If you don't understand the context in which this short animated film was made, you'd probably quickly dismiss it. However, this would be a huge mistake as it's super-important to the history of computer generated animation.
Back in 1985, CGI was almost unknown. "The Adventures of André and Wally B.", the very first experimental film by Pixar Studios was created just the year before and the famous "Luxo, Jr." did not debut until 1986. And, such projects took years and were created using massive mainframe computers--as PCs were not fast enough or complex enough to do this sort of work. And, most importantly, rendering software did not exist and had to be created by anyone wanting to do such work. It was the most primitive time for the most primitive sort of CGI.
In light of this, the strange shapes of the characters in "Tuber's Two Step" could be excused. Despite the title, they don't look like potatoes--in fact it's hard to tell WHAT they are supposed to be. The story is incredibly simple and the musical accompaniment works well. It's probably NOT an animation the average person would want to see today unless you are into the history of film or CGI. But, wow, did Chris Wedge do a great job just using the computers at Ohio State University to produce this little film. It must have taken FOREVER to make!
Back in 1985, CGI was almost unknown. "The Adventures of André and Wally B.", the very first experimental film by Pixar Studios was created just the year before and the famous "Luxo, Jr." did not debut until 1986. And, such projects took years and were created using massive mainframe computers--as PCs were not fast enough or complex enough to do this sort of work. And, most importantly, rendering software did not exist and had to be created by anyone wanting to do such work. It was the most primitive time for the most primitive sort of CGI.
In light of this, the strange shapes of the characters in "Tuber's Two Step" could be excused. Despite the title, they don't look like potatoes--in fact it's hard to tell WHAT they are supposed to be. The story is incredibly simple and the musical accompaniment works well. It's probably NOT an animation the average person would want to see today unless you are into the history of film or CGI. But, wow, did Chris Wedge do a great job just using the computers at Ohio State University to produce this little film. It must have taken FOREVER to make!
