AWNMag1 4

July 1996 MAGAZINE Vol. 1, No.
4
ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE July 1996
Editor's Notebook by Harvey Deneroff 4
The Mighty Animator: Frédéric Back by William Moritz 6

The director of such films as Crac!, The Man Who Planted Trees
and The Mighty River talks with William Moritz about filmmaking,
the environment and his teacher, Mathurin Méheut.
TVC, 1957-1997 by Jill McGreal 10

July 1996
TVC, one of Britain’s most innovative studios is getting ready to shut
down. Jill McGreal talks to John Coates, who succeeded founder
George Dunning, and celebrates 40 years of creativity.
Quirino Cristiani,The Untold Story of Argentina's

Pioneer Animator by Giannalberto Bendazzi 14
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.
Sue Loughlin:An Animator's Profile by Rita Street 20

A look at the films of Britain's Sue Loughlin, and how she explores
themes relating to sports, as well as social reform and women's
rights.
Robert Breer:Animator by Jackie Leger 24

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 by Harvey Deneroff 27
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.
Animation at the Olympics by Mark Segall 32

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.
2
The Great Adventures of Izzy — An Olympic Hero

for Kids by Frankie Kowalski 35
A look at the making of the first TV special based on an Olympic
games mascot.
“So,What Was It Like?” The Other Side Of Animation's

Golden Age” by Tom Sito 37
July 1996
Tom Sito attempts to puncture some of the illusions about what it was
like to work in Hollywood's Golden Age of Animation of the 1930s
and 40s, showing it may not have been as wild and wacky as some
may have thought.
When The Bunny Speaks, I Listen by Howard Beckerman 42

Animator Howard Beckerman explains why, "Cartoon characters are
the only personalities you can trust."
No Matter What, Garfield Speaks Your Language

by Pam Schechter 46
Attorney Pam Schechter explores the ways cartoon characters are
exploited and the type of money that's involved.
Festival Reviews and Perspectives:

Cardiff 96 by Bob Swain 49
Zagreb 96 by Maureen Furniss 53
Film Reviews:
The Hunchback of Notre Dame by William Moritz 57
Desert Island Series... The Olympiad of Animation compiled by

Frankie Kowalski 61
Picks from Olympiad animators Melinda Littlejohn, Raul Garcia,
George Schwizgebel and Jonathan Amitay.
News
Tom Sito on Virgil Ross + News 63
Preview of Coming Attractions 67

© Animation World Network 1996. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced
without the consent of Animation World Network. Cover: The Spirit of the Olympics by Jonathan Amitay
3
Champions of Animation “Quirino Cristiani, The article, “Robert Breer: Animator.”

he 1984 Olympiad of Untold Story of Argentina’s For our formal tribute to the
T Animation, which is com-

memorated in my inter-
view with Fini Littlejohn, fea-
Pioneer Animator,” by Giannal-
berto Bendazzi, tells the fasci-
nating and long forgotten story
Olympics, I would like to point
to my article, “The Olympiad of
Animation: An Interview with
tured a selection of what were of the trailblazing director who Fini Littlejohn.” Fini, whose
billed as the greatest animated made the first two animated friendship I have long valued,
films of all time, appropriately features, and the first one with was the moving force behind
termed the “Champions of sound. Interestingly enough, the now fabled pocket anima-
Animation.” We like to think that Cristiani had the quaint notion tion festival that was one of the
Animation World Magazine is that feature animation is a medi- gems of the 1984 Olympic Arts
an ongoing celebration of ani- um for political satire, rather Festival.
mation champions—whe- than fairy tales. Then, again, For what’s going on, ani-
ther it be filmmakers, films pioneers sometimes mation-wise, in the current
or even studios. don’t know any better! Olympic games, check out Mark
Prominent among Rita Street’s “Sue Segall’s “Animation at the
this month’s champions Loughlin: An Ani- Olympics,” which details the
is Frédéric Back, whose mator’s Profile” exam- efforts of Art Culture and
superbly hand crafted ines the career and Technology (ACT) to bring ani-
films such as Crac! work of an animator mation to the Olympic masses.
have mesmerized a whose interest in Then, Frankie Kowalski, in her
whole generation. social issues is “The Great Adventures of Izzy—
William Moritz reflected in An Olympic Hero for Kids,” looks
took advantage her recent at Hollywood’s most recent ani-
of his recent public mated exploration of what the
visit to the Los service Olympics are all about.
Angeles area to chat with him. announcement for Amnesty In “So, What Was It Like?”
The results are found in “The International (and even her The Other Side Of Animation’s
Mighty Animator: Frédéric Levi’s commercial), seems an Golden Age,” union leader and
Back.” appropriate choice for this issue animator Tom Sito takes a hard
TVC, founded by the late which plays homage to the look at some of the myths and
George Dunning, has always Olympic Spirit of international shibboleths of America’s anima-
been one of the mainstays of cooperation. tion industry vis-à-vis the people
the British animation industry, Once upon a time, Robert and studios responsible for the
producing such landmarks as Breer (A Man with his Dog Out classic era of Hollywood car-
Yellow Submarine, Snowman for Air, etc.) was one of a hand- toons.
and When the Wind Blows. The ful of American animators that Howard Beckerman pro-
announcement that studio would constantly show up at vides a meditation on the cred-
head John Coates will be clos- screenings of experimental films. ibility factor in character design
ing the company next year, has The recent explosion of the ani- and development in his “When
led Jill McGreal to examine the mation scene has seemed to left The Bunny Speaks, I Listen.”
company’s and Coates’ legacy Breer behind, but not really, as Meanwhile, Pam Schechter, in
in “TVC, 1957-1997.” Jackie Leger points out in her “No Matter What, Garfield
4
Speaks Your Language,” the effort that goes into some-

explores the growing market for thing like Animation World
licensing and merchandising Magazine very much worth-
opportunities for cartoon char- while.
acters, and how studios and Thus, I would like to invite
vendors try to exploit the situa- you to take some time to email
tion. (or even write us) about your
ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK
6525 Sunset Blvd.,
In our first festival round up, thoughts about what appears
Garden Suite 10
Bob Swain took advantage of in these “pages” (or think should
Hollywood, CA 90028 the latest (noncompetitive) appear), which we will start
Phone : 213.468.2554 Cardiff Festival to bring us up- gathering and publish in a reg-
Fax : 213.464.5914 to-date on some of the latest ular “Letters to the Editor” sec-
Email : info@awn.com developments in animation tion starting next month. (Or, if
technology, as well as what’s you feel more comfortable, feel
going on in some of the top free to make your thoughts
European studios. On the other known on the Discussion
ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE hand, Maureen Furniss takes a Forum on the Animation World
editor@awn.com leisurely look at the pleasures of Network.)
PUBLISHER Zagreb 96, highlighting the —Harvey Deneroff
Ron Diamond, President prize winners and the festival’s editor@awn.com
Dan Sarto, Chief Operating Officer innovative use of the Internet.
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Finally, William Moritz gives
Harvey Deneroff his considered (and at times
ASSOCIATE EDITOR/PUBLICITY argumentative) opinions on
Frankie Kowalski Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise’s
latest feature effort, The
CONTRIBUTORS :
Hunchback of Notre Dame,
Howard Beckerman
Giannalberto Bendazzi while Frankie Kowalski’s Desert
Harvey Deneroff Island series provides a peek at
Maureen Furniss some top ten picks from four
Frankie Kowalski
filmmakers whose works graced
Jackie Leger
Jill McGreal the 1984 Olympiad of Anima-
William Moritz tion.
Pam Schechter
Mark Segall Letters to the Editor
Tom Sito eing an editor of an
Rita Street
Bob Swain
Le WEBMASTER
Guillaume Calop
B Internet magazine can
sometimes be a lonely
thing. Somehow, hit reports
don’t quite have the same sex
DESIGN/LAYOUT :
appeal as seeing people actual-
IMP Graphic
e-mail : imp_ecmp@club-internet.fr ly looking at your journal at the
Christa Theoharous local newsstand (and even
ADVERTISING SALES plunking down a few dollars to
North America : Wendy Jackson buy it). But like print journals,
Europe : Vincent Ferri one of the ultimate compliments
Asia : Bruce Teitelbaum is getting those letters to the edi-
UK: Roger Watkins tor, which can often make all
5
The Mighty Animator:

Frederic Back
by William Moritz
Moritz: Do all your
animation films, from
Abracadabra in 1970 until
The Mighty River in 1993
belong to the Société Radio
Canada [the French
language division of the
CBC]?
Back: Yes, that’s right. I was

an employee of Radio
Canada—sometimes a free-
lance, because depending
on how interesting I found
the work, sometimes I’d
quit, and then return at a
later date.
Moritz: Now they’ve closed

down the animation section
of Radio Canada ...
Back: Yes. And it’s too bad.

Frédéric Back
© SRC Hubert Tison at Radio
Canada really gave me the
S
eventy-two-year-old Frédéric opening of an exhibition of his
Back, two time Academy animation drawings at the opportunity to work in good
Award winner for Crac! and Academy of Motion Picture Arts conditions. Before that, I wasn’t so
The Man Who Planted Trees, was and Sciences. The exhibition, with interested in animation. The
recently in Los Angeles for the art work from nine of his films, will National Film Board was doing lots
run until August 25, although the of fine animation, but no other
panels of The Man Who Planted place had good equipment and
Artistic creation is always Trees and The Mighty River will be professional cameramen that
sent to the Hiroshima Film Festival could do that kind of work. Then
taking a risk; you can’t
after August 11. I got a chance to Tison built up a professional
guarantee how it will come animation studio at Radio Canada.
ask Mr. Back a few questions just
out, there’s no safety in art. I had made many short pieces
before the opening night
reception. of animation for music broadcasts
6
and documentaries, so when I

began with Radio Canada, I made
mainly short films. But the
improved conditions Tison offered
meant a more complex, higher
standard of animation, and I
gradually learned to make better,
more complex films.
One of the good ideas Tison
proposed to Radio Canada was an
international exchange of
animation films. Before that, and
still now, there are regular
exchanges of usual live-action
television programs, but nothing
with animation until Tison initiated
it. It was very important, because
it meant you could produce high-
quality animations relatively
cheaply, since for each film Radio
Canada made, they got an The Mighty River
© SRC
additional 20 or more—one from
each of the other participating The Mighty River (so that it seemed because after Radio Canada
countries. spacious, multiplane and flowing dropped the animation depart-
This exchange functioned for like the river), I was the only person ment, I learned that more than half
about 15 years, and it only who ever got to use it. Where is it of the money that comes back to
stopped because gradually too now? Radio Canada from sales of
many people too often would buy product comes from animation
poor, cheap animation films just to films, which are actually few in
have something to exchange, and “Draw everything,” he
number: I made 9, Paul Driessen
the countries that worked hard for told us, “it will all
made 3, Graeme Ross made 2—
higher quality were disappointed. disappear.” He was right. that means 15 or so animation
It was really too bad it stopped, films gave as much income to
since it gave work to animators in Moritz: At the same time, the Radio Canada as hundreds of
many countries, as well as National Film Board was also hours of regular live-action
Canada, and encouraged the being cut back. programs. And the animation films
production of short films. also won hundreds of prizes at film
Back: Unfortunately, yes. The festivals.
Moritz: Is Hubert Tison still with problem today is that there are no
Radio Canada? more artists and thinkers at the Moritz: One terrifying thought to
head of organizations, only me is that since the same Radio
Back: No, he retired. After the bureaucrats who make notes and Canada which closed down the
animation department was gone, count numbers. They have no Animation Department owns your
I quit, and there was nothing really ideas to offer. They don’t take films, they could presumably
to interest Hubert. Closing down risks—and artistic creation is always withdraw them from circulation,
animation was such a waste. The taking a risk; you can’t guarantee not show them, they could be lost,
wonderful computer-assisted how it will come out, there’s no decay in the vaults.
camera, which allowed me to safety in art. And the bureaucrats
make so many camera move- actually don’t even seem to be Back: Well, at least now they
ments, rotations and dissolves for able to count numbers very well, show them quite a bit, especially at
7
The Man Who Planted Trees

© SRC
fesitvals, where they are in have actually started animation time making your filmed images
demand. And Man Who Planted work on a 10 minute film move and change, do you mind
Trees and Mighty River are sponsored by Trees for Life, in seeing them as still book
available on videocassette, so they illustrations?
are used by teachers and
environmentalists continually. In the book there are many Back: No, I think they work very
details and facts that you well as books, and I always make
Moritz: But even now, your earlier can study at leisure, and some special artworks just for the
films, like the two based on learn, perhaps intellectually, books. Mighty River is particularly
Algonquin and Micmac myths, are as you learn emotionally important as a book, because in
hardly seen—though the artworks 24 minutes you can’t give too
from the film.
from them in this exhibit are very many facts, since the visual
beautiful. In any case, does the information is so rich, you would
demise of Radio Canada and the Wichita, Kansas, which will get dizzy if there were statistics,
crippled National Film Board mean promote planting fruit trees in third too. But in the book there are
that you can’t make any more world countries. Also, I never really many details and facts that you
animation? stop working. Right after Mighty can study at leisure, and learn,
River I made a number of book perhaps intellectually, as you learn
Back: No, actually I could. I have illustrations, one about Inuits, one emotionally from the film. The
had several proposals, even one about beluga whales, and of Mighty River book has been
from National Film Board, but I course The Mighty River book itself. translated into Japanese, as well,
promised my wife Ghylaine not to And I worked a lot with so I hope the Japanese fishing fleet
take on another large animation Greenpeace, and other organi- read it and disappear.
project, because she became a sort zations that protect animals, seals.
of animation widow during the There’s always a lot of work to do. Moritz: Surprisingly, even Crac!
long making of Man Who Planted worked very well as a book, I
Trees and Mighty River. Now I Moritz: After spending so much thought. One of the things that I
8
liked most in Crac! the film was the In France there is now a book success, not just for me, but
way great Canadian paintings— about him, and I was interviewed because there are so many
Cornelius Krieghoff’s Merrymaking by the director of a television animators around the world who
or Lucius O’Brien’s Sunrise on the documentary about him, but the do fine artwork that should be
Saguenay, for example—just seem program was not really very good, exhibited, too. What you see on
to “happen” in the course of the as they did not have enough the screen is not a reflection of
action. When the ASIFA-Canada money to give the full impression each individual drawing or
Bulletin devoted an issue to you in of the scope and color of Méheut’s sculpture, so it’s wonderful to have
1988, they printed a picture of achievement. That’s where I, too, a chance to see the artworks, and
your early art teacher, Mathurin would have trouble with such a it can be very instructive to other
Méheut, with his class (including project: I’m not a good enough artists.
you)—and a few of his sketches. diplomat, a negotiator to make a When you’re in your little room
He seems like such a romantic deal to support a project on by yourself drawing, it can be
figure, you should make a film Méheut, as it would be another depressing: it’s so repetitive, and
about him in which his paintings big film. you never know, drawing after
could also “just happen” in the drawing, what will happen when
course, since he is almost un- Moritz: That’s where we miss they get on film; you just have to
known here. Hubert Tison. have faith in your project, and
keep on. An exhibition like this
Back: Not a bad idea. He’s getting Back: Yes indeed. I would have should be a stimulation to work
better known in France: there’s a the idea, and he would make it hard, and keep steadfast in your
museum devoted to him, and possible. My wife was also belief in the project, and give each
traveling exhibitions. When he enormously supportive and artwork maximum quality.
died, his wife gave some 4,000 helpful—too few animators have
drawings to start the museum. His such a good, understanding
work is a rich documentation of helper.
something that no longer exists.
During the war, when I was Moritz: Are any of your children
studying with him, Brittany was animators?
almost untouched, following its
typical way of life for centuries. I Back: No, but in a way, they are all
had the opportunity to go with involved with art. My daughter is
him and make drawings beside a painter, and she also works with
him. “Draw everything,” he told batiks. My younger son is an
us, “it will all disappear.” He was illustrator, who specializes in
right. Now in Brittany, there is historical costumes and settings. William Mortiz teaches film and
hardly a port. No Bretons in And my older son is a biologist animation history at the
traditional costume, no fishermen, who worked for the World Health
no fish. No colorful nets of string Organization, for 10 years he was California Institute of the Arts.
and rope, no iron and wood tools in Africa, and he teaches using his
and boats: everything is plastic. It’s knowledge of graphics, including
lost all its character and beauty. computer graphics: he’s very clever
The Breton fishermen used to dress with computers.
all in red or blue, and they would I’m very honored and happy
repair their clothes with patches that the Academy is making this
from other material so they were exhibition. Radio Canada framed
like mosaics of colors, walking all these artworks, and then they
paintings. What Méheut drew is a have been sitting around in a
fantastic testimony, a documen- cellar.
tation of this lost world. I hope this exhibition is a
9
TVC, 1957-1997
by Jill McGreal
Director of TVC, about his first experience of riding
occupies the to hounds.
office right at the
top of his central A Wet Tory
London studio,
T
he English tradition, to
surrounded by which John certainly
the parapherna- belongs, comes out of the
lia of nearly 40 19th century through the mad
years in the busi- Ruskin, the last great English critic,
ness—awards ardent supporter of Turner, pas-
and certificates, sionate opponent of Modernism. It
photographs of moves through the decorative ide-
many friends and alism of William Morris, takes in the
colleagues; eccentricities of Lewis Carrol, per-
proud, happy meates the compositions of Elgar
m o m e n t s and Delius, encompasses both the
arranged careful- malice and the sublimity of Kipling’s
ly round the walls prose, reappears in the deeply
of the small, romantic films of Powell and
friendly space. Pressburger, the common sense
Wind in the Willows
Courtesy of TVC London
John, approach- writings of Oxford philosopher
ing 70, joined John Austin and in the politics of
here are moments in The TVC in 1957. pre-Thatcherite Toryism. The read-
T Wind in the Willows, TVC’s

