Waking Life (2001)

"Strikingly original...nothing short of amazing.  Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
"...thoughtful, provocative, liberating and fun.  Desson Howe, Washington Post
"An astounding one-of-a-kind movie.  Peter Rainer, New York Magazine
"...an amazing film that dances and vibrates with life.  Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Editor's Note Director Richard Linklater presents this computer-animated, dreamlike, meandering film about a college-age man (Wiley Wiggins) who floats in and out of a series of philosophical discussions and ethereal experiences, meeting an interesting cast of characters along the way. Each character that Wiley meets engages him in an existential discussion. Wiley listens, observes, and occasionally responds. Then he glumly shuffles off to his next encounter. At times, he wakes up in his bed and rubs his eyes, appearing to start a new day. But eventually viewers learn that Wiley is dreaming throughout the film, and is trying to learn to control his dreams--and accomplish lucid dreaming, or simply wake up. Visually, WAKING LIFE is nothing short of fantastic. Linklater stays true to his Indie style--jerky camera, drifting gaze, and steady head shots that allow non-actors to talk straight into the camera. To achieve the floating feeling of the dream sequences, he first tried taking aerial shots from a helicopter, then opted for the smoother effect of a hot air balloon. He shot the film on digital video, edited it, then called on 30 animators to finish it. The characters in the film move and gesticulate like live action, but they are animated with odd color schemes and surreal lines that make them cartoony caricatures. WAKING LIFE is a superb work that should be applauded for its atmospheric elements (lovely images of New York and Austin), its amusing bohemian dialogues, and its unique animation.

	Bob Sabiston - Art Director
	Richard Linklater - Director
	Sandra Adair - Editor
	John Sloss - Executive Producer
	Jonathan Sehring - Executive Producer
	Caroline Kaplan - Executive Producer
	The Tosca Tango Orchestra - Music By
	Palmer West - Producer
	Tommy Pallotta - Producer
	Jonah Smith - Producer
	Jane Walker McBay - Producer
	Julie Delpy - Voice Of
	Kim Krizan - Voice Of
	Wiley Wiggins - Voice Of
	Ethan Hawke - Voice Of
	Richard Linklater - Writer

USA Today
"...A well-crafted personal project..." 10/17/2001 p.3D

Movieline's Hollywood Life
"...WAKING LIFE is a tantalizing animated film..." 11/01/2001 p.48

Entertainment Weekly
"...Exhilarating....WAKING LIFE is an amazing thing....A thrill, a trip to a fabulous new frontier..." 10/26/2001 p.89

Rolling Stone
"...Strikingly original....It works like a dream..." 11/08/2001 p.134

Sight and Sound
"...A striking hybrid between live-action footage and computer-generated animation....It succeeds brilliantly as visual experiment..." 02/01/2002 p.64

Total Film
"...[A] beautiful dreamscape....A film with big ideas..." 05/01/2002 p.103

Chicago Sun-Times
"...It celebrates a series of articulate, intelligent characters who seek out the meaning of their existence and do not have the answers....The movie is exhilarating in its style and visuals as in its ideas..." 10/19/2001 p.35

Los Angeles Times 7 of 10
...there's never been another film quite like this... a new animation technique, which involved shooting and editing the film as a live-action work and then having a team of more than 30 graphic artists "paint" each frame via computer. The effect is dazzlingly beautiful and surreal... - Kevin Thomas

The New York Times 9 of 10
...The film...is so verbally dexterous and visually innovative that you can't absorb it unless you have all your wits about you. And even then, you may want to see it again to enjoy its subtle humor and warm humanity. - Stephen Holden