Dial Tone drops viewers into a whimsically warped retro-future where friendship is a battle against clunky CRT monitors, tangled cords, and the existential dread of a rotary dial. This animated short reimagines the video call as a Rube Goldberg nightmare—society drowning in analog “conveniences” that only complicate connection.Beneath its vintage-tech aesthetic lies a sharp critique of digital-age disillusionment. Nostalgia becomes a weapon, contrasting the warmth of cathode-ray glow with the cold reality that every crank of the rotary dial leads deeper into a self-made maze. A dystopian sitcom for the eternally buffering generation.
Production Co.: Hobbes
Direction: Dan Stack & Eddy Nieto
Production: Tess Harris & Nevin McRay
Music & Sound Design: Cody Uhler & Ross Wariner
Design & Illustration: Yiting Nan, Dena Springer (婷婷), Dan Stack, Kikko Paradela, Josh Krauth-Harding & Jaedoo Lee
Animation: Rachel Reid, Dan Stack, Tucker Klein, Adam Henderson, Evan Kempinski, Alex Delker, Yiting Nan & Dena Springer
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Special Thanks: Ian Sigmon, Zack Lovatt, & Taylor Peters above
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Dial Tone drops viewers into a whimsically warped retro-future where friendship is a battle against clunky CRT monitors, tangled cords, and the existential dread of a rotary dial.
This animated short reimagines the video call as a Rube Goldberg nightmare—society drowning in analog “conveniences” that only complicate connection.
Beneath its vintage-tech aesthetic lies a sharp critique of digital-age disillusionment. Nostalgia becomes a weapon, contrasting the warmth of cathode-ray glow with the cold reality that every crank of the rotary dial leads deeper into a self-made maze. A dystopian sitcom for the eternally buffering generation.
Production Co.: Hobbes
Direction: Dan Stack & Eddy Nieto
Production: Tess Harris & Nevin McRay
Music & Sound Design: Cody Uhler & Ross Wariner
Design & Illustration: Yiting Nan, Dena Springer (婷婷), Dan Stack, Kikko Paradela, Josh Krauth-Harding & Jaedoo Lee
Animation: Rachel Reid, Dan Stack, Tucker Klein, Adam Henderson, Evan Kempinski, Alex Delker, Yiting Nan & Dena Springer
–
Special Thanks: Ian Sigmon, Zack Lovatt, & Taylor Peters above