
Directing
Bill Plympton
Born 1946-04-30 · Portland, Oregon, USA
Bill Plympton (born April 30, 1946) is an American animator, director, graphic designer, cartoonist, screenwriter and producer best known for his 1987 Academy Award-nominated animated short Your Face and his series of shorts Guard Dog, Guide Dog, Hot Dog and Horn Dog. Plympton's illustrations and cartoons have been published in The New York Times and the weekly newspaper The Village Voice, as well as in the magazines Vogue, Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Penthouse, and National Lampoon. His political cartoon strip Plympton, which began in 1975 in the SoHo Weekly News, eventually was syndicated and appeared in over 20 newspapers. In 1988, his animated short Your Face was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He also became known for other animated short films, including 25 Ways to Quit Smoking (1989) and Enemies (1991), the latter of which was part of the Animania series on MTV, where many of his other shorts were shown. In 1992, his self-financed, first feature-length animated film, The Tune debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. His work also appeared on the 1992–1993 Fox comedy series The Edge. In 1993, he made his first live action film, J. Lyle. In 1995, he contributed animation and graphics to a computer game collection, Take Your Best Shot. He also published a comic book in 2003, The Sleazy Cartoons of Bill Plympton. Plympton's 2008 80-minute feature, Idiots and Angels presented by Terry Gilliam, had no dialogue. Plympton directed the segment "On Eating and Drinking" in the 2014 animated film The Prophet, adapted from Kahlil Gibran's book The Prophet. In 2020, Plympton released a Kickstarter for his new animated comedy western, Slide. The funding was successful and Plympton had planned on finishing the film by 2022.
Acting credits
3.3An off-beat comedy about how having a gay father can be the least of a punk girl's problems.
Godass
2000
6.3Walt Disney said “We have created characters and animated them in the dimension of depth, revealing through them to our perturbed world that the things we have in common far outnumber and outweigh those that divide us.” Outside of Walt himself there are few people who have brought together and united more animators in the history of the genre than Craig "Spike" Decker and Mike Gribble, known to all as Spike & Mike. They created an animation festival that helped launch the careers of John Lasseter, Peter Lord, Will Vinton, Bill Plympton and Mike Judge to name just a few. Their Spike & Mike festival had an enormous impact on animation that was felt the world over. The festival was known as much for the breakthrough animation it presented as the outrageous antics of the founders.
Animation Outlaws
2019
6.2An unlikely crew – an astronaut, his intrepid daughter, and a quintet of sympathetic, albeit violent, alien creatures – seek revenge against a space industry baron.
Mutant Aliens
2002
6.8A modern day Walt Disney, Will Vinton picked up a ball of clay and saw a world of potential. Known as the “Father of Claymation,” Vinton revolutionized the animation business during the 80s and 90s. But after 30 years of being the unheralded king of clay, Will Vinton’s carefully sculpted American dream came crumbling down. Structured around interviews with this charismatic pioneer and his close collaborators, the film charts the rise and fall of the Academy Award and Emmy winning Will Vinton Studios.
Claydream
2022
2.0A documentary film about Oscar-nominated animator Bill Plympton. This is a portrait piece that includes interviews with family, friends, colleagues, critics, and fans.
Adventures in Plymptoons!
2011
4.2"Hitler's Folly" explores what might have happened if Adolf Hitler's art career had been more successful and instead of becoming an evil dictator, he was inspired to become an animator like Walt Disney.
Hitler's Folly
2016
6.912 little Christmas tales from Bill Plympton.
12 Tiny Christmas Tales
2001
Interviews with Bill Plympton and others in the field of animation follow his development as an independent animator.
