Hard to spell and even harder to understand, Wholphin is a new DVD series featuring short films that have gone mostly unwatched, or unnoticed, by the general public. The name itself is a derivative of the words “whale” and “dolphin,” and aside from the DVD, a very real and very strange offspring between the two mammals.
The Wholphin DVD started as a side project of McSweeney’s from conversations between the scientist and media-buff Brent Hoff, and Dave Eggers, a published author and Editor in Chief of McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern. About to release its third installment of the series, Wholphin is already enjoying a growing popularity for its exclusive content and originality in presentation.
Executive Producer Brent Hoff explains, “For the Wholphin DVDs, I want them to really kind of be wholphin-esque; things that aren’t really out there as much.” Malek Khorshid, an Iranian cartoon featured in the first issue, was made in the 1970s as a result of governmental programs trying to establish
Wholphin’s second issue acted as a world premier for The Mysterious Geographical Explorations of Jasper Morello, an absorbing animated tale of silhouetted explorers and lovers, written and directed by Anthony Lucas. These uncommon and hard to find short films are only two of the dozen or so films in each issue.
When asked why such a bizarre name was chosen, Hoff explained, “It was a little bit like, ‘This is not a good name.’ It’s esoteric, you can’t pronounce it, it doesn’t fall under the realm of, you know, this-is-the-perfect-name. It’s really kind of a stretch… but it just kind of, for me, fits the premise.”
Because there are only two known captive wholphins in the world, the theoretical idea of “rare and unseen” is especially fitting. Being a subscriber to Wholphin is like having a superior independent film festival, featuring nearly impossible to find shorts delivered to your mailbox, without reading and hearing “noir” and “avant-garde.”
Unlike the Spike and Mike DVD animation festivals or music video DVDs included with Paste and Vice magazines, Wholphin is more closely structured like a book of collected fiction. The films don’t share an overall theme or message, differ drastically in content and production, and sometimes start by themselves if you take too long with the menu. Hoff wants Wholphin to “make our innovations on the DVD itself…and find out the different things you can do with them.”
Future issues of Wholphin will further the experimental nature of what can be done with DVDs. One issue has a quiz on the included booklet, and asks that the viewer answer them with their DVD remote. The staff also hopes to have its fourth issue based on 3D films, glasses included, by asking various film-makers to create 3D shorts.
Keeping pace with almost anything put out by the McSweeney’s publishing group, Wholphin’s packaging is aesthetically pleasing and well-made. The staff decided against the common grey DVD case, and instead made No. 2 to look like small hardback book. Issue No. 1 has slightly simpler packaging, but maintains a consistent modernistic theme of muted rectangles and bold sans-serif font. The included booklets of both issues are equally attractive.
Concerning submissions and the selection process for what actually goes on the DVDs, Hoff said, “I try and put a higher standard of like, “You won’t be able to see this anywhere else” for the stuff that goes on the DVD.” Many of the films are “blind submissions,” and others are actively sought out. Issue No. 3 will have a short film that was the thesis project of Alexander Payne, director of Election (1999), which was actively sought out by Wholphin staff.
Hoff’s only complaint is that they never have enough room to fit all of the shorts they like, exactly the reason the second issue came with an extra disc completely dedicated to the first part of the film The Power of Nightmares.
Some of the discs’ content, including many of the films that start as menus, are produced and directed by the Wholphin staff itself. A crying competition, a short about a man trying to get his shoes down from a telephone line, and a fishing how-to that will most likely go unused; the Wholphin staff likes the idea of making their own films to set themselves apart from imitators or the competition, even if there isn’t any for a few more years.
Although subscription-based, Wholphin hopes to become available on Netflix.com and other online rental sources, if only to make the films more available to a wider audience. However, Hoff warns people that without the packaging and liner notes, viewers may not get the most out of the issues.
Wholphin is available at wholphindvd.com and a few local brick-and-mortar stores. Brent Hoff will be in
