Gary Larson's Tales from the Far Side
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Gary Larson's Tales From the Far Side is an animated short film created in 1994 by Gary Larson, based on his The Far Side comic strip. It was first shown as a Halloween special on US television, and later was awarded the Grand Prix at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival.
The film is loosely structured, jumping between several simple stories. Many of these situations use staple cliches of horror films, such as undead monsters and the dark and stormy night. The stories sometimes turn macabre, but are presented in a lighthearted fashion. They are mainly as those in the printed comic, including lots of background throwaway gags from well-known panels.
The characters and settings are all common to Larson's work, such as aliens, anthropomorphic animals and other objects, and cowboys in the Old West. The art style essentially the same as that of The Far Side, though the film necessarily adds animation and sound effects.
The film features an original music score by jazz guitarist Bill Frisell. Some of the compositions from the soundtrack are included on his album Quartet.
The film was released on VHS, and can still be purchased from online stores. In 1997 it spawned a sequel, Tales From the Far Side II.
It is worth noting that two versions of Tales From the Far Side were released. The original airing has a slightly different audio track. The final scene with Bob's Monster truck originally contained Exploding Kids. The later release contains, the less macabre, Garden Rakes.
