The Ruminator

The story centers on a bank teller who routinely greets a customer only to realize he is a nervous bank robber. Things become complicated when she realizes he over-thinks and over-analyzes everything. She deals with her obsessive customer by carefully following bank rules and guidelines but in the end, nothing is as it seems and what appeared to be a fearsome situation was actually a case of misconception from the viewer's point of view.

Written and directed by Anderson, this animated film “with a twist” is based on the monologue “The Ruminator” by Canadian playwright John Robert McGie from his “Chair Series Monologues.” The film features the voice of young film actor Angel Gabriel, who most recently may be seen in the feature film “When Men Were Men” which just completed filming in Dublin, Ireland. The voice of the bank teller is spoken by Chris Clark, who recorded 2 albums for Motown Records in 1967 and 1970. In 1972 Clark co-wrote the screenplay for "Lady Sings the Blues" starring Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams, for which she received an Oscar nomination. This was her first speaking role in a film.

Though “The Ruminator” runs less than 5-minutes, the film represents many hours of production time in sourcing, painting, editing, tinting, and color-matching. Hundreds of photographic images were sourced for this unique project, many of which were taken by the director himself. The intricate village street took over a month to create, though it's on-screen for less than a minute. Unique in this animated production is that it was created entirely by editing alone and without the use of any animation programs, CGI, or shortcuts.

Independent award-winning filmmaker R. Christian Anderson’s animated film “The Ruminator” has been chosen as an Official Selection of the "Palm Springs International Animated Festival," where it is slated to have its world premiere. “The festival is among the most distinguished and respected animation festivals in the world and over 2,500 films were entered this year, so to be chosen as an ‘official selection’ is an incredible honor,” says Grover James Taylor, producer of the film. “Christian worked so hard on this artistic gem and I am so proud to be a part of it with him.”