Initial release 1971 (Canada) Screenplay Don Arioli Story by Don Arioli | Director Zlatko Grgić Music director Bill Brooks | |
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Cast Don Arioli, Gerald Budner, John Howe Similar Getting Started, The Great Toy Robbery, The Big Snit, Every Dog's Guide To, The Cat Came Back | ||
Hot Stuff is a 1971 animated short directed and animated by Zlatko Grgic and written by Don Arioli. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada for the Dominion Fire Commission, a department of Public Works Canada, the nine-minute short on fire safety offers a humorous look at the origins, benefits and dangers of fire. The film garnered seven international awards, including Best Educational Film Award at the World Festival of Animated Films in Croatia and a Canadian Film Award for Arioli for best non-feature screenplay.
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Production
Grgic was recruited by for the NFB by producers Robert Verrall and Wolf Koenig after they saw his film Scabies. Much of Hot Stuff's humour had been initially improvised: Gerald Budner, who was himself an animator, ad-libbed voices for two of the characters, a snake and a cat. Arioli had been annoyed with Budner’s banter, but Koenig insisted on retaining these asides. Grgic was also given freedom to improvise by the producers.
Release
Hot Stuff was one of seven NFB animated shorts acquired by the American Broadcasting Company, marking the first time NFB films had been sold to a major American television network. It aired on ABC in the fall of 1971 as part of the children’s television show Curiosity Shop, executive produced by Chuck Jones.