I'm not certain if it took a long time for Bill Plympton's "Hair High" (listed as 2004 on IMDb) to make it to Salt Lake City or if it was just the "how do we market this" independent film problem, but it was worth waiting for.
This is a send up of '50s prom/horror films. There's the new kid, Spud (Eric Gilliland), who unwittingly offends the quarterback's girlfriend, Cherrie (Sarah Silverman), and the quarterback, Rod (Dermot Mulroney). Rod decides that Spud needs to be Cherrie's "slave" (carry her books, blow on her fingernails until the polish is dry, throw himself over puddles so she won't get her feet wet...) as punishment.
There is very little that isn't predictable about this movie, but I didn't care. I got caught up in the narration by JoJo (Keith Carradine) the owner of JoJo's soda fountain. I thought Beverly D'Angelo was great as Darlene the over the top high school villianess who teaches Rod what a double entendre is. I laughed. Monday night with one other person in the theater both of us were laughing
I'd rave a bit more about the voice talent, but you can look up the cast here http://www.hairhigh.com/index_flash.html and see for yourself the kind of people that Plympton's work is capable of getting.
The soundtrack was as much fun as the animation, the sort of thing that might make you dance during the credits.
Back when I was more patient with fart joke comedy, I'd hit all of the animation shorts fests hoping for a new Plympton cartoon. His crayoned style of animation and silly humor work for me, even when it disgusts me. I waited in line at Sundance to see Plympton's feature length "I Married a Strange Person" in 1998 and caught "The Tune" at the fesatival in 1992.
Oh, and there was a bonus at The Tower Theatre, Plympton's Oscar nominated short "Guard Dog" played before the feature.
Well, the rest of the week is looking a bit busy for getting in any more "Sundance training." I'll be back with the real thing.
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