‘Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People’ Gets U.S. Distributor, Oscar-Qualifying Run

One of the year’s zaniest and best-received indie animated features is coming to American shores. L.A.’s Outsider Pictures has acquired Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People for North America and will have its Oscar-qualifying run starting December 15 at Laemmle NoHo 7 in North Hollywood.

Inspired by the work of acclaimed Brazilian cartoonist Angeli, the stop-motion film has a meta premise worthy of Charlie Kaufman. The titular Bob lives in a post-apocalyptic desert which is in fact the inside of Angeli’s mind. The artist is determined to kill his character off, but Bob decides to fight back and confront his creator. Outsider has released a trailer:

Earlier this year, Bob Spit was named best film in Annecy’s Contrechamp competition, which focuses on experimental and offbeat works. It then took the top feature prize at Ottawa International Animation Festival, becoming the first Latin American film to do so.

Bob Spit is the feature debut of director Cesar Cabral, who previously helmed a stop-motion series based on Angeli’s work, Angeli the Killer. The feature is produced by his Coala Filmes, with Ivan Melo serving as producer.

“The proposal of the series was to bring new life to the universe of the magazine Chiclete com Banana, a huge success in the 1980s–1990s,” Cabral tells Variety, which first reported the news of the acquisition. “The movie shows Bob as an older tough punk guy, like an Iggy Pop, from those comics.”

The full list of animated features that have qualified for next year’s Oscar is due to be confirmed soon. We’ll bring it to you once it has been.