Odd Animated Gems

High Fidelity is a 2000 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Stephen Frears, starring John Cusack, Iben Hjejle, Jack Black, Todd Louiso, and Lisa Bonet. The film is based on the 1995 British novel of the same name by Nick Hornby, with the setting moved from London to Chicago and the protagonist's name changed. Hornby expressed surprise at how faithful the adaptation was, saying "at times, it appears to be a film in which John Cusack reads my book."

Heaven and Earth Magic is a 1962 American avant-garde independent cutout animation film directed by visual artist, filmmaker and mystic Harry Everett Smith. Jonas Mekas gave the film its title Heaven and Earth Magic in 1964/65.

Quasi at the Quackadero is a 1975 animated short by Sally Cruikshank. This cartoon follows two anthropomorphic ducks and a pet robot at an amusement park where phenomena such as time travel, telepathy, and reincarnation are exhibited as sideshow attractions. In 2009, it was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.

The short stars Quasi, "an infantile duck with buck front teeth, thick glasses and a red cape", voiced by Kim Deitch; Anita, which one writer described as "Betty Boop with a New Wave wardrobe" and whose Mae West-like voice was supplied by Cruikshank, and robot Rollo. They progress through the Quackadero, a Coney Island-esque sideshow with such attractions as the Hall of Time Mirrors, which depict the viewer as he or she will look in "old age" or "100 years from now"; the Roll Back Time Machine, in which Quasi watches a skyscraper's life running backward; the Think-o-Blink Machine, which illustrates one's thoughts; the game show-like act "Your Shining Moment"; Madame Xano's, where the audience can see last night's dreams; and the Time Holes, in which one can lean on a railing and see a live slice of three million years ago unfold.

Super 8 mm film is a motion-picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format.