Etsy in Wonderland - Treasury

The treasury I made last night was inspired by themes from Alice In Wonderland.

Etsy sellers, from left to right: The Nebulous Kingdom, Apak, Andy's House, Niko Art, Little Elfs Toyshop, Wakuseiya, Just Be Designs, Darkling Woods, Lilla Lotta, Another Feather, Elsita, Naokosstoop.

There are so many lovely handmade items on Etsy which have been inspired by Alice in Wonderland, I will be doing another treasury with the same theme... so watch this space if you like this!

I did read the book many many years ago when I was a nipper, but about 15 years ago (when I was a very moody teenager) I came across and became a big fan of Jan Svankmajer's "Alice". If you haven't heard of it, you really need to watch it (see below, first of nine parts). It's a fantastically imaginiative, dark and memorable stop-motion film based on Alice in Wonderland. In my opinion, it's the best version in film, both for children and adults alike.

Joey x

Fear(s) of the Dark

Fear(s) of the Dark is a magical mixture of dark dreams, dark thoughts and dark places. It's a collection of six French animated films about a little girl's horrific dream, a man who finds shelter from the snow in an abandoned house, a young man's first girlfriend and others. The darkness theme twisted and bound the six separate stories together very well and they complimented each other, although they were made by six different animators.

The animation itself wasn't great as they were all computer animated which tends to look quite clumsy, but the graphic monotone design of all the films was beautiful and there were plenty of bits to make you jump or make your skin crawl. This is a world of weird creatures, strange shadows and depraved lunatics.

The film felt like a comic-book, from the visually arresting red and black title sequence, through a gritty, flickering pencilled world to stark black and white ink drawings.

This is a wonderfully chilling collection of films which will horrify you in a very delightful way.

Click for: Fear(s) of the Dark - official site

UK Trailer

Revolver - animation by Jonas Odell

Oh look! I have 'embedded' my first YouTube video! Hurrah for Joey!

I first saw this animation a few years ago on Channel 4. There's something about its creepiness and other-worldlyness that I just love. It makes me feel uneasy but curiosity compels me to carry on watching. I really like the clean graphic style of drawing and the strange robot characters, and the unnerving repetitive carousel-inspired music running through the film.