feature-length animated
adaptation of Kenneth Grahame’s
He’s a quiet, round, bearded man
with a faraway look in his eyes that
in an instant turns into a twinkle.
er will be able to add other names
to this list.
John Coates belongs here. He
Edwardian children’s book, in An old-fashioned English gentle- can’t, for instance, locate himself
which the romance with the land, man, semidisplaced in the closing within the radically-changed polit-
that very English phenomenon, is years of the 20th century, who
intense and magical. After Mole speaks nostalgically of the sixties
and Rat rescue Portly, the young when all the pretty TVC paint and A natural Tory whose ideal-
otter who has wandered too far trace girls wore miniskirts and ism today seems quaint
downstream, they all return home shopped for trendy clothes on and ill-fitting within the
by boat. When dawn breaks the Carnaby Street during their lunch Dorothy Parker range of
landscape is suffused with a “sil- hour. A Kiplingesque character British politics.
very, climbing phosphorescence” who peppers his talk with capital
as the mists lift and another day letters, referring to himself and his
on the river begins. To capture long time associates as The Old ical environment of the last two
this—the essence, of Grahame’s Gang or, more affectionately, as decades. “I’m a very wet Tory. Well,
book—requires a special mind-set, TOG. He lives in Kent with I’m a socialist really.” A natural Tory
a certain kind of understanding, a Christine, his “Lady Love,” and rides who now cannot identify with the
carefully guided team ... whenever he can. I catch the new politics of conviction; whose
John Coates, Managing excitement when he reminisces idealism today seems quaint and
10
ill-fitting within the Dorothy Parker with all its uncertainty, the global-
range of British politics. Trapped in nostalgia and ization of communications
Nevertheless, sidelined or not, a mythical past where through the Internet and the leap
John Coates has given TVC a new chums like Ratty and forward into post-modernism have
lease on life and a different per- left TVC (and John and The Old
Mole and the childlike
sonality since George Dunning Gang) behind, trapped in nostal-
died in 1979. As the psychedelia of Toad could idle away gia and a mythical past where
the sixties ebbed away, exempli- innocent days together. chums like Ratty and Mole and the
fied in the unfinished fragment childlike Toad could idle away
from The Tempest which George within it produces an instantly rec- innocent days together.
left behind, John’s own interests ognizable visual culture of which John has had enough of the
asserted themselves. In the three TVC’s work is manifestly a part. responsibility of keeping a bou-
years before the appearance of tique style production company
The Snowman, he turned around End of an Era going. There was a moment in the
TVC from a commercials-led to an history of British production which
L
ast year John Coates gath-
entertainment-led company which ered his small, permanent, favored the small independent
has subsequently produced a production staff together and producer. Inevitably this moment
string of successful TV Specials gave them all two years notice. By involved the setting up of Channel
including Granpa and Father June 5, 1997, TVC’s 40th birthday, 4, the British broadcasting phe-
Christmas; a feature film, When the production side of the com- nomenon which occurred in
the Wind Blows, and a 6 x half pany will cease to exist. By 1982. Until then there were two
hour series based on the Beatrix then,TVC will have made nearly broadcasters and only three chan-
Potter books; he is currently work- 1,500 commercials, more than 70 nels available in the UK: the BBC
ing on an adaptation of the Posy documentaries and over 80 enter- which was, and still is, responsible
Simmons book Fred the Cat with tainment films—an enviable track for two channels, BBC1, estab-
director Joanna Quinn and with record. It’s the end of an era. It real- lished 1936 and BBC2, established
director Jimmy Murukami on an ly is. Maybe the move into Europe, 1962 and ITV, the commercial
adaptation of John Burningham’s channel established in 1956,
Oi! Get Off My Train. TVC’s last pro- which was, and still is, com-
duction will be an adaptation of prised of different regional ITV
another Raymond Briggs book, franchise holders who togeth-
The Bear, for which John has er transmit across one national
already written the end credits stat- network. All of these broad-
ing that this is TVC’s last film. casting organizations are pro-
The distinct, rounded, English duced in house, only rarely
animation style of TVC’s recent pro- going out to independents to
ductions, the emphasis on adap- make their programmes for
tation rather than original works— them. What makes Channel 4
are both characteristic of the liter- distinct is that it has no in-house
ary tradition. This narrative tradi- production—all its nonacquired
tion is itself embedded in the programming is commissioned
romanticism of the landscape from independent producers.
painters, novelists like Scott, poets This situation created a boom
like Wordsworth and unique in the creative-led, independent
English formations like Gothic lit- production sector, which
erature and Victorian architecture. allowed companies like TVC to
And this list clearly belongs with grow and which lasted until
the other list above. The coming recession hit in 1990. By that
together of the elements of the The Yellow Submarine
time there were too many small
tradition and the artists who work Courtesy of TVC London companies chasing too few
11
commissions and staying into another studio.

in business became a Meanwhile, it’s especially
struggle. During the reces- galling for John to learn
sion, when John Coates that The Enemy, nice Kate
was raising the finance for Mallory, Warner Bros.’
the Beatrix Potter series, Studio Manager, can’t put
TVC survived an entire her animators to work yet
year on Snowman rev- and they are all hanging
enue. In other words, to around idle in Warner Bros.’
stay in business and main- posh Covent Garden
tain the confidence which premises. In a mood of defi-
is crucial at that delicate ance, John had some little
moment in financial nego- badges made up which say
tiations, TVC had to con- “I haven’t been asked to
sume its profits. The Tailor of Gloucester work at Warner Bros.” The
The post-recession remaining TVC staff wear
economy has been char- them proudly.
acterized by consolidation. The
individual talents that once thrived Damon the Mower and Something of the
in the higgledy-piggledy creative The Flying Man opened History of TVC ...
soup of the eighties, when there up a new, nonstudio style
B
y 1957, the Hollywood stu-
was enough for everyone, have in British animation. dio era was coming to an
run for shelter into the emerging end. Canadian animator
larger production companies, now animators, first in the States and George Dunning was working for
that times are leaner. These com- then in Europe. Hire costs trebled UPA’s London studio when it was
panies are often locked into out- everywhere and the British market closed down. But George wanted
put deals with TV franchise hold- has been decimated by the to stay in London, so he decided
ers, thus tying up a large part of demands of a foreign feature to set up a new commercials stu-
the resources available for inde- industry which can afford to dio, recruiting fellow countryman
pendents. In this situation, the remove and retain all the indige- Richard Williams on a freelance
small and genuinely independent nous talent from the marketplace. basis as a studio animation director
producer has become increasing- John Coates has lost 10 of his ani- to help get TVC going. The time
ly squeezed. mators to Warner Bros. and for the was propitious. Independent
Worse, as TVC fought its way first time he has been forced to put Television had been established in
out of recession with, first The some of the animation for his new the UK for less than a year and the
World of Peter Rabbit and Friends production, The Willows in Winter, commercial break was something
and subsequently The Wind in the of an enigma for British directors
Willows, a new blow has and producers. As a result,
struck—an acute interna- companies like TVC, a dedi-
tional shortage of anima- cated commercial house head-
tors caused by the aggres- ed up by an experienced
sive recruitment policies of team, were instantly suc-
American studios. The inter- cessful.
national success of animat- John Coates was brought
ed films like Beauty and the in to do the business side.
Beast has led to a boom in Already established in a
the production of American career at Associated
feature production. Over a Redifusion, one of the origi-
year ago, the American stu- Famous Fred
nal ITV companies, as
dios started competing for Courtesy of TVC London Assistant Controller of
12
Programmes, John was directed by Joanna

nevertheless restless and Quinn, whose short film
bored. In typically credits have included Girls
English fashion, a meet- Night Out, Body Beautiful
ing between George and Britannia. It’s Joanna’s
and John was arranged first time in commercial
through a mutual friend production and she’s find-
in a pub, as a result of ing the demands of a tight
which a partnership schedule hard. The lack of
was formed which was trained animators is an
to last 22 years until The Snowman additional problem. But
George’s death in 1979. she’s supported by John’s
Dunning, a talented ture. During the press screening, calm professionalism and
animator, fitted in his own work which was overrun by young peo- his belief that her natural exuber-
around the production of com- ple dancing in the aisles, John ance and tremendous talent will
mercials. The Apple (1959) was Coates experienced a moment of produce work of Oscar-winning
made during “down time,” with excitement which became part of quality. It would be a fitting exit for
several TVC staff working on indi- his vision for TVC’s future—the a fine company.
vidual segments, and was fol- power to entertain.
lowed by the award-winning John read the government Retirement? Don’t Even
Damon the Mower and The Flying White Paper—“the only one I’ve Think About It!
Man—all of which opened up a
A
ever read”—on the setting up of fter TVC closes down its
new, nonstudio style in British ani- Channel 4, with its promise of production arm, which will
mation. Until then, only John Halas support for the independent pro- be after the last production
with his Eastern European sensi- duction community and its com- has been put to bed, John plans to
bility and Bob Godfrey with his mitment to innovation and differ- slip into a new role as consultant to
anarchic, goon-show surrealism, ence, with great interest. The other people’s projects, only com-
were working outside the main- Snowman had been lying on his ing in from the rural idyll of his
stream. home in Kent for a civilized sched-
Dunning’s success brought a ule of lunchtime meetings.
contract to TVC to make The She’s supported by John’s However he murmurs impercepti-
Beatles series during the sixties calm professionalism bly that there may still be one or
which ran on ABC Television in the and belief that her natural two projects that he’d like to do. I
States from 1966-68. Yellow exuberance and talent will glance at his desk. There’s a bat-
Submarine followed in 1968. John tered, schoolboys’ copy of Henry V
produce work of
Coates describes the occasion half-hidden in a pile of papers ...
when George Martin invited a Oscar-winning quality.
small group comprising himself,
George Dunning and Jack Stokes Jill McGreal owns and runs her
desk for nearly a year and his £500
over to the Abbey Road Studios to own London-based animation
option was running out. He hasti-
hear the first pressing of the production company, CODE-
ly assembled an 8 minute animat-
Sergeant Pepper album. Dunning, NAME The Animation Agency.
ic set to a tune composed by
who had reservations about mak- She produces television series for
Howard Blake and took it to Paul
ing a cinema feature based on a Madden at Channel 4. He raised children and represents many
TV series, was suddenly won over. £100,000 from Paul, £75,000 from well-known international direc-
Yellow Submarine turned out to the publishers and mortgaged his tors for commercial work. She
be a perfect match of music and house. The rest, as they say, is his- continues to write and teach
image, a genuine celebration of tory. about animation and
the sixties youth rebellion, a high- TVC’s new Cardiff- based pro- film in general.
point of hippie ideology and cul- duction, Fred the Cat, is being
13
Quirino Cristiani
The Untold Story of Argentina’s Pioneer Animator
by Giannalberto Bendazzi
The following article originally appeared in the June/July and September issues of the French
magazine Banc-Titre/Animation Stand. The following English translation by Charles Solomon
was done for the December 1984 issue of Graffiti, published by ASIFA-Hollywood. This
publication, in honor of the centeniarry of Quirino Cristiani’s birth, also includes a new
introduction and an extra paragraph about Cristiani and Disney.--Editor
t was 1980, and during a festival lead me to track down the film’s home village of Santa Giuletta,
I held in Turin, Italy, I happened

