Your Face is a 1987 animated short film by Bill Plympton.[1] It involves a man seated in a chair crooning about the face of his lover, and as he sings, his own face starts to distort in various ways. His song ends abruptly when a mouth opens in the floor and swallows him and the chair whole; after the closing credits, the mouth reappears and licks its lips.
| Your Face | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Bill Plympton |
| Music by | Maureen McElheron |
Production company | Plymptoons Studio |
| Distributed by | Media, Inc. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 3 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Music
editThe vocals are by Maureen McElheron, known for composing the songs in The Tune, also by Bill Plympton.[2] After the song was recorded,[3] it was slowed by one-third, giving the desired and unusual effect, also making the voice more masculine.[4] His face is distorted into many different shapes, such as a balloon, a cube and an ice cream cone.
Lyrics
editThe song is original,[5] made specifically for this short film, and the lyrics depict a metaphorical description of someone's face by using musical vocabulary to describe the beauty of their features.[6]
Legacy
editThe short received a nomination for Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film[7] at the 60th Academy Awards.[8][9][10]
A variation of this short was used as the couch gag on The Simpsons's 29th season episode "3 Scenes Plus a Tag from a Marriage", with Homer Simpson's face replacing the original man, and Dan Castellaneta singing the vocals. This version ends with the Simpson family sitting on their living room couch.[11]
Your Face was preserved by the Academy Film Archive in 2015.[12]
The short was restored and uploaded to Bill Plympton's YouTube channel on August 23, 2024.[13]
References
edit- ^ Films by Bill Plympton - The Criterion Channel
- ^ Robinson, Tasha (September 14, 2012). "In 1992, Bill Plympton made history by drawing an entire film on his own". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
- ^ Maureen McElheron - Your Face (speed version)-YouTube
- ^ Your Face by Maureen McElheron- Topic on YouTube
- ^ Your Face - Films by Bill Plympton - The Criterion Channel
- ^ Oddball Films: Metamorphic Cinema: Meditations on Transformation - Thur. May 12th - 8PM
- ^ Shout! Factory Announces Acquisitions of Bill Plympton Library|Shout Factory
- ^ The Man Who Planted Trees Wins Animated Short: 1988 Oscars
- ^ Pond, Steve (November 30, 2010). "Shortlist for Oscar Animated Shorts Includes Pixar, Bill Plympton". TheWrap. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
- ^ "The 60th Academy Awards (1988) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 16 October 2011.
- ^ Perkins, Dennis (March 25, 2018). "Another retcon of Marge and Homer's marriage leaves us wondering who these impostor Simpsons are". The A.V. Club. Retrieved April 18, 2018.
- ^ "Preserved Projects". Academy Film Archive.
- ^ YourFace