The Alphabet (by David Lynch)

The Alphabet (1968) combines animation and live action and goes for four minutes. It has a simple narrative structure relating a symbolically rendered expression of childhood and aging. The idea for "The Alphabet" came from Lynch's wife, Peggy Reavey, a painter whose niece, according to Lynch in Chris Rodley's Lynch on Lynch book, "was having a bad dream one night and was saying the alphabet in her sleep in a tormented way. So that's sort of what started The Alphabet going." Based on the merits of this short film, Lynch was awarded an American Film Institute production grant and became a minor celebrity. It can be watched on Vimeo too.