to have breakfast with a man I
had never met before, Simòn
director, Quirino Cristiani, who was
still alive and well in Bernal,
Argentina; have him invited to his
Italy; and eventually publish in
1983 a book on him and his work
(Due volte l'oceano -- Vita di
Feldman. He introduced Quirino Cristiani, pion-
himself as an Argentinean iere dell'animazione)
filmmaker (both anima- that reached him in time
tion and live action: a to reward him against
rarity); and hearing that I the oblivion he had
was an animation his- experienced during the
torian, he added, “I bet last 40 years of his life.
you ignore the [fact that Now, being the
the] first animated feature centennial of his birth,
film was made in my I'm happy to celebrate
country.” I replied that I the anniversary by
knew about it, but my republishing this article,
only source was a vague originally written in
mention in a clipping 1982.
given to me by my Since then, very little
excellent colleague Bruno new has been discov-
Edera. ered about the subject
When back home, (probably some of the
Feldman (who I still thank discs that accompanied
for his collaboration) sent his third feature, Pel-
me some photocopied udòpolis, as an Argen-
press clippings he had tinean animator told me
collected about the film at the last Annecy Fes-
and the people who tival). The text is then still
worked on it. correct--and a due hom-
It was the beginning Drawing by Diógenes Taborda for El Apóstol age to one of our least
of research that would Courtesy of Giannalberto Bendazzi known pioneers.
14
O
ur story begins on drawn and animated the
July 2, 1896, the sequence using tech-
day Quirino Cris- niques he had learned
tiani was born in the little from studying films by
Italian village of Santa Émile Cohl that Valle had
Guiletta, near Pavia; he was kept in his exchange. His
the son of Luigi Cristiani, a studio could hardly be
municipal secretary, and described as state-of-the-
Adele Martinotti, a art, even then: he shot the
housewife. His father, film frame-by-frame on the
unfortunately, lost his job terrace of a house in
and was unable to feed a Buenos Aires, using the
family with five children. sun as his light source,
America, the Mecca of the with wind ready to ruin a
poor, especially the Italian shot at any moment.
poor, beckoned; so Luigi Starting with this first film,
Drawing by Diógenes Taborda for El Apóstol
Cristiani went off to Argentina, Courtesy of Giannalberto Bendazzi Cristiani used cardboard
where he found work. The cutouts, a technique he later
rest of the family followed. That 1880) had come to Buenos Aires. perfected and patented.
was in 1900. Valle had worked for the Lumière Cristiani was happy with the
In Argentina, Quirino Cristiani Brothers and the Urban Trading results, as was the audience. Valle
did not find the Indians with Co. as a cameraman and was enthusiastic. He wasn't
feathers in their hair that he documentary filmmaker. He was interested in politics, but he knew
expected. Instead he found probably the first man to employ the Argentines were. So was the
Buenos Aires, a large city that was aerial cinematography (with
expanding at a feverish pace. He Wilbur Wright, at Centocelle, near Now there were no longer
also found friends and happiness. Rome, in 1909). In Argentina, he
became a producer, but his first
a president, and the sharks
In his teens, the immigrant peasant
discovered his love for drawing. love was the newsreel. And given of the Radical Party were
He drew on the walls of houses; the Argentine love--and especially hidden in their dens.
he sketched animals in the zoo; of the citizens of Buenos Aires--for
and very briefly, he attended the political discussion and satire, what young animator. Valle then
Academy of Fine Arts. At that time, could be better than newsreels reached an agreement with a Mr.
newspapers were full of political with political cartoons in them? Franchini, who among other
cartoons and comic strips. Quirino And who better to draw them activities, owned several movie
began to hang around newspaper than this young man, already theaters. Together, they raised the
destined for a bright future, and money for the most ambitious
ready and eager to sell his stuff at project in the history of Latin
He shot the film on a reasonable price? America Cinema: a feature-length
the terrace, using the sun In 1916, in Buenos Aires, the political satire on Hipólito Irigoyen,
as his light source, with newsreel “Actualidades Valle” had the country's new President. This
wind ready to ruin a two-and-a-half minutes of was to be the first feature-length
shot at any moment. animation entitled La intervención animated film ever made.
en la provincia de Buenos Aires.
offices, where he found editors Its subject: the intervention by El Apóstol
willing to publish his caricatures. President Irigoyen against the
H
ipólito Irigoyen, the
So, without becoming famous, he governor of Buenos Aires, charismatic leader of the
became known. Marcelino Ugarte. Irigoyen Radical Party, won the
Meanwhile, another Italian, charged him with dishonesty, and 1916 presidential elections by a
Federico Valle (born in Asti in replaced him. Quirino Cristiani had large majority, thus ending the
15
long rule of the conservatives. The El Apóstol had its premiere on conceived the film, made the
Radical Party was the party of the November 9, 1917 at the Select drawings, and animated the
lower middle class and the Theater (which co-producer characters. In those days, no one
“populist,” activist segments of Franchini owned). "The film is thought of filmmakers--films were
society. Irigoyen was an honest magnificent,” said the review in the spoken of something “produced”
man, but somewhat absent- newspaper Critica, “and demon- by someone.
Cristiani's life was complicated
by the fact that Valle had hired
Diógenes Taborda, known as “El
Mono” (“The Monkey,” as he was
apparently very ugly), to design
characters for the film. El Mono
was the most famous humorous
cartoonist of the time; a veritable
star, his vaguely art nouveau
cartoons would sell any journal in
which they appeared. But Taborda
had no desire to devote his life to
something he knew nothing
about, and cared to know nothing
Frame enlargement from Peludópolis showing Juan Pueblo
confonting members of the junta. about. He would make two or
Courtesy of Giannalberto Bendazzi three drawings and then turn the
rest over to Cristiani, who could
minded; the victim, some said, of strates the wonderful progress our do whatever he wanted ... as long
unscrupulous associates. Moreover, national cinema has made.” La as Taborda's name got the largest
he and his fellow Radicals lacked Razon agreed, saying it was, “A billing in the credits. Everyone was
the polished style of the graphic work that reveals happy with this arrangement
conservatives: they tended to be enormous labor, patience and (especially Valle, who was only
long-winded, with a certain even genius.” A good many other interested in buying El Mono's
tendency toward demagoguery. papers praised Valle, the film, and popularity), and so the deal had
All these factors made Irigoyen an
ideal target for the young
cartoonist, who was eager to
make fun of everyone and
everything.
The film, El Apóstol (The
Apostle), showed Irigoyen wanting
to bring morality to public life and
eliminate corruption in Buenos
Aires. To accomplish his lofty aims,
he ascends to heaven where
Jupiter lends the new president his
thunderbolts. Irigoyen then hurled
the redemptive fire at the city,
which made for a most impressive Frame enlargement from Peludópolis
showing Juan Pueblo, the Argentine everyman.
blaze. The audience particularly Courtesy of Giannalberto Bendazzi
enjoyed the final sequence, which
combined models built by the the country. But hardly anyone been struck. The friendship
French architect Andrés Ducaud noticed that Cristiani had the one between the two artists was sealed
and special effects. true claim to authorship: He had when Taborda served as best man
16
at Cristiani's wedding. (The press, Foreign Affairs.

who had not heard otherwise, Here begins the most confused
printed the name of Taborda as part of Cristiani's career. He could
the artist who made El Apóstol, not earn a living as a filmmaker:
forgetting the film's humble the Argentine market was just too
“animator.”) limited, and the public showed
El Apóstol was an hour and little interest in full-length animated
ten minutes long and was said to films. He continued to submit
be composed of 58,000 drawings, cartoons and political caricatures
which means 58,000 frames, as to the papers. Irigoyen, the first
the film was made utilizing cutouts. president elected in a manner
All known copies of the film were faithful to the rules and spirit of the
lost in a fire in Federico Valle's constitution and popular
vaults in 1926. democracy, manifested none of
the intolerance so characteristic of
Without a Trace Latin America leaders, and took no
Quirino Cristiani in Santa Giuletta,on
hile El Apóstol was
W November 29, 1981, when he was

action to stop Cristiani, leaving the
being made and being honored by the local president's old satirist free to work
shown, Europe, of government. for the mass media.
Courtesy of Giannalberto Bendazzi
course, was still in the midst of the Cristiani now had two children,
Great War. The countries of South or French ships in Argentine waters and the income from the sale of
America decided to remain neutral, at the time. Irigoyen was furious his cartoons was apparently not
though some sparks managed to at Luxberg, but did not publicize enough to support a family of four.
reach the Río de la Plata. Germany the episode, although it became He then started a sort of “gypsy”
wanted Argentina to come into the subject of some of the best business whereby he rented a
the war on their side at any price. porteños jokes of the time-- wagon and traveled to the poorer
The Argentine military loved porteños (“people of the port”) was areas, where there were no movie
German discipline, the German art the common name natives of theaters, and set up a folding
of war, and the German army: Buenos Aires called themselves. screen and projector and showed
they wanted to fight on the same Cristiani couldn’t wait to do a films, especially Chaplin shorts
side as these masters. But Irigoyen, cartoon on the subject. He found mixed in with commercials that he
like his party and the majority of new producers and in 1918 was made himself; the advertising side
the population, was both anti- of the business was called Publi-
military and anti-war. As he Cinema. It was an enormous
seemed immune to all diplomatic He ascends to heaven success: crowds would even
and public pressure, the Germans where Jupiter lends gather in the middle of the streets.
decided to try duplicity. Baron von the new president And because of that, the municipal
Luxburg, the Second Reich's gray his thunderbolts. authorities stopped it, charging
eminence in Argentina, ordered a him with “disturbing the peace
German U-boat to torpedo an and interrupting traffic.”
Argentine ship, making sure “to able to offer the public the second Cristiani never gave up on
leave no trace” (“sin dejar rastros,” animated feature ever made, Sin animation; on the contrary, he
in Spanish), so the deed could be dejar rastros. This time around, made a number of shorts as the
blamed on the Anglo-French however, there was no enthusiastic chance arose. There were two
alliance, hoping popular public reception, nor did the press surgical films: Rhinoplastia and
indignation would then force print a single word about it. For Gastrotomia (both 1925), made in
Irigoyen to declare war. The plan “diplomatic reasons” (as the war collaboration with professors José
failed: a boat was torpedoed and was still going on), the film was Arce and Ocsar Ivanisevitch. He
sunk, but the survivors testified that seized by the police and made films about current events,
there was no signs of either British disappeared into the Ministry of including sports, notably the fights
17
of boxer Luis Angel Firpo--Firpo- His film satirized the corruption of asserting that the film came of no
Brennan and Firpo-Dempsey (both the old president's associates, sectarian spirit. Then on the fateful
1923)--and Uruguayos forever showing the difficulties of keeping evening of September 16, 1931,
(1924) on the victory of the the “Argentine ship of state” afloat he shook hands with the
Uruguay soccer team. Humberto in an ocean filled with voracious provisional president, José Felix
de garufa (Little Umberto's Frolic) Uriburu, who honored him with
(1924), was inspired by the visit of his presence, sat in his chair and
Umberto of Savoy, the young and But hardly anyone noticed crossed his fingers.
carefree crown prince of Italy. In that Cristiani had the one The film wasn't a hit. The
1927, he became head of publicity true claim to authorship. audiences laughed at times, but
for MGM locally, although this did generally thought the situation too
not prevent him from making serious to be laughed at. Also, a
animated commercials on the side. year-and-a-half after the film's
And he began to set up the premiere, Irigoyen died in his bed.
Cristiani Studios at 2121 Calle The Argentine people, who had
Sarmiento. done nothing when he had been
chased out of Casa Rosada, rushed
Peludópolis into the street and squares, falling
I
t was in this studio, in 1929, that prey to an irresistible flood of
another act in the Italo-Argentine emotion. On the one hand,
filmmaker's career began. Cristiani felt the same emotions,
Working from a script by Eduardo Peludópolis on the other, he understood that
Gonzalez Lanuza, he began Courtesy of Giannalberto Bendazzi a film “against” the ghost of a
making Peludópolis, his third friend of the people no longer had
animated feature. Once again sharks. Now there were no longer the slightest chance of success. He
Hipólito Irigoyen and Irigoyenism a president, and the sharks of the therefore withdrew it from
was his target. (Irigoyen had been Radical Party were hidden in their circulation.
elected president a second time in dens. What to do? Peludópolis (i.e., “the city of the
1928 by a two-to-one margin). Cristiani chose to take a middle- Peludo, or “Peludo City,” also refers
Cristiani brought all his imagination of-the-road position. He showed to Irigoyen's nickname, Peludo)
and technical discoveries into play. the corruption of Irigoyen and his was Cristiani's last major animated
As usual, he used articulated followers (these scenes had already film. It was 80 minutes long with
characters cut out from cardboard. been shot anyway ...), he showed sound (on disc)--making it the first
He finished the film in 1931 and the generals who had taken animated feature with sound. The
it had its premiere on September power, and, above all, he showed newspaper critics received it rather
16. Meanwhile, something had an average man of people (a favorably: “this work is
happened. undoubtedly one of the most
On September 6, 1930, a year important of our national cinema
before the film's premiere, Irigoyen For “diplomatic reasons,” ... a tuneful, amusing and
had been overthrown by military the film was seized by the charming film.” (La Razon) “There
coup d'état. The increasingly senile police and disappeared are many reasons to be amused--
president had made one error after the caricatures themselves, the
another, and his fellow party
into the Ministry of songs, the comic ideas, the
members had lost most of their Foreign Affairs. details.” (El Diario) “The images are
prestige and credibility through too rigid, not smooth enough, but
their dishonesty and corruption. cartoonist Cristiani shows a
The coup pleased no one. but character called Juan Pueblo) who singular talent for the difficult art
everyone agreed that, after all, it asked for good government and of animation.” (La Nacion)
was a solution. respect for all rights. Further, he Peludópolis’ economic fiasco
For Cristiani, it was a tragedy. offered a little preamble is in verse came as a severe blow to the 35-
18
year-old filmmaker, who already series ended with its first not an animator, but a cartoonist
had a long career behind him. installment. El Mono relojero is a who specialized in gaucho
Cristiani realized that he could film of middling quality--a good, caricatures. Disney followed his
never make it as a producer and professional production for the advice.
creator of animated films in time. For the first time Cristiani Quirino's artistic career is
Argentina. Walt Disney had abandoned cardboard cutouts in virtually over. Two fires, one in
become a success: his films 1957, the other in 1961, destroyed
reached Argentina with the charm He was only a cartoonist his entire oeuvre: negatives, prints,
of their richness, their technical with a taste for satire, an original drawings, and papers.
perfection, their economic power. The aging pioneer still keeps
artisan with a flair for
The little artisan from Santa Giuletta documents from his career--photos
simply could not challenge so tinkering and little inscribed by presidents, ministers,
powerful a studio. Moreover, he inventions. mayors; testimonials; honorary
was never an “artist” or an inspired diplomas in English; etc.--but he
poet like Alexandre Alexeieff or favor of “classic” North American no longer works. He lives quietly
Norman McLaren. He never had cel animation. Many people wrote with his family near Buenos Aires,
an artistic vision of the world to at the time that this black and having sold his laboratory. A
communicate, or the need to white short was the first Argentine vegetarian and a nudist, this frugal
create a body of work. He was sound cartoon! man had never taken an airplane
only a cartoonist with a taste for Cristiani became increasingly before his visit to Italy in November
satire, an artisan with a flair for absorbed with his subtitling work, 1981, when he received an
tinkering and little inventions. but still found time to make Enter invitation from the provincial
So, during the '30s, he stopped pitos y flautas (Between Whistles government of Pavia. He visited
making films and cut back on his and Flutes) in 1941. It was about the little country village of his birth
creative activities in favor of soccer, is very short, and probably and was widely feted, especially
technical ones: he formed a unsatisfying: Cristiani will not by the humble film critic who signs
company and the Studios Cristiani willingly talk about it. His last film this article and who traced him to
(which had moved to 460 Calle was Carbonada (the name of an the far side of the planet after a
Jose Evaristo Uriburu) became one Argentine salad). It was made in four year search ....
of the best movie labs in Argentina, 1943 and received the City Council
specializing in the translation and Award.
subtitling of foreign films.
The little artisan from Santa Giannalberto Bendazzi is a
Fables
Giuletta simply could Milan-based film historian and
A
nimation, for him, was
now a hobby. And towards not challenge so
critic whose book on Quirino
the end of the 1930s, his powerful a studio.
animation career had a brief revival Cristiani, Due voite l'oceana, was
when Constancio Vigil contracted published in 1983. His history of
with Cristiani to produce a series Incidentally, Cristiani met Walt animation, Cartoons: One
of shorts based on fables he had Disney, during Disney’s trip to
written and published. South America in 1941, and Hundred Years of Cinema
The first of these fables was El screened some of his films for him. Animation, is published in the
Mono relojero (The Monkey He was a Disney fan, and, for a
US by Indiana University Press
Watchmaker). It premiered in time, the two thought about
February 1938 and had a good collaborating on the Latin and in the UK by John Libbey.
run. The City of Buenos Aries even American project Disney was
honored it with a special prize. But planning. No deal was made, but
Constancio Vigil did not want to Cristiani suggested that Disney
put up any more money and the contact Molina Campos, who was
19
Sue Loughlin
An Animator’s Profile
by Rita Street
ritish animator price of cels was sim-
B Sue Loughlin
always knew she
would have a career in
ply not within the lim-
itations of her small
student budget. She
the world of art. Even remembers those first
as a child she believed years at the school,
she was destined to learning and experi-
bring the beautiful menting with the
images in her mind to medium, as a mixture
life. However, the of ecstasy and tedium.
piece in the puzzle she “I couldn’t believe I
didn’t see as a child was allowed to spend
and even as a young the whole day draw-
woman, was that she ing. It was heaven. No
would make a living one was going to say
by making those I had to do other
images move. “Art was things. On the other
my favorite subject in hand, it seemed weird
school and I knew I that it took so much
would end up doing time to create anima-
something art based. Sue Loughlin tion. It’s so labor inten-
But when I went to sive. But the quicker
the Liverpool Art School I initially ing, she was hooked. “I left it you worked, the quicker you
wanted to do illustration. I only thinking, ‘God, that’s so brilliant. could see your character move
discovered animation by attend- That’s what I’m going to do. I’m on the pencil test machine. And
ing a lecture on animation histo- going to animate.’” once you’ve seen something
ry. For me, it was like a revela- move, even though it flashes by
tion.” To Give Something Life quickly, you want to rush back
nd animate she did. After
A
Loughlin had always thought and do all that work again, sim-
of animation as “comic” or for completing her Bachelor’s ply because it is so amazing to
children, but after that lecture, of Fine Art at Liverpool, give something life.”
after she saw that animation she went for her postgraduate While in school, Loughlin kept
could also be theatrical and mov- degree at the United Kingdom’s exploring the medium of art. She
National Film and Television studied artists from different ages,
The quicker you worked, School. There she learned the tra- how they approached their work,
the quicker you could see ditional skills of an animator, the progression of their personal
working as she says, mainly with style and the materials and tools
your character move.
pencil and paper because the they worked with. She was
20
I couldn’t believe I was

