lives.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
Amazing
th25tina12 July 2005
I had never heard of Bruce before watching Monster Road but his artwork seems very familiar. (I've probably seen bits and pieces in other films?) I think he's a great artist and has the greatest philosophy on life. Monster Road is a very informative film and really shows his devotion and ability to make some pretty amazing stuff. I also like the emotional scenes when his father spoke, a brilliant mind being ravaged by a terrible disease...they are truly two very thoughtful people who have more creativity then most people. If you have the chance to see this film please do....it's wonderful and has some amazing artwork. Just seeing it caused me to look into more of Bruce's work and I was disappointed to find that there is not much out there. I think a lot of musicians would benefit if they used his artwork in some videos. It would also make me happy to see more too!
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