Animation has always been well suited to illustrate comedic stories, events, and moments in time, but another lesser known form of comedy which the animation field has been exploring heavily is the area of mockumentary animation. Mockumentary has been around for a while in live action and the act of presenting a fictional documentary built on parody and satire of events and issues has been a perfect medium for animation to delve into. The area of mockumentary animation has been exploding as the number of animated films in the medium continues to rise. Even in the film festival circuit the medium is being recognized as several film festivals devote a specific category for mockumentary films.
Recently the animated feature film “Surf's Up”, the first mockumentary feature film animation, hit theaters entertaining audiences across the world. The film is created as if a documentary crew was going out and interviewing penguins who are competing in the esteemed “Big Z Memorial Surf-Off” surfing competition on Pen Gu Island. Most of the film follows the main penguin character Cody Maverick who is a little known surfer from Antarctica set on winning the surfing competition. Throughout the film the crew interviews several other characters which all add to make it feel as though you are watching a real documentary on the event, but this time with an animated twist.
Although mockumentary has made a big splash on the big screen, short animated mockumentary films are emerging from talented filmmakers across the globe. The market for these films has mainly been in the film festival circuits or through the internet, with many people turning to sites such as YouTube to post their short film creations.
Mockumentary animation has not only been successful in short films and feature films but also television. One of the most popular television series, “Creature Comforts” has been entertaining its audiences with its cute stop motion creatures which are juxtaposed with unscripted conversations documented from people talking on a variety of issues. The animated performance of the creatures often mocks the voices or other characters to produce comedic and amusing results.
The field of mockumentary animation is constantly growing and changing bringing entertainment to audiences young and old. Whether it is feature film, short films, or television, mockumentary animation is continually being produced and accepted by the public with its mix of reality and compelling mocking comedy.
Popular Mockumentary Films/Television Shows
Surf's Up
The full feature animated film created in the style of a documentary which tells the story of the young, up and coming penguin surfer Cody Maverick. After a chance encounter with a surfing scout Cody gets an opportunity to prove his skills and go to the esteemed “Big Z Memorial Surf-Off” surfing competition on Pen Gu Island. Throughout the film a variety of interesting characters are interviewed to tell their thoughts and opinions on the event, all with surprisingly funny results. The story follows Cody's quest to win, the troubles he encounters, and life lessons learned.
http://www.sonypictures.com/homevideo/surfsup
Creature Comforts – The Animated TV Series
In these hilarious animated television series' excerpts are culled from real person interviews and placed in the mouths of a wide variety of animated animals to produce humorous, charming and insightful commentaries on everyday life.
Great Britain Series
http://www.creaturecomforts.tv/uk
United States Series
http://www.cbs.com/primetime/creature_comforts
http://www.creaturecomforts.tv
Mockumentary Links and Resources
Below is a list of several links to many short mockumentary films posted on the web as well as links providing more information about the particular films.
A list of Mockumentary films, both live action/and animated
http://www.undergroundfilm.com/films/search.tcl?rstart=1&geseqno=1208&rcount=8&stype=&qstring=
The Toll
An animated mockumentary of a bridge troll.
The Toll Opening Trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoBaHV8O02I
Main Website:
http://www.hatchlingshorts.com
Ben the Angriest Canary
An animated mockumentary about the making of a fairy-tale which goes horribly wrong. Ben is a bright yellow, pear shaped canary who cannot fly. Raised on a chicken farm he never learned how to fly and has spent his life trying to make up for his inadequacies.
http://benthecanary.net/start.swf
Inside Coca-Cola's Happiness Factory
Mockumentary/documentary of the commercial
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUiZGBCehU8
The commercial and mini-movie:
http://www.brentter.com/index.php?s=coca+cola&submit=Search
The Voyeur Vac
A Short, twisted parody of an infomercial selling voyeur vacs, or vacs that suck out eyeballs from peepholes.
http://www.undergroundfilm.com/films/detail.tcl?wid=1008823
http://blog.undergroundfilm.org/ugf/2005/05/the_voyeur_vac.html
Cancelled! The Rise and Fall of The Whalings! By Heidi Butterfield
A senior thesis project for the University of Michigan School of Art and Design. An animated mockumentary about the "lifespan" of a sitcom- conception to cancellation- as recalled by its cast, crew and fan club.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=POGc-a4qOHI
This is Part One.
