This film features serious themes of child abuse, neglect, trauma, escapism, and coping, which some may be very sensitive to. Viewer discretion is advised.
Jack Stauber's OPAL (often shortened as OPAL by fans) is a short twelve minute claymation film created by Jack Stauber that aired at midnight on October 30th, 2020 for the start of Halloween on Adult Swim. This short film follows the adventure of a young girl named Opal investigating the mysterious and seemingly haunted house across from her street.
The soundtrack for the short film was later released one week later under Jack Stauber's Micropop and Adult Swim Smalls on November 6th, 2020, The soundtrack features the following eight tracks:
Executive Producers: Keith Crofford, Matt Harrigan, and Dave Hughes
History
OPAL was originally leaked and discovered by fans on October 16th, 2020 when upcoming television schedules for Adult Swim were posted, first revealing Jack Stauber's OPAL to the public and being the first source of the film's existence prior to its official reveal. After a few days, the film would be listed on the official schedule for the Adult Swim channel, confirming its existence.
A few weeks later, a trailer was posted for Jack Stauber's OPAL on October 28th, 2020 0n the Adult Swim's social media platforms. Jack would also retweet the trailer on Twitter. This trailer revealed multiple scenes and shots that would later be seen in the short film as well as an orchestra rendition of what would be the reprise of We See You, Opal. The tune also featured original lyrics.
Something isn't right
Oh, nothing seems to make much sense to me
I know that something isn't right
Nothing seems to make much sense to me
A commercial for OPAL would later be aired on television for the next few days on Adult Swim. It would eventually be archived on the internet by a fan before later being reuploaded onto an Adult Swim archive channel. This revealed more shots from the film as well as revealing a portion of the Mirror Man song, albeit slightly high pitched. the commercial was later posted on Adult Swim's Instagram page a few hours before OPAL's premiere. The next day, a shorter trailer for OPAL was posted by Adult Swim, revealing a few more scenes from the film and revealing a portion of the Virtuous Cycle song.
Jack Stauber's "Opal" (Trailer) - adult swim
First OPAL trailer by Jack Stauber
-adult swim- - Jack Stauber's OPAL Promo
Second OPAL trailer aired as a television commercial
OPAL (Promo 3) by Jack Stauber
Third and final OPAL trailer by Adult Swim
The film would eventually premiere at midnight on October 30th, 2020 for Halloween and it would be a successful and stable airing without any technical or schedule issues and the film would properly air the way it was intended to. Jack would minorly promote the film, doing so on Twitter and Facebook. The entire short film would later be posted onto Adult Swim's YouTube channel immediately after airing. A week after the short film had premiered, the soundtrack for the film was released under Adult Swim Smalls and the Jack Stauber's Micropop name, featuring all three of the parent's songs, the opening song, an extended cut of the dancing music, the window melody, and the reprise of We See You, Opal. Three days later, Jack would post some behind the scenes footage of OPAL onto Patreon. A few months later on March 30th, 2021, Adult Swim would add Jack Stauber's OPAL into their catalog of HBO Max content.
Synopsis
MAJOR SPOILERS!!!
Note: There are major spoilers in the synopsis of the film. We recommend that you watch the entire short film first before continuing to read this page.
A curious girl investigates the cries she hears coming from a forbidden house across the street. - Description for Jack Stauber's OPAL on television and streaming services
Jack Stauber’s OPAL - adult swim smalls
Full Short Film
Introduction
The cartoon begins with a musical introduction montage featuring three messy rooms followed by visual backgrounds that each represent the three people that Opal encounters as she investigates the mysterious house across her street. Afterwards, the title screen would appear as it pans out of a tall window to reveal a plain landscape with a small white house. It then cuts into the house to reveal a burger on a plate, and later, a closeup of a man's face looking happy to the left before abruptly looking forward at the viewer. We then see Opal distressed for a moment before lifting her face up to reveal her normal self. Her family is then revealed, showing her mother, her father, and her grandfather as they start singing to Opal.
