Michael Sporn Animation – Splog

Here’s another survey of the year in animation for the March/April issue of Print Magazine circa 1976. Leonard Maltin did the surveying. Interesting that you don’t see many of this type article anymore.

An Animation
Overview

by Leonard Maltin

British animator Bob Godfrey has said, “Animation is a medium that deserves masters worthy of it. I’d like to see animation Picassos or Matisses, and we haven’t had any so far.”

Of course, Matisse never had to raise two million dollars in order to create one of his paintings, and Picasso didn’t have to oversee a staff of inkers and painters to make sure his newest canvas would turn out right.

The artist who chooses animation as his medium must endure certain realities: that films cost money, that extensive filmmaking becomes expensive filmmaking, and that except for the most monastic souls filmmaking is a collaborative process. This is not to eliminate the possibility of individual artistic expression in animation, but there are simpler ways known to man.

Once the artist has made his film, another set of realities comes to the fore: trying to find a distributor, or at least an audience, and with any luck, establishing a way of recouping the monetary investment of making the film. Since individual backing is hard to come by, to examine “the state of the art” of animation is to examine “the state of the industry” at the same time; it’s nearly impossible to separate the two.

In this country—as around the world— animation means so many different things that even the most cursory observations can expand to extreme lengths. “Animation” covers a lot of ground, from high-school kids filming paper cutouts with a Super 8mm camera to major Hollywood factories turning out Saturday morning drivel by the carload, but there are some significant outposts along the way.

“Robin Hood” full length feature produced by Walt Disney Prods.
Producer/Director Wolfgang Reitherman.

Rumors of the Walt Disney Studio’s abandonment of cartoons are greatly premature. There was a time several years ago when the future of animation at the studio was in doubt, but the whopping worldwide success of the animated Robin Hood is just one reason that animated features are an ongoing project in Burbank.

The studio’s current endeavor is The Rescuers, which concerns two detective mice who head a society of do-gooders. Like other recent Disney features, it will comprise some four years of work— anywhere from three to four times as much as most competitors spend on similar projects. Rescuers is being aimed for Christmas of 1977, but there’s no guarantee that it will be completed on time. No one rushes this group of craftsmen.

The two main objectives in any Disney feature are a strong story line, the backbone of the film, and equally strong personality development, which gives the film its heart. Unfortunately, the approaches to these objectives have become increasingly routine in the 1960s and 70s at Disney, with much of the personality emanating from big-name stars doing character voices, and not so much from the animator’s pencil, although character animation is still superbly handled.

Practically everyone working on The Rescuers in a major capacity has been at the studio for 30 to 40 years, and Frank Thomas, a senior member of the team, admitted to John Canemaker, “We are less experimental. [With Walt] every picture was completely different. We were always pushed into things that were exceedingly difficult to do. He was always asking us to rise above ourselves. Well, when he left it up to us, we quit that. We got old. We decided we were going to do the things that were fun to do.”

The quality is still there, and the years of care and precision that go into a Disney feature show up on the screen. But somehow, the magic is missing, and that has nothing to do with time or money.

“Raggedy Ann & Andy” upcoming feqture based on Johnny Gruelle’s characters.
Production company: Lester Osterman Prods. Supervisor/director: Richard Williams.

Into the breach steps a young man who has been hailed as “the new Disney,” Richard Williams. Canadian-born, British-based, he has impressed the animation world with his main titles for feature films (Charge of the Light Brigade, Return of the Pink Panther), theatrical shorts (“Love Me, Love Me, Love Me”), television specials (A Christmas Carol), and commercials.

The comparison with Disney is apt, because Williams has devoted himself tirelessly to the improvement of his work. Several years ago he began recruiting veteran Hollywood animators to come to London and work with his staff, as artists-in-residence, teachers, and colleagues. These men, in their 60s, 70s, and 80s, have all contributed to Williams’ pet project, an animated feature entitled The Cobbler and the Thief, which has been in progress for the better part of a decade. Williams and his people work on this when there is time, between commercial assignments. Among the distinguished Disney, Fleischer, and
Warner veterans who have pitched in are Art Babbitt, Shamus Culhane, Grim Nat-wick, and Ken Harris. It’s a two-way love affair, a happy collaboration between men of age and experience and younger animators with fresh ideas and outlooks.

Now Williams is hard at work on an ambitious American project, a musical feature version of Raggedy Ann and Andy set for release at Christmastime this year. He has gathered a hand-picked staff in New York and supplemented it with freelancers from places as far off as Arizona.

Oher animated features are also on the way. It took Fritz the Cat to convince distributors and theater-owners that animated films shouldn’t be regarded as kiddie-show fodder and nothing more. Now John Hubley is directing a cartoon version of the bestseller Watership Down, while Fritz’s director, Ralph Bakshi, is working on his fourth feature film (the third, Hey, Good Lookin’, is about to be released). Producer Lee Men-dohlson and director Bill Melendez are working on a third Peanuts feature in California, while a New York operation has completed a feature-length remake of Tubby the Tuba. Other features are in production and planned for the near future.

