I thought it was hilarious as a kid, as did my Mum. My brother and I would imitate the jabbering of the characters and try to grab each other's faces, like the two characters at the end did.
I see it as an attempt at examining human behaviour, how people will wear certain "masks" depending on who they're dealing with. That's why he seems to desperately search for his little mask when he runs into a person, for example he goes to work and puts on his mask as soon as he sees his boss, but when he lets his guard down and shows his true colors, the boss ridicules him, making him feel like less of a person. He then goes drinking with his friend, with whom he feels comfortable, so there's no need for his mask. It's also why he gets so distressed when everyone surrounds him at once; which mask should he use? In the end, he panics, making a fool of himself (or a "clown"?) by acting ridiculous, all because he was never sure how to act, so he comes up with this new mask on the spot, which backfires when it pleases nobody - they know it's not really him. In the end, he steps into the mirror and quite literally finds himself. At first, he embraces it, but then he grows agitated at what he sees and the two disagree. Are they fighting, or having a dispute, illustrating the character's frustration and self-loathing that he feels when he looks into the mirror? Or are they pulling and picking at each other purely out of a desire to change what they see? Maybe it's both; either way, it's clear he doesn't accept himself, and even at the end, when you think that he'll reach an epiphany and learn a lesson, he continues to desperately search for changes he can make to his own appearance. It's implied that he's cursed to do this for the rest of his days, never fully satisfied or comfortable with what he sees when he looks into that mirror. That, to me, is what the title means. "Ident" is short for "Identity". I'd very much like to discuss the film with someone else, because I don't know if this is what they were going for. This is just what I got out of it. Anyway, this stuck with me for a long time. I first saw it as a kid, and while I never understood the meaning behind it, I was always disturbed by the surreal imagery and bizarre atmosphere.
This was exactly what I got out of it as well, down to the little details. I'm glad it wasn't just me. Although I had not thought about it nearly as in-depth as you have. I loved this analysis, and you noticed a lot of little details that are really cool! Thanks for sharing!!
Jonathan Robinson This is unrelated to the comment but I love your profile pic. I'm reading Monster book 1 now and loving it. And I agree with you about this film. It really is a brilliant work of art by a brilliant animation studio.
Jesus christ, I remember this when I was REALLY young. it was on a vhs with a few other claymations and the packaging stuck out in my mind because it was labeled something like 'adult cartoons'. It scared the fuck out of me. It still does. I'm scared to start this video...
This is a genius animation, which makes interesting points about how we adopt different "masks" to fit in with the people that surround us. The image of the two dustbins downing pints of beer is memorable.
He’s got more faces than a Gemini lol but the first person who he spoke to actually saw through the mask he was parading around in even when he tried to force her to be like him , she spoke the truth about how he really was . He just wasn’t ready for the truth ; regardless what kind of pain it caused him . I love films like these.
It's really a philosophical statement about how the character alters his personality to fit his surroundings, but is inevitably, more fundamentally altered himself. The clown mask represents this persona he hides behind, but he begins to look more and more like the mask as it changes his underlying peronality. Finally, he finds inner peace in his own skin, but on meeting another who is similar, cannot help but try to alter them; a grim commentary on humanity's intolerance Hope this helps :)
when i used to go to my grandmas she used to make me watch this on VHS with a mix of the creature comforts the "HEAT ELECTRIC "adverts . i recently found the remastered DVD of the same VHS then i was so glad that indent was on it ! it used to freak me out so much now it has so much meaning !
When you feel there's no way out of this maze you need the guidance of a being who just lives life in the moment and perhaps is even aware that we are part of something larger than ourselves, that there is more than meets the eye beyond this caged in realty we've been invited to be a part of.
Wow! All the arrows pointing the way we're told we should follow. The things we're told to do, the people we interact with and eventually being told who we should be. We go through life trying to fit into all these different personalities we think we need to conform to, but only to lose sight of we we really were.
Haven't seen this in yeeeeears. Feels weird knowing I wasn't the only one with this on VHS (the video was called Aardman Animations featuring Creature Comforts, for anyone who wants to know). Ah, the memories. The wonderful, emotionally-scarring memories.
