Wonderful Movie

Powerful

Absolutely the worst movie.

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

"Quasi at the Quackadero" is a 10-minute animated short film from 1976, so this one has its 40th anniversary this year and I really wonder what writer and director Sally Cruikshank was thinking (or what she had done before) when she came up with the character of Quasi, but also all the supporting characters and the action and the dialogues. What a bizarre little movies. This proves that the psychedelic world also existed in film. Yes it is very strange. But is it good or entertaining? Not really, no. I could have imagined the character of Quasi to have a longer career than he actually did, but he disappeared fairly quickly again after this little movie. All in all, there is only one reason to watch this film and it has nothing do with quality, but really just with uniqueness and weirdness. Not enough to let me recommend it. Thumbs down.

This is one of those things that defies description. Some sort of outrageous critter and his two pals go to the Quackadero, which is some sort of amusement park. There aren't the usual rides. Instead it's a trip inside the head of these people. One is a hall of mirrors where you can see yourself ten years from now or one hundred years from now. The latter is simply a decomposed skeleton. Another brings dreams to life. It's raucous and pretty senseless, but it vibrates with energy. It reminded me a bit of "Yellow Submarine." The animation is good and the characters really unique. There is a plot line that features the female of the group wanting to get rid of Quasi. But beyond that it's the carnival acts.

I must have seen this right around when it was made, as a short before a longer movie. I don't remember what that movie was, but I remember Quasi! My sister and I often mention it. It was the most surreal, mind-bending thing I'd seen as a kid (preteen?), and at the time was so weird it was even a little disturbing, thought nothing in it was really scary. It was just that different. I I've wanted to see it again ever since. I have a preschooler now who watches Sesame Street, and there are animations on that show that seem like they *must* have been made by the same guy, I I miss Quasi all over again. I'd love to get my hands on a copy of this. I can't even tell you what it was about now, but it made a huge impact on me! If you get a chance to see this, do, even if you don't usually like animation.

I saw this once a long, long time ago, and, as I recall, the soundtrack was by The Mystic Knights, and sounded an awful lot like Danny Elfman's Band Oingo Boingo. I subsequently learned that Oingo Boingo once called themselves The Mystic Knights Of Oingo Boingo...