Painting by Alex Grey

Probably the single most perplexing element in the fossil record is the doubling of the brain-size of Homo Sapiens over the period of just two million years (a very, very short period of time in evolutionary terms). Something caused it, but what?

In this brilliant animation, comedian Duncan Trussell gets to the bottom of it. This is the greatest thing ever, an instant classic:

This is a part of Thunderbrain, the pilot I made for Comedy Central.  It is an animation of Terrance Mckenna’s “Stoned Ape Theory”  which is the theory that protohominids munched on mushrooms and this caused the mysterious rapid expansion of the neocortex that eventually differentiated us from the other monkeys.

Animation by Will Carsola. Written by: Duncan Trussell, Will Carsola, and Tom Giannis

I hope Comedy Central pick this pilot up! And if they don’t Adult Swim should snatch it up immediately. This is what I want to watch on television.
 

 
Terence McKenna on his “Stoned Ape Theory”
 

 
Joe Rogan on Terence McKenna’s “Stoned Ape Theory”
 

 
A promotional music video for a new French AIDS awareness campaign that employs a mischievous Android app and online game. This is VERY NSFW.

Directed, drawn and animated by Jean Michel Tixier. Music by Flairs. Produced by the studio ANONYMOUS.
 

 
Previously on Dangerous Minds:
Bongwater: The Power of Pussy

Thank you Sky Nicholas!

 
The Sesame Street crew get crazy with the Beastie Boys’ “Sure Shot.”

This was put together by British branding and graphics company Wonderful Creations.

Grover is groovin’.
 

 
I’ve always been a fan of John Boorman’s Zardoz, no matter how camp, cheesy, or even ridiculous it may seem. Therefore, I do wish this brief 8-bit animation by nickcriscuolo was a real game.

Okay, it’s only an opening sequence, but just think of the potential Boorman’s and Bill Stair’s original story offers: as the Exterminator Zed (Sean Connery) crosses from the land of the Brutals (where “the gun is good and the penis is evil”), to a world of the Eternals, Apathetics, Renegades and the lovely Charlotte Rampling, where Zed finds himself the subject of the Eternals’ experiments and games, and uncovers the dark secret at the heart of their Vortex and its Tabernacle. O, yes this could work.

And of course, Connery and Rampling would voice it, and there’d be optional thigh-length boots. How bloody marvelous.
 

 
Bonus clip of original ‘Zardoz’ film trailer, after the jump…
 

 
Belladonna of Sadness (Kanashimi no Belladonna in the original Japanese) is an unusual art house Anime film made in 1973 and directed by Eiichi Yamamoto.

It was unusual on several counts: First off, it was an X-rated erotic Fantasia-esque feature length animation produced by by Mushi Production. Mushi Pro is the studio responsible for classic childrens fare like Astroboy and Kimba the White Lion. It’s easy to make the case that Osamu Tezuka, the company’s founder, should be regarded as the Walt Disney of Japan. In fact, it was Tezuka’s wide-eyed way of drawing characters that influenced Anime profoundly. Although Tezuka had already stepped down from the company three years earlier, it’s still not easy to imagine Disney producing soft porn cartoons just a few years after Uncle Walt’s passing…

Based kinda/sorta/somewhat on the Joan D’Arc story, Belladonna of Sadness also incorporates vampires and orgies into her tale (?!?!). Butterflies that take flight in the shape of a vagina and other things. As I have never seen a copy with English subtitles, it is rather difficult for me to say exactly what is going on in Belladonna of Sadness, although I can report that that Kuni Fukai’s stunning visuals (reminiscent of the work of Gustav Klimt and Aubrey Beardsley) are quite incredible eye candy and unlike anything else I’ve seen.
 

 
Originally posted on 08/04/09.

 
This unusual new music video by Sufjan Stevens is based on the work of the late outsider artist “Prophet” Royal Robertson and was animated by Stevens himself. Robertson, a schizophrenic who painted space landscapes, flying cars, pornographic images, angels, UFOs and love/hate tributes to his ex-wife, lived in Baldwin, Louisiana and covered his living space with his work and apocalytic Bible verses. Spinning signs outside the house warned visitors: “No bastards” (a reference to his eleven children, some who he suspected were not his), “No Divorced Whores Allowed!” and “Crazy People Stay Off Property.” Think of him as an African-American version of Reverend Howard Finster, ... a somewhat more hostile version of Howard Finster, I suppose.

Robertson died in 1997 and his art is collected by the likes of REM’s Michael Stipe and hangs in the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. Sufjan Stevens’ newest album The Age of Adz (pronounced “odds”) was largely based on Royal’s work and eccentric cosmic worldview and the live concerts in support of the album feature more animated projections of Robertson’s distinctive imagery.
 

 
As seen on Exile on Moan Street

 
Hitch is a graduation project made by Felix Meyer, Pascal Monaco, Torsten Strer, at the University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hannover. Hitch is:

The Ultimate Hitch Cookbook, an animated book containing the recipes for Alfred Hitchcock’s classics. It’s made for Hitchcock enthusiasts and every other couch potato out there.

 
With thanks to Maria Guimil
 

 
“The Wanna Be Oddie” is a short animated film made by Ben Lam as his MFA project at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. In it, he masterfully appropriates certain qualities of vintage, black and white animation, then updates them with 3D graphics and a kooky homage to Transformers, for one of the most charming animations I’ve seen in some time. Thoroughly modern, yet retro (in the best sense), too.

When I was a little kid, I used to collect silent movie comedies on Super 8 film from Blackhawk Films. I’d project them on the wall in my parent’s basement and I’d watch them over and over again. I really studied them and I must say, Ben Lam must’ve watched the same stuff, because he really perfectly abstracts and captures the “vintageness” (and all that would imply) of Chaplin, Keaton, Harold Lloyd, early Mickey Mouse, Ub Iwerks and Max Fleischer cartoons. He didn’t just slap a scratch filter over his animation, in other words, there’s some organic magic happening here that really puts his work at the head of the class. When you get the small details right, the bigger picture is so much more vivid.

Even in this crappy job market, I’m sure a talent like Ben’s was snapped up by the likes of Pixar, post haste. If this was a Coca-Cola commercial and only the difference was that the vending machine and bottles were red and sported logos, not much would change, and it would still be just as great.

Stated differently, If advertising was this cool, I wouldn’t tune it out.

Ben Lam’s blog.
 

 
Last month La Gaité Lyrique in Paris launched a large scale exhibit devoted to skateboard culture.This video by skateboarding legend and deck designer Natas Kaupas animates some classic board graphics.

For a close-up look at the animated graphics check out Cargo’s website.
 

 
Via Skate And Annoy

 
An unreleased song from Mastodon gets the Adult Swim treatment as part of their “10 Free tracks” series of videos featuring never-before-released material from some very cool bands.

Mastodon meets Mr. Rogers and some psychopathic denizens of Fraggle Rock in “Deathbound” from the Crack The Skye sessions.