Review of Aardman`s Darkside

Introduction

Aardman are predominantly known for the `Creature Comforts` and `Wallace and Gromit` `Claymation` features but this is a change of direction, aimed at older teenagers and adults with offbeat humour, animated nudity and surreal stories. It seems a platform for up and coming directors to experiment with different techniques of animation: `Angry Kid` is a human body but with an animated face; `Big Jeff` is a hand-drawn and `back to basics` cartoon and `Town Called Panic` characters are injection-moulded models of a cowboy, an Indian and a horse.

Video

The video is a stunning and blemish-free transfer with different aspect ratios throughout the DVD: some cartoons are, like those on the `Creature Comforts` DVD, presented in anamorphic widescreen but with others in 4:3 fullscreen.

Audio

A Dolby 2.0 Stereo soundtrack.

Features

There are `Three Short Films` which keep with the theme of experimental non-mainstream animation, stories and humour. The three films last 14 minutes and give a platform to up and coming animators. In addition there is `Angry Kid`s Darkside` which only runs for 2 minutes, but is quite funny.

I would have liked to hear from the animators so the lack of interviews or commentaries is a disappointment.

Conclusion

`Aardman`s Darkside` isn`t going to be everyone`s cup of tea as it is a complete change in tone from the the electricity adverts, `Creature Comforts` and `Wallace and Gromit`. If you`ve only caught one or two of the `Angry Kid` or `Rex the Runt` animated shorts on late night TV, then this DVD is worth a watch for when the kids are in bed and you`ve opened a bottle of wine and fancy a bit of escapism.

You can choose to watch the shows together as each has a `play all` function: the 13 `Angry Kid` shorts run for a total of 14 minutes; `Big Jeff` has 4 cartoons running for nearly 8 minutes; the 4 `Rex the Runt` cartoons last 36 minutes and the 3 `Town Called Panic` shorts are each about 5 minutes long. Alternatively, there is the 80 minute `Programmer`s Choice` option which plays a random selection of the four main titles together with one of the three short film which ensures that you`re never bored of one character.