Portrait of the Animator As a Young Man

Leo Bridle is only 19-years-old, but he has already amassed one of the most spirited, eye-catching collections of non-commercial shorts online. Along with content creators like PES and David Firth, Bridle belongs to a young generation of web amateurs who've used their imaginative animation techniques to break out and launch careers for themselves

This fall, Bridle heads to the Bournemouth Arts Institute to study animation, but the Southampton, England upstart has had very little professional training thus far. While in high school, he studied art and video, and recently finished a year-long course at the Winchester School of Art. But for the most part, Bridle says he has simply pursued his art "in my spare time," and is an avid watcher of music videos and innovative ad spots (he suggests: videos.antsvile.org).

Watching Bridle's videos, from the lively, herky-jerky jouissance of "Off the Beaten Track" and "Still Life with Flowers" to the breakdancing robots of "Short Circuit," it's easy to see the impact of his two biggest influences, French filmmaker Michel Gondry and Czech animator Jan Svankmajer.
He also cites inspirations from British animators like Tim Hope and Run Wrake to early French magician-filmmaker Georges Melies to contemporary world auteurs Jean Pierre Jeunet and Hayao Miyazaki.

Whatever his influences, Bridle exudes a sense of joy and whimsy in all of his work that is very much his own. "I suppose I'm quite an optimistic person," admits Bridle. "I try to be positive and enthusiastic in making the films too, which is probably part of how they've become successful."