This 10-minutes cartoon film tells the tragic story of a little lamb with the help of multiple Zoetropes, loosely based on the well-known Grimm’s fairy tale ‘Little Red Riding Hood’.
The Sausage Run
A Zoetrope Fairy Tale
The roles of the humans and animals are exchanged. The human characters of the fairy tale are depicted in the film as anthropomorphic animals. The animal in the story, the big bad wolf, is a human being.
‘Little Red Riding Hood’s’ family consists of the mother sheep, the lamb (Little Red Riding Hood) and a grandfather sheep. The forester and his wife are dogs with a soft spot for sausages. The wolf, a butcher, is a man with a serious problem. He has run out of meat.
The story takes place in Zoetropes, which are historical optical and rather primitive devices that display sequences of drawn images in motion. These devices are an invention from the 19th century (around 1834) and a forerunner of film technology.
Zoetropes bring figures drawn on a strip of paper to life as if by magic. These show simple, repetitive movements of one second such as walking, waving, hopping, opening and closing, etc.
How do I tell a story with a Zoetrope?
Since my Spinning Animation Workshops I’m fascinated by the hypnotic impact of Zoetropes. I developed a performance, which presents the workshop results in an audio-visual live show on eight optical devices like Zoetropes to the public, which I call The Spinning Animation Show.
While working on my workshops I came up with the question: How do I tell a story with Zoetropes?
End of 2016 Paul Driessen, my former teacher and professor of animation, and I decided to develop a story for my new film, which can be told by Zoetropes. The fairy tale LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD seemed to be perfect for us. With it we could play with animation cycles like walking through the woods, looking out the window, saying goodbye at the door, looking at grandpa’s hut etc..
Doing things again and again defines the storyline in THE SAUSAGE RUN, which poses the critical question, how much of our unconscious habits and common expectations determines our live.
Special Recommendation
Certificate: “especially commendable”, German Film Quality Assessment Board (FBW), Germany
Suitable for ages 6+
Voluntary Self-Regulation Organization of the German Film Industry (FSK)
Funding and Sponsors
The Flanders Audiovisual Fund
The German State Film Funding
The Hessian Film Funding
Federal Government for Cultural Affairs and Media
Thomas Stellmach
about 140 crowdfunders
Awards
Grand Prix – The Golden Kuker Award, Golden Kuker Sofia, International Animation Film Fest, 25th – 29th May 2022
Animation Award, best storyteller, Mediawave Festival, 4th – 7th May 2022, Hungary
Certificate: “especially commendable”, German Film Quality Assessment Board (FBW), Germany
Second Prize, best animation, 17th Athens Animfest, competition, 17-20 March 2022, Greece
First Prize, best humorous film, T-Short Animated Film Online Festival 2022, Humorous Shorts Competition,
Karlsruhe, March 10 till March 27, 2022
Jury’s Choice Award, Thomas Edison Film Festival, USA, 11 February – 31 December 2022.
The film has received an Award and will take part at the 41st Annual Touring Season – 2022. The TEFF Jury’s Choice is a prestigious award for extraordinary films that have pushed boundaries, told important stories, and raised the bar for film as an art form.
Credits
director
THOMAS STELLMACH
producer
THOMAS STELLMACH, Thomas Stellmach Animation
IGNACE COLLIN, Epeios Productions
story
PAUL DRIESSEN
www.pdriessen.com
THOMAS STELLMACH
music
BEO BROCKHAUSEN
character design
JANEK CZECHOWSKI
background design
AIKE ARNDT (illustration)
THOMAS STELLMACH (colouring)
character animation
NANCY BENS
KRIS VAN ALPHEN
additional animation
DELIA KROHMER
gaping, colouring, shading
CHRISTINA DIX
DELIA KROHMER
3d-modelling / animation
MARTIN SCHMIDT, Raumkapsel GbR
compositing
THOMAS STELLMACH
foley and sound recording, editing and surround mix
CHRISTIAN WITTMOSER
dramaturgical advisor
PAUL DRIESSEN
copyright 2021
THOMAS STELLMACH ANIMATION
EPEIOS PRODUCTIONS
Festivals
Plein la Bobine Film Festival, La Bourboule 15 to 20 May 2022, France
62nd Zlín Film Festival – International Film Festival for Children and Youth, 26 May – 1 June 2022, Czech Republic
40th Ciné-Jeune de l’Aisne, Laon, 22 March to 15 April, France
Animafest Zagreb 2022, panorama program, 06-11 June 2022, Croatia
22nd Landshut Short Film Festival, 27 April – 2 May 2022, Germany
49th Athens International Film + Video Festival, Ohio, 1-7 April 2022, USA
CINELEBU | Festival Internacional de Cine de Lebu, competition, 11-19 February 2022, Chile
Regensburg’s Week of Short Films, German competition, 18 – 27 March 2022, Germany
MONSTRA – Lisboa Animation Festival, competition, 16- 27 March 2022, Portugal
Flickerfest 31st International Short Film Festival, FlickerKids showcase programme out of competition, 21- 30 January 2022, Bondi Beach, Sydney, Australia
44th Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival, Youth Audience Competition, 24 January – 5 February 2022, France
32th Bamberg‘s Days of Short Films, 24-30 January 2022, Germany
Duration
9:45 minutes
Director
Thomas Stellmach
Producer
Thomas Stellmach, Ignace Collin
Production
Thomas Stellmach Animation and EPEIOS Productions, Belgium, 2021
Technique
mainly 2D animation, partly 3D animation
Film format
mp4 1080p stereo, prores 1080p stereo or 5.1, DCP 2K 5.1