Bill Plympton’s Latest animated short, Shuteye Hotel, is a murder mystery with a surprising twist. Another thing that is quite unexpected is that the staunch supporter of hand-drawn animation has incorporated 3D technology into a film for the first time in his prolific career. And it just may be the last time as well.
Shuteye Hotel takes place in creepy roadside stop where anyone who checks into a certain room almost immediately checks out of life. When a baffled female police officer takes the room to investigate the cause of the grisly murders, she finds herself in way over her head, and on the verge of losing that head. Plympton says the story was inspired by one of his many hotel stays while touring the festival circuit.
The wickedly entertaining new short was screened during the Independent Film Festival at the San Diego Comic-Con over the weekend. After the credits rolled, Plympton discussed the making of the film, which features a push-in establishing shot of the title hotel that was created in CG. ‘I met this computer animator who was into dark stuff and had him create this shot,’ he said. ‘It was a big mistake because it ended up taking too long and being way too expensive.’
Plympton, who likes to keep his budgets to $1,000 a minute, spent more than $10 on the six-minute Shuteye Hotel. The Filmmaker went on to share the three rules that make up ‘Plympton’s Dogma’ for success in short films, which are (1) keep it short, (2) keep it cheap and (3) make it funny. ‘I broke all three rules,’ he commented. ‘I don’t know if it will be successful, but it’s a story I felt was important to tell.’
Plympton is currently working on a new animated feature titled Idiots and Angels. The film will join an impressive body of work that includes the award-winning shorts The Fan and the Flower, Guard Dog and Guide Dog, and the equally accomplished features I Married a Strange Person, The Tune and Mutant Aliens. Check out an exclusive video interview with Plympton now playing on AniMagTV (www.animag.tv).
