“The Facts In The Case of Mr. Valdemar” by Bahij Jaroudi

The tenth and concluding entry in our 2010 Cartoon Brew TV Student Animation Festival: The Facts In The Case of Mr. Valdemar was made by Bahij Jaroudi for the MA program at Kingston University. The story is based on an 1845 Edgar Allen Poe story “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar”. Traditional animated interpretations of Poe have been rooted in an illustrative tradition, a la the UPA classic The Tell-Tale Heart (1953). Jaroudi’s approach runs counter to convention, and he creates a bright and exaggerated interpretation of Poe’s story with nods to the cartooniest of animators and cartoonists like Rod Scribner and Basil Wolverton. Poe’s gory details, which at point includes a description of Valdemar’s eyes leaking a “profuse outflowing of a yellowish ichor,” are played for comic effect in Jaroudi’s short.

Visit Cartoon Brew TV to comment about the film, read more about the short, and interact with the filmmaker.