Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Haunted Hogmanay (2006)

 
Here’s something fun:  stop-motion PC!  Haunted Hogmanay is an animated television short that’s comically spooky and very, very Scottish.  Definitely an amusing way to spend half an hour.
 
The story finds Jeff, a paranormal investigator, joining a ghost hunt at the behest of his unscrupulous brother-in-law Thurston.  Jeff adores the tales of Morag Lachlan MacLachlan, the ghost of an executed criminal who allegedly haunts Edinburgh every Hogmanay (that’s the Scottish term for New Year’s Eve,) but Thurston is out to turn a profit.  He plans to debunk the myth, film it, and sell it as the pilot for a TV series, making a mint in his get-famous-quick scheme.  You can probably guess which of them is right as to the existence of the ghost.
 
Jeff is a fun role for PC.  He’s bright but timid, easily flustered.  While he relishes the thought of seeing a real ghost, he’s long-sufferingly irritated at being dragged into one of Thurston’s capers, and he’s not exactly lion-hearted in the face of danger. 
 
As for the animation, it’s a different experience to hear PC act without seeing him.  His appearance often lends an intensity to his work (his sharp eyes, his toothy grin, his mind-of-their-own eyebrows,) and it’s interesting to see what kind of character he creates with just his voice.  I can’t quite picture him playing someone as nebbish and put-upon as Jeff in live action, certainly not in 2006.
 
In addition to the pre-Eleventh-Doctor get-up and the requisite cockamamie hair, as you can see from the picture, Jeff believes in monsters and constructs his own gadgets – his unfortunately-acronymed Spectral Anomaly Detector is a prototype made from an old toaster.  Clearly, someone is a Doctor in training.
 
One more Jeff-and-Thurston romp, coming tomorrow.  In the meantime, here are my first thoughts:
 
Accent Watch
 
Scottish ghost-hunter!
 
Recommend?
 
In General – Sure.  It’s a fun stop-motion adventure that’s not overly kiddish, and I like the animation a lot.
 
PC-wise – Quite possibly.  Jeff is an amusing doormat, and I think it’s interesting to see actors you’re used to in live-action take on animated roles – different skillset for sure.
 
Warnings
 
Light spookiness and criminal activity.  A little drinking and a bit of bathroom humor.

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