Commentary &Daily post 19 Oct 2010 08:16 am
Little Bits
- There’s a breaking story on Cartoon Brew about Brenda Chapman and her short tenure at Pixar as director of The Brave (recently retitled from The Bear and the Bow.)
It’s obvious to me the once John Lasseter was put in charge of both Disney and Pixar studios, his head turned inside out. The first thing to happen was that directors were fired from Bolt (American Dog), Tangled (Rapunzel) and he had strong influence over Stephen J. Anderson on Meet the Robinsons, changing much of what had already been done (possibly for the better.)
Now the sword is attacking at Pixar and the victim is a woman, Brenda Chapman, who has already put together an amazing career and certainly deserves to be a director in the industry. There’s unrest in the Magic Kingdom, and we’ll have to watch Lasseter’s moves closely since it’s obvious that he’s getting heat. His recent history would show that he doesn’t seem to be taking it too well. Or at least his slate of directors isn’t receiving it well.
Even more alarming are the anti-woman comments left on Cartoon Brew. When one blogger writes, “…And I’ll be honest with one exception, Julie Taymor, I haven’t been blown away by most films directed by women and honestly neither has most of America …” You can see the level of negativity women have to take to get ahead in the business or, at the least, be treated equally with men. It’s no wonder they were relegated to the Ink & Paint department; many of these bloggers seem to agree with that. I felt embarrassment in reading many of the heartless comments.
Did we forget already that the Oscar last year was won by a woman, Katheryn Bigelow? And her film was chosen as the year’s best movie! The Oscars are not my code for judging the best films, but it certainly qualifies as, at least, a small statement about female artists.
- The NY Times had an interesting article about the Quay Brothers in a recent edition of their paper.
The article is about a short film the brothers are making which will be screened at a retrospective to appear in symposia at the Mütter Museum, a 19th-century repository of curiosa at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, and following that at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and at the LA Museum of Jurassic Technology.
- Get Animated! is a Canada-wide series of free screenings, master classes and activities marking International Animation Day.
Watch the Natinal Film Board’s latest animated films on the big screen for free and attend special presentations with acclaimed directors from your area.
This year’s program:
Animation Screenings: NFB New Releases
Family Program Screenings: Fairy Tales for All
And meet the directors…
Come see Andrea Dorfman (Flawed) in Halifax, Chris Lavis with Maciek Szczerbowski (Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life) and Theodore Ushev with Chris Robinson (Lipsett Diaries) in Montreal, Anita Lebeau (Louise, Big Drive) in Winnipeg, Cam Christiansen (The Real Place) in Calgary and Matthew Talbot-Kelly (The Trembling Veil of Bones) in Vancouver. Plus, view the Hothouse 6 series in 3D in Toronto!
Go here to see clips of some of the films to be screened.
- To celebrate Interanational Animation Day, the NY chapter of ASIFA, ASIFAEast, will have a screening of films on Oct 26th.
Admission: FREE!
Details of the films that’ll be screened will be coming soon.
SVA
School Of Visual Arts
209 East 23rd Street
(Bet. 2nd & 3rd Ave)
3rd Fl, Amphitheater
NYC
on 19 Oct 2010 at 8:33 am 1.Mark Mayerson said …
I’ve been thinking of writing about John Lasseter’s increasingly strange management style, so thank you for doing it. Lasseter is showing poor judgment, either in choosing directors in the first place or in replacing them mid-picture. The fact that Pixar is drifting increasingly towards sequels and that their one original picture in the pipeline is now tainted by removing the director says to me that the company has lost its way.
on 19 Oct 2010 at 11:25 am 2.Eric Noble said …
Boy, just when you think we’ve taken a step forward in our treatment of women, this happens. That’s too bad. I’m feeling embarrassment with you.
I’m starting to agree with you about John Lasseter. I think the job has gone to his head. If he keeps this up, he’ll be losing a lot of talented people in the near future.
on 19 Oct 2010 at 11:33 am 3.Daniel Caylor said …
I would have preferred to have waited until it was fact before seeing a story and stupid comments, but CB comments are where everyone loves to “hear themselves talk.” It almost seems mandatory for most to type out of their ass. There are exceptions, but on the whole it’s a swamp of negativity and childishness. Amid and Jerry do a great job, and that’s why I go there, but I hardly ever read the comments anymore.
It was a thrill to see Bigelow win the Oscar last year. I loved the rivalry between her and Cameron. What a unique situation. Both awesome filmmakers, both up for the Oscar. Both had to be wanting to stick it to the other for obvious reasons, while at the same time genuinely hoping the other wins. There’s story potential there!
on 19 Oct 2010 at 8:54 pm 4.Cameron said …
I’m not happy with the choice myself (especially after the dropping of Newt, which I’d heard some pretty promising things about, and which was also attached to Brenda Chapman) but I’ll withhold final judgment for the moment. For all we know, it might be the same case as Jan Pinkava on Ratatouille, and the gender aspect may be totally coincidental. There’s just no way of knowing whether Lasseter was making the right move or not in any of these cases (though the frequency definitely draws some suspicion).
It’s a shame that this won’t be the true debut of a female director at Pixar, since that’s a problem facing the whole industry, animation and outside.
on 19 Oct 2010 at 10:43 pm 5.Neal said …
“Newt… which was also attached to Brenda Chapman”
No. That was Gary Rydstrum, who also no longer works there. And Doug Sweetland, who’s now at Sony.
on 19 Oct 2010 at 11:57 pm 6.Floyd Norman said …
Why point the finger at John Lasseter. Remember, Pixar is owned by Disney. When I spoke with former Chairman, Dick Cook back before the acquisition, we knew Pixar and Disney would be a “perfect Marriage.” However, that was before Disney pushed their Chairman out the door.
The game has changed, and Lasseter now works for Disney. I see bad things in the future for Pixar.
on 20 Oct 2010 at 9:35 am 7.Michael said …
Hi Floyd, John Lasseter is the guy in charge of animation at both Disney and Pixar. Regardless of the change in management above him, a lot of directors have fallen under his leadership; why not blame him?
Although management changes and makes a lot of decisions when a film is in production, it’s the director who gets the blame for a bad film. Lasseter is the director of the department and has to assume responsibility for any decisions made.
on 20 Oct 2010 at 4:46 pm 8.The Gee said …
Does anyone think that maybe splitting Lasseter’s current job into two might allow things to work a bit better? Letting someone else handle the themeparks, etc. part of the job, might do a world of good.
Even that Walt Disney guy didn’t give equal attention to both big parts of what was then Disney. Granted he could afford to choose his where his passions lied…and he came across a a Big Picture person, y’know… visionary.
Maybe it would be best for productions, current and future ones if Lasseter could swing in his wheelhouse.
Focus.
on 21 Oct 2010 at 10:00 am 9.Klay said …
Floyd–how would you know? Stop inserting yourself into stories you know nothing about. It’s very tiresome.
on 24 Oct 2010 at 12:04 am 10.Floyd Norman said …
My apologies, Klay. I know nothing.
on 24 Oct 2010 at 12:38 am 11.Michael said …
It’s amazing how someone, without knowing the first thing about other commentors, would attack so stupidly.
Floyd, I apologize for Klay and the generic blogging voices out there who speak – no, attack without the first bit of knowledge.