Daddy's Little Bit of Dresden China
Encyclopedia
Daddy's Little Bit of Dresden China (incorrectly listed on several websites, including IMDB, as Daddie's Little Piece of Dresden China) is a 1988 short film by British
animator
Karen Watson. The animation is an autobiographical account of Watson's childhood, during which she was molested
by her father. Several styles of animation are used: most of the scenes taking place in Watson's house are made using puppet animation
, while other parts of the film - most notably some scenes taking place in a pub - render the characters as collage
s of torn-up photographs against a black background. A short sequence at the start, setting the scene with a modified retelling of Snow White
, uses more conventional-looking drawn animation.
The puppets in the home sequences are made from household objects: the young Karen Watson is made from feathers with a doll's house vase as a head, her mother is made from miniature kitchen utensils with a model bunch of grapes as a head, while the father is made from scrap metal and has a vice-like beak. In addition, Karen Watson is often shown with a piece of tape covering her mouth, while her mother sometimes has tape over her eyes.
The pub scenes - the only parts of the film in which the characters talk, as the home scenes are narrated by the adult Karen Watson - involve a group of men discussing sexually abusive fathers, and are used to underline popular conceptions and misconceptions of the issue ("All these lasses gotta do is say no", ventures one man). The scenes convey the theme of sexism
symbolically: the bartender turns into a giant and caresses a tiny barmaid, while a group of card players sprinkle cigarette ash on pictures of naked women.
The film was shot on 16 mm film
and runs eight minutes. It is today very rarely seen.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
animator
Animator
An animator is an artist who creates multiple images that give an illusion of movement called animation when displayed in rapid sequence; the images are called frames and key frames. Animators can work in a variety of fields including film, television, video games, and the internet. Usually, an...
Karen Watson. The animation is an autobiographical account of Watson's childhood, during which she was molested
Sexual abuse
Sexual abuse, also referred to as molestation, is the forcing of undesired sexual behavior by one person upon another. When that force is immediate, of short duration, or infrequent, it is called sexual assault. The offender is referred to as a sexual abuser or molester...
by her father. Several styles of animation are used: most of the scenes taking place in Watson's house are made using puppet animation
Stop motion
Stop motion is an animation technique to make a physically manipulated object appear to move on its own. The object is moved in small increments between individually photographed frames, creating the illusion of movement when the series of frames is played as a continuous sequence...
, while other parts of the film - most notably some scenes taking place in a pub - render the characters as collage
Collage
A collage is a work of formal art, primarily in the visual arts, made from an assemblage of different forms, thus creating a new whole....
s of torn-up photographs against a black background. A short sequence at the start, setting the scene with a modified retelling of Snow White
Snow White
"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
, uses more conventional-looking drawn animation.
The puppets in the home sequences are made from household objects: the young Karen Watson is made from feathers with a doll's house vase as a head, her mother is made from miniature kitchen utensils with a model bunch of grapes as a head, while the father is made from scrap metal and has a vice-like beak. In addition, Karen Watson is often shown with a piece of tape covering her mouth, while her mother sometimes has tape over her eyes.
The pub scenes - the only parts of the film in which the characters talk, as the home scenes are narrated by the adult Karen Watson - involve a group of men discussing sexually abusive fathers, and are used to underline popular conceptions and misconceptions of the issue ("All these lasses gotta do is say no", ventures one man). The scenes convey the theme of sexism
Sexism
Sexism, also known as gender discrimination or sex discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's gender that indirectly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas...
symbolically: the bartender turns into a giant and caresses a tiny barmaid, while a group of card players sprinkle cigarette ash on pictures of naked women.
The film was shot on 16 mm film
16 mm film
16 mm film refers to a popular, economical gauge of film used for motion pictures and non-theatrical film making. 16 mm refers to the width of the film...
and runs eight minutes. It is today very rarely seen.