La Linea & Estacao Sigma

La Linea is an Italian cartoon series created by Osvaldo Cavandoli.

Bibi’s Blog already said everything you need to know about this series so I’ll quote:
The cartoon features a man walking on an infinite line. The man himself is drawn using one line and is a part of the line he is walking on. The character encounters obstacles and often turns to the cartoonist to draw him a solution. The background color changes as mood or feelings of the character change, but most of the series was black and white. The cartoon was originally used for advertisements, before the animated series was created.

You can watch 35 episodes at TV5. I had a little trouble viewing them on a Mac.
The image above links to “Daily Motion” which is a more Mac friendly website, but with fewer episodes: 01, 02, 03, 05, 06, 08, 101, 105, 107, 110, 112, 114, 116, 125, 126, 127, 132, 133, 138, 149, 154.

Thanks to Bibi for calling these to our attention, and big thanks for scrounging Archive.org and reposting her favorites on Google video. Visit her blog for a big “Vintage Cartoon Roundup” including Felix the Cat, and Betty Boop. Go ahead and subscribe to her RSS feed.

Estacao Sigma is a cell animated spot by Buraco de Bala. This piece makes great use of traditional animation techniques like squash and stretch. I especially like the moment we see the character through a simulated fish eye lens. Go through frame by frame to see how it is achieved. I felt good sound effects could have really taken this piece to the next level. It’s not until the end that we hear any at all. Like any piece of motion work, audio can make or break it. In this case I think the music leaves something to be desired. The design however is so charming I almost didn’t notice.