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Rebooted tells the story of Phil, a stop-motion animated skeleton from Hollywood's golden age, who can no longer find work. He and his posse of similarly antiquated special-effects-creatures come to the conclusion that they need to stop the production of a film he was created for, as plans are in place for it to be rebooted, without him! Ageing for this movie star is not easy, especially when you're moving at a lower frame-rate than the rest of the world.
Rebooted has been featured at the Austin Film Festival, Flickerfest (Best Australian Animated Short Film) and nominated for a Best Short Film AACTA Award 2019. Written and Directed by Michael Shanks and produced by LateNite films, it was jointly financed by Screen Australia and Google Australia through Skip Ahead. It was also featured at the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival and before its cancellation due to COVID-19 was set to have its East Asia premiere at the Busan International Short Film Festival.
That's no longer happening so you can enjoy in on Shanks' popular Timtimfed YouTube channel which has amassed almost 50,000,000 views across its film content to date. For immediate, non-rationed consumption, watch it RIGHT HERE or as embedded below.
Director Michael Shanks describes the film as a love letter to old school movie magic. A unique opportunity to see Hollywood special and visual effects creations side by side in the same live action frame. Shanks continues; while being a celebration of the medium of film, the story is about growing old – it's about someone that time has rendered obsolescent. It deals with a feeling that with each passing year we lose a little more lustre and is a tale of somebody finding their place in a world that is rapidly changing beneath their silicone, stop-motion feet.
In the film, you'll see an eclectic mix of characters that includes a Ray Harryhausen inspired stop motion skeleton as its lead, a character depicted in traditional 2D animation, an animatronic Velociraptor, a homage to the Creature from the Black Lagoon and a kitsch mid 90's liquid metal CGI man. The production company LateNite films was also behind Shanks' The Wizards of Aus, a comedy series which premiered on SBS2, and which you'll also find on his YouTube channel.
