Hair High
2004 - U.S.A. - 75 mins
English language dialogue
Rated 14A (Adult accompaniment if under 14 years of age)
© 2004 - Plymptoons, Inc.
Official Hair High website:
English
Director
Bill Plympton
Production
Bill Plympton
Synopsis
Cherri and Rod are the high-school king and queen and they justifiably rule their domain. Spud, the
new kid in town, accidentally offends both Cherri and Rod and so is forced to become Cherri's slave.
Naturally, they immediately hate each other but of course later they fall in love.
Cherri and Spud secretly decide to go to the prom together, and on prom night a rejected Rod forces
their car off the road and into the lake. In true 50's ballad style, their car sinks to the bottom
of the lake as they share one last kiss. And when Rod manages to thwart any investigation, it seems
as if he will be getting away with murder...
But the night of the following year's prom, Cherri and Spud's car magically comes to life and slowly
drives out of the lake with Cherri and Spud, as if nothing had happened... except that their bodies
are rotting! What will they do when they get to the prom? Will they be able to stop Rod from
crowning himself the new King of the Prom?
Reviews
Bill Plympton's zany animation returns in Hair High. Riding high from world recognition for
Mutant Aliens, Plympton's latest film pulls back from the in-your-face edginess that marked
his previous films, but becomes more accessible and delivers a wonderful comedic punch.
This is a must-see for any Plympton fan, and will appeal to anyone looking for a slightly
kooky rendition of Scream or Carrie.
Profile: Director Bill Plympton
Bill Plympton was born in Portland, Oregon on April 30th, 1946, and grew up in a large family of
three girls and three boys. He credits Oregon's rainy climate for nurturing his drawing skills and
imagination. In 1946, he went on to Portland State University, and it was there that he first
attempted animation. Unfortunately, the animation was shot upside-down, making it totally
useless.
Plympton would make New York his home in 1968, first styding at the School of Visual Arts, and working on
various magazines, cartoons and illustrations. His work appeared in prominent publications like the
New York Times, Rolling Stone, The Village Voice, Vanity Fair and Penthouse.
But, animation would call. Plympton had been fascinated by animation all his life, and when he was
fourteen he applied to Disney as an animator. He was told that while his drawings showed promise, he
was too young. It wasn't until 1983 that he was approached to animate a film. The Android Sister
Valeria Wasilewski asked Plympton to work on a film she was producing of Jules Feiffer's song,
Boomtown. It was here that he learned the ropes from Connie D'Antuono, one of the film's
producers. Plympton would continue animating, breaking through in 1988 when he garnered a Best
Animation Academy Award nomination for Your Face. The recognition from that film allowed
Plympton to begin his first animated feature film, The Tune. Entirely financed and animated
by Plympton - more than 30,000 cels - the film went on to win the Houston WorldFest Gold Jury
Special Award and a Spirit Award nomination for Best Film Score.
Plympton also made a couple of live-action features, but returned to animation in the 1998 film I
Married a Strange Person. Once again he financed and animated the entire film himself - and this
time, he made a politically incorrect film for adults. This signature would be even more evident in
his next film, Mutant Aliens (2001), which premiered at Sundance and won the Cristal Grand
Prix at Annecy 2001.
Hair High is his latest film - and for this film, Plympton shared its creation with the world
via the web, by webcasting his entire work on the film live on his website.
World Sales Agent
Plymptoons, Inc.