Line #33 WesternAnimation/Rejected


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/45b3c3ea_493e_40a9_ab79_5f85b95ac7b6.png]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[CaptainObvious I AM A BANANA.]]]]
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4	->''In the spring of 1999, the Family Learning Channel commissioned animator Don Hertzfeldt to produce promotional segments for their network. The cartoons were completed in five weeks. The Family Learning Channel rejected all of them upon review, and they were never aired...''
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6	''Rejected'' is a collection of animated shorts from animator Creator/DonHertzfeldt, revolving around a fictionalized version of himself creating advertising bumpers for various companies, all of which are rejected on sight. Hertzfeldt utilized a very minimalist approach to the artwork and incorporated very surreal elements. It was nominated for the UsefulNotes/AcademyAward for Best Animated Short Film in the year 2000.
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8	An HD restoration of the short was put together for the UsefulNotes/BluRay release of Hertzfeldt's ''WesternAnimation/ItsSuchABeautifulDay''. It can be seen for free on Hertzfeldt's [=YouTube=] channel [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7JyjZI3LUM here]].
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10	The cartoon is only 10 minutes long, so spoilers are unmarked. All the better reason to watch the cartoon before reading this page.
11	----
12	!!''Rejected'' contains examples of:
13	* AccentUponTheWrongSyllable: A significant portion of the spoken dialogue has really weird intonation.
14	* ApocalypseHow: [[invoked]]Class X-4 [[MetaphoricallyTrue through technicality]]. While it's established early on that the universe shown off in each vignette is nothing more than fiction, the characters themselves seem to have their own agendas and free will. Through a case of CreatorBreakdown once Don's creativity bottoms out due to a depressive state formed from all of his shorts being shunned, he unleashes the apocalypse unto his creations, complete with page tearing and creasing. At one point, a stick figure is banging on the paper, pleading for help, showing at full display the fact that this human-created universe acts separately to our own.
15	* ArtisticLicenseBiology:
16	** Ticks cannot fly no matter how angry they are.
17	** Rabbits cannot howl or fire angry ticks out of their nipples.
18	* BatterUp: The members of the "Silly Hats Only" club beat a man wearing a top hat with bats for insufficient silliness.
19	* BlackComedy: "Honey, come quick, Poopie's taking his first steps!" ''(baby then falls down an endless flight of stairs to wild applause)''
20	* BlandNameProduct: The Family Learning Channel is an obvious riff on The Learning Channel, while Johnson & Mills combines the names of household product manufacturer SC Johnson and food company General Mills.
21	* BloodyHilarious: Several of the segments have copious amounts of blood PlayedForLaughs, such as the second and third scenes with ThoseTwoGuys and the "My anus is bleeding!" segment.
22	* BodyHorror: Having a giant growth form on your forehead, having your eye explode into a never-ending stream of blood, having your anus bleed infinitely...
23	* BreadEggsMilkSquick: "Dance! Everybody dance!" "Yay!" "Life is good!" "This is fun!" "[[CaptainObvious My anus is bleeding!]]"
24	* BreakingTheFourthWall: Probably one of the most chilling examples with the ending. The cartoon becomes "unstable" and the stick figures have to outrun the pages being creased, holes become literal black-holes and characters get crushed by the credits.
25	* BrotherhoodOfFunnyHats: Literally, with the "Silly Hats Only" segment.
26	* CaptainObvious: The "My spoon is too big" scene consists of a boy proclaiming that his massive spoon is too big for his diminutive bowl of food, before an anthropomorphic banana walks on-screen and states that they are, in fact, a banana.
27	* CreatorBreakdown: [[invoked]]Parodied; Don grows increasingly depressed as short after short is rejected, and as his creativity bottoms out, the animated world collapses in on itself.
28	* DadaAd: The entire point/FramingDevice of ''Rejected''. Don's ads are bizarre and disturbing, and they have nothing to do with the product they're supposed to advertise. Deconstructed, as because of this they are rejected again and again, causing Don's mental health to degrade more and more.
29	* DerangedAnimation: And how!
30	* DisproportionateRetribution: The man with the top hat at the "Silly Hats Only" club gets beaten with aluminum baseball bats because his hat isn't silly enough.
31	* DownerEnding: [[invoked]]Ends with [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt the cartoon's world falling apart and collapsing in on itself]] to symbolize Don's CreatorBreakdown. Especially [[NightmareFuel eerie]] since the final shot is of presumably the final person to die, looking up in horror as the image distorts violently before swiping to black.
32	* TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt: At the end, the entire cartoon world falls apart into nothingness as the creator has a nervous breakdown.
33	* ExactWords: Silly hats '''''ONLY'''''.
34	* EyeScream:
35	** The last of the segments for the Family Learning Channel has a guy start bleeding from one of his eyes.
36	** The first of the Johnson & Mills ads has an alien steal a guy's eyes. Other than being blinded, [[MajorInjuryUnderreaction he doesn't seem too bothered by it]].