But feature films tell only part of the story. Many filmmakers, amateur and professional, work in the realm of short subjects, and bringing these to the attention of an audience, not to mention a distributor, can be a long and wearisome process. One splendid showcase is the annual awards competition sponsored by the New York branch of ASIFA, the international animation society. Their recent screenings of this year’s winners revealed much about trends, goals, and styles in current films.
In the Student Film Category were three astoundingly professional products: Eduardo Damino’s “Hello,” a slick, imaginative treatise on the history and impact of telephones, using colorful cutout animation and an abstract soundtrack; Stephen Ciodo’s “Cricket,” a finely crafted stop-motion film for children about a cricket who is ostracized by his peers because he’s unable to jump; and Linda Heller’s “Album,” a most intriguing series of vignettes based on flashbacks and flash-forwards in a photo album of a woman’s life.

“A Dog’s Life” Due to soaring food prices, a family eats less while their dogs eat more.
Production company: Perpetual Motion Pictures | Producer: Marshall Patinkin
Director/designer: Hal Silvermintz | Animator: Vince Cafarelli
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A vital category for prizes at ASIFA East is the Non-Sponsored Professional Film. Chapter president Dick Rauh explains that this category is intended to encourage members to take the time to make personal films, apart from their daily assignments; indeed, the five winners showed a wide range of highly individual styles and goals.

Mary Beams’ “Going Home Sketchbook” has an interesting visual concept, combining sketches, line animation, and what seems to be a rotoscope technique to create an impressionistic view of a trip home; unfortunately, there is no development within the film to give it any real interest beyond that technique. “Deep Sleep” is a feminist-oriented film by Peggy Tonkonogy that details a woman’s long, weird symbolic dream; again, an aimless-ness is somewhat compensated for by excellent visual effects. Both of these films received Honorable Mention.

George Griffin’s “L’Age Door” is an irresistible film that perfectly meshes form and content as a man is confounded and swallowed up by an endless succession of doors. Short, sweet, and quite funny. Griffin’s film won Third Prize in this category.

“Quasi at the Quackadero,” Second Prize-winner, is one of the most bizarre animated films I’ve ever seen. Sally Cruickshank’s visual extravaganza bears repeated viewings, just to absorb everything that’s happening on-screen; the style might be described as freaked-out George Herriman. Significantly, Cruickshank labels her film “a cartoon,” showing strikingly-designed characters attending a futuristic amusement park where the games and rides are based on time- and life-warps.

First Prize was awarded to Kathy Rose for her quiet and enjoyable film “The Doodlers,” the basic premise of which is that drawings beget drawings.

In the general categories, awards were divided according to soundtrack, technique, script/concept, humor, design, animation, and direction. Most of these were commercial and/or sponsored films, including several delightful commercials from Phil Kimmelman and Associates, a funny NBC “Weekend” gag-film by Ovation Films, some dazzling 7-Up graphic spots by Goldsholl Associates, and two fine shorts by the Wantu Studio headed by the talented James Simon.

“Whazzat” Clay figure animation based on blind man and the elephant
Sponsor: Encyclopedia Britannica |Production company: Crocus Pictures
Producer: Tel C. Determan | Director: Art Pierson.
Awards for Best Animation and Best Direction went to Arthur Pierson and his associates Ron Lasner and Alan Baker for a disarming stop-motion clay film called “Whazzat?” (which had already won Spe-cialJury Prize for Best Film at the New York Animation Festival). The premise of “Whazzat?” has six clay objects assuming vivid personalities, although they have no faces or identifying features; together, they travel and enjoy each other’s companionship, until they come upon a strange being unknown to them. Through sophisticated and knowing animation, camera placement, and ingenious use of soundtrack, “Whazzat?” makes something special out of something elegantly simple.

Best Film in ASIFA’s competition was another repeater from the New York Festival, Stan Phillips’ “Water Follies,” produced as a soft-sell promotional film for the Denver Water Commission. An entertaining series of blackout gags on uses and abuses of water, this straightforward film quietly goes about its business and scores a bull’s-eye with its entertaining point of view and uncluttered animation style.

One may be hesitant to accept the idea of slick, professionally sponsored films competing with more personal, individual works. But the ASIFA screening brings out something very important about animated films. They come from individuals and they come from large companies; they range from utter simplicity to overstuffed detail, from quietude to clutter. But each film stands on its own, with its own set of goals to be met, and if it fails, all other considerations become worthless.

Not every professional film is better than an amateur effort. There are films made by eight- or nine-year-olds which burst with imagination and daring visual ideas; they put some professional filmmakers to shame. Likewise, some one-minute TV commercials are so outstanding in every respect (animation, design, humor) that they overpower more “serious” artistic works shown alongside them.

But does the film succed on its own terms? Be it Disney, Bakshi, commercial or collegiate, that’s the only question that really counts.

