Tim Burton's earliest available short film, Vincent, is like a wonderfully twisted poem for kids- and Vincent Price movie buffs- that makes a very assorted, tragic-comic spin of a tale. At the same time it's also one of the best pieces of stop-motion, even at under ten minutes, I've ever seen. I had pretty good expectations for the film which were met (and then some) by already having read some of the lines that are featured in the film. In a way it might actually work best as a silent film with music, as every animated move of Vincent provides a note of emotion. But in the end it does prove best with Price himself as narrator, and it's like having slicing on the cake to have his own voice inflections over certain words, and to impose little changes in some other words. The story, about a young boy who wants nothing more than to be Vincent Price- the bulk of the mythology about all of his 'horror-movie' characters and himself in some ways as a caricature- is more like the form of being a picture book, only brought to life and pumped with a genuine artistic sensibility.
Even in the shots where it's just Vincent Malloy surrounded by his not-very-interesting family, there are little tricks that are pulled (I loved the gag where he, as Price, plans to dip his mother in a boiling pot of wax). And, in the end, there's even a nice, rewarding kind of point (if not message), where the influence of a parent saying 'snap out of it' is crushing to the point of killing off a fantasy altogether. Aside from the technical accomplishments, of which is 100% unfiltered Burton with his practically trademark looking characters, designs and atmosphere, the actual subject matter is quite substantial on its own too. It's one of the most original, funny (sometimes very funny) pieces of short-subject animation made in the last 25 years.
Even in the shots where it's just Vincent Malloy surrounded by his not-very-interesting family, there are little tricks that are pulled (I loved the gag where he, as Price, plans to dip his mother in a boiling pot of wax). And, in the end, there's even a nice, rewarding kind of point (if not message), where the influence of a parent saying 'snap out of it' is crushing to the point of killing off a fantasy altogether. Aside from the technical accomplishments, of which is 100% unfiltered Burton with his practically trademark looking characters, designs and atmosphere, the actual subject matter is quite substantial on its own too. It's one of the most original, funny (sometimes very funny) pieces of short-subject animation made in the last 25 years.