The Dot And The Line
Chuck Jones made a lot of memorable films. But the best may not have starred a Rabbit, a fleet-footed desert bird, or a martian, or even the Grinch… it may have only featured a couple simple geometric shapes. Released on the last day of 1965, The Dot And The Line won an Academy Award for best short film with it’s simple yet timeless story.
A love story in which the line has unrequited love for the dot; she only has eyes for the squiggle. He overcomes his straight-laced life, and the dot sees him for what he truly is. The moral? To the vector belong the spoils. The dot has an evil laugh and goes around doing bad things. It misbehaves quite a bit, but it shows colors, shapes, and a smily face which mouths off to the narrator. The first 30 seconds of the cartoon take place in an art room with easels.
Chuck Jones would animate two books by author Norton Juster; this, and 1970’s The Phantom Tollbooth.
This and 1967’s The Bear That Wasn’t were MGM’s only non-Tom and Jerry animation after 1958.
