No longer working at Warner Bros., Chuck Jones made this mystifying short about a drab delineation in love with a dot. He can't catch her attention until he realizes that he can make angles and all sorts of shapes.Now that I've seen "The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics", I would say that it's the sort of movie which I wish that I had seen in math classes. Directed by Jones, it's certainly a clever one. However, I wouldn't call it the greatest cartoon. All the stuff about the scruffy squiggle sounds a little bit like they were chastising young people for being independent; ironically, the whole cartoon seems kind of psychedelic! So, it may not be Chuck's masterpiece - in my view, "What's Opera, Doc?" easily gets that distinction - but still worth seeing. Narrator Robert Morley also starred in "The African Queen" and "Theater of Blood".

I remember watching this as a young child. It was a real treat to be able to see it, since it wasn't like the other programs I'd watch. Although there was only one Dot and the Line, it was better than the Rugrats. The Dot and the Line will remain a part of what defined my childhood. When I told my friends about this great cartoon, they didn't understand what made it so interesting or funny. The art style alone is enough to try and find this film. The last time I saw it was back in 2000. Flash forward a few years. I'm walking through SF when I find myself at a small sidewalk sale. I take particular interest in one book. The title seems familiar. It's a reprint of Norton Juster's book. If you can find it, the book is just as good.

Under the guise of an educational documentary Chuck Jones here again astounds with one of his most impressive works. Here he not only breathes life into but creates a story about two geometrical figures. In a way this film reminds me of the Ludwig von Drake educational shorts by Disney with the distinction that Jones makes the "math" the center of attention and makes these shapes seem real, instead of having the narrator be overbearing. This film was nominated for Best Picture at the Cannes Film Festival. And it's no wonder it's a great and original work that is a metaphor for human relationships more than anything else. It's also worth noting that this film was unusual and unique when it came out and will continue to be so as the nature of animation has changed drastically. If you have the chance watch this master work by a master director.

This short won an Academy Award and justly so. While others have said the scripted narration is not terribly good, I disagree. There are one or two excessively florid points, but Robert Morley's marvellous reading covers those and overall, the scripted narration is good. The animation succeeds in part because of the narration. Chuck Jones and Maurice Noble have every right to be well pleased with this cartoon. Why it isn't in print, I don't understand. Highly Recommended.