Lee Eisenberg Dušan Vukotić's "Surogat" (alternately called "The Substitute" or "Ersatz" in English) is a satire on civilization's superficiality and humanity's preference for convenience at every turn. The cartoon features a man who brings a collection of inflatable objects to the beach. Literally everything is a blow-up object.Part of what this short demonstrates is that animation doesn't have to simply be cute stuff for children. It's merely another form of filmmaking. Indeed, animation is one of the best mediums for holding society's problems and shortcomings up to ridicule. But also, the short shows that a cartoon doesn't need a high budget to be good. You can bet money that Vukotić didn't get to spend as much on this short as, say, Walt Disney spent on his average cartoon. Nonetheless, Vukotić had the talent necessary to make a good cartoon. The former Yugoslavia turned out some impressive cinema (as have its breakaway countries). Here we get a sense of how the Western Bloc's shortcomings were just as prevalent in the communist countries. It definitely deserved its Oscar win for Best Animated Short.I hope to see more of Dušan Vukotić's cartoons.

Horst in Translation ([email protected]) I have to say that, even if this short film is already over 50 years old, it looks even older. There are some nice ideas in here, but the animation in this 10-minute short film from 1960's Eastern Europe is absolutely not my cup of tea and really distracted me from what was actually happening to an extent that it was actually hard to understand. The sound wasn't great either and the main character's voice was pretty irritating as the film went on. As a whole, I am a bit surprised that this really won an Academy Award, but I guess the voters were somewhat amazed by the strangeness of this little movie. I must say though that "odd" does not cut the cake anymore these days and even for a 1960s movie. Not recommended.

MartinHafer Regardless how good this cartoon is, I was amazed at how incredibly annoying the opening music was. Fortunately, the actual cartoon turned out to be much better, so don't give up just because the opening music is dreadful! As to the cartoon, you'll probably first notice its minimalist style. In many ways it looks like a Calder mobile and cartoon morphed into one. The odd lines and shapes are very artsy and very indicative of the 1960 "modern" look. To me, a lover of classic cartoons, the style looked just cheap and you could tell by the art work and cel count that it was not a high quality film.Now despite these aesthetics, the film is actually pretty good--mostly due to a bizarre and very captivating story. An odd little man goes to the beach and begins pumping up little shapes until they become full-sized and apparently normal items--such as beach chairs, tents, etc.. Now here's where it gets weird....he also begins pumping shapes and they become ladies and the picture enters Weirdsville! However, you also find yourself laughing and looking forward to what's coming next.A clever idea with less than terrific art work.

Robert Reynolds Ersatz, an exceptional piece of work from Zagreb Films, was the first non-American work to win the Academy Award for Animated Short (though it was not the first for an independent studio-depending on definition, that honor would go to UPA or John Hubley's Storyboard, Inc) and deserved to win. It's lively, amusing, well-animated and stretches the envelope. Clearly influenced by UPA, as were most of the Eastern Europeans, I loved this the first time I saw this some 25 years ago, although I found it predictable in spots, including the ending. I saw it again recently and it still holds up. It's available on a tape produced by Rembrandt Films, called The Best of Zagreb Films: The Classic Collection, which may well be in print. Copies are certainly still floating around. Well worth tracking down. Most highly recommended