Plympton's Twisted Toons Come To The Metrograph

There's no one in animation quite like Bill Plympton. With an independent spirit and a distinctive hand-drawn style, the American artist has reached legendary status since first arriving on the scene back in 1987. His shorts and features have earned him numerous awards and recognition around the world. Now, there is a rare opportunity to see some of his work on the big screen in a double-bill presentation at the Metrograph in New York City on Sunday, June 1.

The theater will be screening Plympton's features Cheatin' and I Married A Strange Person, each of which will screen with two accompanying shorts. Cheatin' will be accompanied by Push Comes To Shove and Foot Prints, while I Married A Strange Person will screen with Hot Dog and Santa: The Fascist Years.

Plympton himself will be in attendance for the screenings but in lieu of a Q&A the icon will be available in the lobby after the shows, chatting with audience members and even drawing artwork for attendees to take home.

Plympton's Twisted Toons will also be available to stream via the Metrograph At Home streaming platform, with an exclusive interview with the director. They will be available to stream from June 1.

Nominated for an Oscar and awarded by the Festival de Cannes, the 79 year-old filmmaker is still active, with his last film Slide out in 2023 and another in production. A staple of the Spike and Mike's Festival Of Animation programs, Plympton famously turned down the opportunity to work for Disney. He has produced commercial spots for MTV, Microsoft and NBC and has guest contributed couch gags to The Simpsons. Simpsons' creator Matt Groening once described him as "a god".

"Although my films were widely appreciated by the audiences in festivals, the distributors felt there was no audience in the US for adult animation. Now people are starting to realize the wit and beauty of my films” Plympton said.

"One-man industry Bill Plympton is the American underground animator par excellence, his meticulously hand-drawn style, with its fluid, distending line and voluptuous figures, one of the most immediately recognizable in the business" said The Metrograph.

Program

CHEATIN'

2013, 75 min, DCP

PUSH COMES TO SHOVE 

1991, 6 min, DCP

FOOTPRINTS

2014, 4 min, DCP

A lurid film noir opera that eschews intelligible dialogue, Cheatin’ follows a couple, Jake and Ella, from the first blush of attraction at a carnival meet-cute to the cusp of marital disintegration. Screens with shorts Push Comes to Shove and Footprints. 

“My second non-dialogue film and I believe it's my most powerful. Inspired by a very tragic relationship I had 20 years ago.” —Bill Plympton

Introduction by director Bill Plympton on Sunday, June 1.

I MARRIED A STRANGE PERSON!

1997, 75 min, DCP

HOT DOG

2008, 6 min, DCP

SANTA THE FASCIST YEARS

2008, 4 min, DCP

Newlywed Kerry becomes suspicious of her husband, Grant, when he starts manifesting signs of what seem to be superpowers in Plympton’s surreal film of shape-shifters, unusual sexual couplings, and covetous conglomerates. Screens with shorts Hot Dog and Santa the Fascist Years.

“Probably the socket and most twisted feature I ever created. And possibly the most twisted that anyone created.” —Bill Plympton

Introduction by director Bill Plympton on Sunday, June 1.

You can get your tickets here.