Twisted Toons
1997
6.0Nigel Nado, the notable documentary filmmaker, is trying to make a movie about some people trying to make a movie. But everything is going wrong. The subject of his documentary, the western 'Guns on the Clackamas' is plagued with problems. The lead actress has a severe stutter. And since she also happens to be the Executive Producer's mistress, there's not much that can be done to remedy the situation. Unsuccessful in turning the movie into a yodeling extravaganza, they decide to fire the actress. This results in having her irate beau pull the plug on the film's financing. The beginning of the end is marked by cast members dropping like flies due to any number of reasons. Bad macaroni salad. Bad chili. Bad caterer. A camera dolly runs over a crew member, severing some key limb or another. Then since no cast member has survived, and the film's producers can't hire replacements, the 'Guns on Clackamas' makers must resort to solutions at once startling and hilarious.
Guns on the Clackamas
1995
NRA documentary about the early days of animation.
Forging the Frame: The Roots of Animation, 1921-1930
2008
6.4The perilous road to kicking the habit is explored in twenty-six vignettes that include various professionals and contraptions.
25 Ways to Quit Smoking
1989
3.0Well, it's that wonderful time of the year again... Merry Christmas, everyone!
The Ornaments
2013
6.7A compilation of animator Bill Plympton's classic shorts, including "Your Face", "How to Kiss", "One of Those Days", "25 Ways to Quit Smoking", "Plymptoons", "Nosehair" and "How to Make Love to a Woman". In between, an animated version of Bill answers questions about his life and career.
Mondo Plympton
1997
5.7The story of Lucas, a young ear of corn, from his days in the cornfield with his mother to the moment he ultimately meets his fate as a meal for a young boy.
Lucas, the Ear of Corn
1977
Behind the camera
6.2A film-noir murder mystery that takes place in a sleazy hotel. As cops investigate the gruesome murders, they become victims of this evil force.
Shuteye Hotel
2007
6.2A film-noir murder mystery that takes place in a sleazy hotel. As cops investigate the gruesome murders, they become victims of this evil force.
Shuteye Hotel
2007
5.4Taking all that was great from the first instalment, the movie aims to be a wilder, leaner, faster-paced and even more entertaining anthology this time around, with a new crop of award-winning, visionary filmmakers from around the globe.
ABCs of Death 2
2014
5.4Taking all that was great from the first instalment, the movie aims to be a wilder, leaner, faster-paced and even more entertaining anthology this time around, with a new crop of award-winning, visionary filmmakers from around the globe.
ABCs of Death 2
2014
7.3Exiled artist and poet Mustafa embarks on a journey home with his housekeeper and her daughter; together the trio must evade the authorities who fear that the truth in Mustafa's words will incite rebellion.
Kahlil Gibran's The Prophet
2014
6.7Angel, a selfish rotter is hanging around in a local bar, groping the wife of the barman and dealing with weapons. One morning he wakes up finding a pair of wings growing at his back. These wings do good deeds against his nature. But suddenly he finds himself fighting those who want these wings for their own dark plans.
Idiots and Angels
2008
6.7Angel, a selfish rotter is hanging around in a local bar, groping the wife of the barman and dealing with weapons. One morning he wakes up finding a pair of wings growing at his back. These wings do good deeds against his nature. But suddenly he finds himself fighting those who want these wings for their own dark plans.
Idiots and Angels
2008
6.7Angel, a selfish rotter is hanging around in a local bar, groping the wife of the barman and dealing with weapons. One morning he wakes up finding a pair of wings growing at his back. These wings do good deeds against his nature. But suddenly he finds himself fighting those who want these wings for their own dark plans.
Idiots and Angels
2008
5.5A low-rent bounty hunter named Rod Rosse, The One Man Posse, gets entangled in a web of danger when he takes on a job from an ex-biker/ex-wrestler turned U.S. senator named "Deathface."
Revengeance
2016
5.5A low-rent bounty hunter named Rod Rosse, The One Man Posse, gets entangled in a web of danger when he takes on a job from an ex-biker/ex-wrestler turned U.S. senator named "Deathface."
Revengeance
2016
5.5A low-rent bounty hunter named Rod Rosse, The One Man Posse, gets entangled in a web of danger when he takes on a job from an ex-biker/ex-wrestler turned U.S. senator named "Deathface."