1 2 3

1.”Teeth Care” Sesame Street – Prod/Dir: James Simon Animator: Jack Schnerk
2. “The Strike” Morris Funk Foundation Prod/Dir: James Simon
Animators: Cosmo Anzilotti, Lu Guarnier, Ed Smith, Sal Faillace
3. “I Want My Avis” Prod Co: PK&A | Prod: Hal Hoffer
Designer: Mordi Gersteion | Animator: Jack Dazzo

4 5 6
4. “Water Follies” Sponsor: Denver Water Dept | Prod/Designer: Stan Phillips
5. “Ou Hound” CTW | Prod/Dir/Anim: John Strawbridge
6. “French T-Shirts” Bloomingdales | John Gati Film Effects

7 8
7. “Carton Graphics” 7-up | Goldscholl Associates
Designer: Morton Goldscholl Dick Greenberg
8. “No More Puckers” Yoplait Yogurt | PK&A producer: Sid Horn
Director: Phil Kimmelman | Designer: Bill Peckmann | Animator: Lu Guarnier

Leonard Maltin teaches the history of animation at the New School for Social Research, New York City, and is author of The Disney Films, among other movie books. He is currently guest programmer for the Museum of Modem Art’s “Salute to Film Comedy.”

- I thought I’d comment on the Oscar nominations.

The list of 10 Best Picture nominees creates some pathetic choices. The Blindside and District Nine should not be nominated for the Best Picture. It diminishes the category and demeans the other nominees. I’m sure Up got in there because of the increase to 10 nominees, but I’d gladly sacrifice that to give a little dignity to the award. The Messenger was better than either of those two films (and better than Avatar as well) yet it was left out in the cold.

They did this once before, in 1939, when every one of those 10 nominees deserved to be there. This year it was tough just picking 5 films to be nominated.

I’m glad Tomm Moore’s The Secret of the Kells got nominated, though I don’t think it was particularly good. However, it would have been a total sham if Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs had been honored. My preference would have been for Ponyo, which may have been the best animated feature of last year’s crop.

(By the way, there’s another chance to see the Secret of the Kells in NY. Tomm Moore will be in attendance for a Q&A. It’s playing Sat Feb 27 at the CANTOR FILM CENTER – 36 East 8th Street – at 1pm. Go here for tickets in advance. )

It’s also sad that Runaway wasn’t nominated for Best Animated Short. It’s better than most of those nominated, even though I’m not a fan of any of the shorts in the running. There were a bad crop of films shown this year, and I would have had a hard time if I had to select any of them.

I have to say, watching Logorama, which ended with a devastating earthquake, so soon after the Haitian disaster was difficult. This wasn’t the fault of the filmmakers, just the circumstances that were happening in the real world. It took something away from the film, for me.

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Yurij Norshtein is visiting the two coasts.

He’ll be in San Franciso this Sunday, Feb. 7h, showing his films and talking at the Balboa Theater (3630 Balboa Street, San Francisco, CA). Tickets are $25. The event will be a fundraiser to support Yuri Norshtein’s animation studio in Moscow.

He’ll be in Olympia, Washington on Wednesday, February 10th at the Evergreen State College (Communications Building, Recital Hall in Olympia Washington.) Ticket prices are $10 regular admission, $8 seniors, $5 students.

He’ll be in LA this Friday at the USC School of Cinematic Arts (the Norris Cinema Theatre/Frank Sinatra Hall.) The admission is free and begins at 7:00pm. Friday, February 5th, 2010. Igor Kovalyev (Milch, The Rugrats, Duckman) will lead the conversation with him.

And, finally, he’ll be in New York on Monday, February 15 at the School of Visual Arts Theater (333 W. 23rd Street, between 8th/9th Ave.) This event is free to ASIFA East members (and anyone else, too.) Interesting enough, none of those who put together the NY edition of this show have any idea whether Norshtein will be screening films or just doing a Q&A. It’s up to him (and I’m pretty confident his films WILL be screened – since he doesn’t speak English, making a lengthy talk impossible.)

This is one of the great world leaders of animation, people. ATTEND ATTEND ATTEND and Stop being so lazy.

- The BAFTA Award nominations were revealed yesterday. The nominees for
Best Short Animated Film are:
THE GRUFFALO Michael Rose, Martin Pope, Jakob Schuh, Max Lang
a half hour tv special for BBC1. It features the voices of Helena Bonham Carter, John Hurt and Tom Wilkinson. More info here.
THE HAPPY DUCKLING Gili Dolev – View a clip at their website here.
MOTHER OF MANY Sally Arthur, Emma Lazenby A 5 min short. Info here. View a clip here.

The nominees for
Best Animated Feature are:
Coraline
Fantastic Mr. Fox
UP

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- Screen Daily magazine has an excellent encapsulation of Eric Rohmer’s life work and accomplishments.

Within the article I was reminded that Rohmer did a film, The Lady and the Duke, which made extensive use of cg work for a period piece. The film’s exteriors were shot on blue-screen backgrounds with 18th-century paintings superimposed during the editing process. I didn’t get to see this film (with a very limited release in the US) but Slant Magazine’s review states:

His exteriors recall Zbigniew Rybczynski’s famous Tango and forces the spectator to question that which is most visually important in the frame. Rohmer’s interiors are considerably less evocative though they’re the perfect setting for what plays out like 18th-century Jacobin pornography. The effect is disorienting, mildly humorous, and sometimes taut

And J.Hoberman in his Village Voice review wrote:

The movie’s look is authentic, but—as suits an epoch that predates photography—in no way naturalistic. Commissioning a series of paintings based on period engravings, Rohmer has contrived a glorious Méliès effect: Once they leave their drawing rooms, his actors are keyed into these virtual locations as though they were moving through 18th-century panoramas and tableaux.

