The Tune

Bill Plympton's 1992 American animation follows Del, who must write a hit song, taking a wrong turn and arriving in a strange town called Flooby Nooby. Everyone he meets there sings to him in another musical genre, and each encounter is an independent section. The film was drawn almost entirely by Plympton's own hand, more than thirty thousand pencil drawings, and that sets the texture of the animation. The constant transformation of shape that is his signature is the engine of the story here. The songs work as parodies of genre. The narrative is loose and the humour repetitive; some sections are weaker than others. Who it's for: viewers interested in independent animation and hand-drawn technique. Who it's not for: anyone wanting an orderly story, or who dislikes a grotesque drawing style.