"Hello" is a 7-minute Australian short film from more than a decade ago. Wriiter and director (and voice actor) is Jonathan Nix and he received some awards attention for his work here. i wonder why though. i do not think this film was a particularly creative achievement in terms of story, emotion or dramatic impact. Comedy is pretty much non-existent, so I won't mention that. Maybe the reason why I cannot appreciate this movie here is because I do not really like the animation style. But there are other aspects too. For example, for such a music-centered work, I find the actual music used in here fairly forgettable. So yeah, awards bodies and IMDb users got it wrong. This is a mediocre watch at best. Thumbs down.

Yes, it's a nice, sentimental "love story" with inanimate objects playing the lead roles: We have the shy portable tape player trying to get the attention of the cute, female little CD boom box. Help from an old Victrola (gramophone?) makes the two young ones connect. Basically, that's it.However, what I liked best was the art work in here. I thought it was just fascinating.The hand ink-like drawings were detailed and the color schemes were great, usually just two colors in the scenes. It thought it far surpassed the story, which was okay but nothing special.

This animated short is a little like the typical story of the guy who wants to meet the girl, but isn't sure if he is really good enough for her, and it's illustrated by the ever-changing world of technology.The guy, in this case, is a cassette player that uses country music to express his feeling of forlorning, only in the privacy of his own room, not the girl's company (the girl in this case is a CD boombox with all the bells and whistles; the popular girl by all means). The guy just doesn't know what to do to express his desire to her, so he searches the help of an old record player, who lets him record the album of his dreams and throws away the country music.It's an interesting way of telling the story, having the technology as representative of outward appearance and the music itself as the expressions inside that all three can share. It also has kind of an interesting little twist to it... when the cassette boy is playing the song for the girl, she accepts him by connecting her speakers into his headphone-jack, which is kind of a reverse-sex situation. This probably is representative of how technology and change through time has created a situation where penetration (dominance) is not really a guy's domain, and the guy's job in a heterosexual relationship is to attract the girl who holds all the cards. Very roll reversal situation neatly illustrated.--PolarisDiB

Contains spoilers:I usually hate sentimental tripe, but this film manages to avoid being banal. The cassette tape head is too shy (keeps fumbling while trying to insert a tape) to talk to the cd player head character. His old friend the gramaphone/record helps him find the way to express himself. It's just done perfectly. The right length of time, the way the music and technology are used/portrayed. Even for a cynic who hates sappy stuff, I found this to be a very cute short. I would highly recommend it. This was the best of all the animated shorts I saw as part of the MIke Judge & Don Hertzfeldt "The Animation Show" collection.