Cute and creepy in equal measure, Matteo Dang Minh’s shaky animations play with contrasts

The Verbania-based animator – who creates work for brands, music videos, short films and editorial – leads us through his offbeat frame-by-frame animations.

If you take a moment to peruse through Matteo Dang Minh’s animations, you may find yourself surprised. While his characters are certainly “cute” – often wearing masks that turn them into animals, like bears, mice, ducks and bees – their ungainly, human-like bodies and knife wielding tendencies also make them pretty creepy. This is because Matteo loves to “play with contrasts” , injecting his surreal shorts with visuals and scenes that leave the viewer bewildered, but completely intrigued.

Finding inspiration in experimental animation, naive art, Art Brut and underground animation from the 70s and 80s, Matteo enjoys spending time using bold block colours and experimenting with palettes – his choices often giving off a vintage feel. But perhaps the clearest influence to Matteo’s work is the Eastern European animation, specifically Estonian animator Priit Parn and his wacky, eerie storylines. Alongside his independent practice, Matteo also runs the independent animation studio Ciang with his partner Francesca Colombara.

Above

Matteo Dang Minh: Borseggiatori (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2022)

Above

Matteo Dang Minh: Borseggiatori (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2022)

Above

Ciang: God of Grease (Copyright © CIANG, 2022)

Above

Matteo Dang Minh: Rico (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2021)

Above

Matteo Dang Minh: Lobster Man (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2021)

Above

Matteo Dang Minh: Lobster Man (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2021)

Ciang: God of Grease (Copyright © CIANG, 2022)

Matteo Dang Minh: Burger (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2021)

Matteo Dang Minh: Butterfly Man (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2022)

Ciang: Cereal Killer (Copyright © CIANG, 2021)

Matteo Dang Minh: Mosquito (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2021)

Hero Header

Matteo Dang Minh: Panic (Copyright © Matteo Dang Minh, 2021)

Share Article

About the Author

Olivia Hingley

Olivia (she/her) joined the It’s Nice That team as an editorial assistant in November 2021 and soon became staff writer. A graduate of the University of Edinburgh with a degree in English Literature and History, she’s particularly interested in photography, publications and type design.

It's Nice That Newsletters

Fancy a bit of It's Nice That in your inbox? Sign up to our newsletters and we'll keep you in the loop with everything good going on in the creative world.