Rejected

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I AM A BANANA

In the spring of 1999, the Family Learning Channel commissioned animator Don Hertzfeldt to produce promotional segments for their network. The cartoons were completed in five weeks. The Family Learning Channel rejected all of them upon review, and they were never aired...

Rejected is a collection of animated shorts from animator Don Hertzfeldt. He utilized a very minimalist approach to the artwork and incorporated very surreal elements. Was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in the year 2000. Can be seen here.

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Tropes used in Rejected include:

• Bloody Hilarious^[context?]
• Body Horror^[context?]
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: The cartoon becomes "unstable" and the stick figures have to outrun the pages being creased, holes become literal black-holes and characters get crushed by the credits.
• Brotherhood of Funny Hats: Literally.
• Captain Obvious: Every spoken line in the "My spoon is too big" scene.
• Creator Breakdown: Parodied
• Dada Ad: The entire point/Framing Device of Rejected.
• Dead Baby Comedy: "Honey, come quick, Poopie's taking his first steps!" *baby falls down endless flight of stairs to wild applause*
• Disproportionate Retribution: The man with the top hat at the Silly Hats Only party gets beaten with baseball bats.
• Eye Scream^[context?]
• Happy Dance^[context?]
• High-Pressure Blood: The scene where the guy's eye pops and the jet of blood from the socket sprays all over his friend.
• Minimalism: For a guy known for making the most of strange and sneaky camera tricks, this is incredibly stripped-down.
• Mouth Flaps: Intentionally mismatched with the dialogue.
• Napoleon Delusion: "I'm the queen of France."
• Non Sequitur: "Tuesday's coming. Did you bring your coat?" "I live in a giant bucket..."
  • "Do you want to go see a movie?" "I'm feeling fat and sassy!"
• Overdrawn At the Blood Bank: Any instance of bleeding. Just pick one.
• Painting the Medium: Near the end of.^[context?]
• Stick Figure Animation
• Splash of Color: Blood.
• Surreal Humor
• Those Two Guys: The two normal-looking stick figures, who get creepier and more surreal as their scenes are shown. They have three scenes, starting with a screaming tumor and culminating in one of the men getting his stomach ripped off and having it placed on the other man's head, who then goes on to mention that he's "the queen of France" while his arms grow and wiggle.
• What Could Have Been: This was originally supposed to air on Cartoon Network as an Adult Swim special, but was pulled at the last minute. According to Hertzfeldt, it was advertised to air uncut; when the censors wouldn't let an onscreen "Sweet Jesus!" slip by, the network simply cancelled the airing.