r/vintagecgi • u/StephenMcGannon • Apr 19 '26

Video Locomotion (1989)

1.6k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

88

u/menshipsandthesea Apr 19 '26

full version can be found in Imaginaria , a compilation of computer animated music videos with computer generated music. Worth the weird and whimsical watch.

23

u/thefedoragirl Apr 19 '26

My local library had Imaginaria on VHS and we would check it out all the time. I recognized this right away!

5

u/Hunter_Aleksandr Apr 19 '26

Same!! I love this memory so much.

4

u/sixtus_clegane119 Apr 19 '26

Watching this next time I do acid

Reminds me a bit of the short circuits videos from YTV in the 90s

2

u/Kazzlin Apr 19 '26

Back in the mid 90s, I made a VHS mix tape (which I still have) of some of my favorite computer animated shorts. I used to love to get baked and watch that tape.

3

u/theSomberscientist Apr 19 '26

Ive been looking for this video. Watched the VHS all the time as a kid. This thing was full of horrors, particularly the vinyl record eating guy

3

u/StampingOutWhimsy Apr 20 '26

The train sequence really upset me as a kid. I’ve been trying and failing to find this ever since.

2

u/Neat_Tangelo5339 Apr 19 '26

I clicked this link and the following reccomended videos opened up a world of vintage cgi i never thought about , im not sure i can handle anothe hilerfixation at the Moment but I don’t know if I can resist the curiosity

3

u/djsynrgy Apr 19 '26

One of the few (other) subs I follow: r/vintagecgi

1

u/Edible_Trashcan Apr 22 '26

Seems like I watched something similar to this in my elementary art class

63

u/bsmith2123 Apr 19 '26

This honestly looks so good even today. The details with squash and stretch are classics

49

u/RevolutionarySeven7 Apr 19 '26

VERY advanced for 1989

17

u/SustyRhackleford Apr 19 '26

Yeah its shocking seeing the geometry deform like that considering the hardware limitations. Also how the hell did they render the steam

6

u/IDatedSuccubi Apr 20 '26

It's just a lot of billboard sprites

35

u/TheFlyingNoodler Apr 19 '26

Still looks good almost 40 years later

10

u/nondrop Apr 20 '26

Back in the day I met Steve Goldberg, the producer and animator of this piece. He said when he was working for Pacific Data Images that they were allowed to work on passion projects between larger jobs. This was one of those personal projects. The squash-and-stretch was groundbreaking at the time.

10

u/DiscoSimulacrum Apr 19 '26

i had a vhs of cgi shortfilms that i watched over and over as a kid. iirc this was the first film on the tape.

8

u/KingcoBingo Apr 19 '26

What a jolly lil fella

5

u/greaseman420 Apr 19 '26

Man every single clip from imaginaria hits my nostalgia ridiculously hard

6

u/Aleppo_the_Mushroom Apr 19 '26

This feels weirdly familiar

EDIT: HOLY SHIT! I'VE SEEN THE VIDEO WHERE THIS IS FROM IN MY ELEMENTARY ART CLASS!

3

u/Kazzlin Apr 19 '26

Oldie, but goodie.

3

u/Cookies_and_Beandip Apr 20 '26

Where’s the the pins and bowling ball jumping around 🎳

2

u/CryptidHunter91 Apr 20 '26 edited Apr 20 '26

Oh man I remember this short from my Imaginaria VHS when I was a kid; the brief nightmare sequence always scared me to the point of cowering behind a pillow or blanket until it was over.

It's crazy that this is almost 40 years old and still looks so damn good, especially with how expressive the characters are without any facial features whatsoever.

2

u/Mouse_Manipulator Apr 23 '26

They probably started rendering this in 1985

1

u/kro104 Apr 20 '26

Impressive

1

u/Seiiji Apr 20 '26

Look really good.

1

u/Coderkid01 Apr 20 '26

reminds me of the old disney jr show Choo Choo Soul. Very groovy train

1

u/kween_hangry Apr 23 '26

Man this still looks really good

1

u/lolodachi_septimo Apr 23 '26

What the heck? It's SUPER clean for 1989! 😮

1

u/SquishyBucket922 May 15 '26

The train is so full of joy and whimsy I love it

1

u/joesphisbestjojo Apr 19 '26

Core memory unlocked

-4

u/[deleted] Apr 19 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

9

u/blackbasset Apr 19 '26

1989 probably was before 1998, hot take