Loondon

Loondon is a Flash-animated piece of art developed by Newgrounds.com crew flipntale. Loondon was submitted to Newgrounds.com on March 10, 2010 and won both a Daily Feature award on March 11, 2010 as well as a Weekly 2nd Place award on St. Patrick's Day, 2010.

Spoilers follow the rest of this article.

The main storyline revolves around Jonah the Hunch who seeks happiness in the city o Loondon. Using only mouse clicks, the audience viewing this piece of art can see if Jonah the Hunch will find what he is looking for.

For most of his life, Jonah knew only the circus fair, where he seemingly grew up with other malformed individual of society. One day, however, he notices a flyer advertising the Loondon Happiness Celebration at the Loondon Cathedral and decides to head over there. After packing his bags and saying goodbye to his friends, Jonah leaves the circus fair in search of happiness and a better life.

The first thing Jonah encounters during his journey is a man hunting a wolfish man-beast. After helping the creature escape, Jonah receives directions in return for his kindness.

Jonah encounters another individual who seeks help in reaching an apple at the top of a tree. After helping the stranger, Jonah gains passage to the city of Loondon.

However, once in Loondon, Jonah faces stigmatizing behavior due to his malformed body. Despite his kindness towards others, he is turned away or yelled at. Even in the cathedral of happiness where Jonah initially sought joy, he is shunned from the celebrations.

Jonah's luck begins to turn around when he helps a worker fix his machinery. The stranger advises Jonah to head south away from the unkind people of the city.

While heading away, Jonah notices a crime and decides to intervene. However, he is caught in the middle of a mix-up and now has the police after him. Luckily, the stranger at the gate to Loondon decides to help Jonah escape.

It turns out the stranger has magical powers and gives Jonah the ultimate choice. Jonah may escape free and safe from the police, but the city of Loondon must burn. Jonah, being kind as he is, decides to return to Loondon to save his only Loondon friend, the machinery worker. Jonah's death reflects the sinful behavior of the citizens of Loondon.

Review

The beautiful artwork and storyline of Loondon make this masterpiece a must-see piece of art. The dark-tinted music, combined with the wonderful rhyming couplets between scenes, adds to the fairytale atmosphere and gives the submission a nice touch of enchantment.

Loondon is highly recommended for anyone looking for something different.