Bottomless Belly Button trailer

Dash Shaw has made a pretty awesome trailer for his Fantagraphics book Bottomless Belly Button, which is required viewing for people who haven't read the book, and also for those who have, since the trailer illuminates certain things that are only hinted at in the book.

It kicks off with pictures of the younger versions of Ma and Pa Loony (seemingly from the time they met), and shortly afterward an infinity sign appears beneath them. As they age, the infinity sign disappears, and they grow visibly unhappy. This infinity sign is repeated between the married Dennis and Aki, though their infinity sign disappears after their baby, Alex, is born (:09). It also appears between the married Claire and Carl (0:22), and when they both disappear, the infinity sign is scooped up by the end of her scarf and dissolved into sand along with the rest of the picture. In the book we learn that Dennis and Aki's marriage is in trouble, and that Carl has left Claire. The lack or loss of "foreverness" in romantic relationships runs through virtually every relationship in the book, with the elderly and divorcing Loony parents as its central flashpoint.

While Dennis and Aki are on screen, a shaded circle appears that represents the Loony pie chart from the beginning of BBB, and a line identifies the "Black Hole Loonys" segment. Shaw described this as the state of the family at the beginning of the story, when the divorce is announced. "In the Blackhole Loonys, each member is a floating entity separate from any other member. It is a non-family."

The pie chart separates into two halves (0:10), echoing the divorce of Ma and Pa Loony, especially when the halves literally turn into them. As the words "Not for children" appear, Ma and Pa turn into Dennis and Aki, while Dennis and Aki conversely turn into the Loonys. There are strong indications throughout the book that Dennis and Aki's marriage is failing, an intimate breakdown shared by both couples. All four pale into outlines, and a baby appears to the left with an X through it. It's similar to the Xs through the faces of children on the book's spine, which also reads "NOT FOR CHILDREN." It's an apt warning of the book's age-inappropriateness, though it should also be noted that one of the book's central themes is that the Loony children are not children anymore (something Dennis has particular trouble accepting), and that the end of their parents' marriage marks the end of an era.

The connections between family members --or rather, the lack of them-- also play a large role. At 0:02 an unhappy Ma and Pa move into their position on a family tree, and a line sprouts off to their first son, Dennis. The animation is repeated later with their other children, Claire and Peter. Peter, however, appears separately and alone in the frame, just as he is always off to the side in the book, emphasizing his disconnection and alienation.



After Peter appears, his image flickers and alternates with a picture of a normal, blond-haired boy. Throughout the book Peter looks like a an actual frog, although this seems to hint that his appearance in the book is not his "real" appearance, but rather his self-perception. "I'm the youngest child cliche. I don't belong," he says in the book. "My whole family looks at me like I'm a dumb, weird frog."



Again, when Jill appears in the upper left panel around 0:42, her image flashes back and forth with a version of her as a man with a mustache, echoing the insecurities she feels about her appearance after her friend insults her by saying she "looks like a man! A doofy, curly-haired man."

The ending shot of the three railroad tracks mirrors the illustration of three-point perspective on the second page, not unlike the three-point perspective of the three Loony children that drives the book, which is separated into three parts.



This is really only scratching the surface, though-- the recurring motifs of pills, blood, and keys are more obvious here than in Shaw's tome, and probably worth exploring in a later post. More BBB goodness to come.... and while we're at it, take a look at the exclusive Dash Shaw Bottomless Belly Button page in Comic Foundry magazine, in comic book stores tomorrow.