Bill Plympton was born in Portland, Oregon, to Don and Wilda Plympton. From 1964 to 1968, he attended Portland State University, where he was a member of the film society and worked on the yearbook. In 1968, he transferred to the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Idiots and Angels is a dark comedy about a man’s battle for his soul. Angel is a selfish, abusive, morally bankrupt man who hangs out at his local bar, berating the other patrons. One day, Angel mysteriously wakes up with a pair of wings on his back. The wings make him do good deeds, contrary to his nature. He desperately tries to rid himself of the good wings, but eventually finds himself fighting those who view the wings as their ticket to fame and fortune.I came across the genius that is Bill Plympton whilst at the Holland Animation Festival in Utrecht. I am still captivated by outcome he achieves from using erratic pencil sketches. The final result is astonishing due to the atmosphere created from the technique he adopted.
Im afraid to say you can only view snip-bits at this address: www.idiotsandangels.com/videos
The animation contains high moralistic values, which Plympton uses to his advantage by exagerating situations and stereotyping characters and locations, for example when Angel enters the local bar there is a significant negative space between him and the bar, which he has to travel across. i believe Plympton uses this space to re-enforce the idea that Angel is and acoholic and the drink seems soo far away.Angel's life seems dull, he wears a grey suit, has a monotone apartment, not much colour or lust for life. Ater arriving at the bar more colours come into play as there are transient characters introduced and their personalities are present through their actions and colours they wear.
In conclusion, 'Idiots and Angels' is a great animation captured through Bill Plympton's unique approach to moralistic values and codes ad conventions of film.
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