The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, announced its 2008 Winsor McCay Award recipients during a private reception Friday, July 25, at the Gaslight Marriott during Comic Con. This year's Winsor McCay recipients are: Mike Judge, John Lasseter and Nick Park. Award recipients will claim their trophies at the 36th Annual Annie Awards scheduled for Friday, January 30, 2009, at UCLA's Royce Hall in Los Angeles, California.
Taylor Jessen looks at the load of recent releases celebrating the art of Winsor McCay, including the reissue of John Canemakers Winsor McCay: His Life and Art, the comicstrip collection Little Nemo in Slumberland: So Many Splendid Sundays and the Winsor McCay: The Master Edition DVD.
Chuck Jones used to say that the two most important people in animation were Winsor McCay and Walt Disney, so kudos to Milestone for assembling this indispensable collection of pioneering work by McCay (1911-1921) on DVD. WINSOR MCCAY: THE MASTER EDITION (Image, $29.99) streets June 1. Most of this cartoonist's work is present, revealing what a fine draughtsman and storyteller he was when it came to exploring reality and fantasy and the metamorphosis of shapes.
The board of directors of ASIFA-Hollywood has selected Gene Deitch to be one of the recipients of its prestigious Winsor McCay Award. Each year a Winsor McCay Award is awarded to a maximum of three individuals in recognition of lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation in producing, directing, animating, design, writing, voice acting, sound and sound effects, technical work, music, professional teaching or for other endeavors which exhibit outstanding contributions to excellence in animation.
Karl Cohen has found a copy of Winsor McCay's long lost lesson on animation. Read about what it contains and what these tidbits mean to animation's history.
