My Financial Career is a 1962 animated short film (six minutes) directed by Gerald Potterton, produced by the National Film Board of Canada. It was based on a short story by Stephen Leacock.
A young man has a phobia, a mortal terror of banks. Despite his fear of banks and bank tellers, he decides to open a bank account at work. Filled with trepidation, he enters a bank, and disaster ensues.
You can watch it here
.
Tropes:
- All for Nothing: The young man's sheer panic leads him to mistakenly withdraw all his money right after opening the account, thus closing it. Everyone laughs at him as he hurriedly leaves the bank.
- The Exit Is That Way: The young man's rising panic causes him to walk into the safe instead of out the door when leaving the bank manager's office.
- Impairment Shot: "The bank swam before my eyes," and the picture blurs as the man nearly faints.
- Limited Animation: Very much in fashion in the early '60s. Motion is at a minimum. When the man is talking to the camera, only his mouth and eyes move.
- Narrator: Most of the dialogue is the embarrassed man telling his story after the fact.
- Power Echoes: When there's dialogue in-universe it's done with an echoing effect. This serves to make the dialogue distinct from the narration, but also underlines the man's terror as he tries to navigate his way through starting a checking account.
- Thick-Line Animation: The Limited Animation effect is strengthened by the use of thick line animation to draw everything.
- Wingding Eyes: The man's eyes turn to straight lines and dollar signs as his panic and confusion lead him to withdraw all his money from the account immediately after opening it.
