Looking through his résumé, you’ll notice a couple of music videos that incorporate stop motion animation in them. When the lockdowns began, Armstrong really seem to lean into stop motion videos as a way of staving off cabin fever. They are frequently very simple, fun, and to the point. If you have ever wanted to see Wonder Woman wrestle Angela, or a Borg to try to assimilate your desk…this is your chance! It’s hanging out at home and playing with your anime and Roblox figures. Ash Williams taking a break from being the announcer at a women’s wrestling match to answer your telephone. Daleks fighting Marvin The paranoid android and Apes and the Borg for their turn on the arcade machine. There’s a half a dozen of these that are under 40 seconds and a bunch more under two minutes. There are some real gems, like Grimm Sludegrside, A creepy gothic tale atop a castle in a twisted wood, and Attack of the Bikini Girl From Outer Space… which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Only with zombies, and mostly in black and white .You know the whole Sin City vibe?
Things really start to take some shape once we get into
Apocalypse Ape.
The title sequence is totally 1980s trapper keeper. Lisa Frank and Nagel illustrations… Pink grids and neon skies. A motley crew of toys drives in a pink Cadillac.
We cut to a gun fight between the heroes and villains… But even with bullets flying, Apocalypse Ape’s sidekick can’t help but ponder what kind of a person would see Superman flying and actually say “it’s a bird it’s a plane…”
It’s tragic. The fire fight has left a ding in Ape’s car. They head over to Scum City. It’s the kind of place where people shoot first and ask questions later. We’re about to learn their diabolical plan… Until oh no! It’s the to be continued sign!
When next we find our heroes, it’s episode four and they’re being chased by Harbinger on a motorcycle. They get into a fender bender with a time traveling DeLorean, but that allows them distraction enough to blast the biker. I’m also getting the distinct impression the entire point of these videos is for the sidekick to muse about comic book tropes!
Wonder woman and Angela show up to stop them and Apocalypse Ape looks up declaring “This is a revolting development.”
On episode 12 though, they’re back on the road… And Gwenpool is gunning down Roblox figures.The pink caddy crashes into the area while Gwenpool looks for more people to murder.
“Hold on, we don’t wanna go off half cocked…” Ape Says.
“Yes,’ his sidekick agrees “this is definitely a full cock situation.”
Things end badly. “Well isn’t that just a Poke in the eye with a sharp stick!”
We’re not quite done with the apocalypse though, Wonder woman and Angela get into the action as well in what feels like a related side story. Unfortunately, the apocalypse is populated with mutant teddy bears…
Even with these bizarre little shorts, especially the post apocalyptic ones, I swear I’m still watching Ozsploitation and Armstrong’s bizarre style and sense of humor come through loud and clear. The thing is, the production values on these videos are insanely high. The quality grows with each successive short giving them an attention to detail that the subject matter absolutely does not deserve. They’re a great deal of fun, these quick diversions, and totally worth a trip over to
strongmanpics.com/stop motion to check out!
March 3, 2022 | Categories: Daniel Armstrong, Dollar Store Movies | Tags: Daniel Armstrong | Leave a comment
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