allowed to spend the
whole day drawing.
It was heaven.
about the horses but actually
evaluating each other’s attire,
young couples out for the day
and impressed by all who are
there to see and be seen.
The horses are led out, look-
ing—with Loughlin’s bold paint-
ed lines—like great beasts from
The Grand National by Sue Loughlin legendary Troy. The jockeys arrive
and Loughlin brings their racing
attracted early on to the leader the horses. When I went to art colors to life with single strokes
of the Fauvists, Henri Matisse and school I thought I definitely had of purple, red, and blue. The race
his experiments into the very to make a film about the race.” begins, and the sound of the
essence of images, or Expression- Grand National is a moving crowd is at once deafening and
ism. portrayal of the very “real,” even utterly silent against the pound-
though it is painted with only ing of the horses’ hooves. At each
Grand National black ink and dashes of color. The jump, riders and horses fall and
er first short film, Grand
H National is almost an
homage to Matisse’s
strong lines, but it is also a send-
film opens on the empty streets
surrounding the stadium—the
quiet before the storm—then
shows the arrival of hundreds
brush, stripped away from the
obstacle, flies toward the camera.
The horses come around the cor-
ner on the last 400 yards and
up to Picasso, which is seen espe- upon hundreds of automobiles. two horses are neck and neck.
cially in the strength of her hors- As the crowds unfold onto the The remaining riders’ colors blur
es. Yet, Grand National is much stadium like an irrepressible tide, together in a rainbow of power
more than the influences of great the eye of the camera moves and speed. Rhyme & Reason
artists on Loughlin’s style. The through the crowds, stopping to
crosses the finish line first and the
piece has a strong personality all examine small huddles of race
its own, reflective of Loughlin’s jockey heads to the Winner’s
goers—blue collar workers com-
own wit and passion. paring bets, rich women talking Circle. A typical day at the races.
Growing up in Liverpool, the
home of the Grand National,
Loughlin remembers going each
year as a young girl, looking
through the great gates, watch-
ing the attendees file in and wish-
ing she could afford to go. “It was
such a personal event for me,”
Loughlin said, “It was the only
major event in our small town
each year and it lasted for three
days. The rest of the year it [the
stadium] was closed. One year,
my Dad bought me some tickets
The Grand National by Sue Loughlin
for my birthday and I got to see
21
But as the crowd moves out of apart, while painting another cel
the stands into their taxis and on top. “I had a carpenter make I wanted that spontaneity,
cars, the audience is left with it for me. It was trial and error which gets lost
unanswered questions. Why do though because I had to have drawing first and then
rendering later.
Social Reform and

Women’s Rights
O
ne of the most impressive
projects completed early
on with her newfangled
lightbox, was for the Genesis
World Tour of 1992. For
Dreaming While You Sleep, a
song about a reckless driver,
Loughlin created images of cars
driving through hill country. Her
animation, which was projected
during the tour, had atmospher-
Amnesty International PSA
ic blue backgrounds and for the
©Amnesty Intl.
night scenes, bright yellow head-
two peg bars, one on top of the lights that whirled and sped
people go to the races? What around dizzying curves. Dreami-
other. Still, to keep the cels regis-
does racing and betting mean? ng While You Sleep led to other
tered, I have to keep my head in
And, if racing means so much, professional jobs about social
the same position each time. If I
especially to people in a small move it goes out of registration.” reform and women’s rights.
town, what is left to look forward Although the system may sound For an Amnesty International
to during those interminable days awkward, Loughlin says it is actu- public service announcement,
between one Grand National ally comfortable, works fine and she created a world where an
and the next? served her purpose even as she ordinary woman, a free sort of
made the transition to profes- spirit, is torn apart from every-
sional work while still in school. thing she has known. “It’s like a
She could cross a road
without looking and
nothing would happen.
To complete Grand National

Loughlin invented a new light-
box so that she could paint direct-
ly onto a cel without using a pen-
cil first. “I wanted that spontane-
ity,” she says, “which gets lost
drawing first and then rendering
later.” So she created a design
that would allow her to put a
piece of glass over a wet cel,
Woman With A Purpose Art created for the 1993 Levis Jeans for
keeping each cel about an inch Women Advertising Campaign—Foote, Cone & Belding/S.F.
22
black cloud comes over and rips was like an organic thing that would happen.”
her apart from her family,” says came alive,” says Loughlin, who The spot ends with the tiny
Loughlin, who explains that the remembers that the only guide- woman approaching an enor-
mous door. She pauses for a brief
moment, then decides without a
doubt there is no reason to be
stopped by a mere door—no
matter how big and ominous it
happens to be—and easily push-
es through. The women in this
spot is a lot like the persona of
Loughlin herself, a person who
is unafraid to make her own way.
When Loughlin discovered
animation, she decided to make
it her own. When she thought of
a new way to create her art, she
built herself a tool and launched
her career—a career based on
taking the seemingly everyday
© Amnesty Intl and making it controversial and
turning the already controversial
piece is full of symbolism, a tool lines she received from the ad into art.
she finds essential in much of her agency were to give the woman A woman who has certainly
storytelling. an attitude and to make her fulfilled her childhood dream,
For Levi’s “Jeans For Women” small. “Well, I didn’t want to make Loughlin is not only an animator,
campaign, Loughlin created her entirely small, only in com- she is definitely an artist in the
Woman With a Purpose , a 30 parison to how big the city was. grandest sense of the word.
second spot about a woman I wanted her to walk through
who walks through all the many everything as if no dangers could
obstacles a city can conjure up, touch her. She could cross a road
unafraid. “The city in that spot without looking and nothing
Rita Street, a freelance writer
based in Los Angeles, is the
founder of Women in
Animation and former editor
and publisher of Animation
Magazine.

© Amnesty Intl.
23
Animator
Robert Breer
by Jackie Leger
R
obert Breer’s career as artist of the early 20th century, ranging poetry and music.
and animator spans 50 years from the abstract forms of the When Breer returned to the
and his creative explorations Russian Constructivists and the United States in the late 1950s, the
have made him an international structuralist formulas of the American avant-garde was thriv-
figure. He began his artistic pur- Bauhaus, to the nonsensible uni- ing and films by Kenneth Anger,
suits as a painter while living in verse of the Dada-
Paris from 1949-59. Using an old ists. Through his
Bolex 16mm camera, his first films, association with the
such as Form Phases, were simple Denise René Gal-
stop motion studies based on his lery, which special-
abstract paintings. ized in geometric
Breer has always been fasci- art, he saw the
nated by the mechanics of film. abstract films of
Perhaps his father’s fascination with such pioneers as
3-D inspired Breer to tinker with Hans Richter, Viking
early mechanical cinematic de- Eggeling, Walter
Ruttman and Fer-
nand Léger. Breer
The compositions are
acknowledges his
enhanced by kitchen respect for this
clatter in a free stream of purist, “cubist” cine-
consciousness approach. ma, which uses
geometric shapes
moving in time and
vices. His father was an engineer space. In 1955, he
and designer of the legendary helped organize
Chrysler Airflow automobile in and exhibited in a
1934 and built a 3-D camera to show in Paris enti-
film all the family vacations. After tled “Le Mouve-
studying engineering at Stanford, ment” (The Move-
Breer changed his focus toward ment), which paved
hand crafted arts and began the way for new
experimenting with flip books. cinema aesthetics.
These animations, done on ordi- During this period,
nary 4” x 6” file cards have become Breer also met the
Robert Breer
the standard for all of Breer’s work, poet Alan Ginsberg Courtey of Anthology Film Archives
even to this day. and introduced him
to his film Recreation (1956), Stan Brakhage, Peter Kubelka and
Influences which made use of frame-by-frame Maria Menken were creating a
L
ike many of his generation, experiments in a non-narrative new visionary movement. Breer
Breer’s early work was influ- structure. Although Breer disdains found kindred spirits within the
enced by the various being labeled a beatnik, the film New York experimental scene. As
European modern art movements does capture some aspects of beat Pop Art emerged as a phenome-
24
non in the 1960s, Breer befriend- the quick movements of a Tex

ed Claes Oldenburg and others. Avery cartoon and the wit of an
He worked on the TV show, David electric comic strip.
Brinkley’s Journal, filming pieces
on art shows in Europe; at the Historical Perspectives
same time, he made his debut
B
reer continued to search for
documentary on the sculptor Jean historical perspectives in his
Tinguely in 1961, Homage to work and discovered the
Tinguely. Screened at the Museum color theories of Chevreul and
of Modern Art, it reflects Breer’s Rood. He also began a series of
interest in mechanical forms and minimalist pieces based on num-
the fine art of moving sculpture; ber series, which were nonfigu-
techniques he used in his work, as rative and based on geometry and
his own kinetic sculpture was formal issues. 66, 69 and 70 rely
sparked by Tinguely’s keen interest on formalist images from his early
in mechanical gadgets, kinetic research into color paintings.
movement and abstract forms. The 1970s brought Breer into
Breer was influenced by the a more commercial world of ani-
new performance art and “hap- mation and he worked for the
penings” making waves in the Children’s Television Workshop in
avant-garde of Europe and New 1971 doing animation for The
York. He worked briefly with Claes Electric Company. His popular
Oldenburg and his performance Gulls and Buoys relates back both
pieces resulting in a 13 minute to the poetry of William Carlos
film, Pat’s Birthday (1962). Breer Williams and the early rotoscop-
also befriended artists like Nam ing techniques devised by Max
June Paik, Charlotte Mormon and Fleischer back in 1916. Breer
others exposed to the new trends explored the latter method in order
in multimedia events. to give a live-action sense to the
While he was working on the animated form. Disney and other
film Fist Fight, he met Stock- commercial studios still use this
hausen, then working in Cologne method to animate reality-based
on Originale, a performance piece. scenes. With his new interest in
The composer’s work soon came technology, Breer was invited to
into vogue in American circles and Swiss Army Knife with Rats and Pigeons, Japan with other artists to work
he was asked to perform his piece Robert Breer, 1981 on the Pepsi Pavilion, making a set
Courtesy of Robert Breer
in New York’s Judson Hall in 1964. of mobile sculptures. While in
Breer presented Fist Fight as part of relies on the roots of simple tech- Japan, he made Fuji, again using
this performance, making the film niques of pencils or 4 x 6 cards for rotoscoping combined with
a visual event in its own right. inspiration. While Breer rarely uses Japanese textural imagery.
Always whimsical, Breer soon conventional storytelling tech- Returning to the United States,
developed a line technique related niques, these films have a sense of for his next work, LMNO (1978),
to the free form work of Swiss he once again sought out histori-
painter Paul Klee. Such short nar- The films have a sense cal references. A homage to one of
rative pieces as A Man with his of the quick movements the fathers of animation, Émile
Dog Out for Air (1958) and Inner Cohl, it uses a simple French
of a Tex Avery cartoon
and Outer Space (1960) use the policeman as a main character.
dynamics of drawing and line to and the wit of an Cohl became famous for his
capture the essence of humor and electric comic strip. Fantoche stick figure, which pre-
motion. Time and time again, he dated Mickey by 20 years. Using
25
the simple tech- he prefers animation

nique of 4 x 6 “close to home.”
index cards, this Today, Breer con-
film used every tinues exploring ani-
imaginable tech- mated forms while
nique from spray teaching animation
paint to pencils. His at Cooper Union in
next film, TZ, con- New York City. When
tinues this line of asked about his cur-
energetic experi- rent work, he says
ments and is a por- that he still relies on
trait of his new liv- the history of cinema
ing space then and early “gadgets”
near the Tappan as the source of his
Zee bridge, in New inspiration. His most
York’s Hudson River recent work Now
A Frog on the Swing, Robert Breer, 1988
Valley. Breer often Courtesy of Robert Breer
You See It (1996),
uses domestic im- now on exhibit at the
agery in his work, incorporating American Museum of the Moving
objects surrounding the artist to A continuous animation Image, in New York, uses a two
fantasy sequences using Polaroid based on his explorations sided panel which spins into an
photographs reworked with animated film much like a
into the devices of cinema’s
erasable marker pens. The com- Thaumatrope, the first cinematic
positions, as always on 4 x 6 index early history (and prehisto- device that used persistence of
cards, are enhanced by kitchen ry), which dazzled audi- vision back in 1826. Like two slides
clatter in a free stream of con- ences by creating flipping back and forth, it is a con-
sciousness approach. visual kinesis. tinuous animation based on his
Breer’s work continued his explorations into the devices of
experiments with various tech- cinema’s early history (and pre-
niques and materials with Swiss history), which dazzled audi-
Army Knife with Rats and Pigeons ences by creating visual kinesis.
(1980), which again includes live- At the heart of his work is
action and line techniques. the imagination of the artist
Raising a family throughout mixed with the inquisitive mind
the 1980s, Breer began to work of the mad scientist, delving into
with what he considers “chil- lost archives of cinema to revive
dren’s animation,” resulting in A forgotten art forms and giving
Frog on a Swing (1988), which them new life for generations
is dedicated to his daughter. He to come. This is the secret to
also experimented with associa- Breer’s unique world.
tive spontaneity in Trial Balloons,
a metaphor for anything experi-
mental.
In recent years, Breer contin- Jackie Leger is a Santa
ued to make one film per year. Monica-based documentary
His Sparkill Ave! (1993) is a filmmaker interested in the
homey study on his new neigh- roots of American
borhood using hundreds of still
experimental film.
photographs, combined with A Frog on the Swing, Robert Breer, 1988
index card drawings. As always, Courtesy of Robert Breer
26
The Olympiad of Animation

