''Surogat'' (known in English as ''Ersatz'' and ''The Substitute'') is a 1961 Yugoslavian animated comedy short film by director

Dušan Vukotić Dušan Vukotić ( Serbo-Croat Cyrillic: Душан Вукотић; 7 February 1927 – 8 July 1998) was a Yugoslav and Montenegrin, with Croatian citizenship, cartoonist, author and director of animated films. He is the best known member of ...

, produced by

Zagreb Film Zagreb Film is a Croatian film company principally known for its animation studio. From Zagreb, it was founded in 1953. They have produced hundreds of animated films, as well as documentaries, television commercials, educational films and several ...

, then a Yugoslav film production company. The film is also known by several other names in other languages: ''Cyррогат'', ''Der Ersatz'', ''Le Succēdanē'' and ''Surrogatto''.

Plot

A man takes a trip to the beach and every object he brings with him, no matter how unlikely, is inflatable.

Reception and legacy

The film won an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence ...

for Short Subjects (Cartoons) in

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

.When Indie Animation Won Its First Oscar, Animation Obsessive
/ref> It was featured in animation historian

Jerry Beck Jerry Beck (born February 9, 1955) is an American animation historian, author, blogger (person), blogger, and video producer. Beck wrote or edited several books on classic American animation and classic characters, including ''Looney Tunes and ...

's ''

The 50 Greatest Cartoons ''The 50 Greatest Cartoons: As Selected by 1,000 Animation Professionals'' is a 1994 book by animation historian Jerry Beck, with a foreword written by Chuck Jones. The book features the fifty greatest cartoons of all time, selected by a group ...

'', where it appears one of 57 "Other Great Cartoons" that did not qualify for the main list but had nonetheless received "a substantial number of votes" as honorable mentions. The

Academy Film Archive The Academy Film Archive is part of the Academy Foundation, established in 1944 with the purpose of organizing and overseeing the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' educational and cultural activities, including the preservation of mot ...

preserved ''Ersatz'' in 2012. According to David Silverman, animator and producer for ''

The Simpsons ''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening, James L. Brooks and Sam Simon for the Fox Broadcasting Company. It is a Satire (film and television), satirical depiction of American life ...

'', the character designs for the in-show cartoon "Worker and Parasite", in the episode " Krusty Gets Kancelled", were based on ''Surogat''.'''' ''Simpsons'' creator

Matt Groening Matthew Abram Groening ( ; born February 15, 1954) is an American cartoonist, writer, producer, and animator. He is best known as the creator of the television series ''The Simpsons'' (1989–present), ''Futurama'' (1999–2003, 2008–2013, 2 ...

said "Worker and Parasite" was one of his favorite moments from the show.Groening, Matt. (2004). DVD commentary for "Krusty Gets Kancelled", in ''The Simpsons: The Complete Fourth Season'' VD 20th Century Fox.

References

External links

* * '' Surogat'' on the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

* {{AcademyAwardBestAnimatedShortFilm 1961–1980 1961 films 1961 animated short films Best Animated Short Academy Award winners Animated films without speech Films directed by Dušan Vukotić Yugoslav animated short films Zagreb Film films Croatian animated short films 1961 independent films Animated films set on beaches Independent animated films