We see you, Opal
Your troubles are miles away
You see you, Opal
And in our eyes you'll stay
The family then starts admiring Opal with her mother saying "There she is", her father saying "That's my girl", and the grandpa simply greeting her, "Hi, Opal". Opal then attempts to grab the burger with her mother encouraging her. After grabbing the burger she smiles, gets on top of her table, and starts dancing on her plate with the burger as the family cheers her on. As she continues dancing, her mother continues cheering for her, her father compliments her, and her grandfather greets her again before she notices the mysterious house across her street and stops dancing. She is then intrigued by the house, notably looking at the top window of the house before water droplets fall from her father onto the burger as he asks her "What do we always say?". Her mother then closes the curtain of their window to cover the house as her father starts singing.
Don't mind the house across the street, Opal
It's not where your attention 'ought to be, Opal
The mother then interrupts, saying how tired she looks as the father then tells Opal that it's bedtime. The family tucks Opal in bed and tells her goodnight. However, after showing a nighttime shot of the house, it cuts back to the inside of the house, revealing Opal to have left her bed to look at the haunted house across from her street again, once again intrigued especially by the top window. Eventually the window opens as ghostly cries can be heard sobbing and weeping as white lace effects are seen flying out of the window. They eventually stop as the window closes and Opal is later seen concerned by the window. Eventually she decides to leave her house and investigate the haunted house. As she leaves four small on top of the screen are seen turning off.
Grandfather Scene
She quietly walks up to the house in the darkness, and as she reaches the front door a bright light shines, startling her and causing her to quickly enter the house through the front door to avoid it. After entering the house, she notices a fat old man sitting on a chair in front of a television. She tries to quietly leave the house before stepping on an empty plastic bag. The man hears the sound and turns around, revealing that he is blind. He then asks out loud if someone named Claire made the noise. Thinking Opal is Claire, he asks her to bring him his cigarettes and notably tells her to not hide them again. He then tells her it's evil to help people who don't need help before he starts coughing out blood as struggles to breathe and talk. As Opal looks for the cigarettes and eventually finds them, the old man starts rambling about how the people on television are more interested in him than she is. He then starts questioning the people on television as he begins singing a song about his perspective on television as a blind man, as well as his breathing problems.
Tell me, why does it sound so easy to breathe on TV?
I can't see why it sounds so easy to breathe
I'm popular here
They all sing to me (La la la la)
Idea salesman, they want my soul, Claire
They fight over me like dogs
And the girls are signing (La la la la)
They dance too, I assume (Yeah we do)
They want my soul as well
I need that smoke, Claire
What the hell is taking you?
And won't you tell me (La la la la)
Why does it sound so easy to breathe on TV?
Oh won't you tell me (La la la la)
Why does it sound so easy to breathe on TV?
(It sounds so easy)
After the song ends, the old man sniffs her, claiming she smells weird and questions why she isn't saying anything. He then claims that she isn't actually Claire and questions why she is his house before yelling at her to get out. She then drops the cigarettes and run away in a panic. The old man hears the sound of the cigarettes dropping, and as he tries to get out his seat to pick them up, his weight causes his chair to lean forward and eventually fall over him as he screams for help, Opal then runs up to the second floor of the house before stopping at the sight of a door. She then hears the ghostly cries again and confidently decides to enter the door.
Father Scene
After walking in, she is immediately greeted and frightened by a young man in a bathroom-like chamber with many mirrors and reflections faced towards him as he blissfully asks her if she's going to walk by without saying hello. As Opal looks at the man in concern, the man then rambles about how "they" will be kicking themselves, how he assumes he looks better than Opal, and claims that he's simply growing and questions why people are always "mad" at him. He then begins singing a song about his process of being "beautiful" and why he's obsessed with himself and growing.
They turned me down, now I live my nightmare
Gotta be seen by someone out there
Now I sit here in reflection chamber
Fixing myself so that all can savor
Follow me, I'm on the brink of visual epiphany
Life is a costume away, oh, life's a wardrobe change
So I can shift, create a rift with beauty and with grin.