An Interview With
Fini Littlejohn
by Harvey Deneroff
I
first came to know Fini Littlejohn
in 1982, when I took over as edi-
tor of Graffiti, the ASIFA-
Hollywood newsletter. While not
the celebrity her husband Bill was
and is, I soon came to see that she
was an important presence in the
local and international animation
scene. It was also around that
time, that Fini started her cam-
paign for what would become the
Olympiad of Animation, which
was held in conjunction with the
1984 Summer Olympics in Los
Angeles. A sort of pocket film fes-
tival, with many of the trappings
of more established events like the Bill and Fini Littlejohn (in center), at their home earlier this year,
Annecy, it briefly brought anima- flanked by documentary filmmakers Freida Moch and Terry Sanders.
Courtesy of Fini Littlejohn
tion and the Olympics together in
a unique gathering which, unfor- then illustration, publicity and because in the theater [everyone
tunately, has for many faded into stage design. However, it was as was] very friendly and warm.” It
memory. an actress that her talents first wasn’t until she was invited back
In a professional sense, Fini’s came into demand. She appeared with other emigree artists to par-
involvement with animation has in a number of stage productions, ticipate in the 1993 Viennale that
always been peripheral at best, but participated in the city’s “literary she learned that, “They fired every-
remains no less passionate about cabaret” and had a part in Wily body two months [after I left],
Forst’s classic film, Maskerade, star- including the director. So, I would-
She was inspired by pro- ring Anton Walbrook. n’t have had much hope for a
In 1937, at age 22, she real- future there. I didn’t know that. If
ducer Les Goldman, who ized that, as a Jew, her career I did, I would have been less
always “had great visions options in Austria were limited and homesick for Vienna.”
for animation.” managed to get to the United Handicapped by language in
States, where she had a uncle. She New York, she fell back on her art
left rather suddenly and afterwards training, got an assignment as a
the medium. Born in Vienna, always felt awkward about leav- book illustrator, but mostly paint-
Josephine (Fini) Rudiger attended ing in the midst of a stage pro- ed window backgrounds for major
the Institute of Arts & Crafts there, duction. She recalls that, “It took New York department stores. She
initially studying fashion design, me a long time to get over that, moved to Los Angeles in 1938,
27
where she briefly wound Scott, took the event

up working at Disney’s, under its wing; sub-
doing incidental charac- sequently, through
ter design for Pinocchio, voice actor June
as well as “design, Foray, the Academy
research and story for of Motion Picture Arts
Cinderella, Dumbo and & Science agreed to
other future projects.” (In play host at its
this, she was probably Samuel Goldwyn
one of the first women Theater in Beverly
the studio used in any Hills. (It helped that
sort of official creative Foray was on the
capacity.) However, she Academy’s Board of
again mostly earned her Governors.)
living as a commercial The project now fell
artist for department under the aegis of
stores, as well as doing the Academy’s Doug-
two other children’s las Edwards. Even-
books. tually, Prescott Wright,
a distributor and
An Interest in experienced film fes-
Animation tival hand, was
S
he married Bill in brought in to man-
Bill Hurtz’ Logo Film for Olympiad of Animation
1943 and it was based on Luzzati’s poster.
age the actual event.
through him that she (Critic and historian Charles
continued to develop her interest bumped into Paul Ziffern’s wife, Solomon came in to help with the
in animation. When he became who said, ‘Oh, I’m sorry for you.’ final programming.) In addition to
active in ASIFA-International and (He was a big animal in the Fini’s idea for a retrospective, there
attending various international fes- Olympics.) I said, ‘You could really came the idea to have “new films
tivals, Fini tagged along. Soon, help me. I would like to have an made especially for the Olympics.”
their Malibu home became a animation festival,’ ” and asked if She felt that “was a problem,” but
favorite stopover for animation Paul could help. Initially he could- it really did not seem to phase her.
artists from around the world. n’t, but did eventually point her in
Her idea for the Olympiad of the right direction. I Will Make a Film For You
Animation, she says, was inspired Fini’s initial idea was to have a
F
ini then set out to personally
by producer Les Goldman (How program of “all these wonderful go out and recruit people to
the Grinch Stole Christmas) who make films especially for the
always “had great visions for ani- You have to go to the event dealing with the Olympics.
mation.” And it was his ideas that studio and ask them for Thus, she took the occasion of her
came to mind “when there was so permission to approach and Bill’s travels to festivals like
much talk about the Olympic Arts Lucca and Annecy to recruit film-
Festival” in anticipation of the 1984
the artists. I had not makers to the cause. “The first one
Los Angeles games. known that. that said I will make a film for you,”
Around this time, Fini broke her she recalls, “was Bruno Bozzetto.
arm and was forced to largely get The second was [Osvaldo]
around by bus, something which films we had seen for the past 30 Cavandoli. Those were the two
is not easy in an autocentric town some years we’ve been going to biggies.”
like Los Angeles. This did not stop festivals and that you never see In the process of soliciting films,
her, and only “a day or two after here.” ASIFA-Hollywood, headed she learned first hand some of the
my accident,” she recalls that “I by animation writer-voice artist Bill political realities of the day. Thus,
28
were picked from films made by widespread publicity and critical

students of high school age and acclaim seemed to carry over to
younger. (All but one, an Italian the Los Angeles County Museum
film, L’Importante e partecipare of Art’s ‘Enchanted Drawings’
(The Importance is to Participate), series; this history of Hollywood
which turned out to be an audi- animation shorts has been consis-
ence favorite, were screened sep- tently sold out, including the open-
arately.) ing evening of silent films. ... After
the opening night, a background
Champions of Animation? man from Filmation came up to
A
t the time, Fini expressed me glowing with pride, and said,
some disappointment with ‘Isn’t it great, first the Olympiad and
the way the event turned now this!’ It was a comment that
out. For instance, she did not real- seemed to make the Olympiad
ly approve of the final selection of worthwhile.” And now, 12 years
the 50 greatest animated films of later, one must say that despite her
Opening logo film for Olympiad all time selected (the “Champions misgivings, her effort was certain-
of Animation, supervised by Bill
Littlejohn of Animation”)by an international ly very worthwhile.
committee of journalists, scholars,
she was initially taken aback by festival directors and scholars. She The Spirit of the Olympics
“the cool reception” she got from still dissents, feeling that the pro-
T
he following is a list of the
people in places like the Soviet gram lacked the balance and 32 finalists of films made for
Union and Czechoslovakia. “Even scope she originally envisioned. the Olympiad of Animation
Feodor Khitruk,” she notes, “who She recalled that, “We had two in “The Spirit of the Olympics.” In
was really a good friend, said ‘I Fischingers and two by Alexeieff retrospect, the film most people
cannot make a film.’ Finally one of and Parker. [Most] were films that remember seems to be Bruno
the East Germans said to me, ‘You had recently been in the minds of Bozzetto’s Sigmund, which shows
cannot approach the artists, you people and not what we had con- how a little Viennese boy is affect-
have to go to the studio and ask sidered the best films.” She also dis- ed by watching the Olympics on
them for permission to approach liked the addition of a special pro- television. At the time, I also com-
the artists.’ I had not known that.” gram, featuring “Walt Disney’s mended Graeme Ross’ 1...2...3,
She also did not realize the fall- Tribute to Sports Goofy.” whose portrayal of what goes on
out from the 1980 Moscow Nevertheless, as I wrote at the in a high jumper’s mind as he gets
Olympics, which the US boycotted, time, the Olympiad was, “a real ready to do his stuff, had a funky
which eventually led to a recipro- morale booster for the local ani- wit all its own.
cal boycott of the L.A. games by mation community, giving its
the USSR, which certainly did not members a chance,
help Fini in her mission. once again, to be
Nevertheless, some 140 new proud of being
short films on “The Spirit of the called animation
Olympics” from 18 countries were artists.” (Remember,
submitted, of which 32 were this was at a time
selected. In addition to Italy’s when the industry
Bozzetto and Cavandoli, there seemed to be in a
were films by such world-class ani- state of collapse,
mators as Japan’s Yoji Kuri, with great amounts
Canada’s Graeme Ross and of work being
Hungary’s Sándor Bekesi. Due to shipped off to studios
an unexpected interest from in East Asia.) I further
schools around the world, 28 films noted that, “The event’s The Tale of Tales,Yuri Norstein, 1980.
29
The Champions Of Animation
T
he following is the list of the 50 highest scoring
films in the Olympiad’s poll of international jour-
nalists, scholars, festival directors and anima-
tion programmers. (Some 100 were actually asked
to participate, but only 35 responded.) The results
were tabulated on a weighted scale and only 32 films
were actually screened (in whole or in part) during
the event itself. Films with identical ratings indicate a
Au bout du fil (The Cat’s Cradle), Paul Driessen, 1974 tie.
1. 1...2...3, Graeme Ross, Canada 1. Skazka Skazok (Tale of Tales), Yuri Norstein, USSR,
2. Olympia—La Linea 114, Oswaldo 1980
Cavandoli, Italy 2. The Street, Caroline Leaf, Canada, 1976
3. Sigmund, Bruno Bozzetto, Italy 3. The Yellow Submarine, George Dunning, UK,
4. Olympic Fire, V. Jiranek & Josef Hekrdla, 1968
Czechoslovakia 4. Ruka (The Hand), Jiri Trnka, Czechoslovakia,
5. Games, Hans Bacher, West Germany 1965
6. Olympia, Anna Maria Zoltan, Hungary 5. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, David
7. It’s Not Whether You Win or Lose, Hand, 1937
Rastko iri , Yugoslavia 6. Crac!, Frédéric Back, Canada, 1981
8. Olympiad I, Marija Dail, USA 7. Une Nuit sur le Mont Chauve (Night on Bald
9. Olympic Boulevard, Mark Hubley, USA Mountain), Alexander Alexeieff & Claire
10. Victoria, Lehotay Zoltan, Hungary Parker, 1933
11. The Spirit, Stephan Boeder, West Germany 8. Ubu, Geoff Dunbar, UK, 1980
12. Torch, Wendy Vanguard, USA 9. Moonbird, John Hubley, USA, 1959
13. Hors-Jeu, Georges Schwisgebel, Switzerland 10. Satiemania, Zdenko Gasparavic, Yugoslavia,
14. The Imagination of the Marathon Runners, 1978
Yuji Kuri, Japan 11. Fantasia, Walt Disney, USA, 1940
15. The Spirit of the Olympics, John Amitay, Canada 12. Neighbors, Norman McLaren, Canada, 1952
16. Animarathon, Raul Garcia-Sanz, Spain 13. Paysagiste (Mindscape), Jacques Drouin,
17. Spitzensport, Any Coray, Switzerland Canada, 1977
18. Blind Olympics, Nancy Bens, Belgium 14. Duck Amuck, Chuck Jones, USA, 1953
19. My Olympic Heroes, Talent Barli, USA 15. Premiere jours (Beginnings), Clorinda Warny,
20. Quitagulation, Gregory Burns, USA Lina Gagnon & Suzanne Gervaise
21. Road to the Olympics, Rejean Bourdages & 16. Allegro non troppo, Bruno Bozzetto, Italy, 1976
Shane Doyle, Canada
22. Olympics, Gert Vergauwe, Belgium
23. Breth of Seth, Melinda Littlejohn, USA
24. Olimpia Los Angeles 1984, Csaba Szorady,
Hungary
25. Running In, Lesley Keen, Scotland
26. Alber-10, Anders Holt, Sweden
27. The Flight, Clara Basca & Gloria Canestrini, Italy
28. Rupert’s Olympic Feet, Larry Luria, USA
29. The Gallop, Sandor Bekesi, Hungary
30. Torch Mural, Tom Lapsley, USA
31. Muybridge in Motion, Kenji Theil, USA
32. The Spirit of the Olympics, Miguel A. Fuertes, Olympiad of Animation film, Sigmund,
Bruno Bozetto, 1984.
Spain
30
31. Band Concert, Walt Disney, USA, 1935

