"Political Correction" (CalArts, 1995)
• Closing film at 1995 CalArts Producers' Show
• Spike & Mike's Festival of Animation (1997)
• Showcased on MTV's Cartoon Sushi (1997)
Knowledge is Power! My third-year CalArts film teaches kids politically correct grammar, sung to the infectious melody of "Interjections". This is the earliest known Schoolhouse Rock parody, predating subsequent spoofs from The Simpsons, SNL, Mad TV, Jimmy Kimmel Live and countless others by several years.
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Click PLAY to View Original SHR "Interjections"
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(cover)
1997 Spike & Mike program
"... Steven Fonti's wickedly wry update on Schoolhouse Rock."
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Full Post Review
— Desson Howe,
The Washington Post
"Political Correction succeeds on wit... a hilarious sendup of the effects of political correctness on language."
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Full LA Times Review
— Kristine McKenna,
Los Angeles Times
"...Hilarious... Fonti creates a world of backbreaking political correctness..."
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Full Globe Review
— Renée Graham,
The Boston Globe
"A subject matter that seemed to have been milked for all its humor
clearly still has a little juice left."
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Full NYT Review
— Stephen Holden,
The New York Times
"... Steven Fonti's supremely witty Political Correction manages to mock both children's TV and the ultra-sensitivity that plagues today's society...
it's also a lot of fun."
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Full Bee Review
— Joe Baltake,
The Sacramento Bee
"Yes, Timmy, There Is A Santa Claus" (CalArts, 1993)
• Expanded Entertainment's Too Outrageous Animation (1994)
• Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation (1997, 1998)
The initial concept for my first-year CalArts film was a boy opening presents from Santa but disappointed by the crappy toys, each more lame than the next. However, I could never come up with a satisfying ending. Ultimately I decided to reverse the premise: the gifts are now good, it's Timmy who is the problem.
Click PLAY to View Film
Click Images to Expand
(cover)
1994 Too Outrageous Animation program
(cover)
1998 Spike & Mike Sick and Twisted program
"The festival really lives up to its 'Sick and Twisted' name with Steven Fonti's Yes, Timmy, There Is a Santa Claus..."
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Full Tribune Review
— John Petrakis,
Chicago Tribune
"... Elegantly animated — a prime example of the sort of material
that got Lenny Bruce labeled 'sick'."
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Full Daily News Review
— Dave Kehr,
New York Daily News
"Yes, Timmy" is beautifully drawn, but incredibly dark."
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Full Berkeley Review
— Vivian Host,
The Daily Californian
(U.C. Berkeley)
"Fonti's black-and-white holiday short starts out like caramel-sweet Disney but ends up like gimlet-sour Luis Buñuel."
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Full Newsday Review
— Gene Seymour,
Newsday
