

The 3-minute cartoon that made Sin City possible. You've never heard of it.
BRUTE!'s Malcolm Bennett wrote and acted as special consultant on this 1987 trailer for Mallet!, a ultra-violent cartoon noir directed by Blink animation director Bob Lawrie. Although it was never picked up by a major network, Mallet's influence can be seen in many films and animations that followed, namely the film adaptation of Frank Miller's Sin City. Starring Bob Pugh as Mallet and featuring Stephen Haley as Skillet.
Direction
Bob Lawrie's kinetic framing invented hyper-stylized cartoon noir.
Practical Effects
Hand-painted violence so visceral networks fled in terror.
Director
Bob Lawrie
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Frank Miller reportedly screened Mallet! repeatedly during Sin City's pre-production, though he rarely credited it publicly.
BRUTE!'s Malcolm Bennett later said the networks rejected it for being 'too beautiful to be this violent'—the ultimate backhanded compliment.