"Stage Fright" is a Bristish animated short film that runs for 11 minutes and won a BAFTA almost 20 years ago. It was written and directed by Steve Box quite a while before his Oscar win for Wallace & Gromit. My title for this review has to do with the fact that it all comes down to the animation style and whether you like it or not. It's a love hate thingey I guess. I personally did not like it and that is why I give this one a fairly negative rating. I did like, however, the scenes that were in black-and-white and smartly brought this film back to the days of silent film, which also existed in the parallel universe of this movie. Story-wise, I wasn't really impressed either. Overall the bad outweighs the good and I think the BAFTA got it wrong. Not recommended.

Well, whereas I was a little upset or distressed in places by some scenes in Wrong Trousers and Close Shave, with this I was completely and utterly speechless!The film was directed by Wallace & Gromit co-director Steve Box, yet even though Park was an producer on this film, I feel this is the darkest, most harrowing project from the folks that brought us the Were-Rabbit and Chicken Run. I was very saddened and yet engrossed by the film from the very first couple of minutes, and then at the very end it really felt like such a sad film, deeply moving and haunting in a way that Walace & Gromit could never be! PS: I first saw this when I was 12 and I felt it was a little depressing and sad, it had some bad language (bloody, bugger) as well as some harsh dialogue from a particularly nasty character, so be careful about showing this to kids!

This is a short produced by Aardman Animations, with a bit more pathos than the other shorts the studio is known for, though there is a dark humor interspersed throughout the short, particularly one bit towards the end, one that will induce a chuckle that's more like a gasp with a small bubble of blood at the end.The short has the feel of the old melodramas to it, which is understandable, given that the setting is a theater and the plot revolves around an old-time vaudeville act, a dog juggling act which has seen better days (an aside-in vaudeville, the "dog act" was typically placed at the end of the show, in order to clear out the audience in preparation for the next performance). What follows next may be a mild spoiler: There's a charm to this short that I can't really explain. It's an old story-the shy, timid fellow, his girl and the bully who wants the girl and hates the timid fellow. But it also shows that you never know what you're capable of until your back is up against the wall and even the most beaten-down of us has some spark if pushed far enough, as happens here.This short is included on the recent DVD release of Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, as a DVD extra and is well worth watching. Recommended.

This is a stop motion animated film done by the same people who did Wallace and Gromit, which is the Aardman Company.It's directed and written by Nick Park's friend, Steve Box.The story focuses on a short man name Tinny who's talent is doing a Dog Act with his fellow Dogs. The trouble is people didn't want to see Dog Tricks, they want movies.Tinny grew guilt and same that they don't like his act. His girlfriend tries to cheer him up, only she has other things in mind, such as becoming a successful actress. She loves Tinny, it's just she wants to do her career in show business.She stars with Hugh a rude and revolting movie actor. He hates Tinny and demands that he quits his dog act.The plot to this animated short is a little dry in a way. The dialog is a bit flawed with slightly bad English accents in which it's slightly hard to understand sometimes.It's still a nice short to watch. Just not as worthy as Wallace and Gromit or Creature Comforts.There's nothing too inappropriate in this short, just know that if a kid's watching this he or she wouldn't understand the story too well, due the the dialog.My rate: 7/10