http://playgallery.org/videos/animation/278
also, for parts 1, 2, & 3
http://playgallery.org/gallery/?show=animation&page=4
Confessions of an Animation
Life is a little different through the eyes of an animation. A hilarious animated mockumentary with attitude and course language. This film is the perfect cure for a bad day. Meet the cute and cuddly bunny who has much more, ah, adult aspirations. The one-eyed smiley face who doesn't know he isn't human. The unfinished pencil sketch who is more than a little resentful of what his animator left off. You'll be laughing too hard to remember what had you down in the first place.
http://www.zango.com/destination/catalog/contentGateway.aspx?pid=714706
http://media.smh.com.au/
http://www.arts.australia.or.jp/english/events/0506/shortshorts
Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters by director Mamori Oshii
A full length film Tachigui: The Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters by director Mamori Oshii. This ‘mockumentary' describes heroes of unrecorded Japanese history, termed Fast Food Grifters. They succeed in not having to pay for their noodles in restaurants by using their erudition.
http://www.tachiguishi.com/trailer.html
http://haff.awn.com/?page=professionals&id=285&lang=en&sub=&anim=&film=&letter=
Digital Harvey
In this hilarious mockumentary, two misguided digital effects gurus "improve" the classic Jimmy Stewart film, Harvey, in which Stewart befriends an invisible rabbit. So, just what is their contribution to the classic film? How about adding a computer-generated rabbit to every single scene?
http://www.ifilm.com/video/805533
Ski Jumping Pairs - Road to Torino 2006
Aimed square at the tradition of films about triumph in the face of adversity, this entertaining mockumentary follows the life-long quest of the Japanese Professor Harada to get his invention-the unlikely sport of pairs ski-jumping, as pioneered by his twin sons-accepted as an official Olympic sport.
http://www.seattlefilm.org/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=20586&fid=13
An Interview with Death
A short trailer for the stop-motion mockumentary, "An Interview with Death." This animated satire was released April 28th, 2006.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5ss1vJ-KTo
Planet Fury
The Vardacs are the most warmongering and violent species in the known universe. Yet every one of their randomly instigated attacks has resulted in humiliating and crushing defeat – due in no small part to the Vardac's decision to use the tennis ball as their sole weapon of choice. Planet Fury sees a documentary crew granted rare access to the Vardac's inner sanctum and in a series of interviews reveal the secret doubts, fears and desires of the universe's most inept overlords
http://www.undergroundfilm.com/films/detail.tcl?wid=1031591
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehn8fnMNpBw
Tom Peterson - Rotoscope Mockumentary/Documentary
A rotoscoped documentary about a man whose a cartoon living in the real world
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1Sj0GKwiH4
Monster Management™- Sneak Peek 02
Monster Management™ From Dualbo comes Monster Management a series of conversational documentary shorts exploring the lives of people living as social monsters.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbHDTFf0xuA
A Colourful Mind
A rotoscoped animated documentary. An interview with an animator with a special condition.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-4HLuvI0wQ
Behind The Scenes
Behind the scenes mockumentary on the making of Stikfas: War and Pieces
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2aNvtGPMmI
C'Mons - What happened so far?
A mockumentary/documentary of animated band creatures
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZx_vhyXjuU
"The Roots of Evil"
The dark secret behind all evil in human history is finally revealed in this animated documentary...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQIu3Y6Udsk
Day in the life trailer
A trailer for the pilot of the show called 'day in the life' from the creator of NAF (Normal Average Family) This mockumentary shows what life is like for three different citizens of the UK.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1MM4g7Yva4
The Olympiads Lounge
The Olympiads Lounge is an underground club where the Greek Gods come together and perform their stand-up comedy routines. Having abandoned Mt Olympus and finding it hard to integrate into society this seems to be their only outlet. But having been on tour for months this, a documentary of their final gig, cannot have come at a better time as the cast begin to get very tetchy with each other and begin to question what they are doing.
Changing The Earth : The Dean Dirtbug Story
Filmed using stop-motion animation, this mockumentary examines the western obsession with fame, celebrity and easily-definable role models via a recently-deceased hero of a...wait for it...dirtbug colony.
http://www.switch.tv/videos/274?ctx=8&ct=23&srt=1&start=0