This will be my next Netflix selection, and I’ll undoubtedly post something about it after I see it. I remember being impressed back in 2006 when I’d read about it.

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- As I, and probably you, learned this week from Cartoon Brew, Pat Smith and Bill Plympton are now collaborating on a new blog called Scribble Junkies.
Pat, on the site, writes of the blog’s purpose: This is where Bill and I will share our opinions, techniques, photos, drawings, and films.
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I’m looking forward to seeing how this will vary from the sites each of them already hosts: Pat Smith Blend Films (Pat states that he is phasing out his personal blog for the new one) and Bill Plympton Plymptoons._________________.
- The publicist, Yana Walton, sent me a link to a new animated piece done by Oxfam America to question the big bucks going into big oil. Oxfam turned to Talking Eyes Media to produce the piece which seems to be a sterling and masterful collage of AfterEffects moves.

I found it interesting enough to share. Their agenda is front and forward, but I have no complaint about that. Perhaps in the future they’ll go a step further and use real animation to get the message across more forcefully. Perusing the Talking Eyes site, I found myself curious about some of the documentaries they’ve made.

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(Click any image to enlarge.)

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- The Tempe Center for the Arts in Tempe, Arizona will host an exhibition celebrating the work of Chuck Jones. The show, called “Chuck
Amuck, a Legacy of Laughter,” will open February 26 with a free-to-the-public opening event. The show will run through June 18th. The opening night reception will be held from 7 to 9:30 PM in the TCA Gallery. It will be hosted by Jones’ grandson Craig Kausen and will include a screening of some of his cartoons. Seating is limited.

Their press release states:

This exhibition of original sketches, paintings and animation production art highlights the life and art of legendary artist, animator and director Chuck Jones who not only helped bring to life famous cartoon characters such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, but also created the iconic Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner, along with many more. This exhibit will be the largest and most comprehensive exhibit of art by Jones since his retrospective held at the Capitol Children’s Museum, Washington, D.C. in 1988.

The Tempe Center for the Arts is located at 700 W. Rio Salado Parkway, Tempe, Arizona. For more info go here.

By the way, if you’re at all a fan of Mr. Jones’ work you should be regularly visiting the blog established which has been posting many of the letters and illustrations Chuck sent to his daughter, Linda. There’s some spectacular material here.

Thia was Wes Anderson’s acceptance speech at the National Board of Review:

At the NYFilm Critics Awards on Monday, George Clooney introduced Wes Anderson with an embarrassing speech, according to Variety.
Clooney said, “Before the show started Wes said, ‘George, tonight when I give my acceptance speech, I am going to blow the roof off this place. I’m going to give the best god-damn acceptance speech in New York Film Critics Circle history.’
I said, ‘You know, Wes, there are some people here that are good at this shit like Meryl Streep,’ and he said, ‘Fuck her. Fuck Meryl Streep!’ I mean who says that? Really, Wes!”

A visibly embarrassed Anderson then gave a brief acceptance speech, to which Meryl Streep gave him a standing ovation.

This was Anderson’s speech:

“This movie took approximately the same amount of time as an undergraduate college education, and to me it also had a kind of university-like atmosphere,” he said. “More or less every person in the entire very large crew was a kind of scholar in their area — a very gifted, knowledgeable specialist. And all the various movements, they often resembled basement laboratories where experimental projects were being invented. I certainly was a student in this establishment, although an extremely old one compared to most of my professors.” He concluded by thanking the “think tank of artists and crafts people” who “educated me in stop-motion animation.”

- One of my favorite directors died yesterday, Eric Rohmer was 89. He made 24 films over a period of 50 years with his principal work being his cycle of films entitled, Six Moral Tales.

The third in the series, My Night at Maud’s (Ma Nuit Chez Maud) (1969), brought him international success and recognition. It was nominated for 2 Oscars, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Screenplay.

That film was seminal to my thoughts about filmmaking; I’ve seen it at least a dozen times. His film My Girlfriend’s Boyfriend (1987) opened my eyes to a style of cutting that I used in my film Abel’s Island.

There was a time when I would wait excitedly anticipating his latest annual film. Unfortunately, his work slowed down somewhat in recent years. His last film, The Romance of Astree and Celadon (2007), was poorly distributed in the US, playing briefly in NY at the Anthology Film Archives.

I met him, only to shake his hand, at the New York Film Festival back in the early 80s. I’ll miss his presence in the world.

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- From one of my favorite directors to Robert Zemeckis. News is that he has his cast. The Beatles will be played by the all-star team of Cary Elwes, Dean Lennox Kelly, Peter Serafinowicz and Adam Campbell according to a story in The Hollywood Reporter. Of course, as with all Hollywood gossip they’re still in negotiation.

Did you notice . . . This time Ringo gets to be the most handsome.

