The Tell-Tale Heart Short Film

The Tell-Tale Heart Short Film

While looking for an appropriate Halloween article to write, this gem graced my email. While Edgar Allen Poe’s work has had endless translations this film is one of my all-time favorites.

By comicoverlord - Oct 31, 2011 12:10 AM EST
Filed Under: Horror
Source: Tell-Tale Heart

The Tell-Tale Heart has been the subject of dozens, if not hundreds of comic book and film adaptations. One that is near and dear to my heart is the animated short film from 1953, directed by Ted Parmelee (Rocky and Bullwinkle) and narrated by the great James Mason (Stanley Kubrik’s Lolita.) The real brilliance of the film, however, lies in the outstanding design work of Paul Julian, who also went on to work with Roger Corman on Dementia 13 among other films and animations for Warner Brothers.



Nominated for an Academy Award in 1954, this was the first animated feature with an X rating to be granted such an honor. The rating of X only applied in Great Britain and was imposed by the British Board of Film Classification. While the MPAA existed in the United States, films were still being shot under the censorship of the Hayes laws and at the time a ratings code was redundant. Alas, the film lost to a short film by Walt Disney.

In a long trail of events including many collectors searching for the animated classic, in 2001 The Tell-Tale Heart was deemed “culturally significant” and was finally archived in the United States Library of Congress.

Many of you are lucky enough to already own the film whether you realize it or not, as Guillermo Del Toro included it as a bonus feature on the original release of the Hellboy double disk set. And for the rest of us, and as it is now in public domain, a film lover has posted the short on youtube.

Happy Halloween!

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clarksupermankent
clarksupermankent - 10/31/2011, 2:52 AM
man i love this short.it's on the hellboy dvd when i got the dvd i found this and again have loved it ever since.great find bud.
Supes17
Supes17 - 10/31/2011, 10:14 AM
How did this get an X rating?
comicoverlord
comicoverlord - 10/31/2011, 10:54 AM
It's a bit silly by today's standards. You have to remember that Midnight Cowboy was Rated X in the U.S. when it was first released. Today it would be PG-13 at best. Just a really strict time. If you ever watch an old episode of the Dick Van Dyke show, they always have a scene in the bedroom, but the husband and wife had to be in separate beds. Just a really weird point in our film and television history.
comicoverlord
comicoverlord - 10/31/2011, 10:56 AM
@clarks, thanks. It's one of my favorites too. Nice job on having the DVD. Is there any additional commentary about it?
ultimatefan1974
ultimatefan1974 - 10/31/2011, 3:02 PM
This short´s art is amazing. I´d love to see more films in that style
clarksupermankent
clarksupermankent - 10/31/2011, 3:02 PM
@comicoverlord no i don't think theres any thing else about it.but again good job.
comicoverlord
comicoverlord - 11/1/2011, 4:52 AM
@clarks...ah well. I guess I'm stuck being the homework guy. Anyway, thanks!

@ultimatefan1974 I'm directing an animated short in January and this changed it all for me. I trashed all of my concept work after seeing this and started over.
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