32. Minnie the Moocher, Dave Fleischer & Willard
Bowsky, USA, 1932
33. Dumbo, Walt Disney, USA, 1942
34. Une Vielle boite (An Old Box), Paul Driessen,
Canada, 1975
35. Pas de Deux, Norman McLaren, Canada, 1967
36. Le Chateau du sable (Sandcastle), Co
Hoedeman, Canada, 1977
37. Great-I.K.B., Bob Godfrey, UK, 1974
38. La Faim (Hunger), Peter Foldes, Canada, 1974
39. A Bogar (The Fly), Ferenc Rofusz, Hungary, 1980
Crac!, Frédéric Back, 1981 40. Damon the Mower, George Dunning, UK, 1971
41. Lapis, James Whitney, USA, 1966
17. Dojoji Temple, Kihachiro Kawamoto, Japan, 42. La Traversée de l‘Alantique à la Rame, Jean-
1976 Françoise Laguionie, 1978
18. King Size Canary, Tex Avery, USA, 1947 43. Gerald McBoing Boing, Robert Cannon, USA,
19. Motion Painting No. 1, Oscar Fischinger, USA, 1951
1949 44. Jeu de coudes (Elbow Game), Paul Driessen,
20. Tango, Zbigniev Rybczynski, Poland, 1982 Canada, 1979
20. La Joie de vivre (Joy of Life), Anthony Gross & 44. Steamboat Willie, Ub Iwerks, USA, 1928
Hector Hoppin, France, 1934 44. Gertie the Dinosaur, Winsor McCay, 1914
22. Harpya, Raoul Servais, Belgium, 1979 48. Dnevnik (Diary), Nedjelko Dragic, Yugoslavia,
22. Allegretto, Oscar Fischinger, USA, 1936 1973
22. Bad Luck Blackie, Tex Avery, USA, 1949 49. Feholofia (Son of the White Mare), Marcell
25. Frank Film, Frank Mouris, USA, 1972 Jankovics, Hungary, 1981
26. L’Idée (The Idea), Berthold Bartosch, France, 50. La Vita in scatola (Life in a Garbage Can), Bruno
1932 Bozzetto, Italy, 1967
26. What’s Opera Doc?, Chuck Jones, USA, 1957
26. Blinkety Blank, Norman McLaren, Canada, 1955 Harvey Deneroff, in addition to his duties as
29. Au bout du fil (The Cat’s Cradle), Paul Driessen, Editor of Animation World Magazine, edits
Canada, 1974
and publishes The Animation Report, an
30. Les Jeux des anges (Game of Angels), Walerian
Boroczyck, France, 1964 industry newsletter.
Bill Hurtz’ Logo Film for Olympiad of Animation based on Luzzati’s poster.
31
by Mark Segall
A
nimation and the Olympics modest $10 entry fee. Entry Atlanta Mega - Mall) was likely to
aren’t two things you auto- requirements weren’t strict: any see a lot of Olympic foot traffic.
matically associate. But film fitting one of two broad While 84’s Olympiad had the
back in 1984, during the Los cachet of an official connection to
Angeles games, the Olympic Arts Promoting independent the Olympics, ACT offered anima-
Festival sponsored a four-day animation has been part of tors something just as important—
Olympiad of Animation—featur- the chance to be part of perma-
ACT’s mission from the start.
ing screenings of a selection of the nent installations in Atlanta and
best animated films of all time and New York long after the games
films especially made for the event themes—Bodies in Motion and were over.
that were shown at the Academy Building Communities—could be Like it’s parent organization, the
of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences in entered; films could be old or new, Friendship Ambassadors Foun-
Beverly Hills. And this past March, and filmmakers could send one dation, ACT is devoted to cultural
animators all over the US opened entry or several. The shows’ ten- exchange between countries. It’s
their ASIFA newsletters to find the tative location (the Underground FAF’s high-tech branch: where
following call for crafts, folklore and
entries: humanities meet the
“Art Culture new media. Promot-
and Technology ing independent
(ACT) is seeking animation has been
animated works by part of ACT’s mission
independent film- from the start. Dur-
makers, to be ing 1995’s Fourth
shown as part of a World Women’s con-
huge multimedia ference, ACT show-
installation to run ed a program on
throughout the Beijing Train Sta-
Olympics (July 19 tion’s 120-square
to August 4).” meter Jumbotron
The ads men- screen: film and vi-
tioned a $250 deo by women
honoraria for each artists, including ani-
work that was Kakania by Karen Aqua mators Faith Hubley
accepted, and a Courtesy of ACT and Joanna Priestley.
32
An Overarching Concern fable about greed.
F
or the Atlanta event, besides Others were picked
running ads and announce- because they typi-
ments, ACT mailed out 600 fied a particular cul-
or 700 entry forms. Response from ture or place—
the animation community was Sharon Shimazu’s
enthusiastic. Submissions came to Mr. Right, Debra
producer Iva Kaufman’s Manhattan Callabresi’s Quilted
office from all over the US and by Hand. Films
Canada and as far away as France. aimed at children
Iva, curator Somi Roy and assistant were highlighted
curator Amy Morley viewed over along with films by
50 videotapes, and finally chose animators age 15
around 20 for the installation. An or younger. The
Atlanta Lowdown by Bob Hutchinson
overarching concern was to most energetically Courtesy of ACT
choose films suitable to an inter- animated pieces,
national, multilingual audience— such as Karen timedia works. After the Mall man-
films that do not rely on dialogue Aqua’s stunningly choreographed agement changed its mind about
or narration to get their point Perpetual Motion and Kakania, fit having the show, Ms. Kaufman
across. the Bodies in Motion theme. Some lined up a new venue: the 3,000
Beyond that, different pieces square foot library at the Atlanta
were chosen for different reasons. College of Art’s Woodruff Arts
Some fit well into a videowall or The idea is to create a new Center. The move from the Mall
multimedia set-up—what you revenue stream for arts may lose ACT a few sports fans,
might call ambient animation— funding—to funnel but puts the installation closer to
abstract loops of color and sound. for-profit money into a museum, a symphony hall and
Some covered social issues—smok- non-profit projects. many Olympics-related arts and
ing, violence, ecological destruc- cultural events. Engineered and
tion, the rights of women and chil- designed by ACT’s Howard Weiner
dren. Emily Hubley contributed do not fit any of the themes per- and David Miller, the installation
Enough, a grant-you-three-wishes fectly, but were picked just because has the sponsorship of Shaw Ross
they made Importers & Distributors (fine wine
Iva and Amy & spirits) of Miami, Florida.
laugh—John
R. Dilworth’s StreetSmart
Dirdy Birdy,
T
he Olympic selections will
John Schnall’s also be part of ACT’s most
Buy My Film, ambitious post-Olympics pro-
Nancy Kee- ject: supplying the content for
gan’s Sophie. soon-to-be-installed StreetSmart
The anima- kiosks in NYC. Twenty-five percent
tions will be of ACT’s contribution will be ani-
part of a mul- mation, the other 75% a mix of
timedia instal- videos, documentaries and other
lation along arts-related material. The first five
with docu- kiosks will be at City Hall and the
mentaries, Queens, Brooklyn, Bronx and
Smoking on the Hush, Hush Tip by John Serpentelli, experimental Staten Island borough halls.
students from John B.Turner School, Prints on Progress, films, and vi- Ultimately there will be 50
and the University of Pennsylvania of Nursing deo and mul- throughout town, their material
Courtesy of ACT
33
tailored to different cultures and post-Olympics sites for the Atlanta Mark Segall is a writer who spe-
available in several languages. reel in Chicago, Washington, D.C.,
cializes in labor journalism and
People will be able to mail order Miami and San Francisco, and is
the animations they see from the scouting other major US cities. public service. He co-authored
kiosks. ACT will also raise revenues Internationally, the selections will
How To Make Love To Your Money
for future projects by selling kiosk be shown at the Beijing Train
advertising. The idea, says Iva Station, and other large public (Delacorte,1982) with his wife,
Kaufmann, is to create a new rev- spaces in Asia and Europe. They Margaret Tobin. This Fall, he will
become Editor of ASIFA-East’s
Some films do not fit any of the themes, but were picked
aNYmator newsletter, which he
because they made us laugh.
currently designs and writes for.
enue stream for arts funding—to may also eventually appear on the
funnel for-profit money into Web; both Friendship Ambas-
non-profit projects. If successful, sadors Foundation and ACT plan
the kiosks will be displayed in other to have websites up and running
cities. The animations will also this fall. ACT material has been and
appear at Studio 64, a spacious will continue to be part of the
arts-oriented meeting place sched- EarthPledge (http://www.earth-
uled to open in New York’s Chelsea pledge.org/) and EarthChannel
district in August. (http://www.earthchannel.com/)
Nationally, ACT has lined up sites.
REGISTER with Animation World

Network TODAY and
• Receive our biweekly animation News Flash via email
• Get announcements of Animation World Network developments
• Be a part of the global community of AWN. Interact with
animation professionals, scholars and fans all over the world
Get all this and more FREE, when you register now!
34
The Great
Adventures of
Izzy — An
Film Roman’s version of Izzy.
© 1993 ACOG
Olympic Hero
K
ids across the US and around stories for Izzy, many of which will Games.) ACOP finally selected Film
the world love Izzy! At least be displayed during the 1996 Roman, the North Hollywood stu-
that’s what the people at the Centennial Olympic Games in dio, known for such animated stars
Atlanta Olympic Games would like Atlanta, Georgia. as Garfield and Bart Simpson, as
you to believe. After all, Izzy is the As part of the effort to market the “official studio” for the 1996
much-publicized mascot of the Izzy, the Atlanta Centennial Olympic Games—something of a
Atlanta Games, whose persona Olympic Properties (ACOP) decid- first in both Olympic and anima-
has appeared on a whole range ed to star him in an animated tele- tion history.
of merchandise; he also appears vision special. (ACOP is the mar- Carol Corwin, producer for
as the star of his own animated TV keting arm of The Atlanta Izzy’s Quest For Olympic Gold,
special, Izzy’s Quest For Olympic Committee for the Olympic recalls that ACOP’s selected Film
Gold, something of a first for Roman because, “they liked
an Olympic mascot. the fact that we were a
Izzy was unveiled as a modest company and [stu-
“simple little mascot” during dio head] Phil Roman stays
the closing ceremony of the involved throughout the
1992 Olympic Games in whole process. We were
Barcelona. Officials of the honored to be chosen.
Atlanta Games turned to chil- Everyone felt proud to be
dren around the United States involved on the Izzy project
to help define the character because our quality stan-
who was only known up until dards matched ACOP’s.”
then as “Whatizit.” Their final Phil Roman, Film Roman’s
choice was Izzy, after the President and CEO, com-
judges considered such other mented that, “When ACOP
names as Jimmy Nastics, Link first approached us, we did-
D. World, and I. M. There. n’t think Izzy was an ani-
Now that Izzy was alive, matable character. We need-
another contest was held ed to add spunk and ener-
where children were called gy. That required creating a
upon to write stories about full personality in addition to
Izzy as their new Olympic an appealing friendly look.
hero. The “Great Adventures It needed to be eye-catch-
of Izzy” writing campaign ing and captivating not only
began in October 1993 and Izzy’s Quest For Olympic Gold to children, but adults need
© 1993 ACOG
more 85,000 children wrote to be drawn to it as well”.
35
However, any change to Izzy’s of the Olympic Games, and the many stories submitted by from
design needed to be subtle, since Torch, shining bright. Never one children around the United States.
the character had already been to just go with the flow (that’s why Scriptwriter, Sindy McCay worked
widely licensed and merchandise I like him), Izzy causes an uproar closely with Holly Rawlinson at
distributed. With the help of ani- ACOP to create a “back life” for Izzy,
mators Guy Vasilovick and Roger We came up with a look to adding his family, friends and
Sciasson, the studio put together a Tribunal Elders giving reality to the
give him more life, a per-
40 second pilot for ACOP which Torch World. Both Film Roman and
showed Izzy going through a sonality and warmth. ACOP wanted the special to be
range of animated movements. educational, yet entertaining for
From playing tennis to throwing a when he wants to leave the Torch children. Carol Corwin explained;
javelin to gymnastics, trying to to be a part of the Olympic Games “While we were brainstorming, we
imbue Izzy with exuberance and he had heard so much about. Izzy decided to cut out some of Izzy’s
energy; in so doing, they had him must prove himself worthy and speeches because it got too bor-
morph his body into different learn important lessons about the ing. It was a tough balance
shapes to facilitate each activity. purpose and history of the games between teaching about the
They also added a nose to Izzy’s by earning the five Olympic Olympics and keeping it fun and
Izzy, the official character of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games © 1993 ACOG
face and fixed up his teeth a bit. Rings—Perseverance, Integrity, exciting.”

Roman explained that, “We came Sportsmanship, Excellence and Izzy’s Quest For Olympic Gold
up with a look to give him more Brotherhood. (This meaning conveys to children the message
life, a personality and warmth. We comes from a story session at Film that the Olympics are not some
needed to change the character Roman. In fact, the rings stand for boring event that their parents
to make him more workable for the colors of the five continents watch on TV and effectively pro-
animation. Izzy needed more participating in the Olympics.) motes the values of perseverance,
punch and I think we did a good The idea of Izzy and his Torch determination, and integrity.
job of it”. World did come about from the While not filled with the cutting
The special, Izzy’s Quest For edge sensibilities of some of the
Olympic Gold, aired on Atlanta- films that embellished the 1984
based Turner Network Television Olympiad of Animation, the show
(TNT) on August 12, 1995 as a is nevertheless an honest, if mod-
two-part show, and has also been est effort that hopefully will inspire
distributed internationally. It begins future Olympics-related animated
with Izzy, a mischievous teenager efforts.
who lives in a whimsical world Frankie Kowalski is Associate
inside the Olympic Torch. In this Editor of Animation World
land, the people—called Magazine and is currently on
Whatizits—are charged with the ASIFA-Hollywood’s Board of
Film Roman’s version of Izzy.
responsibility of keeping the spirit © 1993 ACOG Directors.
36
“So, What Was It Like?”

The Other Side of Animation’s
Golden Age by Tom Sito
M
ost animators begin as Ken Harris. Sadly, these and other
animation fans. Seated in People want to cherry-pick legends are passing from the stage
front of our TVs with heav- their history to suit their leaving us orphans with the films
ily sugared cereal dribbling down and, if we are lucky, some memo-
opinions or agenda.
our chins, we marvel at the adven- ries of what it was like.
tures of Bugs, Casper and Scooby I think a lot of us today have
Doo. Then one day we decide to I was fortunate that during the the impression that Golden Age
apply our desire to draw into time of my entering the field, one Animation was done in a state of
becoming an animator. Just like could still learn at the side of many bliss. Modern Animators complain
ballplayers dream of becoming a of the great artists of the Golden about ignorant and grasping cor-
Ruth or Cobb, we dream of being Age of Hollywood animation. In porations, tight deadlines and stu-
the next Bob Clampett or Chuck 1975, it was still possible to assist dio politics. Back then it was an
Jones. John Hubley, Shamus Culhane or Art, today it’s just Business. In the
UPA studios, March, 1957

Top row: Dick Shaw, Morey Fagan, Ed Friedman, Gil Turner, Barney Posner, Bob Dranko, E. Bennet
Bottom row: Bob McIntosh,Al Wade, Peter Burness (holding Oscar for When Magoo Flew), Rudy Larriva, Bob Brown
Courtesy of Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, IATSE Local 839.
37
good old days animators lived on

their love of cartoons, ate ambrosia
and had no deadlines or
headaches. Obviously,that is why
Pinocchio and Tom & Jerry car-
toons were so good. Never mind
Hitler, the Depression, or Jim Crow,
it was all one long party. This naive
view is encouraged by all these
revisionist, Wasn’t Hollywood
Wacky?? books and documen-
taries corporations fund nowa-
days.
How It Really Was
W
ell, I hate to burst your
bubble, but just take
the time to chat with
some of our great retired gods and Warner Bros. Studios, Friz Freleng Unit, 1954
Back Row: Ray Young,Ted Bonicksen, Gerry Chiniquy.
goddesses and they’ll tell you how Front Row: Bob Matz,Warren Batchelder,Art Davis, John Brandt, Sid Farren
it really was. Oh, I’m not denying Picture courtesy of Bob Matz and Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, IATSE Local 839.
that compared to any steelworker nonunion computer houses, for supposedly read it at the end of
or being on a breadline their kind the same reason. the month and have your head.
of job was a dream. Still, every ani- Time clocks were once stan- On any morning, at 8:28 a.m.,
mator then as now soon finds dard. At MGM, there was an elec- you could see people literally run-
that, in the end, cartoons are a tric bell that told you when you ning up Cahuenga Blvd. to avoid
business just like anything else. could get up from your desk for a this fate. I never actually heard of
The first revelation that shocked coffee break, and also told you (15 anyone being fired for that reason.
me was how, before the anima- minutes later) when to come back In the silent film days, the Bray
tion unions started around 1937, to work. When I was at Hanna Studio didn’t pay it’s artists until
animators had a six day work Barbera in 1978, the time clock Monday, because Mrs. Bray want-
week. Nine to 6:00, Monday was out of use (it kept having “acci- ed to make sure their artists would
through Friday, and 9:00 to 1:00 not spend all their money on drink
over the weekend and possibly
In the good old days animators lived on their love of not show up on Monday. In 1976,
cartoons, ate ambrosia and had no deadlines at the Raggedy Ann Studio, our
or headaches. Never mind Hitler, the Depression, employer wouldn’t pay us until
or Jim Crow, it was all one long party. Friday at 5:00 p.m., because he
distrusted us to stay all day. Many
of us repaid his respect for us by
on Saturday. If you had a problem dents,” like people pouring cel stealing our pencil sharpeners.
with Saturdays, Max Fleischer or paint into it), but it remained in In the 1930s, vacations were
Walt Disney would let you work effect at Disney up until the The unheard of and overtime was
Thursdays until 11:00 p.m. to Little Mermaid. So instead of the rarely paid. Disney animator Claire
make up the time. Disney and timeclock at Hanna Barbera we Weeks told me that, on Snow
most studios went to 40 hours in also had “The Late Book,” in which White’s deadline rush, the studio
January 1941, in an attempt to the security guard would write demanded 3 hours extra a night
stop their artists from unioniz- your name if you arrived five min- and the only pay was a 55 cent
ing;and the same thing has been utes past the 8:30 a.m. check in dinner ticket to Blackie’s Steak-
happening right now at many time; the powers that be would house on Sunset Blvd. (Of course,
38
55 cents could proba- Hurtz (Rocky and

