Editor's Notebook
Animation at the Olympics
Art Culture and Technology (ACT) is attempting to bring animation to this year's Atlanta Olympics as part of an innovative multimedia installation. Mark Segall reports.
When The Bunny Speaks, I Listen
Animator Howard Beckerman explains why, "Cartoon characters are the only personalities you can trust."
Quirino Cristiani, The Untold Story of Argentina's Pioneer Animator
In celebration of Quirino Cristiani's centennial, we are republishing Giannalberto's classic profile of the Italian immigrant who made the world's first two animated features.
Robert Breer: Animator
Once of America's most prominent independent animators, Robert Breer continues to explore historical perspectives and experiment with new techniques. Jackie Leger looks at his career, past and present.
The Olympiad of Animation: An Interview With Fini Littlejohn
In 1984, ASIFA-Hollywood and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences put on a unique mini-animation festival as part of Los Angeles' Olympic Arts Festival. Harvey Deneroff profiles the woman behind the Olympiad of Animation, along with listings of films, including the landmark poll of the 50 greatest animated films of all time.
Desert Island Series....The Olympiad of Animation
Picks from Olympiad animators Melinda Littlejohn, Raul Garcia, George Schwizgebel and Jonathan Amitay.
Zagreb 96
The 12th World Festival of Animated Films was held June 10-14, 1996 in Zagreb, where artists, journalists and lovers of animation from around the world gathered to watch more than 50 films representing the best in international animation. Although it is only one in a growing number of important international animation events, Zagreb is unique among festivals for several reasons. Most importantly, it represents not only the proud heritage of Croatia's famed Zagreb School of animation, but also a significant political and cultural institution for the emerging democratic Croatian society....
Instinctive Decisions-- Dave Borthwick, Radical Independent.
Dave Borthwick and bolexbrothers studios represent the best of Bristol's thriving animation underground. Their productions include the feature-length Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb, which is a far cry from the usual version of the Grimm fairy tale.
Desert Island Series....Independents on the shore!!!
It takes unique talent, persistence, and lots of creative confidence to be an independent filmmaker in today's animation global market, especially in the feature film arena.
I had a chance to catch up with some of the best for this month's island retreat--Bruno Bozetto (Allegro Non Troppo), Richard Williams (The Thief and the Cobbler [Arabian Knight]), R.O. Blechman (L'Histoire du Soldat) and Bill Plympton (The Tune).
Bruno Bozetto's top 10 picks if stranded on a desert island... "Personally, if I were stranded on a desert island I prefer taking Sharon Stone rather than 10...
The Trance Experience of Zork Nemesis
Donna La Breque interviews Activision producer Cecilia Barajas about the company's new hybrid animated-and-live action offering, Zork Nemesis--the latest in the ongoing Zork saga.
Lotte Reiniger
The long and varied career of Lotte Reiniger, best known for her exquisite Adventures of Prince Achmed, one of the first feature-length animated films ever made, is detailed by William Moritz
Plympton's Metamorphoses
Bill Plympton, the master of the outrageous, is in the midst of making his newest feature, I Married a Strange Person., in which, as Mark Segall reports, the noted animator puts us through some strange changes.
Cabin-Fever Animation
The recent Siberian winter in Winnipeg may have been marrow-freezing, eyeball-aching weather, but it was also perfect animation weather. Gene Walz provides a rundown of what's been happening with the likes of Neil McInnes, Cordell Barker and Brad Caslor, among others.
Editor's Notebook
Don Bluth Goes Independent
When Don Bluth suddenly left Disney in the late 1970s to strike out on his own, it led to a chain of events that sparked today's renaissance in feature animation. Jerry Beck provides a brief memoir of the days when Bluth appeared to be animation's white knight and could do no wrong.
Transfixed and Goggle-Eyed
R.O. Blechman, who has long charmed us with his films and illustrations, takes a humorous and often sardonic look at the resurgence of all things Disney and what it all means.
Shifting Realities: The Brothers Quay--Between Live Action and Animation
The Brothers Quay, those enigmatic masters of stop motion, have now come forth with The Institute Benjamenta, their first "live-action" feature. Suzanne Buchan takes a look at the film and their career.
Cartoons On The Bay
Cartoons on the Bay--The International Festival of Animation: Films, TV Series and Fairy Tales is the English name of an Italian international festival held April 15-18 in Amalfi, Italy...
Cartoons On The Bay
Cartoons on the Bay il titolo inglese di un festival italianissimo, ma tutto orientato a un grande mercato planetario: quello del disegno animato televisivo di qualit novitstrutturale destinata a scrivere (come del resto gista facendo) un capitolo totalmente nuovo della storia del cinema d'animazione...
Claire Parker, An Appreciation
Alexandre ("Alosha") Alexeff and Claire Parker (ANight on Bald Mountain [1933], The Nose [1963], Pictures at an Exhibition [1972], etc.), loved to introduce themselves as "the artist and the animator," i.e., he was the one who created the images and she choreographed them.
Jim and Stephanie Graziano: An Interview
Last November, Jeffrey Katzenberg asked Jim and Stephanie Graziano to head up production for DreamWorks' new television animation division. While the offer was not surprising, given the Graziano's track record, what was surprising is how readily they accepted...
Splendid Artists: Central and East European Women Animators
Although women did not play the most prominent roles in the policy making bodies, they were particularly visible in all kinds of artistic activities blossoming in the years after the Revolution...