Lily and Jim

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Lily and Jim
Directed byDon Hertzfeldt
Written byDon Hertzfeldt
Produced byDon Hertzfeldt
CinematographyAimée R. Haeussler
Edited byBrian Hamblin
Release date
  • 1997 (1997)
Running time
13 minutes

Lily and Jim (1997) is a 16mm animated short film by Don Hertzfeldt. It is Hertzfeldt's third student film from UC Santa Barbara, for which he single-handedly animated over 10,000 drawings.[1][2] In the film, an awkward blind date between a hopeless couple goes from very bad to much worse.[3] Voice actors Robert May (Jim) and Karin Anger (Lily) improvised a number of their dialogues.[4] The films closing credits feature instrumental piano music called "Moving Thirds" by singer-songwriter Beth Waters.

The movie eventually received 25 film festival awards,[4] including Grand Prizes from the New Orleans Film Festival[citation needed] and the USA Film Festival.[5]

In 1998, it was shown on an episode of MTV's Cartoon Sushi.[citation needed]

Summary

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Lily and Jim meet each other on a blind date. As the story progresses, they each address the camera directly with their own opinions about the date in black-and-white cutaways. They decide to go to an undistinguished restaurant, but find it very hard to relate to each other, or even strike up a simple conversation. They appear to have little in common, and are both awkward and nervous throughout the evening. After dinner, they spend another uneasy moment under a streetlamp, before deciding to go back to Lily's apartment to share coffee. Jim explains to the audience that he is extremely allergic to coffee, but decides not to tell Lily since he does not want to interrupt the date. Finding nothing to do at the apartment, and missing their chance at a kiss, Lily and Jim decide to watch television. However, the TV only shows various surreal images, so they turn it off. Finally, Jim's coffee allergy takes hold of him and the date comes to an uncomfortable end.

On DVD

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In 2005, Lily and Jim was included in "Bitter Films Volume 1" DVD compilation of Hertzfeldt's 1995-2005 films. Special features created for Lily and Jim include Hertzfeldt's original production sketches and notes, as well as a 15-minute animatic consisting of humorous audio outtakes and unused improvisational dialogue from the original 1996-97 session tapes. The original voice actors were also reunited after nine years to do a retrospective audio commentary.[6][7]

References

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  1. ^ Morris, Steven Ray (March 17, 2016). "Silly Hats Only: The Animation Of Don Hertzfeldt". Nerdist. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  2. ^ Dobson, Nichola (June 15, 2020). Historical Dictionary of Animation and Cartoons. Bloomsbury Publishing PLC. p. 122. ISBN 978-1-5381-2322-5.
  3. ^ Odum, Finn (November 1, 2024). "Don Hertzfeldt Has Something to, um, Tell You". Perisphere. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  4. ^ a b Amoriello, Alexia (March 20, 2019). "The Beginner's Guide: Don Hertzfeldt, Animator, Writer & Director". Film Inquiry. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  5. ^ "Spike and Mike's Festival of Classics". Irish Film Institute. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  6. ^ "Interview with Aint it Cool News". Bitter Films. October 1, 2006. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
  7. ^ Jessen, Taylor (November 16, 2006). "From Bitter to Sweeeeeet: 'Bitter Films Vol. 1 1995-2005'". Animation World Network. Retrieved June 6, 2025.
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