bly buy you a good Bullwinkle). One little fac-
dinner in 1937...) The toid most pro-manage-
Van Beuren Studio in ment histories of the
1935 asked for “volun- strike omit, was while the
tary” unpaid overtime, Disney Strike was con-
which was in fact tentious and ruined the
something less than family atmosphere for a
voluntary. In 1947, time, everyone’s wages
instead of overtime doubled overnight.
Paul Terry gave you Today, animators
oranges from his complain that the pro-
Florida orange grove. ducers who control their
Today, many digital destinies know nothing
CGI houses speak to about animation. They’re
their artists of the “real- Paul Halliday (center with hat) on all from some corpora-
picket line during 1937 Fleischer strike.
ity” of the 55 hour Photo courtesy of Harvey Deneroff.
tion or defense contrac-
workweek. tor. Well, in the Golden
leagues made up to $125. Despite
Age, Leon Schlesinger was an
some standouts like Mary Blair or
A Free-For-All executive from Pacific Title who
Laverne Harding, women mostly
I
n 1941, before the union, peo- helped Warner Bros. get funding
were kept as ink & painters until
ple’s wages were a free-for-all and for The Jazz Singer and so got the
modern times. Hispanic and Asian
ranged from $500 a week for a cartoon contract. Layout artist Bob
artists fared better—Bill Melendez,
top animator like Art Babbitt, down Givens told me that Leon’s most
to $12 for a painter. Babbitt used oft spoken phrase was, “I’m going
to augment his assistant’s salary out
Every animator soon finds to Palm Springs for the week and
of his own pocket, because the that, in the end, cartoons f*&% you all!?” Other bon mots
man could not afford to feed his are a business just like any- included his order to, “Put in more
family. New trainees like Warner thing else. Purple! Purple is a funny color!?”
Bros legends Virgil Ross and Paul After he retired, Warner’s replaced
Smith were hired at $6.00 a week, him with Eddie Seltzer, whose only
Rudy Zamora,Ty Wong or Chris Ishi
up to $10.00 after one month. experience was arranging public-
faced no barriers based on their
Painter Martha Sigal told me she ity roadshows with leggy beauties.
ethnicity.
was hired by Leon Schlesinger at In 1944 Chuck Jones was finally
The great 1941 strike for union
$12.75.After one year she was introduced to the legendary Jack
recognition at Walt Disney was
called a journeyman and raised to Warner, who said, “I don’t know
considered animation’s own Civil
$21.00 (inkers were paid $23.00); what the f&*% you guys do, all I
War and has left hard feelings
after that, no more raises were know is we make Mickey Mouse!”
down to this day. Picketers later to
allowed. Some companies set poli- MGM’s Fred Quimby was a
achieve fame included John
cies about raises, but mostly you minor executive of whom one
Hubley (Mr. Magoo),Hank Ketch-
had to go haggle like a Bedouin artist said, “Fred was a nice man,
am (Dennis the Menace), Walt
camel trader. And if you asked for but as far as animation went, he
Kelly (Pogo), Bill Melendez ( A
a change in these conditions, like didn’t know his ass from a hot
Charlie Brown Christmas), and Bill
a worker’s council or union, you brick.” Yet when director Hugh
were branded a “Lousy Red.” Harman complained to him in
There were no black animators Some companies set poli- 1937 that he was getting too
until 1954. Max Fleischer promot- cies about raises, but mostly much interference from above and
ed Lillian Friedman as the first you had to go haggle like demanded more independence,
woman animator and paid her a Bedouin camel trader. Quimby showed him the door.
$40 a week, while her male col- When Steve Bosustow left UPA,
39
in money to pay for coffee and

bottled water, and you had to pay
rent for your parking space! (Some
famous comic book companies
charged novices rent for their
While the Disney Strike was

contentious and ruined
the family atmosphere for
a time, everyone’s wages
doubled overnight.
desks, but that’s another article).

And who remembers that at
Filmation when you needed a
Leon Schlesinger-Freleng Unit, 1940. new pencil from Munchie the
Back row: Dick Thompson, Carl Dalton, Sam Nicholson, Ken Champin, Lenard equipment guy, you first had to
Kester, Gerry Chiniquy, Dick Bickenbach,Al Tarter, Gil Turner, Friz Freleng.
Leaning over: John Kennedy.
turn in your used stubbs!
Front row: Les Larson, Dave Brown. Constantin Lebedef, Every studio had a footage
Manuel Perez, Herman Cohen, Bob Matz quota—at Schlesinger’s in 1940, it
Courtesy of Motion Picture Screen Cartoonists, IATSE Local 839.
was 23 feet a week and at Disney’s
it was 5; when MGM went union
Columbia replaced him with Henry gers got too cold to draw. In the the same year, Fred Quimby anger-
Saperstein, who also knew noth- 1930s, Fleischer, Terry and ily raised the quota to 25 feet a
ing about animation. Schlesinger used to equip their stu- week and kept his dreaded
dios with used office furniture and “footage book”; this ledger, of
Sic Transit Gloria Mundi kitchen tables bought at garage course, could then be used against
n The Little Mermaid, my
O
sales. No wonder artists who went you when you went in to ask for
wife Pat, who is a checker, to Disney’s Hyperion studio or a raise. Animator Rudy Zamora
was remarking talking to MGM were amazed! The furniture responded by figuring out where
an older colleague on how all the all matched! Quimby’s office was and started to
useless executives who walk One painter told me the first practice bowling on the floor
around the studio looking terribly thing that impressed her about above. Another early commercial
important that today we call “suits.” going from Termite Terrace to studio had every animator’s name
The old timer said that on Bambi Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1943 up on a large chart; everytime
they called them “The Walk- was that at MGM they took the someone screwed up, a check was
Around-Boys.” Yet, of course, on trash out every day! In Toronto, placed next to his name. You can
every cartoon these producers are Nelvana’s first large building was guess the fate of the artist with the
the most prominently displayed in a former cheese factory on the most checks.
the credits. Sic transit Gloria Mundi. waterfront. Everytime you opened
Animators today complain if a door, you got a whiff of some A Friendly Witness
their desk isn’t as well made as a ancient Stilton. During the winter,
Disney classic, or they don’t have ropes were hung on the side of
a window view. At New York’s the building so you wouldn’t get Eddie Seltzer’s only
Raoul Barré Studio in the roaring blown into icy Lake Ontario on experience was arranging
20’s, there were no curtains, rugs your way to work. publicity roadshows with
or heat during the winter, and ani- At Disney’s, until The Great
leggy beauties.
mators went home when their fin- Mouse Detective, you had to pitch
40
T
hose who feel animation more balanced eye. No matter
was immune to the pres- what the conditions were, these
sures of national politics
should remember when Walt
artists still created magic and the
entrepreneurs took chances that Your Ad
Disney was a friendly witness at produced the great cartoons we
the House Un-American Activities
Committee in 1947. He de-
grew up on and still cherish.I once
asked Snow White veteran Joe
Could Be
nounced the Screen Cartoonists
Guild as being “infiltrated with
Grant, “What’s the real difference
between 1940 and today??” He
Here!
communists.” One Rocky and replied that, “Ah, much is the
Bullwinkle director told me it was same. Same deadlines, same poli- For rate cards and
common knowledge in Holly- tics, people drew better back
wood, at the time, that for $5,000 then.”
additional information
paid to certain politicians, your Many today like to forget that about
the great artists of the past were various opportunities
also great supporters of the union for exposure at
The time clock kept having and stuck together to fight for Animation World
“accidents,” like people what they wanted. People want Network,
pouring cel paint into it. to cherry-pick their history to suit
their opinions or agenda. I cele-
contact our
Committee dossier would be brate the complete legacy. Like Los Angeles
moved to the bottom of the pile, those great union agitators office at
or even lost. Meanwhile, at pro- Groucho Marx, James Cagney,
gressive UPA, studio director Steve Boris Karloff, King Vidor, Frank 213.468.2554
Bosustow was given a list of unde- Capra and Joan Crawford, do
sirable (i.e., politically incorrect) honor to the efforts of Chuck
artists by distributor Columbia Jones, Bill Melendez, Art Babbitt,
or e-mail
Pictures who were to be fired. Ben Washam and Bill Tytla on any of our sales
In 1954, columnist Walter behalf of animator’s rights. representatives:
Winchell denounced Tempo, a Most of us enter the field of ani-
commercial animation studio in mation not to get rich, but for the
North America:
New York, of past communist affil- love of the art. We just have
iation (the company was run by learned over the years that when Wendy Jackson
former union leaders). The F.B.I. it comes to the business end of our wendyj@awn.com
investigated and even though profession we must learn to to
nothing was ever proved,Tempo keep our hearts inspired but our Europe:
lost its clients and laid off 50 artists. heads out of the clouds. And I
I’m not trying to blacken any- think that the last and greatest les- Vincent Ferri
one’s memories or achievements. son our past masters can teach us vincent@awn.com
Much already has been written of is, “It was ever so.”
the studios with baseball dia- U.K.
monds, parties and volleyball
Roger Watkins
courts. Max Fleischer gave all his
animators a bonus of $500 for Tom Sito is an animator at roger@awn.com
Christmas in 1931. Disney gave his DreamWorks and is President of
artists free art lessons and made the Motion Picture Screen Asia:
his top animators rich with stock
Cartoonists Union (Local 839 Bruce Teitelbaum
options. They all came to love our
art form as we artists do. I’m mere- IATSE), in North Hollywood. bruce@awn.com
ly trying to see the past with a
41
W
by Howard Beckerman
hen the Bunny Speaks,I Listen

I
f Bugs Bunny states, in a animation cels. To gal-
television commercial, that lery-goers, cels from anima-
a product is worth having, tion films are the real thing.
I believe him. Does this sur- When they head home
prise you? You say that he is clutching the shiny likeness-
a trickster rabbit with a es of Mickey, Pluto or
Brooklyn accent, streetwise Woody, they know that they
and unpredictable and have obtained the actual
shouldn t be relied upon for elements of a classic car-
value judgments. Well, hold toon. You can’t take Clint
on there! Would you rather Eastwood or Mel Gibson
trust live actors who spout home. I don’t suggest that
whatever stuff is written for you try it, I don’t think Meryl
them, people who get paid Streep or Arnold Shwarze-
handsomely to extoll a prod- negger would tolerate
uct this week and another being hung on the wall of
the next? your den.
Bugs, or Daffy, Donald
or Goofy are more honest. A Matter of Trust
For one thing, they are
C
artoon characters are
always who they are, thanks the only personalities
to the foresight of their cre- you can trust. Com-
ators. We recognize and pare Bugs Bunny, with all his
admire cartoon characters artful ways, to politicians
because they are so defi- (Nixon: “I am not a crook”),
Bugs Bunny in the 1940s.
nitely in character. Bugs © Warner Bros. athletes ( O.J. Simpson),
Bunny is Bugs Bunny and corporations (“cigarettes are
Bart Simpson is Bart Simpson. In of Toon-Town, portrayed in Who not addictive”), or even your next
the movie Braveheart, Mel Gibson Framed Roger Rabbit, where car- door neighbor (“I’ll return your
plays the historical character toon characters supposedly reside lawnmower as soon as I’m finished
William Wallace and in other films in their off-hours, these celluloid using it”). Characters exist solely to
he plays fictitious personalities. Mel beings exist only for the screen. entertain us, not to take anything
Gibson works hard to make us They have only one thing to from us, nor to deceive us. They
believe that he is all of those peo- give— themselves. give us joy and laughter, and they
ple. In actuality he is none of them. present a mirror for us to see our-
Bugs Bunny is always Bugs Bunny. A cartoon character’s selves. Granted, all characters are
A cartoon character’s personality is personality is all that he has. not capable of this.
all that he has. He has no blood, Some lack the solid attributes
no bone, no home, no spouse, no of Bugs, Donald or Popeye, each
child and no bank account. When You say, “See, that proves that of whom sprang from the persis-
the commercial is finished, he they’re not real!” Not so. Collectors tance and perspiration of car-
doesn’t dash off to a posh Beverly today are falling all over them- toonists and animators seeking a
Hills retreat. Contrary to the image selves paying handsome prices for means of expressing human
42
were grown from the native soil of television advertising and frenetic
I don’t think Meryl Streep or studios clustered in New York and music videos, films from earlier
Arnold Shwarzenegger Hollywood, from places called decades gloried in showing off the
would tolerate being hung Broadway and Termite Terrace. In stars. The cameras of the 1920s,
on the wall of your den. today’s movie environment, they 30s and 40s expended long,
are better known and more easily leisurely moments exploring actor’s
recognized than most contempo- faces. The camera loved them, and
foibles. Each of the popular car- rary live actors. Study any current so did the audiences, enraptured
toon personalities that we take seri- nonanimated feature, and you’ll by the shadow of a feminine
ously—and we do—have been see how the obstacles placed in cheekbone or the dynamic thrust
imbued with solid, recognizable of a manly chin.
traits. I don’t This delight in
trust Roger the stars was
Rabbit, or the what brought
Smurfs, or people to the
Strawberry movies. Greta
Shortcake, or Garbo, Marlene
any character Dietrich, Vivien
that was con- Leigh, Gary
ceived by a Cooper, Cary
cold, logical Grant, Charles
committee. Laughton, Errol
I’m sure you Flynn, Katherine
could com- Hepburn, Judy
pile your Garland, Clark
own list of Gable, Ingrid
cartoon be- Bergman, Hum-
ings that lack phrey Bogart,
the attributes Bette Davis,
of strength, Spencer Tracy,
certainty and among others,
believabillity. were shown to
The charac- perfection on
ters that I the screen. The
know to be Duck Amuck by Chuck Jones 1953
filmed stories
true are those © 1953 Warner Bros.
might have
that derive from human experi- the way of flesh and blood actors seemed to be about Robin Hood,
ence. I trust in characters that grew keep them from easy recognition. Captain Bligh or Scarlet O’Hara,
over the years, not those that are Every scene is either a special but they were actually about the
created full-blown with a ready effects extravaganza overshadow- actors, whose smooth flesh and
group of side-kicks and groaning ing any human presence, or is a twinkling eyes were projected lov-
shelves of licensed toys and wash compilation of quick cuts from the ingly, three stories high.
cloths. uniform face of one hero to the
bland visage of another, coming I don’t trust Roger Rabbit, or
Grown From Native Soil so fast that the viewer is left won-
the Smurfs, or Strawberry
B
ugs, Donald, Pluto, Goofy, dering who’s who. It was not
Betty and Daffy began as always so. Shortcake, or any character
incidental characters in car- Though current movies thrive that was conceived by a
toons. They developed slowly and on fast cuts and other editing tech- cold, logical committee.
learned to be who they are. They niques borrowed from anxious
43
had him as hero, swain, defender owed by the stronger personalities

