Doomtomylo
a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.
KnotStronger
This is a must-see and one of the best documentaries - and films - of this year.
Billy Ollie
Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable
Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
This is a 10-minute short film from 50 years ago that won the Oscar back then. And even if I did not like it as much as I hoped I would, I am still fine with this decision by the Academy. One reason is that I can see smart writing in here, even if it did not really appeal to me, but the much bigger reason is that it got Chuck Jones an Oscar finally. He was possibly the most notable cartoon director from the 20th century and it's nice to see him awarded finally. He co-directed this one with Maurice Noble, somebody who worked on films like "Dumbo" or "Snow White" and was also a prolific animator since the 1930s, just like Jones himself. "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics" is probably a really good watch for everybody with an interest in mathematics, or I should maybe say geometry as I have always been quite fond of mathematics himself. The romance story in here was so-so and to me personally it felt more like an educational movie than something which really has a decent deal of emotion. They could have increased that one for sure. Then again, making a moving (in the sense of the heart) film about a cold and factual subject like mathematics is probably a really tough challenge. I guess Jones, Noble and Norman Juster made a solid job all in all taking this into account. However, I hoped for more looking at how this won an Oscar. Not recommended and there are hundreds of short films that Jones made that are better than this one.
sandrajolly
When I first read the book version of the Dot and the Line, I had to supply the voice and "music" in my imagination, but I thought the book was wonderful. Just a few lines on a page and some words, but it really was romance. The justification for the characters' behavior was so real! I felt for the Line from the very beginning, and hated his rival. My feelings for the Dot were mixed. I just kept wishing she would come to her senses and see the Line for the great guy that he really was! When I was able to view the animated version a few years later, I was happy to see that my own interpretation was pretty much spot-on. I did enjoy the music, and I enjoyed seeing my characters come to "life" as it were. The movie was a faithful rendering of the book, which to me is still a classic! I lent my copy to a friend over ten years ago, and have not gotten it back yet...it is still making the rounds and I hope, making many other people smile.
Robert Reynolds
This short won an Academy Award and justly so. While others have said the scripted narration is not terribly good, I disagree. There are one or two excessively florid points, but Robert Morley's marvellous reading covers those and overall, the scripted narration is good. The animation succeeds in part because of the narration. Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble have every right to be well pleased with this cartoon. Why it isn't in print, I don't understand. Highly Recommended.
Petry
Yes: Amazing coincidence (and shades of the Blair Witch coincidence) Mr. Richard Wiley Jerome and I, Mr. Raymond Kenneth Petry, both of Sacramento CA USA at that time in Arden Junior High School, did Norton Juster's, The Dot And The Line, on his family's home movie camera - we called it, Planar-Vision - the camera had a single-frame feature, and with their tripod looking down on our display board, we pinned variously cloth cuttings of the Dot, velvet hemming for the Line (except when he looked thin and drawn and on-edge, we drew him, on-the-edge) and Squiggle was mohair yarn ... we shot the whole story. For voice we added his little sister, Jeanie, and for hours we re-recorded over our giggles and laughter, till we had it just right and well-timed: then we single-shot each scene straight-through by timings.In 1965-69, we went to Rio Americano High School, and showed our mathematics class, eventually: We were both scholars: Rich went on to be Salutatorian for Rio Americano in 1969, and matriculated at Stanford, and I took 1st Place in the Central Valleys Math Quiz (against the MAA perfect-top-scorer) in 1969, and matriculated at UCSD, for my BA in mathematics.The Dot and The Line is a most memorable story done in fun: We're delighted that Hollywood thought enough of it, too./rkp