We mustn’t forget that Zemeckis wrote and directed the film I Want To Hold Your Hand as one of his earlier movies. He obviously has a thing for the Fab Four. Too bad he doesn’t have a thing for animation.

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This morning’s NYTimes has an article about The Fantastic Mr. Fox and the run that’s being made against Up for the Best Animated Feature Oscar. Read this article to find out what Jerry Beck has to say about it. This has gotten to be BIG Business. The $40 million film against the $175 million film.

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The New York Times, on Monday, had an extiensive article on Blue Sky studios in Greenwich, Conn. The article addresses the fact that Blue Sky last year outgrossed the International box office of Pixar and Dreamworks with their very successful film, Ice Age 3: The Dawn of the Dinosaurs. The article may have been missed since it’s in the Media & Advertising section, not the Film section of the Times.

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- This past weekend I watched Miyazaki’s Princess Mononoke for about the fifth time. What a gorgeous, intelligent, adult animated film. This, to me, is the very highest of the canon of his films possibly tied with My Neighbor Totoro as my favorites. I love the open spirituality of the film, the conflict between those who want to preserve the earth vs those who want to exploit it. Neither side is a villain; both sides have their points. This, despite the fact, that the director so blatantly supports those who look to preserve the planet and its environs. It’s a film that just gets better, for me, with each viewing.

I could only wish that one day something as responsible as this comes from the US without our obviously commercializing and diminishing such a story. Soon, I hope to pull some frame grabs from this movie to take a closer look at some of the animation and background work.

Happy New Year
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Here’s one of my favorite pieces. We did it for a home video of children’s poems.
It’s a piece by the brilliant Russell Hoban. The animation is by Mark Mayerson, and the design is by Jason McDonald. The music is by Caleb Sampson. I think all of these artists did brilliant work.

Click left side of the black bar to play.
Right side to watch single frame.

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- I’ve grown to know that I am too old for New Year’s Eve’s TV celebrations.
Watching a 40 year old mother, J-Lo, in a skin-tight nude outfit with sparkles, moving around the stage on all fours while lip-synching a generic song and two guys pretend to violate her – this does not have much to do with New Year’s Eve for me. As I said, I’m too old for this coarse crudity. Even reruns of Guy Lombardo in his tuxedo sounds better. Especially when you’ve drunk too much. Call me a prude, I don’t care; I’m all for dignity. We watched the Twilight Zone reruns on SYFY. All those great Bernard Herrman and Jerry Goldsmith scores.

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You can start your New Year off with a bit of Art. The good news is that the IFC Center has extended the run of Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues through next Wednesday, Jan. 5. Get off the couch and go. Perhaps they’ll extend it another week.

See A.O. Scott‘s NYTimes review here. (It’s very positive and well written.) See the readers’ reviews (all positive) here.
Go to Elizabeth Weitzman‘s NYDaily News top ten pick of 2009 here. Anyone know of other 10 Best lists the film made it onto?

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- I congratulate Sally Cruikshank on having her film Quasi at the Quackadero selected into the Library of Congress’ National Film Registry, but I have to admit I find it whacky that Rooty Toot Toot, Moonbird, The Old Mill, Peace On Earth and dozens of other true history-making shorts of U.S. animation haven’t been selected before this film. I can only assume they will get their just deserts next year.

- I just learned the sad news of Arnold Stang‘s passing.

He played a bird on my film, Lyle, Lyle Crocodile. During the session, which included a song number, that Arnold participated in, Charles Strouse, the composer, jumped in to attack Arnold for not sounding enough like a bird. There was a back-and-forth fight between the two of them as to what an animated bird would sound like, as compared to a human being. Arnold pointed out that he was many animals in animation but had never been criticized for sounding human.

Recognizing the inherent problems in the discussion, outside of the booth I asked Charles to keep quiet and allow me to direct. I then told Arnold he was doing a great job – which he was – and to finish the piece in the same direction. He did, and the track ended well.

After the session, I privately spoke with Charles and resolved any problems. (He ultimately did this to me several times in several different sessions over the course of different films. In every case, I had to firmly stick to my guns.)

Arnold and I exchanged Christmas cards up until this year. Several times he called to ask if I had anything brewing for him. Unfortunately, we never worked together again. I’m glad for the bittersweet memories I do have, and I’m sad that he’s gone. He was an extraordinary and unique talent.

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- Nina Paley’s Sita Sings the Blues will, at long last, make its New York City premiere on Christmas Day. The film will open at the IFC Center on Dec 25th and play through Dec 31st, New Year’s Eve. This will be the first official screening of the movie.

On Dec 25th Nina will appear for a Q&A session at the theater and may make other appearances at the theater during the week. These will be announced at a later date.

If you haven’t seen the movie projected on a screen, you ought to. It takes on new dimensions, and you owe it to yourself. The film has played at over 200 International film festivals and has won many prestigious awards including at Berlin, Annecy and Ottawa.

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- You’ll remember that I did a couple of posts on Bert and Jennifer Klein and their film, Pups of Liberty. I’m pleased to say that this film has been nominated for an Annie Award for best animated short. (The only other film in that category that I’ve seen is Bill Plympton’s Santa, the Fascist Years. I suppose I can also guess what Robot Chicken: Star Wars 2.5 is. A Cartoon Network tv show. Honestly, it’s not the best selection of shorts I’ve seen. Pups of Liberty has a good chance, and I congratulate the Kleins.)

