Ernie Biscuit

   

   Titular character Ernie Biscuit is a lonely French man who makes a daring leap in his later life to go to Venice, where he dreams of gondolas and perhaps love. However, as with many of Elliot’s unlucky characters, nothing quite goes to plan and Ernie ends up in Australia circa the 1960s. This beautiful and poignant addition to Adam’s filmography is sure to be screened across the globe and perhaps touch the hearts of all the lost souls out there trying to build the up the courage to make their own defining leap into the exciting unknown of the future.
   I wouldn't have thought that Ernie Biscuit would be my sort of animation, and quite frankly, it probably still isn't. But from what I have heard, Adam Elliot normally produced more emotionally heart-wrenching animations when compared to this, and this was in fact his most light-hearted one to date. It wouldn't be surprising to know this considering the monochromatic look and rather warped character designs (With all their blemishes and other facial flaws, even the more attractive ones), and that is certainly what makes this animation all the more interesting. I would be lying if I said that I didn't get caught up in its story the longer it went on. I hadn't actually realised how long it lasted until the festival staff announced that there had been one more animation to show and that we had gone way past their planned schedule.

   When compared to Mary and Max, it is notable that there is a much lower budget for this animation as compared to his previous works. I remembered there being numerous still shots with barely any movement (Save for some blinking and a subtle change in their expressions), with the narrator telling most of the story. And in fact, it is actually really effectively if not cleverly done. It could be said that the clear narration contributed to this, making the story easier to listen to and follow, but in all, this truly was an entertaining animation from Adam Elliot who has proven that some pretty amazing works can come out of a shoestring budget just so long a good story can still be told from it all.