The Man Who Moved Manhattan

Market Scene Animation Test

The Man Who Moved Manhattan is a 10 minute animated short in production based off the ‘true’ story of a 1820′s hoax. This film is made possible in part by a DCA Premier Grant from the Council on the Arts & Humanities for Staten Island.

In the summer of 1824, a retired ship’s carpenter known as Lorizer walked into Centre Street Market in Manhattan and made a stirring claim. Because of the over-construction on the battery, he explained, the island of Manhattan had begun to sink into the harbor. To ease the panicking public, and persuade the naysayers, he revealed that the mayor had just given him permission to do the unthinkable. Lorizer was to oversee a project to saw the island in half, tow it out into the harbor, turn it around and reattach it to the mainland. The ruse lasted all summer, as Lorizer would return frequently to push the concept forward, going as far as commissioning giant saws with three foot-long teeth, hundred foot-oars with which to steer the untethered island, and holding tryouts for the coveted position of ‘pitmen’, who were to swim under the landmass and control the saws from beneath. The public, suffering from underemployment and the threat of yellow fever, were eager for any chance to earn wages. It seemed, after the construction of the Erie Canal, the future was upon them, and anything was possible.

This, of course, was not the case. On the day the project was to begin, a crowd formed, ready to march to Kingsbridge. It eventually became apparent that Lorizer was nowhere to be found, and it dawned on the residents of Manhattan that they’d been had. Lorizer had slipped out of town, taking not one cent of the people’s money, just hours and hours of their time.

This faithful retelling of the story revives the lesser-known myth, and colorfully portrays a moment in history when New York was deciding just what kind of city it would be. The Centre Street Market was a clash of upper and lower class, entrepreneurs and unemployed, and new Americans and recent immigrants from which the roots of countless American cultures were formed.

The film features full-hand drawn animation and backgrounds, eccentric characters masterfully performed by terrific voice acting and  a post-colonial soundtrack that exemplifies the era.

I’ll be updating this site with more promotional material, character designs, rough animation and a trailer closer to the premiere, at the 2011 COAHSI Grant Award Ceremony, January 29th at the College of Staten Island.

Here’s a quick video poster for The Man Who Moved Manhattan