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ORANGES: THE MOVIE
Wow! I can't begin to tell you how much I enjoyed this feature from Mike Stoklas of GMP Cinema. It is easily takes the prize for the most surreal and subversive movie to cross my desk all year.
For those not familiar with Stoklas' series of short films, all the characters are portrayed by fruit and animated by hand. For this feature length entry into the series, Stoklas has out done himself. There is more character development present than any Hollywood feature I've seen in some time. Every piece of fruit is given its own unique facial design with a distinct vocal personality to match.
The film revolves around peace-loving Professor Sunkist, the leader of the Orange nation. Brainwashed by a bigoted local shaman, Professor Sunkist declares race-wars on many of the neighboring fruit-countries. It's up to the Professor's friends and family to rescue him and restore peace.
At first glance, the movie has a family oriented feel. The tone changes about the time Professor Sunkist hops in a tank and drops a few rounds on a couple of pesky, bank-robbing bananas. The movie is every bit as bizarre as it sounds.
Meticulous attention is paid to every detail of the miniature sets. From the Professor's home to his office, everything almost seems lifelike. What impressed me the most was the number of sets. Stoklas must have put a few hundred man-hours into the pre-production. Add the time to took to animate each piece of fruit and you could easily double that time frame.
Even more surprising the ability for the film to keep up the gag for the full 90 minutes. Stoklas never runs out of material, all of which is relevant. And what a relevant film this is, attacking racism with the ferocity of Mel Brooks classic, Blazing Saddles. This is one you need to check out.
You can order ORANGES: THE MOVIE directly from the GMP Cinema website. Most GMP titles can be ordered for less than $5 dollars.