Funny animated comedy short film BENTO BANANA about a Kung-Fu AI banana

I have a funny animated comedy short to watch today called Bento Banana. The short film centers on the stories of an artificially intelligent kung-fu banana trapped inside a procedurally generated anime, designed by a for-profit dystopian anime streaming service.

The film comes from the writer and director Ari Grabb. This short film is shared in collaboration with the FilmQuest Film Festival, where we are looking to showcase some of the radical independent genre films and shorts that filmmakers are creating.

I also included an interview with the director which you can read below!

What was the inspiration for your film? How did the idea come to you?

Working in animation and listening to podcasts about AI, I started to get very anxious

Tell us about yourself. What is your background? How long have you been a director?

I’ve been making films since I was a child and started learning how to animate in college, but as a film student. After college I was able to get an internship at a stop motion studio and from there I became a professional animator.

What inspires you to work in genre cinema and tell these types of stories?

I’m a very emotional person and sometimes complexity is easier to express behind metaphors, hyperbole and screaming bananas

What was your favorite part of the filmmaking process for this project?

composition! It’s fun to see the finished and refined result

What are you most proud of about this film?

The amount of people I got to work with

What is a favorite story or moment from the making of the film that you would like to share?

All my favorite lines were improvised by my friend Rocky.

What was the most challenging moment or experience you had while making your film?

The shot of the director walking around the room was really tough. But it seemed really important, so I had to try to make it work.

If so, how did your film change or differ from the original concept during pre-production, production, and/or post-production? How has it changed the way you approach future projects?

If we go back far enough (Bento Banana is a web series), my initial idea was much simpler. I wanted to make 1-3 minute episodes that would only take me a month to make. But there was no soul inside.

Who were some of your collaborators and actors in the film? How did you start working together?

Rocky (Bento) was a funny guy who lived in my duplex apartment, and Lara (the director) was on my improv team and I thought he had a weird voice. Gabriel (sound designer) is my best friend from film school.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received as a filmmaker and what would you like to say to new filmmakers?

Continually ask yourself (but don’t obsess), “why are you making this story”? There are so many short films that I come away wondering why someone spent all this time, money and energy to tell THIS story.

What are your plans for your career and what do you hope this film does for that? What kinds of stories would you like to tell moving forward?

For now I just hope that the film and animation industry can continue to support me so that I can continue to make independent films. I would love to aspire to be a show creator one day

What’s your next project and when can we expect to see it?

Bento Banana 5: thinking about 2026

Where can we find more of your work and where can interested people contact you? Do you have a website or YouTube/Vimeo channel?

youtube.com/arigrabb

Bonus question no. 1: What is your favorite movie of all time?

It’s such a beautiful day – Don Hertzfelt

Bonus question no. 2: What is the film that most inspired you to become a director and/or had the greatest influence on your work?

Not a movie, but the TV show Invader Zim. It was canceled prematurely and I think my life’s mission as a filmmaker has been to recapture the way it made me feel.