Blush sensation creates the foundation, god is in my skin
They turned me down, now I live my nightmare (They turned me down)
Gotta be seen by someone out there (They turned me down)
Now I sit here in reflection chamber (They turned me down)
Crafting the world its next new savior
After the song ends, the man continues rambling about himself and how the song he sang puts him into her perspective. However, as he rambles, Opal turns around and notices that the old man has lifted himself up from the chair and has slowly made it up the stairs trying to catch Opal. He then yells at her and Opal runs away. The young man, startled, asks where Opal is going before accidentally dropping and breaking a mirror as he tells Opal "you know how this makes me feel".
Mother Scene
Opal quickly enters a room to hide from them. She then looks around the room she's in, revealing a messy and unorganized room filled with crooked paintings and bed sheets. She then spots a door with the ghostly cries' drumroll playing. As she slowly walks towards the door, a woman's hand grabs her and sends her over. The woman then lifts her head up and looks at Opal, asking who's there and then, similar to the grandfather, starts calling her by the name Claire. She then starts forgiving Opal and everyone she's known and then claims that every night is a virtuous cycle. She then starts rambling about how terrible she feels and how everything has gotten so bad. She then tells Opal that they don't live and how they only survive. She lowers her head back down as she begins singing a song about how dependent she is on Opal for emotional support.
Mama needs a little girl to land on
Mama needs a little girl to fall in her arms
Mama needs a mama's girl to take good care
Mama needs a baby girl to hold her hair...
After signing the final lyric, it zooms into her eyes to reveal a flashback of an incident involving the woman. It is unclear what truly happens, but a phone is notably seen calling 911 as the mother can be seen hitting and squeezing multiple people as splatters are seen on the screen. After the song and flashback end, she claims how her "adversaries" are in denial, don't know the wrong they do, and never repent how she wants them to. The woman looks at Opal and tells her that she's just like her and how powerless she is. The woman is then about to violently grab Opal before she jerks her leg free and runs up the stairs to the top floor, locking the door with a chair.
Ending
After entering the attic, she looks around to reveal the room empty with nothing but a single bed. She then looks out the top window she has been reeled to the entire film, which reveals a billboard in front of her house that advertises a restaurant called OPAL's Burgers that is a few miles away. That billboard notably features her family seen at the beginning of the film, only with a different daughter with a more round shaped head. She is distraught at the discovery as the three people she ran into during the film begin loudly knocking at the door, demanding her to open the door. A quick montage then plays of each of the three people, as Opal is shown to be old man's eyes, the young man's mirror, and woman's pills as the Opal then screams in realization. She then runs to the window and curls herself into a ball and grasps her head before she is transported back into her original house reified, revealing the original family as the mother closes the blinds to cover the haunted house. The family then gathers and sings the We See You, Opal song again, noticeably more sadder sounding. After singing the song, the scene then zooms out, revealing the family to be in Opal's head as she is still in the attic. It then zooms out more to reveal the other family knocking on the door behind her and it zooms out one more time to reveal an outside shot of the house across her street with the billboard replacing the original house.
Meaning
Opal is a very dark film, and many theories include yet darker themes. The main deep meaning and twist of the whole film is that the first tamer family is not real and the people she encounters throughout the house are her real family. The original and happier family are just her delusions that are used as a coping mechanism to ignore the neglectful parents she actually has to live with, and the cries she hears coming from the forbidden house are all from her, as well as the water droplet dripping on the burger being from her real life tears. Quite notably, the parents call her Claire, implying that her true name is Claire and that we've actually been watching Claire the whole time. The billboard mainly reveals where both her fake parents and her made up name are from, being the adults shown in the billboard being her delusional parents, and the name "Opal" taken from the restaurant's name from the billboard called "OPAL's Burgers".
The scene of Claire with the burger and her family being exactly like the billboard.
