Nothing quite like it!
First of all, I like to say amazing work!
Your preloader is quite creative. Using foreshadowing can serve the animator well, and pulled that of well! Immediately I was drone to think.. "Tripping in a arcade? Hmm.. Let's see more".
The story of a boy and his magic mushrooms was a clever theme. You added elements such as "conscience, consequences,fear, peer pressure and pleasure" within the conversation about the mushrooms. Much to today's society, these elements surely apply.
And in the chedder scene, how the mushroom effected Alex was amusing. Breaking out of convetional reality..etc. Nice phrase!
Also, the short clip when Percy ask "Dude, what the hell are you taking about?" was clever! Those commands of "give, open, close, pull, etc" were from the old age of adventure computer games. Gave me back memorys of Day of the Tentacle, Indiana Jones, and even sam and max. Monkey Island, haha, never played it but I can tell you have. Ah the wonders of point and click actions.
The Backgrounds + Effects- Well, you certaintly placed a lot of time in the backgrounds and effects. Great use of shadows and color. Also you place a few "hints" for us (the audience) to observe. Heh, such as in the first scene, the Sticker with the words "Alex's Mom". My guess is the name wasn't important but rather "who" she is.
The mushroom on the chalkboard? Yet more to look forward to in this film.
I see you support Alien Homid as well!
THe Characters in the story had varied personalities. But I find that Percy's appearence resembled somewhat to Larry! (A character from game, ages past). But neverless, great work on distilling character traits.
The Animation Quality is top notched. Your use of tweens and frame by frame is skillfully done. Much patience was placed in this movie. What striked me the most though was the animation of the faces. To me, it seem you were trying something completely different from other flashes. That effect added to the crispness of the film. The movement of the hair, eyes, mouth, ears, etc is just freaking good.
The Music was well played worked well with the scenes. Including the devouring of the first mushroom. Suspense!
In conclusion, I can see the much dedication and work you placed in this film and I commend you on your work as a animator. Good luck on your next episode and thanks for great film. You got great talent.