I’ve never seen the work of Jiri Barta before, but after looking at what’s he’s done with his first film in over 20 years, I’ll definitly be doing some research on the Czech born stop-motion revolutionary. His latest film ‘Toys in the Attic‘ is getting a bit of a wide release as well. In 2010, it won the New York International Film Festival, and now it’s being released with American voices. Using the voice talents of Joan Cusack, Forest Whitaker, and Cary Elwes, we will see this stop-motion movie come to life!
Here’s a synopsis: Set behind the doors of a dusty attic, the adorable doll Buttercup plays mom to a motley family of castaways: the station master Teddy Bear, clay-animated Schubert, and the Quixotic marionette knight Sir Handsome. In this enchanted world every day is a birthday, until a mysterious black cat kidnaps the beloved Buttercup and takes her to the Land of Evil ruled by the villainous Head of State, who commands an army of mechanical, mustachioed insects and an all seeing spying eye. Both a wonderfully spooky children’s fairy tale and Soviet-era allegory, Toys in the Attic marks a career highpoint for Barta, who was among the first to raise stop-motion animation to an art form and paved the the way for modern hits like The Nightmare Before Christmas, Coraline, and Fantastic Mr. Fox.
If that doesn’t sound spooktacular enough for you to wanna see it, I’m including a trailer and a couple clips to get you in the mood. Also, check over at AICN for tour dates of the film. The US dates start in NYC and continue throughout the country.
~Chaz
