This film was my attempt to make a “gag cartoon.” A friend a long time ago told me a story about seeing a circus as child in which an acrobat was horribly hurt. He remembered some little clown leaping ferociously out of his pants trying to distract the audience of children from the injured person as he was attended to. The film was also an opportunity to work with a number of people I admired. I’d seen Erik Fratzke’s band “Zebulon Pike” and thought it would be great for him to create a musical score, applying his particular aesthetic to a gag cartoon format. And I also wanted to animate with a few of my talented students. Andrew Chesworth, Victor Courtright and Julia Vickerman all “performed” with a character of their own design and Ke “Jackie” Jiang animated the turkey-like stage. We essentially improvised the film off of the developing musical track, in what I would like to think of as a “method animation” style. I also had some clever graphic ideas about the look of the film that involved a malfunctioning printing press. The individual color passes that were designed into the circus poster, which was supposed to be the graphic space in which the action occurred, would separate from the character’s line and take on a life of their own. Unfortunately, my computer processing power and my own patience were limited at the moment and I didn’t follow through entirely with this idea.
Way back in September 2007 I promised to review Tom Schroeder’s The Mexican Cloud-Swing Disaster. Tom works at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and he enlisted some very talented students and recent graduates on his project. Three circus clowns perform their routines accompanied by an acrobat who falls to the ground. There does appear concern but little action from her fellow performers though life outside the ring, skyscrapers looming large, seems intimidating enough for them all to get back quickly despite some gyrations from the ring itself, suddenly itself metamorphosing into a dancing creature. Clearly Tom allowed his team to create different aspects of the whole, Andrew for example drawing and animating the flowered clown. Synchronised dancing and neat figure animation of the clowns are features here, the action going surreal to coincide with the more discordant music towards the close (an excellent soundtrack from Erik Fratzke). The colour scheme is extremely striking with the animated figures showcasing the collaborators' talents well. Andrew Chesworth, Victor Courtright, Julia Vickerman co-animate, the talented Ke Jiang and Sara Pocock also involved. There are shades of darkness as well as big top colour, particularly as chaos lurks just outside the tent. I featured Tom's Yellow Bird some time back. His work really impresses me.
Ian Lumsdum, Animation Blog
Tom Schroeder's 'The Mexican Cloud Swing Disaster' is a major departure from his previous calmly observational films. It focuses on a circus ring in which three clowns of varying appearance fight over the limelight, only partially aware that a female acrobat has fallen to the ground behind them. Schroeder works at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and enlisted some talented recent graduates to help with this film, which accounts for the wild, improvisatory nature which mirrors the discordant music by Erik Fratzke. As the act and the narrative spin out of control, the clowns stumble out of the circus ring into a cityscape, and then the ring itself comes to life to join in their cavorting. Very strange and experimental, 'The Mexican Cloud Swing Disaster' is all about energy and the viewing experience. Those looking for a coherent story will be disappointed but this is another fine work from Schroeder, displaying the impressive scope of his considerable talents.
Andy Goulding, 1001 Animated Films You Must See