A whirlwind tour of first-class animated shorts, "The World's Greatest Animation" assembles, for the first time, an eye-popping assortment of Academy Award winners and nominees from the years 1978-1991. Includes: Creature Comforts (directed by "Wallace & Gromit's" Nick Park), Balance, Technological Threat, The Cat Came Back, Your Face (directed by Bill Plympton), A Greek Tragedy, Anna & Bella, The Big Snit, Charade, Sundae in New York, The Great Incognito (directed by Will Vinton), Tango, The Fly, Crac!, Every Child, Special Delivery.

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They are: CREATURE COMFORTS (Nick Park - winner, 1990); BALANCE (Lauenstein - winner, 1989); TECHNOLOGICAL THREAT (Kroyer - nominee, 1988); THE CAT CAME BACK (Barker - nominee, 1988); YOUR FACE (Plympton - nominee, 1987); A GREEK TRAGEDY (Van Goethem - winner, 1986); ANNA & BELLA (Ring - winner, 1985); THE BIG SNIT (Condie - nominee, 1985); CHARADE (Minnis - winner, 1984); SUNDAE IN NEW YORK - (Picker - winner, 1983); THE GREAT COGNITO (Vinton - nominee, 1982); TANGO (Rybczynski - winner, 1982); THE FLY (Rofuscz - winner, 1980); CRAC! (Back - winner, 1981); EVERY CHILD (Fedorenco and Lamb - winner, 1979); SPECIAL DELIVERY (Wheldon and Macaulay - winner, 1978).

A thoroughly delightful collection!

8 of 10 found the following review helpful:

The world according to PlymptonMar 23, 2000
By Michael Sean
Thanks to frequent exposure on MTV and several touring animation festivals, Bill Plympton's distinctive style is now widely recognized, even if the man behind the pencil isn't. While it's not really 'the complete works,' this DVD collects an hour's worth of his early short films, from his cut-out animation piece "Lucas, The Ear of Corn" from 1977 to 1990's "Plymptoons," a medley of his numerous 'microtoons' that were featured regularly on MTV's "Liquid Television." He earned a 1988 Oscar nomination for Best Animation with "Your Face," a musical short scored and sung by Maureen McElheron (who Plympton would work with again on his feature film "The Tune"). For the sake of completeness, we also get his television commercials for "Trivial Pursuit" and "Nutrasweet," a public service message on acid rain (another MTV staple), and his 1987 TV pilot for "Love In The Fast Lane," a series that never got picked up. Whether you already know the man's work, or you just enjoy attending animation festivals, this disc is a decent showcase of some of his short films. For more by Bill Plympton, check out "Mondo Plympton," which features more of his recent work.

7 of 9 found the following review helpful:

AKA Plymptoons done the right way....Aug 14, 2004
By Erich Mohr "Arandil"
If there is any confusion between this DVD and 'The Complete Works of Bill Plympton', relax, this is very nearly the same DVD.

The "Classic Works" differs from "Complete Works" in that it is a more complete version than the previous VHS and DVD editions of "Plymptoons". The director's commentary, which was badly needed in the first transfer to DVD, finally makes an appearance in this version. Bill's commentary is the reading of some notes at the beginning of each short, some technical, some biographical, all interesting in spite of the monotone in which it is delivered. But, hey, Bill never claimed to be an actor. This version also has a few more 'extras' in the form of a stills gallery. The gallery has some key frames, as well as concepts passed over from "25 Way to Quit Smoking". Also, at the end of "Plymptoons 1990" there is a little extra film footage. There are also a few additional shorts in the 'Rarities' section.

This version is also more NC-17 than the older releases, which are more PG. NOTHING Bill does should ever be called PC, so please don't expect moments of happy smiley crap to come floating out of the screen. The interviews are frank, with some colorful language and explicit footage of some of his later works. For those wishing to encourage the younger animator, the "Complete Works" version is much better suited for the younger audience.

11 of 15 found the following review helpful:

Great DVD!May 12, 2002
By TimothyFarrell22
I would highly reccomend this DVD to any animation fan. There are a few shorts that are not up to the others ("A Greek Tragedy", "Your Face") but there are no really bad selections. There are a few standouts, however. "The Great Cogniteo" is a hillarious visual fest, from the guy who did the "Calafornia Raisans" commercials; "Crac!" a long but undeniably clever veiw of Montreal from the veiw of a rocking chair; "The Big Snit", and "The Cat Came Back", two Canadian shorts that contain more laughs than most feature films; and "Balance", a powerful claymation film, which seems to be making a statement against the Bush-area communisum threats. The DVD is worth it just for those selections. 10 out of 10 for whoever compiled this one.

8 of 11 found the following review helpful:

Some good content, but misnamed and unevenApr 24, 2003

This collection of animated shorts does indeed contain some suberb and interesting material ("Crac!," "Creature Comforts," and "Tango" come to mind; possibly "Balance," depending on whether you find it an Important Philosophical Statement or cringingly pretentious) but most of its contents are either forgettable, maudlin, or slightly offensive: "The Great Cognito," for instance, besides being almost totally unamusing, depicts claymation buck-toothed caricatures of Japanese World War II soldiers. Some may find this acceptable, I didn't.

Also: despite its billing as the "World's Greatest" animation, this collection is hardly international; most of its contributors are Canadian (no wonder, since it's a Film Board of Canada release), with token European and American entires, and nothing from Asia, Africa, Russia...in fact, it's a compilation of animated shorts that happened to win prestigious awards, which isn't in of itself a mark of greatness.

For a real taste of some of the world's greatest animation, take a look at the excellent Masters Of Russian Animation series.

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