I used to have a vhs tape with all of these aardman shorts from the 80/90s on it. this was, by far, my fave one out of the bunch to watch as a kid. i wasnt particularly scared by it, i guess i just loved how surreal and dark it was. i was a strange kid lmao.
I saw this a long time ago at some sort of Aardman film festivle. I think it means that some of us put on different personalities when we talk to different people.
I remember watching this on an Aardman VHS tape when I was about 7 and being transfixed but scared. Now watching it as an adult it still holds that uncanny surrealism but is so *so* enjoyable!
I remember I used to watch a video of all the Aardman cartoons like this when I was a kid, can't remember what it was called but it's nice to see them all again
I think Ident contains the first appearance of 'Rex The Runt' (the flat dog) which went on to become a weird animation (23 episodes in total / 2 series). Strange to think that Aardman produced this and Wallace+Gromit and the more recent fluffy Shaun The Sheep.
I actually really liked this. Its very clever and well thought out! Yes I also thought it was a bit strange and weird but I appreciated the message it was trying to convey and I thought it conveyed it very well :) You should never put a mask on in front of people. You must always be true to yourself to no matter what and if people don't accept that, who cares?. All in all, a very excellent short. :D
At the end the character leaves the maze and meets a being just like him in every way, hinting that behind the many masks we're all the same and part of a whole, which we should work with and not against. Great message here!
This is just a classic example of the British lifestyle. Get up, pissed off, have a mouth full off the partner, late for work, try too hard with the boss, go to the pub, get drunk and end up looking like a idiot. When you miss a part of the cycle, things start to go astray.
Excellent animation, and story. I remember seeing this about 13 years ago. Am I right in thinking this was about the British working man's life and inability to escape?
I used to have this on VHS and DVD as Aardman Classics and I thought this animation was disturbing but it was very good and funny. It is one of the most bizarre animation shorts I've ever seen.
My parents work for Aardmans, and I've always always had this in the back of my memory - only found out what it was called the other day. It's so disturbing... the 'mime artist' look I've been drawing all day... bloody wierd, but I appreciate it now.
it is about appealing other people by being who they want them to be.The main character has his facial appearance changed several times throughout the video, only to find that he is surrounded by such a negative lifestyle. In attempt to leave this, he finds solitude away from others, to find a likewise self outside, but they then only change each other once again. In general, Humanity hates and loves individuality.
Out of all of the fucked up Aardman shorts I saw under the age of 6; Loves me not, Adam, Not without my handbag, Pib and Pog, etc, this one was the one that really fucked me up. The animation was so horrifying and so bizarre that it made me uncomfortable. I couldn't look away because I couldn't trust the tv enough to turn my back whilst this was playing. Damn it Aardman, you fucked me up... Thanks Aardman. I love this. I love you. Never stop being creative.
I've been looking for this for years. It appeared on C4's 4mations series when I was a school kid. I made my mate watch the repeat just for the "Chas has" bit. Me and him proceeded to drive our mates just going "Chas has! What Chas? Yeah chas! Naaah, not Chas! Yeah Chas has! Haha!
It mainly about how people are forced into being what others want them to be, masking who they are because others do not accept it. He is changing who he really is by society and the people around him. At least, that's what I see in this.
i remember loving this for its weirdness but always getting freaked out :( I first saw this when i was like 8 :) I have the video but its still creepy every now and then :) but great :)
This sort of shit you should watch after a few spliffs ... Remember having this on vhs as a kid a long with the sledgehammer video and the old bloke telling stories and the NEXT! Segment ... Good ol' times
I like the idea of the dog being the one that shows him the "way out", but I think a child could have been used here as well. Innocent beings who have not been tarnished by society because there's no time to worry about any of this, live life outside the maze and be the leader of your own existence.
I first saw this on an Aardman VHS when I was about 10...along with "Next" and a few other odd things...nedless to say I had absolutely NO IDEA what was going on lol
i saw this many years ago and as a kid it freaked me out! I agree with sotek30 on his opinion. Thats pretty much the same way i feel about his video and life. At work people try to twist and shape you into summin that you cannot be and its just like performing a juggling act in the end. Wide range of emotions out there in that video too. interesting. Im totally puttin this on my Myspace!
