Momotaro's Gods-Blessed Sea Warriors: Japan's Unknown Wartime Feature
Fred Patten takes a look at Japan's first animated feature, a propaganda tract made at the behest of the country's military government.
Category: Reviews
Hiroshima Diary
Translated by William MoritzMonique Renault (Netherland).Thursday, August 22, First Day of the Festival Arrived yesterday after having flown halfway around the world without seeing very much of it. Yes, Taiwan. It's much bigger than I had imagined. I thought Taiwan was just a pile of little workshops where people made counterfeit Diors, false Raybans or Adidas ... Evidently there are also mountains and greenery.
I'm happy to be back in Hiroshima. Last May, for the selection of films--Ah! that selection!--I discovered Japan. You encounter the politeness of the Japanese while working,...
The Cockroaches of Joe's Apartment
Author John Berger has observed that the only other living things that will survive alongside human evolution will be those which humans eat (like cows and chickens) and the cockroach. As Ralph, the lead cockroach in John Payson's unconventional feature film, Joe's Apartment has prophesied, after the bomb drops, roaches will rule the world. The idea of using the most universally loathed insect as a means to examine the landscape of human relatedness to other humans and the world they inhabit, questions the belief of human vitality and longevity. As a species, we are extremely...
Images From Hiroshima '96
The International Animation Festival in Hiroshima is often referred to as the most organized animation festival in the world, and for good reason. Every screening, symposium, publication, party, exhibition, press conference and ceremony of the festival was expertly timed, translated and presented by a dedicated group of staff members and volunteers. For details on specific programs, please read Monique Renault's personal account of the week's events elsewhere in this issue.
What is really so unique about Hiroshima is its simultaneous dedication to the art of animation and the promotion of...
Anima Mundi 4
William Moritz with the Anima Mundi Festival Director, Marcos Magalhs. Courtesy of William Moritz.
The fourth international Anima Mundi animation festival took place in Rio de Janeiro August 16-25, 1996, overlapping a bit with Hiroshima. Unlike the rather hectic pace and nervous business rivalry of the older and bigger festivals, Anima Mundi offers a relaxed and user-friendly atmosphere for discovering and enjoying animation.
Naturally, it is rather hard to separate the event from the city of Rio, which is one of the most dazzling places, with its perfect weather,...
SIGGRAPH 96
SIGGRAPH, held between August 4-9, at the Morial Convention Center, in New Orleans, is the world's largest and most prestigious computer technology event dealing with computer graphics and interactive techniques, of which animation plays a major part. The annual conference is put on by what was once known as the Association for Computing Machinery's Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics (i.e., SIGGRAPH). This year marked the 23rd running of the big daddy of all computer graphic conferences, which acts as a showcase for all the newest and greatest achievements in computerized...
Hiroshima 96, Journal de bord
Monique Renault (Pays-Bas).Jeudi 22, premier jour du festival Arriv hier apr avoir survolla moitidu monde sans en avoir vu grand chose. Si. Taiwan. C'est beaucoup plus grand que je ne l'imaginais. Pour moi, Taiwan c'etait un amoncelement de petits ateliers oles gens s'entassent pour fabriquer des faux Dior, des fausses Rayban ou Adidas ... Apparemment ils ont aussi des montagnes et de la verdure.
Je suis contente de revenir Hiroshima. En mai dernier, pour la selection - ah! la section! - j'avais douvert le...
TV's Fall Animation Lineup
A special report from Pamela Schechter detailing what's new and what's being renewed in animation on American television this coming season.
Singapore Animation Fiesta
Cori Stern provides a test to see if you too can join the executive ranks at the animation company of your choice.
Anime in Europe
A survey of how anime spread through the major countries of Europe and the difficulties it encountered in terms of censorship. John Gosling reports from England.
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.
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....
The Great Adventures of Izzy--An Olympic Hero for Kids
A look at the making of the first TV special based on an Olympic games mascot.
The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Hunchback of MTV?
Frollo, narrator of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. © Walt Disney Pictures.Max Fleischer's motto was "If it could be done with live action, it's not animation," and Dave Fleischer once griped to me about how many thousands of times he had to repeat that to the animators over the years to get them to improve their work with those imaginative, visionary impossibilities that belonged exclusively to the realm of creative animation. What would the poor Fleischer brothers think about the current animation scene, in which almost every animation studio is involved in duplicating...
Cardiff 96
A look at the making of the first TV special based on an Olympic games mascot.
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.
Ghost In The Shell
Do You Hear A Whisper In Your Ghost?
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.
Peaches N' Dreams: Henry Selick's James and the Giant Peach
Before being adapted to the screen, Roald Dahl's children's book, Jamesand the Giant Peach captured the imagination of several generations of readers since it was first published in 1961.
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...
All Dogs Go To Heaven 2
Frankie Kowalski discusses why All Dogs Go to Heaven2 surpasses Bluth's original.
25 Years Already!
This year, A.A.A. (Atelier de cina d'Animation d'Annecy et de Haute-Savoie), the pioneering ASIFA workshop, celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Deja 25 Ans!
L'Atelier de cina d'Animation d'Annecy et de Haute-Savoie (A.A.A.)-le pionnier des Ateliers ASIFA-cre, en 1996, ses 25 ans d'activit.
