Favorite Film #16, 1946: The Great Piggy Bank Robbery. Directed by Bob Clampett

This is John Kricfalusi’s favorite film; yet despite that, The Great Piggy Bank Robbery is one of the most incredible animated films ever made. This is director Bob Clampett at his absolute apex, treating every single frame in the seven minute and thirty five second runtime as a new and glorious painting. Even compared to the rest of Clampett’s filmography this is one of the most fluid and visually impressive films ever made. There isn’t a single moment where The Great Piggy Bank Robbery isn’t moving at mach 10, even when it’s standing still! Which creates the purest form of insanity ever drawn to screen. That’s the biggest difference between Tex Avery and Bob Clampett’s pacing. Avery uses his blisteringly fast pace to chuck in every single joke he can think of before bolting out, leaving you reeling but able to stop and absorb what you just witnessed. Clampett on the other hand, paces his cartoons like he doesn’t know any other way. Where Avery feels deliberate, Clampett feels actually clinically unstable. Which leaves no time to absorb the film, instead blurring together in an abstract shape of colors, rapid movement, and screaming. I don’t mean any of this negatively. You’re never going to experience anything like Bob Clampett, not just in animation but film period. He was one of those truly singular artists that no one could possibly replicate, no matter how hard they tried. And The Great Piggy Bank Robbery just might be his magnum opus. I say just might be, because there’s another Clampett film coming down the line that I might like even better.