Sep 8, 2023

Get to Know Indie Filmmakers Felix Colgrave

In this series, we will introduce you to some of the most interesting independent animators working today who, through their short films and other projects, are changing our ideas about what the medium of animation can do.

This week's topic is Australian animator and Youtube sensation Felix Colgrave, who has been working on a series of shorts for the past few years.

In a word: hallucinatory, surrealistic, hypnotic depictions of nature. Imagine Hunter S. Thompson teaming up with Terry Gilliam and an unbalanced nature lover.

Where to Start: The Elephant Garden (2013). Set in a trippy garden, animals devour and beat each other up. Basically, we are all dogs and monkeys, and there is nothing we can do about it. We are all predators. But hey, if that's too dark for you, just enjoy the gorgeous visuals and soundtrack.

WHAT TO WATCH NEXT: 'Donks' (2023). Colgrave's latest is an imaginative film about plastic (especially plastic toys) that contrasts an innocent, playful beginning with a destructive, throwaway ending at the bottom of the ocean. Or something like that! Only Colgrave really knows what the hell is going on!

Other major works include: Man Spaghetti (2012), Double King (2017), Dry Run (2018), music video for Cypress Hill's Muggs is Dead (2018), Throat Notes (2020) (2012)

Influences: my "favorite" art is very whimsical and changes every week. I usually get excited about something completely different from my own work. I try to incorporate those fleeting interests as much as possible so that my work feels fresh.

I think the only consistent influence is Australian children's author and illustrator Peter Pavey. His illustrations taught me how I learned to draw as a child.

As for other early influences, I think I was always attached to the generic cartoon language. I don't think the design archetypes that were copied, copied, and appeared as small business mascots, unbranded toys, etc., were entirely divorced from any real-world observations and could not be attributed to anyone. At the same time, I admire the work of many scientific illustrators and naturalists, but I have never wanted to go down that path because I am too interested in how observations of reality are pushed into unrecognizable symbols. The space between the two is my favorite."

says: "I don't use a script, either for doodling or thinking. I often doodle while I'm thinking anyway. Either I'm drawing and an idea comes to me and I start drawing it and figuring out what it actually looks like, or I doodle something I happen to like and start trying to build an idea around it."

What he is currently working on: "Thanks to my Patreon supporters, I am working primarily on independent short films. I also recently co-founded a studio with my wife called Wombot.