Joe Blow
Joe Blow from HouseSpecial on Vimeo.
The blurb: Joe Blow is the story of one man’s quest for companionship. Its a cautionary tale of passion, loss and pneumatics. Joe, who lives by himself in a trailer, finds that love can be a breathtaking experience.
Animation World Network says this film had a theatrical run in 2004, screening before the Ewan McGregor feature Young Adam. It’s directed by Emmy award-winning animator and director Mark Gustafson who has recently be signed to co-direct Pinocchio.
Gustafson came up with the idea for the film 10 years ago while trying to blow up a balloon. It was so difficult and it made my cheeks hurt, says Gustafson. Blowing up a balloon is a frustrating thing to do. At the same time, I was thinking about the difficulty of relationships. You can work and work at a relationship, and have nothing to show for it. Joe spends all of his energy inflating a blowup doll and has nothing left. Hes all foreplay and no fun.
Gustafsons concept had to wait for technology to catch up with his vision. The blow up doll, which is done in CG, would have been very difficult to produce in stop motion, says Gustafson. The film seamlessly combines stop motion and CG. Jazz singer Rebecca Kilgore recorded a rendition of Fever for the soundtrack.
Length: 4:27
Director: Mark Gustafson