The video seems to me about how in society We change ourselves and others to appeal to each other, and hide our true selves behind masks. The main character has his facial appearance changed several times throughout the video, only to find that he is surrounded by such a negative lifestyle. In attempt to leave this, he finds solitude away from others, to find a likewise self outside, but they then only change each other once again. In general, Humanity hates and loves individuality.
AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-ME ME ME YA YOU YOU YOU JAAAAAA MO JAAAAAA (Babble) Jezzes. Jezzes? Jezzes. Jez ezz. Ezzee? Jezzes? Ezzee? Yes. Ezzee? YES. What jezz? Aw woo. Jezz, woo. Jezz woo. NAAAAAHHHHHHH I had a BIG laugh at that part, LOL. 2:21
wow! i used to watch this round my friends house when we were small! it used to crack us up! i haven't seen it for about 10 years! no to find a copy of it! (if anyone has it on vhs or dvd send me a message - i'll buy a copy)
@mackoonac It's a symbol for everyday life, trapped in the same routine. It takes themes such as domestic abuse, alcoholism and stress and shows them in an abstract way. It's a disturbing idea of what life is becoming: an endless cycle, a cog in the system.
@ThunderHeads69 Wow that's a very good explanation! It all makes sense now I was always extremely confused about this film when I was younger (up until 25 seconds ago actually lol!).
@ThunderHeads69 I Interpret the ending to be, he finds a quiet spot outside the rat race of everyday life, it's enjoyable at first but after a while he starts fighting with himself? like, he finds he can't stand his own company?
I'm not ashamed to say i had nightmares for weeks after seeing this at a young age.
I thought it was hilarious as a kid, as did my Mum.
My brother and I would imitate the jabbering of the characters and try to grab each other's faces, like the two characters at the end did.
The music and weird imagery but the voices were funny
Same
This can leave the adults sleepless
Same here, total nightmare fuel
I see it as an attempt at examining human behaviour, how people will wear certain "masks" depending on who they're dealing with. That's why he seems to desperately search for his little mask when he runs into a person, for example he goes to work and puts on his mask as soon as he sees his boss, but when he lets his guard down and shows his true colors, the boss ridicules him, making him feel like less of a person. He then goes drinking with his friend, with whom he feels comfortable, so there's no need for his mask. It's also why he gets so distressed when everyone surrounds him at once; which mask should he use? In the end, he panics, making a fool of himself (or a "clown"?) by acting ridiculous, all because he was never sure how to act, so he comes up with this new mask on the spot, which backfires when it pleases nobody - they know it's not really him.
In the end, he steps into the mirror and quite literally finds himself. At first, he embraces it, but then he grows agitated at what he sees and the two disagree. Are they fighting, or having a dispute, illustrating the character's frustration and self-loathing that he feels when he looks into the mirror? Or are they pulling and picking at each other purely out of a desire to change what they see? Maybe it's both; either way, it's clear he doesn't accept himself, and even at the end, when you think that he'll reach an epiphany and learn a lesson, he continues to desperately search for changes he can make to his own appearance. It's implied that he's cursed to do this for the rest of his days, never fully satisfied or comfortable with what he sees when he looks into that mirror.
That, to me, is what the title means. "Ident" is short for "Identity".
I'd very much like to discuss the film with someone else, because I don't know if this is what they were going for. This is just what I got out of it.
Anyway, this stuck with me for a long time. I first saw it as a kid, and while I never understood the meaning behind it, I was always disturbed by the surreal imagery and bizarre atmosphere.
Couldn't have said better myself. Or even AS good, for that matter.
James M. Mowery Thank you. I was pretty proud of my little interpretation of it after thinking about it for so long, haha
This was exactly what I got out of it as well, down to the little details. I'm glad it wasn't just me. Although I had not thought about it nearly as in-depth as you have. I loved this analysis, and you noticed a lot of little details that are really cool! Thanks for sharing!!
Jonathan Robinson Glad you like it, thanks for reading. :)
Jonathan Robinson This is unrelated to the comment but I love your profile pic. I'm reading Monster book 1 now and loving it. And I agree with you about this film. It really is a brilliant work of art by a brilliant animation studio.
Jesus christ, I remember this when I was REALLY young. it was on a vhs with a few other claymations and the packaging stuck out in my mind because it was labeled something like 'adult cartoons'. It scared the fuck out of me. It still does. I'm scared to start this video...
