View source for Frank Film

{{Short description|1973 collage film by Frank and Caroline Mouris}}
{{For|the 2014 film|Frank (film)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Frank Film
| image          =
| caption        =
| director       = {{Plain list|
* Caroline Mouris
* [[Frank Mouris]]
}}
| producer       = Frank Mouris<ref>[https://www.oscars.org/oscars/ceremonies/1974 1974|Oscars.org]</ref>
| writer         = Frank Mouris
| screenplay = {{Plain list|
* [[Tony Schwartz (sound archivist)|Tony Schwartz]]
* Frank Mouris
}}
| narrator       = Frank Mouris
| music         = [[Tony Schwartz (sound archivist)|Tony Schwartz]]
| cinematography =
| editing        = Frank Mouris
| studio = Frank Mouris Productions
| distributor    = Pyramid Films<ref>[https://archive.org/details/guidetoshortfilm0000schr/page/60/mode/2up Guide to short films: Schrank, Jeffery: Internet Archive (pgs. 60-61)]</ref>
| released       = {{Film date|1973|04|13|df=yes}}
| runtime        = 9 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         =
}}
'''''Frank Film''''' is a 1973 American animated short film by [[Frank Mouris]] and Caroline Mouris.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCCsBfnDZQM Frank Film, Frank Mouris (1973) - extract on YouTube]</ref><ref>[https://bampfa.org/event/seventies The Seventies|BAMPFA]</ref> The film won an [[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film]]<ref>[https://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1973/  Cartoons Considered For An Academy Award 1973|Cartoon Research]</ref> and was inducted into the [[National Film Registry]] in 1996.

==Summary==
It is a compilation of images co-creator [[Frank Mouris]] had collected from magazines<ref>[https://bampfa.org/program/loose-ends Loose Ends|BAMPFA]</ref> interwoven with two narrations, one giving a mostly linear autobiography and the other stating words having to do with the images, the story the first voice is relating, or neither. Each second voice word or phrase involves an "F".  Frank made the film with his wife Caroline Mouris,<ref>[https://archive.org/details/1974FrankFilmFrank 1974 Frank Film Frank: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming: Internet Archive]</ref> daughter of mathematician [[Lars Ahlfors]].<ref>{{arxiv|2506.12850}}</ref>
The soundtrack was conceived and created by  [[Tony Schwartz (sound archivist)|Tony Schwartz]].<ref>[https://www.oddballfilms.com/clip/13166_9013_collage_film_3 Oddball Films]</ref><ref>[https://www.oddballfilms.com/clip/13166_9013_collage_film_1 Oddball Films]</ref><ref>[https://www.oddballfilms.com/clip/13166_9013_collage_film_2 Oddball Films]</ref>

==Reception==
The movie won the 1974 [[Academy Awards|Academy Award]] for [[Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film|Best Short Subject, Animated Films]]<ref>[https://youtube.com/watch?v=F3sM_Fn_Q90 The Opening of the Academy Awards:1974 Oscars]</ref> and the Annecy Cristal at the [[Annecy International Animated Film Festival]] alongside praise by film critic [[Andrew Sarris]] as the best American film at the [[New York Film Festival]] and "a nine minute evocation of America's exhilarating everythingness". ''Vulture'' ranked the film #82 on their list of Oscar-winning animated shorts.<ref>{{cite web |date=26 February 2019|last=Fassler |first=Jeremy |title=Every Oscar Winner for Animated Short Subject, Ranked |url=https://www.vulture.com/2019/02/every-oscar-winner-for-animated-short-subject-ranked.html |website=[[Vulture.com]] }}</ref>

==Legacy==
In 1996, ''Frank Film'' was selected for the United States [[National Film Registry]] by the [[Library of Congress]] as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Complete National Film Registry Listing |url=https://www.loc.gov/programs/national-film-preservation-board/film-registry/complete-national-film-registry-listing/|access-date=2020-10-02|website=Library of Congress}}</ref> The film was also featured in the 1985 movie titled ''[[Explorers (film)|Explorers]]''. The film was preserved by the [[Academy Film Archive]] in 2019.<ref>{{cite web|title=Preserved Projects|url=https://www.oscars.org/academy-film-archive/preserved-projects?title=frank+film&filmmaker=&category=All&collection=All|website=Academy Film Archive}}</ref>

''Frank Film'' is included on the 2007 DVD ''five by two: five animated shorts by frank & caroline mouris''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.directcinema.com/dcl/title.php?id=513 |title=Five by two: Five animated shorts (DVD) |access-date=2010-12-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110710131830/http://www.directcinema.com/dcl/title.php?id=513 |archive-date=2011-07-10 }}</ref> It was also included in the [[Animation show of shows|Animation Show of Shows]].<ref>[https://www.animationshowofshows.com/collections/dvds/products/the-animation-show-of-shows-volume-24 The Animation Show of Shows (Volume 24)]</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of American films of 1973]]
* [[Cutout animation]]
* [[Collage film]]

==Notes==
<references/>

==References==
* [[Olivier Cotte]] (2007) ''Secrets of Oscar-winning animation: Behind the scenes of 13 classic short animations.'' (Making of '''''Frank Film''''') Focal Press. {{ISBN|978-0-240-52070-4}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|0070071|Frank Film}}
* {{Internet Archive short film|frankfilm_201705}}
* [https://www.acmefilmworks.com/work/spot/frank-film/ ''Frank Film''] at [[Acme Filmworks]]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=deq3xI8OmCkC ''Film'' essay by Daniel Eagan in America's Film Legacy: The Authoritative Guide to the Landmark Movies in the National Film Registry], A&C Black, 2010 {{ISBN|0826429777}}, pages 691-691

{{AcademyAwardBestAnimatedShortFilm 1961–1980}}

[[Category:1973 films]]
[[Category:1973 animated short films]]
[[Category:1970s American animated films]]
[[Category:American collage films]]
[[Category:American avant-garde and experimental short films]]
[[Category:American animated short films]]
[[Category:Best Animated Short Academy Award winners]]
[[Category:United States National Film Registry films]]
[[Category:Cutout animation films]]
[[Category:1970s English-language films]]
[[Category:1973 independent films]]
[[Category:Annecy Cristal–winning films]]
[[Category:English-language short films]]
[[Category:English-language independent films]]