Sundae Stroll
Christina Lu
Sundae Stroll is animated short that pays homage to the classic cartoons from the late 1920s to early 1930s, a period heralding the Golden Age of American animation. The narrative revolves around Bruce Terrier and his attempts to enjoy an ice cream cone during a stroll in the park. What begins as an simple enough goal soon becomes increasingly problematic as other characters in the park insert themselves in the mix. The visual style is intentionally stripped down to its purest form, as a departure from the over-stimulating aesthetic of today’s children’s programming and to put the focus back on the authenticity of storytelling. It is modeled and animated in 3D using Autodesk Maya, in a low polygon/geometric style meant to reflect the minimalist styles of early black and white cartoons. The rest is composited with 2D backgrounds and other elements in Adobe After Effects. There is no dialogue, as a tribute to the cartoons of the silent film era such as Felix the Cat, and the works of George Herriman and Walter Lantz. The animation will instead rely strictly on the expressiveness of the characters’ movements to unfold the story.