Adam Elliot's claymation "Mary and Max" will open Sundance.

2008-11-19 20:00:00

Two years ago Sundance opened with a Brett Morgen's animated doc "Chicago 10," and it's just been announced that the upcoming iteration of the festival (only 57 days to go!) will kick off with more animation -- "Mary and Max," a claymation drama, is the feature debut of Australian director Adam Elliot, who's otherwise known for a spectacular set of claymation shorts that includes "Harvey Crumpet," which won the 2003 Best Animated Short Oscar. My favorite is "Brother," from his "Family Trilogy" -- while it lasts, you can find it here on YouTube. "Mary and Max" is voiced by Toni Collette and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Sundance's description: Written and directed by Elliot, Mary and Max tells the tale of an improbable friendship between two very different people: Mary Daisy Dinkle (Collette) a lonely Australian eight-year-old, and Max Jerry Horovitz (Hoffman), a middle-aged New Yorker. Spanning 20 years and two continents,...

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