It's the little things that really hurt.

An animated short in which two volunteers demonstrate the proper way to vent the aggressive feelings that one has for one's fellow man from time to time. Calmly, quietly, and with as many power tools as possible.—Jean-Marc Rocher <[email protected]>

This film is not rated.

Connections
Edited into The Tune (1992)

“No one animates cartoon shorts quite like Bill Plympton…”
- The San Francisco Chronicle (1992)
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“(An) anarchically surreal study in violence from animation maestro Bill Plympton…”
- Mubi.com (2014)
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“…simple, funny and extremely violent– …This is among Plympton's best and I suggest that unless you have no sense of humor you give it a try.”
- IMDB Featured Review (2009)
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“Oddly soothing…”
“It takes Bill Plympton less than six minutes to become the master of the Body Comedy Horror genre.”
“Great imagination and terrific sound effects.”
- Letterboxd Reviews (2020)

Why do dogs bark at such innocent creatures as pigeons and squirrels...what are they afraid of? This film answers that eternal question.

Rated R

“An absolutely delightful film about a walk in the park with a devoted but hyper little dog. See the inner working of its paranoid little mind as the yappy, slobbery thing sees fit to bark at every innocent creature in its path. Classic Plympton- twisted and hilarious”
John Tebbutt, FFwd, Calgary, Alberta

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“The ironic ending was hilarious, and the final shot was both sad and funny, and I found myself laughing and crying at the same time. It was very well done, and it has to be 5 minutes worth of Bill Plympton’s best work.”
Chris McCullough, Animators United

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“Bill Plympton’s back in San Sebastien to present this short along with his latest feature, Hair High. A real classic at the Festival, this director from Oregon employs his typical acidity and great sense of (black) humor along with his ever-moving lines on this occasion giving us a very close look at the world of dogs. Why do they bark at everything that moves? What's wrong with them? Why do they act the way they do when they see a little bird or an inoffensive squirrel? Why are they always on guard, alert to everything happening around them, growling constantly? After watching this work the audience will know the answers, realizing that you can’t trust appearances and that even a friendly rodent skipping through the trees in Central park can have its own little psychopathic heart.”
San Sebastien Film Festival (2004)

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“Bill Plympton’s Oscar-nominated “Guard Dog” features the veteran animator’s signature style as a bulging-eyed canine attempts to suss out the dangers facing his master as they take a walk. A schoolgirl jumping rope, a squirrel, a butterfly and other creatures take on menacing characteristics in this delightfully warped tale.”
Kevin Crust- Staff Writer LA Times (2005)

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(this is translated from Italian)
Bill Plympton has been telling us crazy, intelligent, exhilarating stories now for almost 30 years, Stories that start by striking us and then take us where no-one ever though they could. At I Castelli, where all his short films (as one one film) are in the programme, we will see Guide Dog, his latest toil, in competition. And it will be more absolute, inebriating, madness.”
Luca Raffaelli - 11° Festival Internazionale Del Cinema Di Animazione (2005)

“'Your Face,' in which a man’s face continuously twists, fold, turns inside out, metamorphoses and acts rubbery while a mock-romantic ballad plays over the action, is at once unsettling and funny.”
The Denver Post (1987)
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“Bill Plympton’s 'Your Face' is one to see again because it’s so funny. For three minutes a singing face rotates, rolls, liquefies, explodes, implodes, divides, winds up, floats, clones itself, blossoms and bloats. Nominated for a 1987 Academy Award, it involves about a thousand illustrations so it’s a good thing Mr. Plympton likes drawing faces.”
Lucy Keyser - Washington Times (1988)
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“'Your Face,' by another American animator, Bill Plympton, brings solace to anyone who ever suffered through a concert by an amateur singer of romantic songs. It’s a brilliant piece of work.”
Nancy Scott - San Francisco Examiner (1987)
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“'Your Face,' is animator Bill Plympton allowing his malicious mind to wander as a bad tenor sings an awful song.”
Nat Segaloff - Boston Herald (1987)
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“Even without checking the statistics, it seems safe to say that it’s quite unusual for an artist’s first solo work to be nominated for an Academy Award. We at the Bay Guardian, however, have come to expect such achievements from out contributors, especially from the superbly talented Bill Plympton.”
Joan Field - The San Francisco Bay Guardian (1987)
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“ 'Your Face' shows a man crooning a song while his face takes on various shapes. He sprouts heads from his neck, which balloon out and, in turn, sprout other heads – this guy has all kinds of problems. “Your Face” is a nice work of imagination that continually tops itself.”
Mick LaSalle - San Francisco Chronicle (1988)