As a cartoon watcher who’s self-identified as a furry (aka a fan of anthropomorphic animals and works featuring them) since five minutes after reading the Wikipedia article in 2010, it’s maybe not surprising I’ve watched the Amiga animations by Eric W. Schwartz.
Produced through the 90s, Schwartz’s funny animal shorts are equally charming and cheeky takes on Jones-esque cartoon comedy (with other contemporary influences like Tiny Toon Adventures and Ren & Stimpy creeping in). I get into the habit of watching them every now and again, with standouts being the snappy Remote Possibilities and the sexually frustrated Quality Time.
And yet, I recently realised my favourite of all these is Plight of The Artist. Starring Sabrina the Skunk (yes, from the Sabrina Online webcomic that Schwartz would make for the next 30-odd years), it’s a relatively straightforward toon where she spends many hours painting away in DeluxePaint, when a stray power cut completely wipes her work. And just before she was about to save, too! She screams in frustration, the kind that’s heard round the world, but all she can do is simply start again.
It’s not as eventful or overtly comedic as Schwartz’s other shorts, to the point where I couldn’t find many eye-catching frames for this article. It’s quite an understated toon, but that’s what I like about it. As someone who tries to create stuff, whether that’s articles, music, or stupid photo edits, the act of creation is fairly humdrum. I’m just sitting at a computer, chipping away at whatever idea strikes me until I’ve finished it or (more likely) something gets in the way and stops me.
Maybe it’s not a power cut that wipes my progress; I’ve been diligent about saving constantly ever since Windows Movie Maker Live would randomly corrupt video files when I was editing YouTube videos in the early 2010s. But I’ve had to deal with plenty of interruptions, from unexpected happenings and dealing with responsibilities to losing confidence in my ability and becoming overwhelmed by all sorts of things.
I love to create, but it’s so damn hard sometimes. There’s so many ideas I’ve given up on or never been able to progress past a vague concept. Half-written articles and songs, cartoons that only exist as scripts, even Twine video games that I designed to be super simple to make which nevertheless remain unmade. Some days it feels like I won’t ever be able to create again.
And then I see myself in Sabrina, and the energy she channeled from her creative passions rendered useless through no fault of her own. The most she does is yell, to express her frustration, and then she gets right back to doing what she loves. It won’t be exactly what she had in mind, but it’ll still be something. It’ll still be hers.
I find that quietly inspiring, how she persists despite it all. That the short is so understated feels humbling, powerful even. Because although the act of creation is fairly humdrum, you’re still creating something. You’re expressing yourself, in ways that reach beyond you and exist as their own weird, lovely thing. And yet it’s so simple. Just keep writing, drawing, composing, thinking; just keep chipping away, and you’ll have something. It’s possible to persist despite it all.
If she can do it, then so can I.
WEBSITES:
A collection of Eric W. Schwartz’s Amiga animations – https://www.randelshofer.ch/animations/anims/eric_w_schwartz/thu_eric_w_schwartz.html
Special thanks to Frankleton from the COOLT discord. I posted this short to them when they recalled “that amiga furry artist with the skunk girl”, and I had a bunch of thoughts when rewatching it that resulted in this article.
FrDougal9000 writes for hardcoregaming101.net as Apollo Chungus. When he isn’t writing about video games, he is cultivating his love of animation that’s only increased over the last few years as he’s explored the wide, weird and wonderful world of the medium.