Moral of the story aside, this must be how animals experience human talk.
This is a genius animation, which makes interesting points about how we adopt different "masks" to fit in with the people that surround us. The image of the two dustbins downing pints of beer is memorable.
Huh, I didn't quite understand this one when I was a kid but now, seeing it again for the first time _I completely understand it_.
2:15
Absolutely love this part
Chaze ez!
He’s got more faces than a Gemini lol but the first person who he spoke to actually saw through the mask he was parading around in even when he tried to force her to be like him , she spoke the truth about how he really was . He just wasn’t ready for the truth ; regardless what kind of pain it caused him . I love films like these.
Bloody love this. Wonderfully surreal piece of animation. Been looking for this for a long time, first time I've seen it in years!
Some of the music in this is incredible.
It's really a philosophical statement about how the character alters his personality to fit his surroundings, but is inevitably, more fundamentally altered himself. The clown mask represents this persona he hides behind, but he begins to look more and more like the mask as it changes his underlying peronality. Finally, he finds inner peace in his own skin, but on meeting another who is similar, cannot help but try to alter them; a grim commentary on humanity's intolerance
Hope this helps :)
one of the greatest and most moving animations i ever saw. And ranks with 'The Big Snit' as one of the funniest. Thanks for posting
when i used to go to my grandmas she used to make me watch this on VHS with a mix of the creature comforts the "HEAT ELECTRIC "adverts . i recently found the remastered DVD of the same VHS then i was so glad that indent was on it ! it used to freak me out so much now it has so much meaning !
Weird to think the director of this is now the director of Shawn the sheep
Alexandra Rioux haha yeh i know i just think it’s funny to think about
when i 1st saw this, i actually thought u could shoot arrows out of your mouth by saying "DA!!". I guess I lived a lie. I love this short btw.
I love this one.
Used to watch it as a kid.
When you feel there's no way out of this maze you need the guidance of a being who just lives life in the moment and perhaps is even aware that we are part of something larger than ourselves, that there is more than meets the eye beyond this caged in realty we've been invited to be a part of.
don't recall any invitation to my life and there also are absolutely no instruction books or msgs from above either.
It's a rough life a real thriller
Wow! All the arrows pointing the way we're told we should follow. The things we're told to do, the people we interact with and eventually being told who we should be. We go through life trying to fit into all these different personalities we think we need to conform to, but only to lose sight of we we really were.
Haven't seen this in yeeeeears. Feels weird knowing I wasn't the only one with this on VHS (the video was called Aardman Animations featuring Creature Comforts, for anyone who wants to know).
Ah, the memories. The wonderful, emotionally-scarring memories.
I first saw this on the Aardman collections video remember it being very disturbing
I didn't watch this as a kid, but I can imagine any child who saw this would have nightmares!
I used to have a vhs tape with all of these aardman shorts from the 80/90s on it. this was, by far, my fave one out of the bunch to watch as a kid. i wasnt particularly scared by it, i guess i just loved how surreal and dark it was. i was a strange kid lmao.
I can confirm it scarred me for life
i use to have this on vhs for some reason when i was a kid, use to creep me the fuck out
Omg me to! I think I remember one about a dude doing Shakespeare plays?
+Lily Mac Donald That used to make me cry when I was 4. So creepy...
exactly how I feel. what a great piece of animation. what a great piece of art
I bet that's how we'd look like if we were all hommonculi. Cool vid! Thx for upload :P
This is exactly how I knew this video too, grand ma and all. I was overjoyed when the DVD was released. For all your creature comforts, heat electric!
I saw this a long time ago at some sort of Aardman film festivle. I think it means that some of us put on different personalities when we talk to different people.
I remember watching this on an Aardman VHS tape when I was about 7 and being transfixed but scared. Now watching it as an adult it still holds that uncanny surrealism but is so *so* enjoyable!
I remember I used to watch a video of all the Aardman cartoons like this when I was a kid, can't remember what it was called but it's nice to see them all again
+Chip
Aardman Shorts
i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTUzWDU4OQ==/z/mgIAAOSwoydWnUKh/$_35.JPG
That's the one!
I still have my VHS. "Aardman Classics" is what it was called here. Doubt it's the same for different countries though. Mine was UK.
I used to watch this when I was little on a tape we had of shorts. I hope I find Next on here. That one was great.