This is teased in many ways. One of the best examples are the four lights seen at the top of the family when they sing, teasing the lights above the billboard later. Those lights are notably seen turning off when she leaves her imaginary house to investigate her real house. Another being the light shining at her when she approaches the house, being the billboard and her trying to avoid the reality, and most notably, the scene where Claire is seen holding the burger with the family cheering, being almost completely identical to the billboard. The song the imaginary family sings about seeing her is sung with the fact that her actual parent's neglect and don't really see her, both metaphorically and physically, and how her imaginary family does the opposite. The lyrics "Your troubles are miles away" are also a reference to the billboard and the EXIT 22 - 9 MILES text on the bottom left of the billboard. The jingle the imaginary father sings about ignoring about the house also appears to just be her telling herself to ignore the real family and her problems. This is the family she wishes and likes to imagine she has, when in reality, she is stuck with the three people in the house. The family is no different to Claire though, as they all use things as coping mechanisms to avoid the truth about their lives, Claire however is the only one who actually comes to terms and is aware of it.
The film also notably has a heavy symbolism towards eyeballs and being seen. This is mainly among the theme of neglect and not being seen by her actual family. A notable example is Claire's eye during the imaginary scene where four lights glare onto her eyes, which are actually just the billboard. Other examples include the grandpa's blindness, the dad not taking the time to look at Claire, and the eyes seen fading during the Virtuous Cycle song as well as the mother's blurry vision. Each family member noticeably has their own relations to sight and eyeballs.
The grandfather is a fat and unhealthy man that has since developed COPD and is slowly killing himself as he sits and listens to the TV all day and makes Claire get him cigarettes when he wants them. He is blind and literally cannot see Claire and can't even recognize her at some points as seen in the film, mainly with Claire not talking and him being blind as he assumed that she was an intruder instead of his granddaughter. Something also important is that after asking Claire to get his cigarettes, he tells to not think about hiding them again. revealing that Claire has tried to hide the cigarettes in hopes of getting him to quit smoking. Something also worth noting about the song are the dancing girls and their appearances being giant lips with static bodies. This seems to be how the grandpa visualizes what the women look like in his head, mainly with him being blind. Grandfather mainly uses television and what he hears on it as a coping mechanism to avoid knowing the fact that he is killing himself with his smoking addiction. He also notably assumes that he doesn't need help when he clearly does, telling Claire that it's evil to help people who don't need help.
The one and only still we get of father's true face. Nightmare fuel.
The father is a childish, narcissistic, and egocentric man who has been neglected by society for being ugly, and goes to the "reflection chamber" to attempt to reach "visual epiphany" to finally appeal to society and shock the world, metaphorically in this case being the bathroom when looking at the rest of the setting. He is so engulfed in being beautiful, perfect, and being the best he could possibly look to a point where he completely ignores and never looks away from his mirrors to truly see and recognize Claire and her face, only using her as a way to insult her to make himself feel better while also boosting his own ego, this all being another case of her not being seen. Him saying that "they" are going to be kicking themselves is also a reference to how society turned him down and how they will be surprised and shocked when they see the new him. A very important and also very famous detail about the father is during the montage when it shows Claire's head on one of her parent's belongings, when the mirror turns for the father, you can briefly the father's true face, being a completely shriveled and destroyed face, revealing the faces seen in the mirror to be delusions and expectations created by himself. Notably during his song, there are many visuals of him harshly and violently using beauty tools to seemingly better himself, these actions likely being the cause towards his current true face. The father mainly uses his ego as a coping mechanism to avoid knowing what he is truly like, both on the outside and the inside. However, because of the fact that her father barely pays attention to her, it seems that this causes Claire to prefer her father over the three members of her family, since he doesn't abuse her as much, which causes her to have less fear in him, rather just being concerned and annoyed at him. She notably never runs away from her father, as she instead flees from the bathroom because of her grandfather chasing her.
Finally, the mother is a neglectful drunk who has been dwelling over a past incident she was affiliated with. She is seen always talking and abusing alcohol and pills to seemingly better herself, however, these only make her problems worse. Because of the heavy amounts of denial and guilt she goes through on a regular basis, she decides to use Claire as a way to make herself feel better as a person, venting her frustrations at life and telling her degrading things such as being powerless. The mother both literally and metaphorically cannot see Claire, as she is too drunk to truly see Claire, but she also does not see Claire for who she really is, as she only views her as a tool to make herself feel better, rather than Claire being her daughter. Although it is shown she relies on Claire emotionally, she also relies on Claire physically, as we see a glimpse of this at the end of her scene when she claims that Claire is powerful as she violently attempts to grab Claire, possibly attempting to abuse her to prove her point. A notable line the mother tells Claire after grabbing her at the beginning is "Being a person today, huh?", revealing the mother is aware of Claire always isolating herself away from them, further portraying her negligence and irresponsibility. Something else notable is that the mother always claims she want's a "mama's girl" and tries to do whatever she can to mold Claire into what she wants, and because of that, in her imagination, she is seen being more of a "daddy's girl" instead.
