Humorous Phases of Funny Faces Review

Humorous Phases of Funny Faces is a 1906 animated short film that is famous for being the first animated short ever created.

It is an abstract film as we basically follow an animator drawing some sketches and then the drawings come to life. I liked that it includes live-action in its first scene and the film is definitely groundbreaking and having in mind that it is the first ever animated film, it does hold up pretty well and is interesting to this date.

The animation is great. I loved the designs and the drawings look great for its time. Of course the highlight was the dog doing the loops, that was the standout moment. But the film could have been a bit longer and I disliked the use of erasing as that was needless and should have been excluded from the movie. However, the film is very old, having been released in 1906, so it should be forgiven for its inconsistencies and it was fascinating watching it and realizing its incredible age and revolutionary feel.

Humorous Phases of Funny Faces is inconsistent, but groundbreaking in its animation and certainly admirable.