The Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello is a series of very stylish Steampunk-infused animated short films about an airship navigator that finds himself on strange and horrifying voyages. The first episode, Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship, is available free to watch on the web, and from the first sepia-toned images of a smokey cityscape through which industrial-chic ironclads glide, you know you’re seeing something special. Silhouetted characters, at once both reminiscent of Victorian daguerreotypes and Indonesian shadow puppets, manage to be exaggerated without being cartoonish, and the whole Jules Verne-inspired atmosphere evokes not only the aesthetic of the Industrial Revolution but also a fantasy world of floating islands, flying fish, and strange creatures.
You can learn more about the project, and even grab the DVD, at the Jasper Morello homepage.
Jasper Morello and the Lost Airship:
