The Monk and the Fish
Encyclopedia
The Monk and the Fish is a 1994 animated
short film
made by Michaël Dudok de Wit
at the studio Folimage
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film
at the 67th Academy Awards
and Best Short Animated Film at the 48th British Academy Film Awards
. It was also one of seven short subjects shown in French cinemas
and released on VHS
as part of the package film
Le Petit Cirque et autres contes
. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows
.
technique; nowadays cel animation is often assisted by computers, but this has been made in the traditional way using brush
, Indian ink
, and watercolour.
The specially created music score, by Serge Besset, is based on La Follia by Arcangelo Corelli
.
Animation
Animation is the rapid display of a sequence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or model positions in order to create an illusion of movement. The effect is an optical illusion of motion due to the phenomenon of persistence of vision, and can be created and demonstrated in several ways...
short film
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
made by Michaël Dudok de Wit
Michaël Dudok De Wit
Michael Dudok de Wit is an animator, director and illustrator. In 1978, he graduated from the West Surrey College of Art with his first film The Interview. After working for a year in Barcelona, he settled in London where he directs and animates award-winning commercials for television and cinema...
at the studio Folimage
Folimage
Folimage is a French animation studio, based in Bourg-lès-Valence, Drôme, France. The studio produce animation films for cinema and TV . The company has created an animation school, La Poudrière, also in Valence...
. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Animated Short Film
Academy Award for Animated Short Film
The Academy Award for Animated Short Film is an award which has been given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as part of the Academy Awards every year since the 5th Academy Awards, covering the year 1931-32, to the present....
at the 67th Academy Awards
67th Academy Awards
The 67th Academy Awards, honoring the best films of 1994, were held on March 27, 1995 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles, California. They were hosted by well-known comedian and talk show host David Letterman....
and Best Short Animated Film at the 48th British Academy Film Awards
48th British Academy Film Awards
1995----Best Film:Four Weddingsand a Funeral----Best Film - British: Shallow Grave The 49th British Film Awards, given by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1995, honoured the best films of 1994....
. It was also one of seven short subjects shown in French cinemas
Cinema of France
The Cinema of France comprises the art of film and creative movies made within the nation of France or by French filmmakers abroad.France is the birthplace of cinema and was responsible for many of its early significant contributions. Several important cinematic movements, including the Nouvelle...
and released on VHS
VHS
The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....
as part of the package film
Anthology film
An anthology film is a feature film consisting of several different short films, often tied together by only a single theme, premise, or brief interlocking event . Sometimes each one is directed by a different director...
Le Petit Cirque et autres contes
Le Petit Cirque et autres contes
Le Petit Cirque et autres contes is a 1994 French package film. It is 50 minutes long and contains the following seven short films for young children and their families from the Folimage studio:...
. It was also included in the Animation Show of Shows
Animation show of shows
The Animation Show of Shows is a traveling selection of the year's best animated short films, curated and presented by Acme Filmworks founder, Ron Diamond. It began in 1998 with the aim of showing the most original, funny, intelligent short animated films from all over the world and presenting them...
.
Plot
Standing next to a water reservoir in a monastery enclave, a monk sees a fish and goes to get his net to catch it. The fish eludes him and the monk gets rather agitated as he tries increasingly extreme ways of catching the fish. He gets into the pond himself, and enlists the help of other monks; he tries candles, and a bow and arrow to no avail. The more the fish manages to evade him, the more obsessed the monk gets. He follows the fish out of the pond into a canal, through different landscapes and out of the confines of the monastery. Eventually the chase gets less frantic and the monk and the fish move in harmony. They float through a door into the open space and drift off into the sky together.Production
The film was made using a cel animationTraditional animation
Traditional animation, is an animation technique where each frame is drawn by hand...
technique; nowadays cel animation is often assisted by computers, but this has been made in the traditional way using brush
Brush
A brush is a tool with bristles, wire or other filaments, used for cleaning, grooming hair, make up, painting, surface finishing and for many other purposes. It is one of the most basic and versatile tools known to mankind, and the average household may contain several dozen varieties...
, Indian ink
India ink
India ink is a simple black ink once widely used for writing and printing and now more commonly used for drawing, especially when inking comic books and comic strips.-Composition:...
, and watercolour.
The specially created music score, by Serge Besset, is based on La Follia by Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli
Arcangelo Corelli was an Italian violinist and composer of Baroque music.-Biography:Corelli was born at Fusignano, in the current-day province of Ravenna, although at the time it was in the province of Ferrara. Little is known about his early life...
.