Submarine Channel

Even though it’s a bit early in the year for it, we bring you the not-definitive Top 5 of the Best Animated Music Videos of 2014.

When the Klik! Animation Festival calls on you to pick the best music video of 2014 from their two-hour screening program, you say, “Yes!”

Klik!’s longlist contained 37 kick ass promos from all over the globe. All harvested from an even larger pool of entries submitted to the festival. We came to the conclusion that 2014 was the year of the music video. Giving an award to just one was not going to be easy. But the 2Pause jury verdict was unanimous, and no jury blood was spilled.

The winning video, directed by Rob Shaw, checked every box. (Scroll down to find out more about our criteria). But it did more that that. It stroke a chord, made a mark, rang a bell, lingered on in our minds, while challenging our definition of what makes a good animated music video.

1. The Uncluded – Organs (dir. Rob Shaw)

Our big winner was this beautiful music video that cleverly combines a DIY vibe with a classic stop-motion technique. The works of Starewitch and Svankmaijer come to mind – two respected pioneers of the stop motion genre. The animation perfectly fits the song’s indie vibe, and it features adorable yet relatable characters, while never failing for one second to deliver a powerful and inspirational message: “donate your organs.”

2. Wende – Last Resistance (dir. Aimee de Jongh)

Worthy of a special mention, this beautiful and haunting promo by Dutch animator and recent graphic novel debutante Aimee de Jongh charmed us with its understated but poetic wintery atmosphere. We were particularly impressed by the incredible relationship between the music and visuals it establishes, making both of them shine when joined together.

3. Pelo Mono – Cortocircuito en la Selva (dir. Perles & Perles)

Tribal beats, brilliant use of colors with a hypnotic mix of styles, this music video constantly kept us on edge making us wonder what’s going to follow next. Mesmerizing in every way. Made by the small animation studio Perles et Perles, Pele Mono was the first winner in a Spanish music video contest that fosters collaborations between audiovisual creators and musicians.

4. Efrat Ben-zur – Robin (dir. Merav Nathan, Yuval Nathan)

The very touching story of a little robin bird combined with the stunning design delivered by Merav and Yuval Nathan create in this music video an overall incredible experience. The promo also had the best, the most realistic and most detailed character design from the selection.

5. Cuushe – Airy Me (dir. Yoko Kuno)

Anime on acid. This simply mind-blowing student work emerged from the Tama Art University in Tokyo. Animation student Yoko Kuno created an incredibly accomplished and fluid animation. This is what a nightmarish out-of-body experience must be like. With its surreal and haunting images, this music video commands your attention from the first hand-drawn frame up to the very last one.

Your friendly neighborhood music video jury consisted of Maria Dicieanu – curator and managing editor of our (now defunct but still online) music video portal 2Pause.com, Remco Vlaanderen, editor-in-chief of Submarine Channel, and special jury member, director and animator Sverre Fredriksen (When I am King). Now go and check out his work.

So what did we look for in a winner, you ask? These were our down and dirty criteria:
~ The video should be interesting to watch, stand out and intrigue (predictable is not good).
~ have high production values (measured not by budget but by the quality time and the amount of love that was put into it).
~ and, perhaps most importantly, the music and visuals should work better together than they would do apart (1+1=3).

Our thanks goes out to Klik! for inviting us to be part of their jury with Sverre Fredriksen.