Minotaur and Little Nerkin

Minotaur and Little Nerkin is a 1999 British^[1] animated short film created by Aardman Animations. Its full name appears, according to the film itself, to be Minotaur and Little Nerkin in Bait, suggesting that its name is in fact "Bait", as an episode of a suggested series of films called Minotaur and Little Nerkin, of which no other episodes were made, or that the name of the film is Bait and is merely stating it stars Minotaur and Little Nerkin. Regardless, Minotaur and Little Nerkin is the name used on the packaging for the Aardman Classics DVD.

Plot

Imdb explains the synopsis: "What could possibly tempt the tastebuds of an anthropomorphized bull and his tiny duck-like friend? A severed hand! Dee-lish! But be careful - we've heard that baked hand causes heartburn!"

One day, a green duck, passes the house of the Minotaur and Little Nerkin, and seemingly impressed by Minotaur, who is dancing to music (a version of "Walk Don't Run", originally by The Ventures) to persuade him to come into the house. As the duck entered, he saw Little Nerkin, the severed hand bouncing on the table, in which then made the duck quacks to Minotaur if he is allowed to eat Little Nerkin, to which Minotaur agrees. It is then seen cooking in the microwave as the flesh turns to a golden tan. However, it does indeed called heartburn, and before he knows it, it turns out this was Minotaur's plan, and the duck is then seen in the microwave as part of a pie. Minotaur tucks in just as the credits roll, showing photos of both Minotaur and Little Nerkin together.

Characters

• Minotaur
• Little Nerkin
• Duck

Production

Films at 59 was responsible for the sound. The film is in CGI, and was produced in Softimage 3D and Photoshop 5.^[2]

The film was included in the 2004 DVD Aardman Classics.^[3]

Critical reception

On imdb, Minotaur and Little Nerkin received a rating of 4.4/10 from 94 users as of February 2016.^[4]

Dr. Grob's Animation Review gave the film two stars out of five, saying whilst the film is "remarkable for its morbid humor and original technique, it is nonetheless an ugly and unfunny film, that fails to entertain, let alone impress the viewer."^[5] However, Aardman had included it on their compilation release of Aardman Classics, composed of some of their short films they consider to be classic.

References