Story and Style
Hey there you swinging animators out there! This week we take you way back to the early nineteen hundreds with the flash animation Bulbo in Bulboland. Following the links provided by Flash-Forward, I looked for past winners of various categories such as “cartoons” which is where I found this little gem, done in the style of the old serials from when our parents were still a twinkle in their parent’s eyes. Done stylishly in black and white with no dialogue, this cartoon was somewhat reminiscent of the style of Anna and teddy. But flat color schemes and nonexistent dialogue is where the similarities end. This story has a discernable problem/ solution story basis, and a beginning, climax and conclusion, unlike the Anna and teddy cartoons. In the beginning, Bulbo is faced with the problem of being cold and uncomfortable, and so he spies a travel agency and decides to go to historic bulbo land. After a funny scene where he simply walks across a very large boat to get to the other side of the perceived ocean separating what looks like New York with bulboland, he notices that everyone in bulboland looks exactly like him, and that they all are eyeing him suspiciously. Problem two is encountered when the police compare his visage with that of someone who looks exactly like all of them with bulbo, and chase after him, providing the climax. He narrowly escapes with a false moustache, slips by them all (now looking completely different from everyone else in bulboland) and grabs onto a plane which he falls off of into a “citizen of the year” award ceremony being held for… someone who has a false moustache just like his! I’ll admit it was quite short, but it gets the message across clearly without any sound effects or speech to help drive it along, and for this it helps to instill a kind of nostalgia with its repeating music and contrasting black and white color scheme. The site is quite funny, and you should all go check it out for yourselves here at Bulbo.com.