Bert Klein recently contacted me to say that he’s produced a feature film, with Jennifer Klein, – a live action documentary about his father, David Klein, the inventor of the Jelly Belly. It’s called Candyman and is directed by Costa Botes, who directed Forgotten Silver with Peter Jackson in New Zealand.

You can view a trailer on their film’s site, Candyman.

The film, Candyman was just accepted into the 2010 Slamdance Film Festival. It’s going to be an exciting January at the Klein household.

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- Recently Jonathan Giles approaached me at an ASIFAEast program. He gave me a card for a website comic strip he’s been drawing/posting for the past couple of years.

Anecdote is a strip that features a lot of kids with timely/often political subject matter. It’s a well-drawn, entertaining read and I highly recommend it. Apparently, new strips are posted Wednesdays at 5:30pm, but plenty of strips remain on line.

I encourage you to check it out.
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Dec 5th – Today is Walt Disney’s birthday. I’ll celebrate by seeing The Princess and the Frog. Nothing like 2D animation to celebrate the man. Maybe later I’ll also watch a couple of great Mickey shorts from the early thirties.
Today’s also the day that we start our fifth year working this blog. It doesn’t feel that long to me, and it still continues to be fun. Hopefully I’ll be able to say the same in another four years.

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Mary and Max
- I finally got to see Adam Eliot’s feature, Mary and Max. For those of you unfamiliar with the movie, it’s an animated feature by the Australian creator of Harvie Krumpet, which won the Oscar for animated short in 2003. I won’t go into the story other than to say it’s a penpal tale between a girl in Australia and a Jewish man with Asperger’s Syndrome in NY.

Since I’ve only seen these two films, I can only judge one against the other – with no other references. These are the aspects both films have in common:
. They have excellent, picaresque stories that move forward through their characters’ lives.
. They are narrated rather than played out and have close to no dialogue spoken by the characters. The work is done in clay with very inventive scenes, but animated in a strongly limited way. (Eliot had once boasted that he’d never done a walk cycle in any of this three previous shorts. Indeed, Mary and Max mostly shows them walking from the waist up. There’s one excellent cycle of a very heavy character walking, so Eliot can do it. Or at least one of his animators can; I don’t know if there are any other animators since there’s no credit for animation on the film.)
. Lastly, the celebrity voices are bordering on brilliant. Geoffrey Rush was at least half the film in Harvie Krumpet. In this feature, Philip Seymour Hoffman gave one of the best animation vocal performances of the past several years.

This last bit counts for a lot. The narration can carry you draggingly through a half-hour short like Harvie Krumpet, but in a a feature like Mary and Max it gets a bit tedious regardless of how interesting the story. After a half hour of only three principal voices (narrator: Barrie Humphries/Dame Edna, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and Toni Collette) you start looking for more, and the film does wear out its welcome a bit. (Eric Bana also has a small, underwritten part.)

I enjoyed this film somewhat, but it’s in a different league from The Fantastic Mr. Fox or Coraline.

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John R. Dilworth
- This coming Tuesday, Dec 8th, ASIFA-East will present an evening with John R. Dilworth. The program should promise to be an unforgettable evening of films, conversation . . . and surprises and comedy.
There will be a screening of a number of John’s films including the NY public premiere of John’s most recent short, “Rinky Dink.”

Tuesday Dec 8, 2009
SVA 209 E 23rd Street, 3rd floor amphitheatre
7 PM
Admission: FREE
By the way, ASIFA-East calenders will be on sale at the event ($10 each), as well as some Dilworth merchandise. Get Christmas shopping in while attending this event.

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Mad Monster Party

– Can’t get enough Stop-Motion Animation? Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mary and Max, and Coraline have just wet your appetite? Lert’s go back to the creators of the feast – Rankin-Bass. As part of its Tim Burton retrospective, the Museum of Modern Art will be screening today and tomorrow (Dec. 6th and 7th) Mad Monster Party. (I’d personaly prefer to see Daydreamer, The World of Hans Christian Andersen.) Dracula, the Mummy, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde plot to gain control of Baron von Frankenstein’s secret weapon during a monster convention. Featuring the voices of Boris Karloff, Phyllis Diller, the movie should be a trip down memory lane.

December 5, 2009, 5:45 p.m.
December 6, 2009, 5:30 p.m.

A drawing by Don Duga who storyboarded the film.

__________________

,
UPA

-On December 14th, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences will have a program celebrating the short films of UPA. John Canemaker will host the event with a look back at the studio’s output. Eight rarely seen films will be screened in 35mm.
These will include:
_____GERALD MCBOING BOING
_____MISTER MAGOO’S PUDDLE JUMPER
_____ROOTY TOOT TOOT
_____MADELINE
_____THE TELL-TALE HEART
_____THE UNICORN IN THE GARDEN
_____FUDGET’S BUDGET
_____GEORGIE AND THE DRAGON

Take it from someone who knows, the collection of shorts couldn’t be better. Lots of Oscar winners and nominees among them. The 35mm prints from the UCLA Archives, will be immaculate. This show will be a treat.

