Flyerplesys Perfectly adorable

SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Lidia Draper Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

SimonJack The date of release on this short subject cartoon was Dec. 31, 1965. It strikes me as an early cartoon look at computers and the logic of the digital age – well before their commercial time. It reminded me also of the Morse Code which had been invented in 1836 (and I studied as a youth and later in the U.S. Army). Of course, here the mathematics is all geometrics. And, hidden within the cartoon is social commentary, a moral of sorts."The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics" is a splendid cartoon. It's from a story by Norton Juster. The humor of the dialog read by Robert Morley is quite good. It's a delight to watch the various contortions – like a child drawing lines and angles in a frenzy on paper. The line is the "hero" of this piece. He finally wins over the dot (the heroine?) when she sees through the unkempt and disheveled character of the squiggle. I could see variations on this pattern – a cartoon of dots and dashes. How about "binary beginnings." Or maybe, "logic bent out of shape?"It's a pretty sophisticated and somewhat educational cartoon. It won the 1965 Oscar as the best short (cartoon). I probably saw it in a theater originally, but saw it again a couple of times in recent years. It came as a bonus on my DVD of "The Glass Bottom Boat." I think most viewers will enjoy this artistic short. It's a cartoon that has more than one angle.

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) This is a 10-minute short film from 50 years ago that won the Oscar back then. And even if I did not like it as much as I hoped I would, I am still fine with this decision by the Academy. One reason is that I can see smart writing in here, even if it did not really appeal to me, but the much bigger reason is that it got Chuck Jones an Oscar finally. He was possibly the most notable cartoon director from the 20th century and it's nice to see him awarded finally. He co-directed this one with Maurice Noble, somebody who worked on films like "Dumbo" or "Snow White" and was also a prolific animator since the 1930s, just like Jones himself. "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics" is probably a really good watch for everybody with an interest in mathematics, or I should maybe say geometry as I have always been quite fond of mathematics himself. The romance story in here was so-so and to me personally it felt more like an educational movie than something which really has a decent deal of emotion. They could have increased that one for sure. Then again, making a moving (in the sense of the heart) film about a cold and factual subject like mathematics is probably a really tough challenge. I guess Jones, Noble and Norman Juster made a solid job all in all taking this into account. However, I hoped for more looking at how this won an Oscar. Not recommended and there are hundreds of short films that Jones made that are better than this one.

sandrajolly When I first read the book version of the Dot and the Line, I had to supply the voice and "music" in my imagination, but I thought the book was wonderful. Just a few lines on a page and some words, but it really was romance. The justification for the characters' behavior was so real! I felt for the Line from the very beginning, and hated his rival. My feelings for the Dot were mixed. I just kept wishing she would come to her senses and see the Line for the great guy that he really was! When I was able to view the animated version a few years later, I was happy to see that my own interpretation was pretty much spot-on. I did enjoy the music, and I enjoyed seeing my characters come to "life" as it were. The movie was a faithful rendering of the book, which to me is still a classic! I lent my copy to a friend over ten years ago, and have not gotten it back yet...it is still making the rounds and I hope, making many other people smile.

ColeSear Under the guise of an educational documentary Chuck Jones here again astounds with one of his most impressive works. Here he not only breathes life into but creates a story about two geometrical figures. In a way this film reminds me of the Ludwig von Drake educational shorts by Disney with the distinction that Jones makes the "math" the center of attention and makes these shapes seem real, instead of having the narrator be overbearing. This film was nominated for Best Picture at the Cannes Film Festival. And it's no wonder it's a great and original work that is a metaphor for human relationships more than anything else. It's also worth noting that this film was unusual and unique when it came out and will continue to be so as the nature of animation has changed drastically. If you have the chance watch this master work by a master director.