"Vincent", written and directed by Tim Burton and narrated by Vincent Price, is a 1982 animated short film about a little boy who wants to be like horror movie icon Vincent Price. Burton, only in his early 20s back then, was already quite prolific and has done some animated short film work before this one here. This was a close collaboration with art director Rick Heinrichs, an Academy Award winner today, who worked with the Coens, Gore Verbinski and Burton again of course on several occasions. His work on Burton's "Sleepy Hollow" brought him the Oscar.
Anyway, this short film is black and white, pretty heavy in tone and a bit creepy. I am surprised IMDb does not classify it as a horror film. The best thing about it is the way Price narrates the rhymes. It's basically an ode from him to himself which is a bit self-aggrandizing admittedly. Apart from the narration, there weren't really any great features about these seven minutes. Neither the character is memorable, nor is the action. And the animation is fairly weak for 1982 as well. The only thing you could hold in its favor is that Burton is still very young here and clearly got better over the years. Disney produced the film, so that is also why I expected a bit more. If this had been done by a less famous character now at the beginning of his career I am positive that almost nobody would know this short film at all. It really rose with Burton's popularity over the years, but there is not much here that justifies its reputation. Not recommended.
Anyway, this short film is black and white, pretty heavy in tone and a bit creepy. I am surprised IMDb does not classify it as a horror film. The best thing about it is the way Price narrates the rhymes. It's basically an ode from him to himself which is a bit self-aggrandizing admittedly. Apart from the narration, there weren't really any great features about these seven minutes. Neither the character is memorable, nor is the action. And the animation is fairly weak for 1982 as well. The only thing you could hold in its favor is that Burton is still very young here and clearly got better over the years. Disney produced the film, so that is also why I expected a bit more. If this had been done by a less famous character now at the beginning of his career I am positive that almost nobody would know this short film at all. It really rose with Burton's popularity over the years, but there is not much here that justifies its reputation. Not recommended.