Warning: Despite the Disneyesque look to the beginning of Michael Gagne's short animated film "A Touch of Deceit," this is probably not something for your toddler. Any five-year-old with a taste for gothic action, however, will think it rocks.


The amusingly dark but ultimately harmless film is by Michel Gagne, a Canadian animator who resurfaced on our radar today when we discovered the most artistic and exciting take on the drive-a-spaceship-through-hazards genre in a long time. Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet is based largely on Gagne's animated shorts for Nickelodeon run under the series title Insanely Twisted Shadow Puppets, which I found disturbing enough not to embed here, lest your easily-frightened children come across it while reading Punnybop over your shoulder. (That's what this blog is designed for, by the way.) As for Shadow Planet, combination of the detailed silhouette outlines, the judicious use of color, and the imaginative world-making that is part organic, part machine, is an exciting thing to see in a side-scrolling, arcade-style game. Just look at it - it's beautiful.


Rumor has it Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will be an XBox Live offering as well as a PC game, but the whole point of this "trailer" is for Gagne and his partners to get some investors to help bring this game to the marketplace. You can find out more, and see some of those Puppet videos, on Gagne's website. - Jeremiah