The Nightwatchman

Short Film (Full Length) – 1993

Anyone

Set in a world where animal is vegetable and the creepy crawlies are just that, this short film showcases the trippy talents of animators Joe Wylie (Kiwi classics Te Rerenga Wairua, Bride of Frankenstein) and John Robertson (internationally lauded for his commercials work). Following a nightwatchman whose meddling kicks evolution into overdrive at the pesticide factory, the film injects a chirruping, clanking ambient score into a petri dish of Naked Lunch, The Fly and and some B-movie black comedy. It was selected for France's Annecy Animation Festival in 1993.

(Wylie's) five year stint on the animation assembly line gave him an extensive understanding of the animation medium.
– Art New Zealand article, on Wylie's time working for Hanna-Barbera productions in Australia