The montage showing Claire's head as different objects represents how all the family members use Claire as a crutch and rely on her for certain things, her being a person they can abuse to help them cope with their own problems (or what they perceive their "problems" to be) and feed their addictions. Claire is her grandfather's eyes, symbolizing how she's what the grandfather uses to get his cigarettes and slowly kill himself. She is the father's mirror, his way of inflating his ego, as he insults her while complimenting himself. And finally, she is the mother's pills, one the things the mother uses to feel better from the incident, along with her actual pills and her alcohol. Claire screams at the realization that's all she is to her family and she is a tool to help themselves feel better, notably only making their problems worse. And at the end when it zooms from the imaginary family, it is seen zooming out from Claire's head and hair, further referencing the fact that the family is non-existent and are delusions. The phrases the imaginary parents say to her also seem to be what Claire wants her family to say. The mother says up-lifting and motivational things, the father compliments her instead of insulting her, and her grandfather, actually knowing who she is, greets her happily.
Some theories also say that burger is a representation of Claire's views on what happiness is, since she almost never leaves the real house, and the burger is almost like the only form of happiness she knows. This is shown as the burgers are commonly referenced in the film. Some also speculate that Claire dancing on the table instead of eating the burger is a way of showing that she's never had a burger and is starved by her parents to which she doesn't know what to do with the burger, so she just dances with it, as seen on the billboard. Some theories also say that Claire's hairstyle is an attempt at recreation Opal's hairstyle from the billboard. It's also pointed out who skinner and scrawny Claire is compared to Opal, further hinting that she is starved. It is also pointed out that the imaginary family's house is only one floor because she wants the family to stop separating themselves. Something else important to note is that in the beginning of the film, the imaginary father makes the same expression on the billboard at the start of the film before snapping to a neutral face, teasing the billboard twist we see at the end and symbolizing him turning from an image to an actual person, at least in her head. Something else is just the general name Claire, which is French for clear in feminine terms, revealing that her actual name being Claire is a metaphor for seeing the way things are clearly.
Notes
Jack Stauber's OPAL is considered by many fans to be one Jack's greatest and also most powerful works with its dark message and themes, and notably how realistic they are. It's considered very sad and also disturbing because of these factors. It's also noted that VHS effect is more grainier and damaged looking compared to his other works, further enhancing the disturbing feeling. it would especially be well received for its attention to detail, with multiple scenes and themes shown during scenes foreshadowing and referencing the eventually plot twist and themes later revealed in the film, making the film very interesting to re-watch.
Trivia
Jack Stauber would voice-act every character in the entire short film.
Jack Stauber would receive help from producers at Williams Street when making OPAL.
All songs released on the OPAL soundtrack would be Jack's last public songs of 2020.
As stated above, OPAL seems to have a much more deteriorated and grainy VHS, especially compared to other videos, likely done to enhance the scary tone of the film.
Two high quality stills from the film can be seen on an Animation World Network article for OPAL, posted two days before the film's debut.
Jack Stauber's OPAL marvelous music and its leitmotifs
Video that explains and shows the different leitmotifs heard throughout the film.
The same piano leitmotifs are heard throughout the film. Mostly during scenes as background music it's heard, but it's also heard at the end of the reprise of We See You, Opal, at the beginning of the original orchestra promo, as well as at the end of the grandpa and father's song.
Jack Stauber's OPAL is notably rated TV-MA. This is most likely due to the disturbing and unsettling imagery shown throughout the film, as well as the film's dark and sensitive themes.
On the television airing and the video on the Adult Swim website of Jack Stauber's OPAL, a seizure and epilepsy warning would be displayed at the start of the film.