37	* HappyDance: The cloud-like characters perform this to a Swedish Christmas song, and they keep doing it even after [[MoodWhiplash one of the character's anus starts bleeding]].
38	* HellIsThatNoise: [[invoked]]When the DreamApocalypse begins, right before the clouds and stars start to fall, a distorted moaning noise can be heard, likely Don moaning in agony from [[CreatorBreakdown his depression]].
39	* HighPressureBlood:
40	** The scene where the guy's eye pops and the jet of blood from the socket sprays all over his friend.
41	** The character in the "My anus is bleeding!" scene ends up drowning in his own blood.
42	* HongKongDub: Played for laughs with the two normal-looking stick figures.
43	* MediumAwareness: During the climax, at least one character is desperately banging on the FourthWall, either trying to escape or seeking the viewer's help.
44	* {{Minimalism}}: For a guy known for making the most of strange and sneaky camera tricks, this is incredibly stripped-down.
45	* MoodWhiplash: The "Dance!" segment begins with a fluffy, cloud-like creature encouraging similarly-shaped friends to dance and have fun. Everyone is happy and cheerful... and then the main character's anus starts bleeding profusely. He desperately screams for help, all while the others keep dancing and laughing.
46	** "First Steps" begins with a baby walking for the first time... and ends with said baby tumbling down a massive flight of stairs.
47	* MouthFlaps: Intentionally mismatched with the dialogue.
48	* NapoleonDelusion: One character tears a chunk of flesh off of another and wears it like a crown, proclaiming that "I am the queen of France!"
49	* NonSequitur:
50	** "Tuesday's coming. Did you bring your coat?" "I live in a giant bucket..."
51	** "Do you want to go see a movie?" "I'm feeling fat and sassy!"
52	* OldTimeyCinemaCountdown: One appears before every segment, but only the 3 appears and it flashes away as soon as it ticks down to 2.
53	* OverlyLongScream: The segment where one guy starts bleeding profusely from his eye, and he and his friend just stand there screaming at each other.
54	* OurSloganIsTerrible: Several of the ads for Johnson & Mills products.
55	-->Johnson & Mills Fish Sticks: "Now With More Sodium!" "Sweet Jesus!"\
56	Johnson & Mills Kelp Dip: "I Am a Consumer Whore!" "And How!"
57	* OverdrawnAtTheBloodBank: Characters consistently bleed in the form of ridiculously large fountains. This eventually reaches its logical conclusion when the character with a ruptured anus drowns in a sea of his own blood.
58	* PopUpTrivia: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OjFxc75zuUE One version]] of the short has text commentary by Hertzfeldt.
59	* PublicDomainSoundtrack: The interstitial information cards use brief excerpts from Beethoven's 9th Symphony.
60	* PunctuatedForEmphasis: The character who says "My anus is bleeding" does so thrice: calmly the first time, more drawn out the second, and the third as a panicked "FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! AND ALL THAT IS HOLY! MY ANUS! IS! BLEEDING!"
61	* SelfDeprecation: The basis of the film is that Don Hertzfeldt is having a nervous breakdown because he can't sell any of his work. Ironically, Don himself admits that he's turned down many commercial deal offers since his fame with ''Rejected''.
62	* SeriousBusiness: The sign says "Silly Hats Only" -- and ''means it.'' Anyone who wears a non-silly hat is brutally beaten with baseball bats.
63	* ScreenTap: PlayedForDrama. In the ending, a stickman desperately bangs on the paper as the animated world around him collapses. It's to no avail, as he is consumed by the DreamApocalypse.
64	* SoundEffectBleep: As soon as the first HongKongDub guy grows a talking tumor on his forehead, the second guy says, "Fuck!", but it's bleeped out.
65	* SoundtrackDissonance: "My anus is bleeding" uses a Swedish Christmas song.
66	* SplashOfColor: Blood, which is red in contrast to the black and white style, and the banana, which is yellow.
67	* StickFigureAnimation: The characters are drawn with stick-like appendages.
68	* StylisticSuck: The left-handed cartoon, in which both characters are scribbly messes who spout gibberish.
69	* SurrealHumor: Heads straight into SurrealHorror territory by the end, when the animated world starts falling apart.
70	* TakeThat: The entire short is meant to be a jab at the medium of advertising, which Hertzfeldt described as being built on lies. This is most overtly shown with the Johnson & Mills Kelp dip bumper, where a young child gladly proclaims "I am a consumer whore!"
71	* ThoseTwoGuys: The two normal-looking stick figures, who get creepier and more surreal as their scenes are shown. They have three scenes, starting with a screaming tumor and culminating in one of the men getting his stomach ripped off and having it placed on the other man's head, who then goes on to declare that he's "the queen of France" while his arms grow and wiggle.

Context WesternAnimation / Rejected