I’ve enjoyed the animated shorts of Bill Plympton since they showed up on MTV as bumpers. They were quirky physical comedy pieces that were drawn with a colored pencil feel to the action. He had been able to capture that slapstick wildness and wit of Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and Bob Clampett for the modern times (which at that point was the end of the ’80s). I didn’t know at the time that many of those MTV bits were thirty second segments taken from his shorts. This was the land before the internet and Wikipedia. I did get lucky during my time in film school when Bill Plympton showed up. During his talk, he showed us quite a few of the full shorts. At the end, he told us that he had another feature film that would be coming out soon, but he didn’t want to share too many details. This movie turned out to be I Married A Strange Person! And it is truly a strange movie with all the charms and wildness that makes Bill Plympton’s work irresistible to the eyes.
A pair of migrating birds hook up in midair for a romantic interlude. Things don’t go right and the birds bump into a TV satellite dish on top of a house. The knocked over dish beams a signal inside the house that hits Grant Boyer (Tom Larson) in the head. Something unusual happens to him that manifests when his wife Keri (Bring Out The Dead‘s Charis Michelsen) gets extra frisky with him while he’s trying to do a little work in his home office. After she teases him, the duo slip into the bedroom for what turns out to be a massive shock. She calls her mother in a panic except the phone turns into bones. She takes Grant to her parents’ house although neither of them are happy that their daughter married Grant. The parents have cut him out of his wedding photo. He has quite an bout of awkward silence with the old man. Dad’s prayer before they eat soup is outrageous. The dinner gets weird a mom goes buggy and dad’s head explodes with music. Grant embraces his special powers when he causes a blade of grass to become huge and attack his lawnmowing neighbor. Smilecorp TV network is having major ratings issues. Programing executives are pitching Amoeba wrestling and rocks in love. They discover Grant and his wild abilities when he goes on talk show. He blows the audience away when he “reworks” a stand up comic’s dismal set. The head of the network “recruits” him with extreme measures. Keri has serious issues with a husband who can do extremely strange things including turning her into other women and turn her body parts into balloon animals while making love. Will his strange abilities save his marriage? Can he survive the network executive?
I Married A Strange Person! has quite a few fun musical moments especially when Grant is trying to make things better with Keri. It’s what you’d expect from a classic MGM musical except this is weirder. Plympton’s animation has the same feel as his shorts with the colored pencil feel. He shades with pencil squiggles. Grant’s strange powers makes him the perfect Plympton character. He does extreme things to himself and others that are so trippy. It also helps that he has that corporate hunky look like Clark Kent without glasses, but without a cape. The film is always visually interesting as people and objects transform by Grant’s whimsical thoughts. Like the time I met Plympton, I don’t want to give away the weirdness that awaits you. I Married A Strange Person! is the best elements of Plympton expanded out into a feature film.
The Video is 1.66:1 anamorphic. This is a new restoration off the original 35mm camera negative. This is the uncut version. The Audio is DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo. The sound track gets as weird as the visuals. The movie is subtitled in English.
“Guide Dog” (5:46) is a sequel to Plympton’s Oscar nominated “Guard Dog.” This time the dog lands a job helping out the seeing impaired. He might not be up for such a responsibility.
“The Loneliest Stoplight” (6:18) has Patton Oswalt (Mystery Science Theater 3000) as the voice of a stoplight in the middle of nowhere. He recounts the busiest day of his life.
Video interview (43:41) with Bill Plympton about the making of STRANGE PERSON!, moderated by Dennis Bartok of Deaf Crocodile. Plympton shows off his animation studio in Manhattan. He used to work out of his apartment. Once he got busy and had more employees, he needed a real studio space. He talks about getting into digital animation in 2005 with Guard Dog. It was a bit of a change from his hand painted cells. But it saved him time and money making this transition. It also allows him to pay his artists more than the costs associated with film. Also saves him to no longer ship 35mm in the mail. He explains how this feature film happened after making The Tune. This is the first of a two-part interview so there must be another Bill Plympton film coming to Blu-ray soon.
Commentary track by animation producer and podcaster Adam Rackoff, podcaster and film critic James Hancock and longtime Plympton collaborator John Holderried of Plymptoons Studio. They talk about how the movie played Sundance in the dramatic competition. Holderried describes how he made the erotic calculator imagery. Plympton did have the voice actors act out scenes for rotoscoping.
Deaf Crocodile presents I Married A Strange Person! Directed by Bill Plympton. Screenplay by Bill Plympton and P.C. Vey. Starring the voices of Charis Michelsen, Tom Larson, Richard Spore, Chris Cooke, Ruth Ray, J.B. Adams & John Russo Jr. Running Time: 73 minutes. Rating: Unrated. Release Date: June 10, 2025.