There is an error on the official Adult Swim upload of Jack Stauber's OPAL on YouTube, where in the description when it left a link for OPAL's soundtrack, it said it would release on 10/6 (October 6th) instead of 11/6.
On the soundtrack version of the opening theme, the theme ends with a fade out instead of having the rest of the track play out as heard in the short film.
When looking at the bottom left corner of the TV schedule at the last scene of the live action grandpa's room, you can see OPAL and its description on it.
The name of the book that wine is poured onto during the last scene of the mother's room is called Serial Killer Lover by Amy Vibrator. This book along with the author are made for the film.
Dancing marks the first and currently only song affiliated with Adult Swim and any other separate group to have an extended version, albeit not counted in the main lineup of official extended songs.
If Dancing were to be included with every song with an extended version, it would be the shortest extended version of a song ever made, not even fully passing a minute.
Crying is the shortest track featured on the OPAL soundtrack.
Fans have pointed out that the quieter weeps heard in the background of Crying sound similar to the ones heard in the Love Will music video.
Many fans have pointed out that the design for the grandfather looks very similar to the Goon design, a character commonly featured through Jack's media throughout late 2017 and early 2018. It has caused some fans to speculate that the design for the grandfather has inspired or based off of the Goon design.
Easy to Breathe is the longest song featured on the OPAL soundtrack.
Some of the flashing effects seen throughout the musical segment of Easy to Breathe from the film were also used in the Mirror Mirror music video.
Easy to Breathe is the longest track featured on the OPAL soundtrack.
Easy to Breathe is the first song on the soundtrack with vocals, with the first three being instrumentals.
A popular theory speculated by fans is that it sounds easy to breathe on TV because they are "on the air" as a pun.
Easy to Breathe was the only song that was sung by one of Opal's parents that wasn't featured in a promo video for Jack Stauber's OPAL.
The soundtrack version of Easy to Breathe omits the dialogue of the grandfather saying "it sounds so easy".
Many fans have pointed out that the father's imaginary face perception looks very similar to the artisanal faces seen in the Bread episode of SHOP: A Pop Opera.
A high quality behind the scenes photo of the clay model used for the "God is in my skin" scene from Mirror Man musical segment exists from a currently unknown source.
Fans have pointed out that the grin seen in the musical segment for Mirror Man looks very similar to the yesterday's smile from New Normal, with some fans speculating that the grin is inspired by the New Normal smile.
The cassette player shown in the beginning of the musical segment for Mirror Man is a CTR 85 Portable Cassette Tape Player Recorder.
SHOP: A Pop Opera was aired a few hours after OPAL's debut, and the full mini-series was later uploaded to YouTube a few days later along with the film.
Since the film's release, fans pointed out how similar the themes in OPAL are to the themes in Hope, notably with Claire's mother. Some similarities include certain scenes looking similar and similar subjects being brought up, notably with the mother and the Hope woman both using unhealthy substances to heal their emotional pains. It has notably caused some fans to believe that OPAL and Hope have some form of affiliation, with Hope likely being a teaser or test for OPAL.
Similar to Hope, fans have since commonly connected the concept of Cheeseburger Family to OPAL, with the concept of a loving family and cheeseburgers being the desires of Claire in the film. In the music video for Cheeseburger Family, a scene where the cheeseburger kid is looking out the window has also been pointed out for being noticeably similar to the OPAL scenes where Claire looks out of her window at the Opal's Burgers billboard.
Gallery
Note: These galleries only contain the non-musical related screenshots from the film, excluding trivial stills. For screenshots and stills of the musical segments, please each song's respective pages
Two HD stills from OPAL, seen on Animation World Network's article of the short's pre-debut.
Schedule with the OPAL description on it.
Goon character by Jack Stauber with a similar design to the grandfather
High quality still of the god is in my skin scene; via unknown source
Seizure and epilepsy warning seen before OPAL.
"Serial Killer Lover by Amy Vibrator"
The imaginary father showing the same face he makes in the billboard before snapping to a neutral face, foreshadowing the idea of the family being a billboard.
