Pacionsbo Absolutely Fantastic

Invaderbank The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

Zlatica One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Mr-Fusion There's some twisted stuff going on in "Billy's Balloon"and it is hilarious. Why in the world would a balloon want to attack a small child? And what harm could it possibly do? Don Hertzfeldt happily answers one of those questions and this is a fine example of simplistic animation (and perverse intent) executed for serious laughs. the sens of humor is fantastic; just when you think you know what'll happen, Hertzfeldt flips the script. Violent without being violent. The man's a genius.8/10

Rectangular_businessman A funny short from Don Hertzfeldt, which has all the common elements present in most of his works : An apparently innocent beginning, a very simplistic, but very appealing art style, and lots, lots of black humor, with many twisted jokes contained in a very short time.The result is pretty effective, and well done. Even when this doesn't have the same level of complexity of "Everything Will Be OK" or "I Am So Proud Of You", this is a pretty good gag short, that serves to show how through animation even the most harmless thing, such as a balloon could be turned into something scary.Also, it's hilarious.

hippofairy so... it's a cartoon, where nobody dies, there's no blood, and the only violence involved is with a balloon. how much better can it get? plus we've all played hit-your-friend-in-the-head-with-the-balloon when we were kids. this is just one of the funniest things that i've ever watched. Rolling on the floor laughing funny. The first time i saw Billy's Balloon was at the Hawaii International Film Festival, and it was being screened with a whole bunch of other shorts. Billy was the best by far. It also introduced me to Bitterfilms and Don who i absolutely adore. if you like billy's balloon, check out Don's other work. you won't be disappointed.

tedg This is a replacement comment. The original bothered a diligent reader, so I have made some expansion.Animation is like any film type: artists ally to certain philosophies, perhaps without realizing it. In the case of animation, it bumps up against that great American invention, noir. That's the notion that there is a world in the movie that is manipulated by forces unseen. Hapless characters are the manipulated and the fact that we are on the scene influences that manipulation somehow.With animation, its all about how objects act, how the environment conspires or not. Not all animators deal with objects the same way.In my original comment, I made two assertions. One was that the Czech animator Jan Svankmajer was sort of an icon for and a teacher of one school of philosophy so far as this cinematic religion. It has nothing at all to do with darkness, or political statements, or humor — that is all applied superficially. Its about how the strings behind the world are connected; what objects MEAN and how we sit on some of those strings. I say that Hertzfeldt is in this tradition and that he changes it not a whit. Does that make him less of an artist? That's up to you. He masters the philosophy without changing it, but his mastery is more engaging. Its the difference between the guy who writes the movie and the actor, between the composer and the fiddler. You decide.The second point I made was that I supposed Hertzfeldt saw a rough version of "pad" that was being circulated in film schools at the time. The stories there and here are similar. I am NOT saying he plagiarized, but to me the influence is clear.Having restated these two points, I can say that 1) this is fun.2) this is not important in my mind. He's done stuff that is, and I would like you to see it instead. It is not personal, nor unique, nor valuable watching like some of Hertzfeldts stuff can be. Pass on this unless you don't want to explore better stuff.Ted's Evaluation -- 1 of 3: You can find something better to do with this part of your life.