Mongrel Media Archives | Otaku No Culture

When Endless Cookie Offers A Touch of the Surreal

No, this film isn’t about food, but the metaphors are certainly evident in Endless Cookie. It’s a very quirky slice-of-life work by animator/filmmaker Seth Scriver.

Now playing at select cinemas in Canada. Please check local listings (or see below)

Unlike similarly styled comedy sketches that were popular in its day, Endless Cookie is an animated film that’s basically a vignette of moments about two half-brothers. What this work delves into concerns what life is like between Seth Scriver (who is white and lives in Toronto) and Peter Scriver (who is Indigenous, from the Shamattawa First Nation in northern Canada). It premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2025 and is certainly heartfelt. After it’s run at imagineNATIVE Film Festival, it’s now playing at select cinemas across Canada which started June 13th.

When compared to the shenanigans on what I recall from SCTV and The McKenzie Brothers, the situations are similar. And the approaches to making a subtle social commentary are dead on. While these live-action skits are certainly more of a parody of Canadian identity, this animated biography goes much further.

Continue reading “When Endless Cookie Offers A Touch of the Surreal”

Deaner ’89. Even Back Then, All That Canadiana Is Explosive and Wants to Rock n’ Roll All Nite!

Vanity project or not, Paul Spence loves being Murdoch, and Deaner ’89 is a look back at his heavy metal roots while being in-character!

Eagle Vision, PSA Productions
and Mongrel Media
VOD Release Date: Dec 6

Deaner ’89 is not part of the Fubar continuity and fans of the latter shouldn’t be disappointed. Maybe that’s how Dean Murdoch (played by Paul Spence, who wrote this film) simply remembers it! After guzzling so many beers and head banging for so long, my theory for keeping this work apart from the rest is because it’s all imagined in this guy’s head while in a coma.

And technically, without that cameo by Terry Cahill (Dave Lawrence) to connect with that world, this film truly exists in its own universe. It also interestingly tackles a much more difficult subject–cultural misappropriation. Despite the theme being only lightly explored, the father’s revelation, humorously played by Will Sasso, makes a significant point. Also, without Stephen McHattie, a beloved icon of Canadian cinema, no such film can be complete!

Continue reading “Deaner ’89. Even Back Then, All That Canadiana Is Explosive and Wants to Rock n’ Roll All Nite!”

In March, Ann Marie Fleming’s Window Horses Rides Again

window-horses_poster_goldposter_com_10o_0l_300w_70q

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

For a list of upcoming screenings,
please click here.

Window Horses has been trotting through many festivals since its world premiere at the 2016 Annecy International Animated Film Festival in France. In North America, it’s making a return for a special engagement today in Vancouver with the producer of this movie, Ann Marie Fleming, in attendance. It has played in other shows like the Toronto Film Festival last year and the Victoria Film Festival early Feb 2017. On March 4th, it is playing at the New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Plans for a wider distribution is continuing with Mongrel Media handling distribution, and soon, folks can see why this colourful and powerful coming-of-age story is particularly engaging.

Continue reading “In March, Ann Marie Fleming’s Window Horses Rides Again”