I think Ident contains the first appearance of 'Rex The Runt' (the flat dog) which went on to become a weird animation (23 episodes in total / 2 series).
Strange to think that Aardman produced this and Wallace+Gromit and the more recent fluffy Shaun The Sheep.
Thank you!! As soon as i saw the dog i shouted. Rex !! This comment is so old , this corner of knowing really is niche lol
brilliant, so abstract, like a warhol film. when i watched this as a young kid, i never understood them, now i can view them differently
This was so strange, yet so easily relatable
its a brilliant take on human society how we all adapt to each others need in different human societies and cultures and it shows that very well
i find this film really moving but also kind of depressing because of how true it is
I actually really liked this. Its very clever and well thought out! Yes I also thought it was a bit strange and weird but I appreciated the message it was trying to convey and I thought it conveyed it very well :) You should never put a mask on in front of people. You must always be true to yourself to no matter what and if people don't accept that, who cares?. All in all, a very excellent short. :D
actually, this was richard golezowsky, who now directs the creature comforts and shaun the sheep shows.
At the end the character leaves the maze and meets a being just like him in every way, hinting that behind the many masks we're all the same and part of a whole, which we should work with and not against. Great message here!
This is just a classic example of the British lifestyle. Get up, pissed off, have a mouth full off the partner, late for work, try too hard with the boss, go to the pub, get drunk and end up looking like a idiot. When you miss a part of the cycle, things start to go astray.
Thought i was the only kid to have this on vhs, I used to love the 'Next' segment
1:37 made me laugh how he gets small when shouted at
Excellent animation, and story. I remember seeing this about 13 years ago. Am I right in thinking this was about the British working man's life and inability to escape?
I used to have this on VHS and DVD as Aardman Classics and I thought this animation was disturbing but it was very good and funny. It is one of the most bizarre animation shorts I've ever seen.
This is extremely disturbing.
The main character is not OK with himself, that's why he hides behind a mask, lets other people to change him and tries to change his other self.
its rex the runt!
It's a wobbly, bobbly, dribbly, squiggly dog!!!
0:18 Rex the Runt
Rex the runt makes his first apperance on this short...
My parents work for Aardmans, and I've always always had this in the back of my memory - only found out what it was called the other day. It's so disturbing... the 'mime artist' look I've been drawing all day... bloody wierd, but I appreciate it now.
Great video. loved it when I was little.
it is about appealing other people by being who they want them to be.The main character has his facial appearance changed several times throughout the video, only to find that he is surrounded by such a negative lifestyle. In attempt to leave this, he finds solitude away from others, to find a likewise self outside, but they then only change each other once again. In general, Humanity hates and loves individuality.
Wasn't expecting to see SiIvaGunner here.
2:14 my dad at the pub be like
I recently watched this for the first tme at 11pm and it freaked me out!!! and it still does!!!!
Out of all of the fucked up Aardman shorts I saw under the age of 6; Loves me not, Adam, Not without my handbag, Pib and Pog, etc, this one was the one that really fucked me up. The animation was so horrifying and so bizarre that it made me uncomfortable. I couldn't look away because I couldn't trust the tv enough to turn my back whilst this was playing. Damn it Aardman, you fucked me up...
Thanks Aardman. I love this. I love you. Never stop being creative.
This explains borderline personality disorder pretty well.
Hope you don't mind me asking but what makes you say that?
I've been looking for this for years. It appeared on C4's 4mations series when I was a school kid. I made my mate watch the repeat just for the "Chas has" bit. Me and him proceeded to drive our mates just going "Chas has! What Chas? Yeah chas! Naaah, not Chas! Yeah Chas has! Haha!
the dog looks like Vince from Rex The Runt (my favorite character ) !!
This movie is excellent !
I too had my fragile childhood mind warped by this video
It mainly about how people are forced into being what others want them to be, masking who they are because others do not accept it. He is changing who he really is by society and the people around him.
