Claymation and stop-motion animation aren’t usually devices used to express serious emotions. Film genres that cater to wit and imagination more than pure emotion, you rarely see them discuss anything real.
That’s not to say Adam Elliot’s “Cousin†isn’t cleverly written and doesn’t inspire you to think. In the end, it’s actually quite the contrary.
But it is surprisingly emotional. For that reason alone, you’ll remember it.
Before this short, the most serious thing discussed in a stop-motion feature probably had something to do with Gumby’s inability to escape a horde of Blockheads or Wallace & Gromit’s escapades and the various types of cheese involved. This short focuses on a child and his relationship with his older cousin, who has cerebral palsy. Even though we never learn his name, we learn enough to understand the significance he had on Elliot’s life.
Elliot shows both the innocence of a child and the regret of an adult using a rare animation style, in just four minutes.
Powered by camera shots that focus on his cousin’s movements and the experiences they’ve had, this story has the power to put you in the same time and place of the story. This is the goal for any film, but to be able to do it so quickly and in an animation style sparsely used, proves Elliot’s ability as a writer and director. It doesn’t matter that these characters don’t look realistic. What is real here is the straight-ahead, heart on his sleeve narration by William McInnes.
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports.
Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders.
His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023.
Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief.
Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale.
Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.
Claymation and stop-motion animation aren’t usually devices used to express serious emotions. Film genres that cater to wit and imagination more than pure emotion, you rarely see them discuss anything real.
Leave a Reply