The Mascot And Street Of Crocodiles From The Brothers Quay

-Brief intro

- Stop motion is one of the oldest methods of animation and is still used to this day. As technology and understanding of animation advanced, so did the quality of stop motion films. Two important films that show an advancement of technique are Ladislaw Starewicz The Mascot, and Street of Crocodiles from The Brothers Quay.

-First film:

- Ladislaw Starewicz: The Mascot 1933. The film follows the journey of a toy dog named Duffy who lives in a world where toys come to life. Duffy was created and given life by a toymaker whose child is sick. The dog is sold along with other toys. Duffy escapes its buyer and finds an orange, something the sick child was begging for before it was sold. As Duffy tries to return home it runs into a

Based off of a story by Polish writer Bruno Schulz about a puppet exploring a museum. Uses a haunting and scratchy score by Leszek Janowski. Plot of Street of Crocodiles feels obscure and bizarre even with the context of Schulz’ story. This is due to muted colours, dark light, and familiar objects to create a bizarre space. The Brothers Quay are looking at stories like “seeing through a dirty pane of glass”. Street of Crocodiles has as feeling of being anxiously lost and hyperaware of his surroundings, with nods to Poland as a pallid character lost in a deteriorating

The Mascot was a display for how well characters and their stories could be animated with no dialogue. Street of Crocodiles also proves this, but more so displays how an environment or setting adds to the story and conveys its main feelings through aesthetic. The Mascot is important through its flaws as well. A film so convoluted with stories that aren’t the main plot can distract and pull away from the essential message or narrative. Both films give light to the advancement of a fleshed-out and complete world. The Mascot with characters, and Street of Crocodiles with