Club Of The Discarded, also known as Club of the Laid Off, (original Czech title Klub odložených) is a 1989 stop-motion short film by Jiří Bárta.
Set in an old building somewhere in Prague, we see several mannequins laying about. Through the magic of stop-motion animation, they start moving and act mechanically going about daily routines non-stop. This changes when said group of mannequins are thrown out by some live human workers and get replaced by a different crowd of mannequins, who are lively and noisy.
The film showed up late nights on PBS affiliates in the USA. It also is available for viewing on video sites like YouTube
and has been collected on home video, such as the Cartoon Noir DVD.
This animated film contains examples of the following tropes:
- Barbie Doll Anatomy: Some of the mannequins are nude but depicted this way.
- Creepy Doll: Or in this case, creepy mannequins. Their expressions remain static throughout the whole film and their movements done with Stop Motion give them an unearthly feel.
- Cute Kitten: A real live cat is seen in the film.
- Fantastic Diet Requirement: Just before the new mannequins arrive, some of the older ones are shown sitting down to a bizarre meal at a makeshift table. Their food seems to be crumpled newspaper covered in red paint.
- Gainax Ending: The film concludes with all the mannequins gathered around an old television and just staring at the static on screen.
- Mind Screw: The whole film feels this way. There's no real plot and the mannequins go through the same mechanical motions daily...and that's before the newer mannequins arrive.
- No Plot? No Problem!: This film doesn't even have a story. Several mannequins go through the same mechanical motions daily, none of the characters have names or motivations and then there's the bizarre ending where all the mannequins (old and new) are gathered around a television watching static on the screen.
- Pesky Pigeons: Live ones also appear as we see one of the mannequins sitting at a makeshift desk in another room.
- Snowy Screen of Death: The mannequins stare at this on the television set.
- Staircase Tumble: Happens at least twice in the film when a mannequin attempts to walk down the stairs.
- Stop Motion: The whole film is done in stop-motion; that's how all the mannequins are animated.
