Don Hertzfeldt - Billy's Balloon

Billy's Ballon by Don Hertzfeidt appears at first to be a light hearted and child friendly film due to its simple lines and childlike drawings. However in just a short space of time, you later discover its dark humour!

Young, Billy starts off happily sitting alone on a big stretch of grass with a balloon in one hand and a rattle in the other. Then suddenly the ballon starts to move and brutally attack Billy using different methods. This happens continuously throughout the animation. Towards the end other children like Billy come into the scene and are also being attacked by there balloons of all different colours!

Although a simple setting, the sound affects and different perspectives made it feel like you were with billy at the park. Whether that be in the sky or on land! This made me feel slightly uncomfortable, as a balloon would usually create a happy memory for a child, not a sad one!

It is interesting that only the balloons contain colour, everything else is just black and white. Perhaps it's portraying the importance of the ballon in the scene and surprisingly not the Human being! The object took control of Billy and not the other way round.

I'm not sure what the intentions are for this animation, wether to inform us or entertain us? Cleverly constructed but not something i'd want to see too many times!