The cracked vase. The peering eyes. Edward Gorey’s work is unmistakable. We are pleased to present “The Mummy’s Head,” the first of five short animations using previously unpublished audio recordings of the late writer, artist, puppeteer, playwright, and designer. Gorey was best known for his pen-and-ink illustrations on everything from book covers to the opening credits of PBS’s long-running series “Mystery!” (He wrote and illustrated a lot of his own books, too; more than a hundred of them, in fact, including "The Doubtful Guest" and "The Gashlycrumb Tinies.")
Back in the mid-'90s, a student filmmaker named Christopher Seufert began to cast around for projects. A native of Cape Cod, Seufert kept hearing about Gorey, who lived a few miles away in the town of Yarmouth. After reading up on his work, Seufert arranged a meeting, gained Gorey’s trust, and began work on a film. Then, Gorey died.
Now, some 17 years later, Seufert’s documentary, tentatively titled “Gorey,” is close to completion. The animation seen here-animation that, like the rest of the series, is the work of son and father team Benjamin and Jim Wickey-was created from audio recordings of Gorey. These particular audio bits didn’t fit in Seufert’s film but we found them too delightful to just ignore.
Producer/ Director Christopher Seufert
Directing Animator Benjamin Wickey
Additional Animation Jim Wickey
Flash Editor Rock Salomon
Editor Jesse Christensen
Additional Sound Editing Alison Landoni
Additional Editing Casimir Nozkowski
Music Composer Alexander Strung
Sound Design Greg Smith