If you’re not going to make your animated short for kids, you might as well lean heavily into very adult themes. This brings us to co-directors and co-writers Michaela Mihalyi and David Štumpf’s animated short Sh_t Happens.
Mihalyi and Štumpf set their odd and insane tone perfectly by opening with a couple in love rushing toward one another in a city park as if they’re waltzing on clouds. Just before the two embrace, one of them is struck by lightning and dies.
“…barely noticing his wife lying nude, spread eagle on the kitchen table.”
Sh_t Happens is a 2D animated short full of bright colors and cute animal characters, and as the title suggests, sh_t happens. Our story’s lead is the “caretaker,” who is in charge of the apartment building where he and his wife live. After a long day of general disrespect from the tenants, the caretaker’s frustration comes to a head when he needs to break up an orgy in the storage room. Soon he returns to his apartment, barely noticing his wife lying nude, spread eagle on the kitchen table. Feeling neglected, the wife runs off into the arms of another.
Sh_t Happens is an example of contrasts, taking adorable illustrations and characters and subjecting them to the most horrendous sh_t. Let me drop the image of a very succulent and stimulating cucumber as an example. The short pushes the boundaries a bit without ever getting genuinely vulgar and gives us a true cartoon ending. I can best describe Sh_t Happens as crazy, profane, and insane with fantastic 2D-animated designs. Now, someone, please call Spike & Mike.
"…the image of a very succulent and stimulating cucumber."
