Exclusive: The Jolly Dot, Mikey Please and Dan Ojari’s tribute to legends
We at Skwigly are very pleased to to be the first to present to you with an exclusive new video by the BAFTA winning team behind The Eagleman Stag as Mikey Please and Dan Ojari pay tribute to Richard Williams, Norman Mclaren and Ivor Cutler.
In June this year Mikey Please won the McLaren award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival for his latest film Marilyn Myller he then set to work on a very special project. Alongside Dan Ojari, lead animator on the aforementioned Marilyn Myller and director of Slow Derek the pair took the prize money and set other projects aside to work on The Jolly Dot as a thank you to the men which sets out to be;
‘A bromantic love letter to three of our cultural heroes, as a way of celebrating Richardʼs 80th, Ivorʼs 90th and Normanʼs would-be centennial birthday.’
It was Richard Williams who presented Please with his award in Edinburgh earlier in the year, whilst presenting the award Williams heaped praise on the film himself and declared that McLaren would have loved Marilyn Myller. The music that puts the “jolly” in The Jolly Dot is provided by the late Ivor Cutler. The cultural influence of the three men is reflected in the piece and is not hard to miss, the jaunty walk cycles and principles preached by Richard Williams are coupled with the visual experimental techniques and styles associated with Norman McLaren and presented alongside Cutlers music creating the perfect 21 second salute to the aforementioned legends. The film is also alive with the animation style of both Mikey Please and Dan Ojari who had this to say about the creation;
‘We choose to animate a monkey, and do the other things. Not because they are easy, but because they are hard. Because that goal will serve to organise and measure the best of our energies and skills. Because that challenge is one we are willing to accept. One we are unwilling to postpone. And one we intend to win.‘
Enjoy a selection of images from the short