At 7PM December 14, 2009 at the Lighthouse, 111 East 59th Street, between Park and Lexington avenues
$5.00 admission ($3.00 for members)

– I continue with the little book published in Japan which takes a number of cartoons drawn by an student working and learning in the studio with Yuri Norshtein and his small, close crew. Tanya Usvayskaya drew a sort-of diary featuring her boss as the primary character. This, of course, becomes treasure to those of us who relish any information about Mr. Norshtein.

As I wrote last time out in Part 1, the book was a surprise of a gift from Richard O’Connor Asterisk Animation .

Before getting into the cartoons, here’s a foreward by Hiroko Kojima.

Yuri Norshtein’s Studio

In Moscow city, in a section of an ordinary housing complex, there is Norshtein’s studio. The entrance is a common wood door. There is no mention of a studio or the Norshtein Foundation. No nameplate, no signboard is hanging. You just push a button. When we approached the entrance a dog barks. According to the tone of barking, members in the studio can guess what type of guest is coming. Friends, strangers, new to the studio or not. It is the role of Pirat, the watchdog of the studio. If he barks sweetly and hovers around unable to wait for us to appear, it is apparent that he likes you. Norshtein is staying at the studio except on Saturdays, Sundays and holidays. There are rooms that serve as a kitchen and dining room, and a drawing room where everyone gathers. They drink tea, dine and take their rest. In the back, beyond a partition lays Norshtein’s bed. It might have been an addition. This section seems to be protruding out of the whole studio. This section’s roof is made of galvanized iron. When it rains, the sound makes music for the director. It is his favorite moment to listen to the sound of rain in this small area. Here all kind of works are performed. Telephone bells ring, a copy machine roars, Pirat barks and a nice smell of the soup for lunch cooked by Jina permeate the area.

In the basement, a shooting table invented by Norshtein and his late movie director Jukovskii is placed conspicuously. Parts of characters and sceneries of “The Overcoat” are crammed here. Lighting equipment is placed here, there and everywhere, but it is completely dark and we are thrilled to enter there as if we are going into a theater during rehearsals or immediately after an act. The shooting table set with scenery is illuminated by light and we get the feeling that we are wandering into the 19th century. Little by little, filming is going on.

Staff working at the studio contribute money for Jina to make meals. Tanya and Pirat take care of cleaning, shopping, etc. Staff are salaried by Norshtein. When disciples of Norshtein visit the studio holding a guitar and bringing wine, a banquet begins. Wonderful voices echo. Guests are Russian as well as foreigners from various countries. An Englishman lived in the studio and finished his manuscript “Tale How The Tale of Tales was made”. But not all people are accepted. Once I happened to be present when there was a telephone call from a TV station. A request for an appearance. He declined immediately saying: “There is an important guest from Japan and I will not be available.” I heard such requests declined several times. There is no need to worry that he cannot concentrate on his work when he accepts everyone. But 1 felt a bit guilty, as I am also a visitor who interferes his work. Anyway, Norshtein’s studio is full of artistic atmosphere and joy. Oil paintings, sketches and storyboards fill the wall and colorful dry flowers somehow find their place there. Simply being in the studio make my heart swell. But I should not overstay any longer. Instead, let’s enjoy Tanya’s book.

Hiroko Kojima

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Today’s Chapter 2 follows Norshtein on a trip to Japan.

Chapter 2. Norshtein’s Journey

2
Norshtein in Japan
A picture of imaginal behavior of Norshtein in Japan – day time.

3
Norshtein and Geishas.
A picture of imaginal behavior of Norshtein in Japan – night time.

4
Samurai’s classic pastime – Braid straw sandals!
Norshtein called us from Japan with laughter.
“I sit in a luxurious hotel and sew up my holed boots!”
while at this moment here in Moscow, Valya Olisvang ( a fellow director)
also sews his torn boots! And we sent a fax to Japan.

5
“Ivan the Terrible” a super animation!
Norshtein delivered a lecture on Eisenstein in Japan
and calling his film: Ivan the Terrible a super animation!

6
“Let’s begin a workshop.”
Norshtein’s Master Class – according to a female student of his class.

7
The children of Norshtein.
This is Tanya’s first cartoon of Y.B.Norshtein (05/03/1993)
when he taught in St. Petersburg. We were his students – rolling
down after him as in the film of F. Hitruk, “Boniface’s Vacation”.

8
“Let’s see the compostition of the picture.”
Master class in Sweden. Lecture on Gottland Island.
It is Carnival day today.

9
“Write down the following theme!”
Master class in Sweden. Norshtein complains that in spite of
sudden miraculous snow he has to give lecture in a building.
Then we advised him to work with students in this way.

10
“I want to eat more!”
Yuri Borisovich went to Poland and this drawing – note on the way.
Lutsia, the wife of Norshtein’s Polish friend, Yanusha Gazzi, cooks so
appetizingly we are afraid that when he comes back he may be like this.

11
“Hello Franya? Hello Yura!”
Norshtein phoned the studio and told them
he could not get Francheska on the phone at all.

