Ken Lidster

Wandering her rambling old house in her boring new town, 11-year-old Coraline discovers a hidden door to a strangely idealized version of her life. In order to stay in the fantasy, she must make a frighteningly real sacrifice.

Like Fantasia (1940) or Allegro Non Troppo (1977), L'Opéra Imaginaire (1993) is an assembly of animated short films based on classic music greats. Directed by some of the best European animators and artists, L'Opéra Imaginaire takes us through dance, theater, music and painting masterpieces. It uses several animation techniques, like stop-motion clay animation or CG characters.

A thin shadow figure starts swallowing balloons in an attempt to make himself more solid, and develops body, surface texture, markings and a face. Meanwhile, a lonely young girl is attracted by the balloons' hissing sounds, and is drawn to the shadow's lair. The grinning shadow quickly ties her up, but, overconfident, becomes entangled in his own machinery, and has the body squeezed out of him. All that's left is one of the balloons, which the girl takes with her as she leaves, now quite happy.

Short animated film from Ken Lidster