Quasi at the Quackadero (1975)

Sally Cruikshank

Sally Cruikshank as animator
Kathryn Lenihan as ink and paint artist

Stephen Halbert as sound engineer
Bob Armstrong and Al Dodge as music composers

Snazelle Films

09/11/1975

10 minutes

Technicolour

Synopsis

A couple, Quasi and Anita, visit a psychedelic amusement park with bizarre attractions such as a television that reveals the visitors’ shining moments from their memories, mirrors that reflect one’s appearance throughout the ages, a painter who can draw the visitor’s mind, and a magician who conjures the so-called reincarnation of oneself. Quasi and Anita are visiting a gallery with windows that open into the historical past when Anita tricks Quasi into falling through one of the windows, keeping him in the prehistoric period forever.

Quasi at the Quackadero is the first animation directed by Sally Cruikshank. After screening at the Ann Arbour Film Festival, it was picked up for exhibition rentals at midnight shows where it became extremely popular. Later, it was screened on mainstream television platforms such as Cartoon Network (CN) (Mittell 86). In 1975, Quasi was submitted for Oscar consideration, but it never received a nomination (Beck). In 2009, Quasi was selected by the Library of Congress of the United States of America for preservation (“Michael Jackson, the Muppets, and Early Cinema Tapped for Preservation in 2009 Library of Congress National Film Registry”).

References:

Mittell, Jason. Genre and Television, Taylor & Francis Group, 2004.

Beck, Jerry. “Cartoons Considered for an Academy Award 1975.” Cartoon Research, 13 Nov. 2017, cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1975.

“Michael Jackson, the Muppets and Early Cinema Tapped for Preservation in 2009 Library of Congress National Film Registry.” Library of Congress, 29 Dec. 2009, www.loc.gov/item/prn-09-250/2009-selections-to-the-national-film-registry-announced/2009-12-30.