Shortly after graduating from the University of California, the animator Don Hertzfeldt set about making what would be his fifth short film.
Shot on a 35mm Rostrum camera and based on a fictional account of commissioned animated segments for commercials that are later rejected, the final animation clocked in at just under 10 minutes.
The innovative climax demonstrates the impact of rejection by showing it from the perspective of the animator and his characters.
But the whole point of the film is that Hertzfeldt who remains to this day against corporate advertisers, deliberately set about creating animations that were so abstract and inappropriate that any network would reject them.
Featuring Allegro ma non troppo from Beethoven's 9th Symphony, the film incorporates the music to accompany the text introductions to each segment.
Released in 2000, Rejected won 27 awards on the international film circuit and was nominated for an Oscar as Best Animated Short Film.
Unfortunately it was rejected by the Academy from winning the top prize despite being the most popular short of the nominees.
It may not have won the Oscar but it remains a cult classic and has been referenced many times in popular culture.