Moses of the prosthetic leg, an animated duo of a ghost girl and shoes

April 4, 2014 7:37 AM

Take a bit of nonsense rhyming about Moses' toeses as set to a lively tap dancing number by Gene Kelly and Donald O'Connor turns into something else in this short animation of a ghost girl joining a dancing pair of shoes (YouTube; Vimeo).
posted by filthy light thief (20 comments total)

The new animated short came from Frenz 2013, which appears to be an invitation-only video event in Japan. If you like odd little videos, ToonZone noted that this animator previously made a popular vocaloid (fan) video.

Hat tip to Mama Lisa's World of International Music & Culture (prev) for the reference to the old version and source of the rhyme.
posted by filthy light thief at 7:43 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Nice! Lots of lovely Singin' In The Rain details in the backgrounds, to boot.

Can anyone translate the last bit of text, over what I'm guessing is a tombstone?
posted by jquinby at 7:47 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Delightfully different, happy, and sad.....
posted by HuronBob at 8:10 AM on April 4, 2014

The choreography - wow. At one moment, it's clearly rotoscoped from a live dancer, and the next moment it seamlessly segues into steps that are clearly not. Always beautiful and in context, reinforcing the supernatural world the animation creates. Breathtaking and wonderful.
posted by Slap*Happy at 8:16 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Great! Thanks for reminding me of the original too! One of my favourite parts of Singin' in the Rain.
posted by vacapinta at 8:26 AM on April 4, 2014

Singin' in the Rain is a Perfect Movie. That is all.
posted by Melismata at 8:28 AM on April 4, 2014 [8 favorites]

For folks who have not seen the original scene, here it is.

The context is that Gene's character is getting diction lessons - actors are having to transition to talkies. Suddenly, dancing!
posted by jquinby at 8:31 AM on April 4, 2014

The second link in the OP is the scene from the movie.

MetaFilter, the musical: Suddenly, dancing!
posted by filthy light thief at 8:57 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Moar Singin' in the Rain homage links pls. TYIA.
posted by MattD at 8:59 AM on April 4, 2014 [3 favorites]

I can't stannim! Great short, thanks for posting.
posted by h00py at 9:03 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

Little known fact: Judy Garland sang Singin' in the Rain in a movie before Gene Kelly did, here.
posted by Melismata at 9:14 AM on April 4, 2014 [1 favorite]

Donald O'Connor was a treasure.
posted by rtha at 9:14 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]

Oh my god, I love this, but this song will stay in my head for days.

I have no problem with that, but my family is going to murder me.
posted by bibliowench at 9:16 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

bibliowench: Try singing "Good Morning" instead! That'll knock just about any other song out of my head...
posted by chaiminda at 9:42 AM on April 4, 2014

Moar Singin' in the Rain homage links pls. TYIA.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt doing "Make Em Laugh" on SNL
posted by Ian A.T. at 10:55 AM on April 4, 2014 [4 favorites]

Moses Supposes is one of my most favorite movie scenes ever. (I'm seeing Singin' in the Rain on the big screen at an old movie theater in April...I HAZ AN EXCITE, GUYS.)
posted by fluffy battle kitten at 11:02 AM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

Can anyone translate the last bit of text

ご視聴ありがとうございました

Thanks for viewing.
posted by emmling at 5:09 PM on April 4, 2014 [2 favorites]

Weird - between this post and the one about the Phyllis Newman Women's Health Initiative, it's totally Adolph and Phyllis day on Metafilter! (Adolph Green, with Betty Comden, wrote the book for Singin' In The Rain, and Phyllis is his wife, now widow). It's always kind of amazed me that this is essentially a "jukebox musical" for Nacio Herb Brown and Arthur Freed, with Betty and Adolph working their magic around the songs (though "Moses Supposes" is their lyrics). I just commented in the other thread about working as an archivist for Phyllis and Adolph's estate, but they had so many pictures and pieces of memorabilia from that movie...I grinned like an idiot every time I saw a new piece, because how could you not smile? I only wish I could remember more about the correspondence so I could have a better story to share. I do mourn the death of the telegram.
posted by ilana at 5:34 PM on April 4, 2014

Ian A.T.: Moar Singin' in the Rain homage links pls. TYIA.

Poster of (some) of the dance moves/steps of the singin' in the rain scene, from the Dancing Plague of 1518 (tumblr).

25 facts about the movie.
posted by filthy light thief at 8:14 PM on April 4, 2014

This is such a fantastic little piece of animation, I didn't realise it was by the same person who did the much referenced tumbling music video.

It's amazing how solid the connection feels when she's dancing, and how weighty the swings of the shoes look. It makes me think of classic animation exercises like the walking flour sack. I love all the little touches like her pushing her headband back up after she does the hand walking bit too.
posted by lucidium at 7:45 AM on April 5, 2014