World of Weird Al Yankovic

Ok, I've been around this forum for a while now, and if there's one of two things that's consistent among the members here, it's the dislike of animator Bill Plympton's work for Al. Now, I want to know this: Why does this forum dislike Bill Plympton so much?

You can find the answer in the forum in a few places. It isn't so much him as an animator. Many feel his work is not suited for Al's type of work.

I love Bill Plympton. I hate Bill Plymptons Al videos. The biggest problem was that for TMZ he latched onto one line and used it for the whole song

I think he got screwed on Don't Download This Song. It seems like he wasn't able to finish animating it in time, so they used his pencil sketches as the final video.

I'm also a huge fan of his work. Idiots and Angeles, Hair High, his "Dog" shorts, all fantastic. I also personally enjoyed the Don't Download This Song video. I really disliked his TMZ one though, for the reason Mike mentioned.

Wizzerkat wrote:You can find the answer in the forum in a few places. It isn't so much him as an animator. Many feel his work is not suited for Al's type of work.

On the other hand, Al's video for "Sports Song" isn't much better, and Al directed that apparently.

Bruce the Duck wrote:

Wizzerkat wrote:You can find the answer in the forum in a few places. It isn't so much him as an animator. Many feel his work is not suited for Al's type of work.

On the other hand, Al's video for "Sports Song" isn't much better, and Al directed that apparently.

Al also directed "Foil" and a bunch of other great videos for himself. The ratio of bad to good Al videos directed by Al is far lower than the ratio of bad to good Al videos directed by Bill Plympton.

I'm also in the camp that loves Plympton's work but not his Al videos. It just hasn't worked. I honestly think it's that he hasn't been paired with the right song. For example, I could see him turning in a good video for "Everything You Know Is Wrong" because the lyrics are full of bizarre, surreal imagery which is his strong suit. Linear narrative is not.

Skippy wrote:Al also directed "Foil" and a bunch of other great videos for himself. The ratio of bad to good Al videos directed by Al is far lower than the ratio of bad to good Al videos directed by Bill Plympton.

Very true.

I honestly think it's that he hasn't been paired with the right song. For example, I could see him turning in a good video for "Everything You Know Is Wrong" because the lyrics are full of bizarre, surreal imagery which is his strong suit.

If Plympton did a video for EYKiW, the whole video would be Al being chased by the rabid wolverine.

Bruce the Duck wrote: If Plympton did a video for EYKiW, the whole video would be Al being chased by the rabid wolverine.

I hear ya, but I really don't think so. It's a rapid fire, constantly-shifting narrative and that's exactly the kind of scenario Plympton thrives in. With TMZ, it was too much of a story. He just didn't know what to do with it.

Actually, now that you mention it, Plympton MIGHT have been able to do something worth while with "My Own Eyes." The lyrics to the song song really aren't about anything other than a whole lot of really ridiculous mental images.