Rectangular_businessman
A funny short from Don Hertzfeldt, which has all the common elements present in most of his works : An apparently innocent beginning, a very simplistic, but very appealing art style, and lots, lots of black humor, with many twisted jokes contained in a very short time.The result is pretty effective, and well done. Even when this doesn't have the same level of complexity of "Everything Will Be OK" or "I Am So Proud Of You", this is a pretty good gag short, that serves to show how through animation even the most harmless thing, such as a balloon could be turned into something scary.Also, it's hilarious.
ccthemovieman-1
This isn't exactly like the famous 30-minute French classic film, "The Red Balloon." That 1956 Oscar-winning movie was about a young boy and his red balloon. So is this "cartoon," but that's where the similarity ends, story-wise.In this simply-drawn animated short, the red balloon - and other balloons- are nasty, sadistic, violent and deadly. Who would believe innocent balloons could be like this?! It's shocking at first, then funny, and then very funny as the dark humor totally takes over and the violence escalates. The variations on the one-joke theme are fresh and make this one of the fastest five-minute animated movies I've ever seen.I didn't find this "sick." It's just black humor. Anyone who appreciates totally absurdity should love this movie. Just don't expect the sweet-and-cuddly opening to last too long!!
hippofairy
so... it's a cartoon, where nobody dies, there's no blood, and the only violence involved is with a balloon. how much better can it get? plus we've all played hit-your-friend-in-the-head-with-the-balloon when we were kids. this is just one of the funniest things that i've ever watched. Rolling on the floor laughing funny. The first time i saw Billy's Balloon was at the Hawaii International Film Festival, and it was being screened with a whole bunch of other shorts. Billy was the best by far. It also introduced me to Bitterfilms and Don who i absolutely adore. if you like billy's balloon, check out Don's other work. you won't be disappointed.
the dude-3
Animation in all its glory! As an animation student myself, and having made quite a few short stick-figure deaths and such to amuse myself during class, I can fully appreciate the brilliance of "Billy's Balloon." Luckily, I hadn't read anything about what was going to happen and was pleasantly surprised as the mayhem of Billy's balloon started and every time I thought the joke was getting old, a whole other element was thrown in. A great short film which I will hopefully find again someday.
AD