12
“Russian animators in Broardway.”
One American business woman visited the studio and
enthusiastically told them that they are invited for a
performance tour to America. “Good” students immediately
took the opportunity to see how it will look like.

13
“Hey! Thank you! It’s all right!”
It was a fax for Hiroko-san from New York
about an arrival of a cowboy.

14
“Now, I am back home.”
Return of prodigal Norshtein.
First greeted Borisicha so warmly
and they stood for a long time.

CDC3U2A2QVWN

The Renaissance Masters – 4 will conclude tomorrow, Sunday.

- There have been a number of newspaper articles about the released short list of Academy Award entrees for Best Documentary. Many of the more popular films – such as Michael Moore’s Capitalism: a love story and The September Issue – have been left off the list. This has caused some feedback for the Academy.

The short list of entrees for the Best Animated Feature film has also gotten a lot of attention in newpapers and on blogs. A record 20 films have been entered and are probably eligible – meaning there may be as many as 5 nominees this year.

The Academy has never previously released the short list of the nominees for the Best Animated Short.

Until today.

These are the ten films vying for the Oscar nomination for that award. They’re listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their director and production company:

The Cat Piano
Eddie White and Ari Gibson, directors (The People’s Republic of Animation)

French Roast
Fabrice O. Joubert, director (Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films)

Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
Nicky Phelan, director, and Darragh O’Connell, producer (Brown Bag Films)

The Kinematograph
Tomek Baginski, director-producer (Platige Image)

The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
Javier Recio Gracia, director (Kandor Graphics and Green Moon)

Logorama
Nicolas Schmerkin, producer (Autour de Minuit)

A Matter of Loaf and Death
Nick Park, director (Aardman Animations Ltd.)

Partly Cloudy
Peter Sohn, director (Pixar Animation Studios)

Runaway
Cordell Barker, director (National Film Board of Canada)

Varieté
Roelof van den Bergh, director (il Luster Productions)

The following were all of the films that were eligible and competed for the short list. Congratulations to all for having produced films of such high calibre.

1. GETTING OVER HIM IN 8 SONGS OR LESS – 28mins – Debra Solomon
2. KANIZSA HILL – 8min – Evelyn Lee
3. ALICE’S ATTIC – 3mins – Robyn Yannoukos
4. HE’S BARACK OBAMA – 2mins – JibJab
5. SEBASTIAN’S VOODOO – 4mins – Joaquin Baldwin
6. THE KINEMATOGRAPH – 12ins – Tomek BagiÅ„ski
7. HORN DOG – 5mins – Bill Plympton
8. VARIETÉ – 5mins – Roelof van den Bergh
9. ALMA – 6mins – Rodrigo Blaas
10. BIRTH – 12mins – Signe Bauman
11. CAGES – 10mins – Juan Jose Medina
12. CHROMA CHAMELEON – 5mins – Marc F. Adler & Warren Grubb
13. ClKORJA AN’ KAFE (Chicory ‘n Coffee) – 8mins – Dusan Kastelic
14. ESTERHAZY – 23min – Izabela Plucinska
15. JACINTA Р9mins РKarla Casta̱eda
16. LA INCREJBLE HISTORIA DEL HOMBRE SIN SOMBRA Р9mins РJos̩ Esteban Alenda
17. LEONARDO -10mins – Jim Capobianco
18. LIVE MUSIC – 6mins – Hugh Hart
19. LOGORAMA – 17mins – H5, a French design collective,
20. A MATTER OF LOAF AN DEATH – 29mins – Nick Park
21. PARTLY CLOUDY – 6mins – Peter Sohn
22. PATIENCE OF THE MEMORY – 7mins – Vuk Jevremovic
23. PIGEON: IMPOSSIBLE – 6mins – Lucas Martell
24. RINKY DINK – 5mins – John Dilworth
26. RUNAWAY – 9mins – Cordell Barker
26. SLAVES – AN ANIMATED DOCUMENTARY – 15mins – David Aronowitsch & Hanna Heilborn
27. THE SPINE – 11mins – Chris Landreth
28. TABLE FELLOWSHIP – 2mins – Robert Colon
29. VALISE – 7mins – Isabelle Favez
30. VIVE LA ROSE -5mins – Bruce Alcock
31. WHEN APPLES ROLL -7mins – Reinis Kalnaellis
32, YOU’RE OUTA HERE – 3mins – George Griffin
33. THE BIRTHDAY GIFT – 8mins –
34. THE CAT PIANO – 8mins – Eddie White & Ari Gibson
35. FRENCH ROAST – 8mins – Fabrice O. Joubert
36. THE LADY AND THE REAPER (La Dama y La Muerte) – 8mins – Javier Recio
37. GRANNY O’GRIMM’S SLEEPING BEAUTY – 6 mins – Nicky Phelan

Short Films and Feature Animation Branch members will now select the five nominees from among the 10 titles on the shortlist. Branch screenings will be held in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco in January 2010. The 82nd Academy Awards nominations will be announced on Tuesday, February 2, 2010, at 8:30 a.m. EST in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Thanks to Karl Cohen for the information.