Revengeance
2016
6.4Rod and Cherri are the unmistakable king and queen of Echo High. When new kid Spud arrives, he makes a faux pas so bad that Rod forces him to be his girl's slave. What unfolds is the tale of Cherri and Spud's blossoming relationship behind Rod's back, and their untimely demise on the night of the prom. A tale of tragedy that could only be as irreverent and sensational through the pen (or pencils, if you will) of Bill Plympton.
Hair High
2004
6.4Rod and Cherri are the unmistakable king and queen of Echo High. When new kid Spud arrives, he makes a faux pas so bad that Rod forces him to be his girl's slave. What unfolds is the tale of Cherri and Spud's blossoming relationship behind Rod's back, and their untimely demise on the night of the prom. A tale of tragedy that could only be as irreverent and sensational through the pen (or pencils, if you will) of Bill Plympton.
Hair High
2004
6.4Rod and Cherri are the unmistakable king and queen of Echo High. When new kid Spud arrives, he makes a faux pas so bad that Rod forces him to be his girl's slave. What unfolds is the tale of Cherri and Spud's blossoming relationship behind Rod's back, and their untimely demise on the night of the prom. A tale of tragedy that could only be as irreverent and sensational through the pen (or pencils, if you will) of Bill Plympton.
Hair High
2004
6.2An unlikely crew – an astronaut, his intrepid daughter, and a quintet of sympathetic, albeit violent, alien creatures – seek revenge against a space industry baron.
Mutant Aliens
2002
6.2An unlikely crew – an astronaut, his intrepid daughter, and a quintet of sympathetic, albeit violent, alien creatures – seek revenge against a space industry baron.
Mutant Aliens
2002
6.2An unlikely crew – an astronaut, his intrepid daughter, and a quintet of sympathetic, albeit violent, alien creatures – seek revenge against a space industry baron.
Mutant Aliens
2002
7.2On their wedding night, Grant begins experiencing strange, supernatural powers and his bride Keri can't cope. Whenever Grant thinks of something, it becomes reality, yet he doesn't know where this magic came from. Things become more complicated when a megalomaniac CEO sends the military to capture Grant in order to weaponize his abilities.
I Married a Strange Person!
1998
7.2On their wedding night, Grant begins experiencing strange, supernatural powers and his bride Keri can't cope. Whenever Grant thinks of something, it becomes reality, yet he doesn't know where this magic came from. Things become more complicated when a megalomaniac CEO sends the military to capture Grant in order to weaponize his abilities.
I Married a Strange Person!
1998
NRThe tale of a mythical cowboy who appears in a corrupt logging town (circa 1940s) and with the aid of his slide guitar and a giant Hellbug, he's able to battle the evil Mayor and his equally selfish twin brother to clean up the logging town of Sourdough Creek.
Slide
2025
NRThe tale of a mythical cowboy who appears in a corrupt logging town (circa 1940s) and with the aid of his slide guitar and a giant Hellbug, he's able to battle the evil Mayor and his equally selfish twin brother to clean up the logging town of Sourdough Creek.
Slide
2025
6.6In a fateful bumper car collision, Jake and Ella meet and become the most loving couple in the long history of romance. But when a scheming "other" woman drives a wedge of jealousy into their perfect courtship, insecurity and hatred spell out an untimely fate. With only the help of a disgraced magician and his forbidden "soul machine", Ella takes the form of Jake's numerous lovers, desperately fighting through the malfunction and deceit as they try to reclaim their destiny.
Cheatin'
2014
6.6In a fateful bumper car collision, Jake and Ella meet and become the most loving couple in the long history of romance. But when a scheming "other" woman drives a wedge of jealousy into their perfect courtship, insecurity and hatred spell out an untimely fate. With only the help of a disgraced magician and his forbidden "soul machine", Ella takes the form of Jake's numerous lovers, desperately fighting through the malfunction and deceit as they try to reclaim their destiny.
Cheatin'
2014
NRA third-grade student who's selectively mute and a grieving 80-year-old school volunteer discover that some of the deepest conversations only require a single word.
Whale 52
2025