The Dizzy Dwarf: A strange, spinning piece of animation history

Is it worth your time?

If you're into the history of animation or just want to see how they handled fairy tales before everything got polished and corporate, yeah, watch it. If you need high-stakes drama or something that makes total sense, you're gonna hate it. It's short, it's weird, and it feels like it crawled out of a different dimension.

The whole thing has this jittery, frantic energy that I actually kinda liked. It’s not like those smooth, modern cartoons where everything moves like liquid. Here, the characters seem to vibrate. When the dwarf starts spinning that straw, you really feel like he might snap at any second. The animation is honestly a bit jumpy, but it gives the whole film a fever-dream quality that I wasn't expecting.

There's a scene where the sister is just standing there, and the expression on her face changes in this really unnatural way. It’s not smooth, it’s just… poof, now she's terrified. It’s fascinating. It reminds me a bit of the frantic pacing in The Riddle of the Tin Soldier, where you just have to accept that logic is taking a backseat to the visuals.

The dwarf himself is a piece of work. He’s not cute. He’s got this intense, beady-eyed look that makes me wonder if he’s actually the hero or the villain. Usually, you’d compare these kinds of things to more grounded stories like The Big Timer, but this doesn't care about being grounded. It wants to spin straw into gold and it wants to do it now.

Some quick notes from my watch:

• The background art looks like someone was rushing to finish before the lights went out.
• The dwarf’s movements are surprisingly aggressive for a guy who just hangs out in a room spinning stuff.
• I swear the king spends half the movie looking like he’s about to fall asleep in his own chair.
• There's a weird silence in some spots where you’d expect music, but maybe the print I saw was just funky.

It’s not a masterpiece, and it definitely isn't trying to be. It feels more like a sketch that someone decided to turn into a movie because, why not? It’s not as heavy as something like Sodom and Gomorrah, obviously. It’s just a tiny, golden nugget of weirdness. 🤷‍♂️

I didn't think I'd be thinking about this tomorrow, but here I am. The way the dwarf disappears into the shadows is still sticking with me. It’s not sophisticated, but it works better than it has any right to. If you find it, just don't expect a relaxing time. It’s a bit dizzying, honestly.