A short story

Time sure does fly. I can’t believe it has already been two years since I got a copy of the DVD, The Best of International Rocketship. It’s a compilation of 12 animated short films from the animated film production company International Rocketship Limited. I originally found out about this DVD months after someone posted that he received a letter from the studio’s founder Marv Newland that he created a limited set for sale.

Figuring he was out of stock by the time I learned about the DVD, I sent Marv a letter to let him know how his shorts are a very memorable part of my childhood. No foolin’ too as his animated shorts were shown constantly on Nickelodeon in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Kids from this era probably know what I’m talking about.

If memory serves me correctly, his most played shorts on Nick were Sing Beast Sing, Dog Brain, and Waddles. These shorts normally ran after a show ended, but when there were still a few minutes remaining before the next show started. So instead a cramming more commercials for kids to watch, Nick had the cool sense to show instead neat animated shorts like from International Rocketship.

Although, not all shorts were from IRL and some were odd and probably not a good idea to show to kids. For example, The Killing of an Egg was one that spooked me out as a kid and I never understood the extreme amount of hate Mr. Johnson had towards the cat from The Cat Came Back.

Anyways, back to the letter. In addition to the shorts shown on Nick, I reminisced about going to an annual show called Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation and seeing a bunch of shorts from independent studios that were in the same vein that IRL did; to which some were created by people who used to work at IRL!

When I sent the letter, I wasn’t sure if he had anymore DVDs, but I was just happy to let him know what an impact his shorts had on my childhood and how the rocketship in the IRL logo is so memorable and etched into my brain. A few weeks later, and to my surprise, not only did he have a DVD to send my way but he also enclosed with it with a small handwritten note! So cool!

I also questioned him about seeing the rocketship logo on a short I saw back in 2000, but I couldn’t remember the name of it. He knew exactly what I was talking about and replied back with the answer: the short was called Deadly Deposits. Two years ago this short didn’t exist online, but now you can watch the entire thing on Canada’s National Film Board’s website.

The DVD itself contains 12 short with a total running time of about 53 minutes. All the shorts were digitally remastered from their original 35mm camera negatives and cover nearly a span of four decades, with a concentration during the 1980s. All the ones I mentioned earlier like Sing Beast Sing that were shown on Nick are all here too.

Some shorts were a big surprise to me. For example, I didn’t know Danny Antonucci (the creator of Ed, Edd n Eddy) worked with IRL to create a few films. One of his shorts called Lupo The Butcher was even picked to be used as a commercial for Converse during the ‘90s. I remember the commercial but I didn’t know/forgot it was something that came from the mind of Danny Antonucci.

I’m sure I’m not the only one who remembers some of these shorts. Marv Newland and his production company sure did foster a lot of creativity and I’m sure had to have inspired many kids to go in animation and media in general. Some shows airing today may have been sparked from minds who grew up watching some of his short animated films. If you haven’t watched any films from IRL, then I recommend checking some of them out! Oh, and by the way, not all of the shorts from IRL are kid friendly. Keep this in mind when viewing some of them. You’ve been warned!

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