"The Red and the Blue", (197?), Misseri Studios

I've posted this clip as an example of how to do more with less. By limiting their palette, materials, dialogue and character design, the creators of this inventive TV series are able to appeal to a wide range of age groups and nationalities.

The series was produced by Misseri Studios, founded by Francesco Misseri in Italy in 1968. The studio has created other popular object, clay, and sand animated series such as the origami "Quak Quao", "AEIOU", and " Mio Mau".

"Kid Koala's Basin Street Blues", Monkmus (c.2004)

One of the things I love about this clip is the carefully choreographed, unconventional floaty motion style. It's the perfect match for the unconventional, floaty style of the jazz classic remix. 

In an interview with Animation Reporter, the animator Monkmus describes relistening to the audio track as an important part of his design process: 

"AR: How did you conjure up the visualization for the video Kid Koala's Basin Street Blues?
MM: By listening to the track till my ears turned blue. Kid Koala provided me with the track and as I listened to it, images of a funeral procession in New Orleans crept into my mind. It was definitely the music that sparked the initial concept, but my interest in New Orleans and it's culture really spurned me on."
Animation Reporter - Monkmus interview

Here's another article about the artist, and links to his blog and website:  
Giant Robot Magazine interview 
Monkmus (website)
Monkmus (blog)

"Dimensions of Dialogue (Možnosti dialogu)" (1982), Jan Svankmajer

I was reminded of this film recently when we were researching stop-motion animation for The Lego Movie. It's one of the better-known short films made by Jan Svankmajer, a prominent Czech film-maker and artist, and won him the Grand Prize at Annecy in1983

"Dimensions of Dialogue" uses everyday objects, food and clay to create stop-motion animated dioramas exploring aspects of human interaction.



References

Wikipedia -  "Dimensions_of_Dialogue" (retrieved 16.06.14)

Cinelogue review - "Dimensions of Dialogue"   (retrieved 16.06.14)

Wikipedia -  "Jan Svankmajer"  (retrieved 16.06.14)



Further Reading
Scmitt, B. and Dryje, F, "Jan Svankmajer: Dimensions of Dialogue", Arbour Vitae (2013)