At least, that's what I see in this.
this is the weirdest animation by aardman!
i remember loving this for its weirdness but always getting freaked out :( I first saw this when i was like 8 :) I have the video but its still creepy every now and then :) but great :)
this used to creep mee out
Weird, that is exactly what I was just thinking...
beautifull
This totally reminds me of a SlipKnot or Tool music video hah! Eerie and very nicely done....
actually ignore that post - i just found the dvd with all the shorts on - its 'Aardman Classics' (2000)
This sort of shit you should watch after a few spliffs ... Remember having this on vhs as a kid a long with the sledgehammer video and the old bloke telling stories and the NEXT! Segment ... Good ol' times
I like the idea of the dog being the one that shows him the "way out", but I think a child could have been used here as well. Innocent beings who have not been tarnished by society because there's no time to worry about any of this, live life outside the maze and be the leader of your own existence.
This freaked the hell out of me as a kid.
*Leans in* Chez-ezz.
Chez-ezz??
Chez......ezz!!
This meant the world to me back in 1989! LOL So deep!!
I first saw this on an Aardman VHS when I was about 10...along with "Next" and a few other odd things...nedless to say I had absolutely NO IDEA what was going on lol
i love this!!
i saw this many years ago and as a kid it freaked me out! I agree with sotek30 on his opinion. Thats pretty much the same way i feel about his video and life. At work people try to twist and shape you into summin that you cannot be and its just like performing a juggling act in the end. Wide range of emotions out there in that video too. interesting. Im totally puttin this on my Myspace!
Anyone else used to have this along with other aardman films on a VHS?
@Mildly Amusing Channel Aardman classics. I thought a lot of them were just bad dreams I had. Pretty sure not all of that was for kids.
Yup.
its all about herd conformity
The video seems to me about how in society We change ourselves and others to appeal to each other, and hide our true selves behind masks. The main character has his facial appearance changed several times throughout the video, only to find that he is surrounded by such a negative lifestyle. In attempt to leave this, he finds solitude away from others, to find a likewise self outside, but they then only change each other once again. In general, Humanity hates and loves individuality.
whooo!!! it's rex the runt!!!
This is paranoic, apocalyptic and very nice.
After that, they made up and then became the "Finder" icon on the Macs.
"as often as I have been amongst men, I have returned less a man."
This is so fucking deep
AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-AYEH-ME ME ME YA YOU YOU YOU JAAAAAA MO JAAAAAA (Babble) Jezzes. Jezzes? Jezzes. Jez ezz. Ezzee? Jezzes? Ezzee? Yes. Ezzee? YES. What jezz? Aw woo. Jezz, woo. Jezz woo. NAAAAAHHHHHHH
I had a BIG laugh at that part, LOL. 2:21
wow! i used to watch this round my friends house when we were small! it used to crack us up!
i haven't seen it for about 10 years!
no to find a copy of it!
(if anyone has it on vhs or dvd send me a message - i'll buy a copy)
@mackoonac It's a symbol for everyday life, trapped in the same routine. It takes themes such as domestic abuse, alcoholism and stress and shows them in an abstract way. It's a disturbing idea of what life is becoming: an endless cycle, a cog in the system.
I must say, unsophisticated synth machines do make it creepier than Pennywise riding on Hannibal Lecter's back.
its bizarre enough for me, now i want to see more :)
@ThunderHeads69 Wow that's a very good explanation! It all makes sense now I was always extremely confused about this film when I was younger (up until 25 seconds ago actually lol!).
Yea i was 4 wen i 1st saw dis an it gave me nightmares!!
surprisingly i was not scared of this as a kid. but i was scared of the mcdonald’s jingle and pictures of the moon taken on those massive telescopes.
So, what is the symbolism behind this? It really used to scare me as a Kid, but now i'm doing film studies, I want to know want this really means.
haha, the dog in there's the same as rex the runt.. thought i'd point that out
That was really moving.
complete shot in the dark but does anyone know where I could get the song playing at 4:30 at?
15 years at least since I originally saw this one on VHS and I'll probably never know what it was Chas did. :P
This was on the British Animation Invasion, came through the rep theatres here in 1991...
Aardman iand Pixar always make good films :-)
Watching this at the age of 5 was just...scary. But watching it now, i realise the genius behind it. Still twisted though...
1:10 Weirdest scream in the Aardman universe
@ThunderHeads69 I Interpret the ending to be, he finds a quiet spot outside the rat race of everyday life, it's enjoyable at first but after a while he starts fighting with himself? like, he finds he can't stand his own company?
Amazing