of democracy and respectable mid- of Donald and Goofy.
dle class citizen. By the late 30s, Another character that has lost
Mickey was berating his dog Pluto touch with audiences and who
for doing the thoughtless acts that has long been in retirement, is Mr.
he himself freely performed in his Magoo, the wonderful little man
earlier years. Today’s Mickey is more from UPA. Magoo was a “real”
character in a sea of anthropo-
morphic stand-ups and his popu-
larity brought a refreshing appre-
ciation for the depictions of
humans in cartoons, but today he
is barely remembered. Live come-
dy stars like Buster Keaton experi-
enced the same callous disregard
in their careers, though Keaton, in
his last years, was able to make a
brief comeback. This might hap-
Felix the Cat from Joe Oriolo’s TV series
© Felix the Cat Productions
pen to Magoo, but his subtle
Quixote-like humor may be too
Movie personalities of those more Today’s Mickey is more intellectual for audiences seeking
relaxed times didn’t—wouldn’t— corporate symbol then the accepted stupidities of Beavis
contend with the short bursts of screen presence. and Butt-Head.
screen time, rarely more than 10 Probably the greatest cartoon
seconds in any shot, that is the hall- corporate symbol then screen pres- character of all, Felix The Cat.
mark of today’s moviemaking. Even ence. Over the years, the front While he is one of the earliest ani-
Bugs, Mickey, Donald and Daffy office has had his eyes redesigned mated stars,he is still dragged out
could not compete with Greta, more than once, and his tail has periodically. Felix in the 1920s was
Ingrid, Errol and Humphrey. But, been toyed with constantly. It’s the personification of cartoon
that has all changed, now it is the been removed, replaced and heroes. His basic, bouncy, black
brightly hued faces of cartoon
characters that audiences adore.
Does anyone wear a T-shirt with
the likenesses of Mel Gibson, Tom
Cruise or Clint Eastwood? It’s
doubtful, but Mel, Tom and Clint
are probably wearing Disney dec-
orated jockey shorts at this very
moment.
The Burden of Stardom
S
till, it is not easy for cartoon
personalities to carry the bur- removed again. In an
den of stardom. Mickey attempt to give him an
Mouse, for instance, has experi- added depth, Mickey
enced numerous changes and has been cast in roles in
shadings of character. Starting in featurettes based on sto-
1928, as a rowdy, ratty hiero- ries by Dickens and
glyphic, pulling pig’s tails to elicit Twain, but these appear-
sounds, the roles that followed ances were overshad- Felix the Cat, the Otto
Messmer/Pat Sullivan version.
44
and white shape was the first to silence. Giving him a voice is as
elicit a personality. Felix pondered unsatisfying as putting Nikes on
and made decisions. He knew Michelangelo’s David. Mr.
how to turn a drawn palm tree Magoo reflects the wit and sub-
into a banjo or unscrew his tail for tlety of the stylized 1950s. If he
use as a telescope. Felix was the returned to function in today’s
first character to reveal creative violent movie atmosphere,
intelligence, traits rarely champi- minus his walking stick, but tot-
oned in his various reappearances ing a Uzi instead, he might won-
on television. The problem for der why he was clutching a fly
Felix, Mickey and Magoo is that swatter.
they are products of their respec- Still, no matter what their
tive times, and because their times problems, cartoon characters
are the most honest and trust-
A ‘What’s up Doc” worthy on the lot. They speak
from the heart. A “What’s up
or a “You’re despicable!”
Doc” or a “You’re despicable!”
comes to us from the from one of them, comes to us
depths of a cartoon soul. from the depths of a cartoon
soul. I believe that these figures,
Popeye the Sailor Man (1933)
are no more, reincarnations/updat- these cherished images, no mat- © King Features
ed versions are doomed to failure. ter what their foibles and strange
Attempts at updating cartoon habits are among the finest of peo- reflect our own feelings are the
heroes is as fruitless as Steve ple. Their presence is reassuring ones to whom we give our undy-
Martin’s recreation of Phil Silver’s and comforting in a world of ing trust. It is no more than the
classic Sgt. Bilko character. No uncertainty. Their strength as per- simple recognition between
amount of technological icing can sonalities rises above the crass beings, them and us, of things we
supplant the magnificent low-tech commercialization that they are have in common. So, when the
originals. Felix, for instance, subjected to. Bunny speaks, I listen.
belongs in black-and-white and The likenesses of cartoon char-
acters are on everything we Howard Beckerman is an anima-
own, but no amount of stu- tor, storyman and director, who
dio hype can get us to truly began his career in 1949 work-
love them. We love them, ing for Terry-Toons and
not for their press releases Paramount with such cartoon
but for who they are. It has characters as Mighty Mouse,
been said that the connec- Heckle and Jeckle, Popeye and
tion that binds audience and Casper the Friendly Ghost. He
star is a mysterious one and worked for UPA and for many
can’t be dissected. I disagree. years wrote and animated televi-
I see no mystery in the sion commercials, educational
notion that we respond pos- and corporate films. His articles
itively to the lack of preten- on animation have appeared in
sion, the native cleverness numerous magazines and cur-
and the strong survival rently teaches at The Parsons
instincts of a Bugs Bunny or School of Design and The
a Bart Simpson. More to the School of Visual Arts in New
point, we love cartoon peo- York. He is presently completing
Sylvester ple because they are like us, a book on animation history and
© Warner Bros. and characters that most technique.
45
No Matter What
Garfield Speaks
by Pam Schechter
Your Language
A
nimated characters ti games, bubble baths,
the world together boxer shorts, cake pans,
much like a common cookie cutters, golf balls,
language. It is almost a given pacifiers, welcome mats
that children, no matter and trading cards. Some
where they live, understand of the items can be
and enjoy Disney characters, worn, some displayed,
whether seen in cartoons or some used and some
on the myriad pieces of consumed. By the one
licensed merchandise that hundredth episode of
are widely available. For the television show, over
adults, Homer Simpson, $3 billion worth of
Mickey Mouse and even Simpsons merchandise
Beavis and Butt-Head bring had been sold world-
out similar smiles. wide.
I remember during my Similarly, MTV is
first visit to Europe, seeing a making millions on inter-
Snoopy poster in a shop in national sales of licensed
Rome. It showed Snoopy as products from Beavis
“Joe Falchetto,” dancing with and Butt-Head Show to
his paws raised high. I imme- the show’s international
diately felt a strong sense of Garfield and Friends audience of teenagers
familiarity as I gazed at Joe © Film Roman and twentysomethings.
Cool’s image, even though I Last year, in the the-
did not speak Italian. In that atrical film arena, merchandising
instant, the world became a small- and licensing fees added $5 to $6
er place. I was reminded once
Some can be worn, billion to film revenues worldwide.
again that animated characters some displayed and Some of 1995’s most successful tie-
have become a lingua franca. As some consumed. ins were from animated films as
such, we do not need words to The Lion King, Aladdin and
enjoy a character on a T-shirt, Screen Savers and Pacifiers Pocahontas ; thus, not only did
poster or hat. hen The Simpsons these film do well at the box office,
This year, almost $95 billion will
be generated in worldwide rev-
enues from the sale of licensed
products. A hefty chunk of these
W went on the air, the
show only had only 12
licensees. Now, there are more
but they also have created streams
of licensing revenue as well.
Companies that produce ani-
mated films and TV shows realize
than 1,110 Simpsons items
dollars will come from the mer- licensed worldwide. The products the potential of licensing popular
chandising of animated charac- include sleepwear, PC screen characters. Disney, Hanna Barbara,
ters. savers, electric calendars, video MTV, Nickelodeon, Film Roman,
46
with minimal control by the pro-

duction company. A key consider-
ation is the degree of risk the man-
ufacturer incurs. After all, there is
always the possibility that the mar-
ket for the products will never
materialize, perhaps as a result of
the show’s or film’s lack of success.
Ideally, a licensing agreement is a
fair compromise between these
competing objectives.
Most licensing and merchan-
dising agreements are basically the
same. The use of the character on
a certain product is licensed for a
specific amount of time for a spe-
Mickey Mouse salt and pepper shackers. cific territory. The license usually
© The Walt Disney Company
allows the manufacturer to man-
Klasky Csupo, and Saban are all On the other hand, the man- ufacture, advertise, distribute and
actively involved in licensing the ufacturer wants to earn a fair prof- sell the products on an exclusive
rights to their characters. it for taking the risk in creating and basis.
Some animation studios hire distributing the licensed products. It is important that the agree-
other companies to license the ment provide enough time for the
rights to their characters. Others manufacturer to effectively pro-
Seeing familiar friends duce and distribute the products in
manage and control the creative
and financial aspects of the licens- in unfamiliar places question, which customarily
ing and merchandising process makes the world a ranges from 3-7 years. The pro-
themselves. The typical licensing neighborly place. duction company commonly
agreement is usually between a receives from 3-10% of the gross
production company, as the profits from the sales of the mer-
owner of the rights to the charac- In order to do this, it chandise. However, in rare
ter, and a manufacturer or distrib- needs a certain a- instances, it can be as
utor, which has the responsibility to mount of freedom high as 15%. Arrange-
produce and distribute the prod- to exploit the ments can also be made
ucts. products, for the production com-
pany to get a up-front
Risks and Rewards guarantee in addition to a
share of the profits. These
I
n negotiating a deal, the com-
peting interests of both the pro- sort of guarantees for the
duction company and the man- animated star of a suc-
ufacturer have to be taken into cessful film or TV show
account. A producer naturally can range from
wants to earn as much as possible $500,000 up to
and will usually receive a percent- $1,000,000.
age of the sales of the licensed
products, while seeking to main-
tain certain controls over the type
and quality of product created, so
as to preserve their character’s Tom & Jerry (William Hanna, Joseph Barbera/MGM, 1940)
identity. © MGM
47
product with McDonald’s in 1987

with the rerelease of Snow White
and the Seven Dwarfs. However,
for the past 5 years, Disney turned
to another fast-food chain, Burger
King, for its major cross-promo-
tional efforts, including tie-ins for
such films as The Lion King,
Pocahontas and The Hunchback
of Notre Dame.
The global appeal of such char-
acters as Mickey Mouse, Snoopy,
Donald Duck, Fred Flintstone or
Bart Simpson, tie the world togeth-
Porky Pig (Friz Freleng/
Warner Bros/1935) er with a common language, that
© Warner Bros. of laughter. Seeing familiar friends Tweety (Bob Clampett/
in unfamiliar places makes the Warner Bros., 1942)
A company that wants to © Warner Bros.
world a neighborly place.
license a character on the inter-
national market will want to make
A key consideration is the as well suited for international
sure the manufacturer protects its
merchandising as that involving
copyrights and trademarks. This is degree of risk the
animated characters. So, remem-
done by putting the appropriate manufacturer incurs. ber, no matter what your native
copyright and trademark notices
tongue, Garfield speaks your lan-
on the products. To verify this, pro-
As an art form, animation cross- guage.
duction companies approve art-
es all boundaries of language and
work and samples of the finished
geography. There are few areas in
product. This is also done to make
the entertainment industry that are
sure the characters “goodwill” is
not compromised.
When a merchandising licens-
ing agreement expires, the rights Pam Schechter is an
to the character are usually entertainment attorney in New
returned to the producer, includ-
ing all of the materials used to York City. Her practice includes
produce the merchandise. a special concentration in the
Manufacturers are not the
only businesses that realize the animation industry. She
value of animated characters.
Recently, McDonald’s, the inter- represents several animators
national fast-food giant, and the including Eric Fogel, the creator
Disney announced a landmark
cross-promotional agreement. of the MTV animated series
The 10 year pact confirms how The Head and Beavis and Butt-
animated characters are being
used by multinational corpora- Head animation director
tions. The agreement, which kicks
off on January 1, 1997, is worth Yvette Kaplan.
$1 billion! Disney originally start- Fred Flintstone (Hanna-Barbera, 1960)
ed cross-promoting its animated © Hanna-Barbera
48
by Bob Swain
Cardiff 96
Computer also provided delegates
with an Internet cafe.
Two popular sessions were the
keynote speech by Scott Ross of
Digital Domain and the inaugur-
al academic lecture by Dr. Paul
Wells of the De Montfort University
in Leicester (“Tex Avery to Nick Park
from an Educational Perspective”).
Seminar highlights included a spe-
cial session on scriptwriting for ani-
mation and a look at the difficult
road to making it in the American
market.
A strong program of technol-
Pictured left to right: Chuck Swenson, Laverne McKinnon (Hanna Barbera), ogy seminars included a first class
and Igor Kovalyov (Klasky Csupo) at Cardiff. guide to evolving opportunities for
Courtesy of Ron Diamond
animators in the multimedia mar-
ket, chaired by Cuts editor George
T
he record number of dele- place once again in Cardiff in
gates at this year’s Inter- 1998. Jarrett, and a comprehensive ses-
national Animation Festival in The Animation Expo was intro- sion on animating the net. But the
Cardiff enjoyed what was duced for the first time at the one session which provided the
undoubtedly the strongest show Cardiff International Arena, com- central focus for the animation
ever staged there. The event has bining exhibits of models and cels community was the first ever
matured under Festival Director from recent productions with a Animo Users Group.
Fran Barlow to become much trade exhibition. Although domi-
more than just a screening of the nated by the recruitment efforts of With the days of real paint
best in animation. Now including Warner Bros and Disney, the trade
strictly limited in the indus-
an exhibition, an excellent stream show also attracted a lively mix of
of seminars, networking opportu- suppliers, producers and distribu- try, everyone knows they
nities and, above all, some great tors. now need to address the
parties, the screenings were no new opportunities of digital
longer the only reason to be in Cartoon Technology
town. Despite justified criticism of
I
n terms of cartoon technology,
some sections of the program- there were stands from
ming, the overall standard Cambridge Animation Systems, With the days of real paint
remained high. The Festival is now Alias/Wavefront, Softimage, INA strictly limited in the industry, every-
an essential meeting point for all Toonbox, EOS Electronics and one knows they now need to
those involved in the internation- Avid. A lively area throughout the address the new opportunities of
al animation industry. And follow- show, it was an innovation which digital production techniques. And
ing on from its success this year, it is now guarantied to play a larger with Animo proving to be far and
has been confirmed that it will take role in future years. Apple away the most popular computer
49
alongside production of its first ani- aspects of film making. For 50

mated feature film, Prince of Egypt. years people have been working
He joined DreamWorks after work- on how to make the whole sys-
ing on the original CAPS project at tem work better using traditional
Disney and then helping Warner technology. That makes it all the
Bros set up its digital production
facilities.
“DreamWorks was founded Part of the freedom came
one-and-half years ago by Stephen from having no legacy, no
Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and resources that we had to
David Geffen. It is the first draw on, being able to
Hollywood studio to be founded
rethink everything.
in decades so it presented a
unique opportunity to set up
something different,” says Kohler. easier to make the transition to the
“Part of the freedom came from digital world.
having no legacy, no resources “We dedicated ourselves to
that we had to draw on, being deciding what was necessary for
able to rethink everything. At my the filmmakers rather than just
Nick Park of Aardman first meeting with Jeffrey and developing the tools themselves.
Animations at Cardiff. Stephen they were talking about There is always a danger of get-
Courtesy of Ron Diamond making films in New York and cutting carried away and building
system for 2-D animation, it was a ting in L.A. That is still pretty cut- tools that do little things. You need
great opportunity to hear just how ting edge stuff. At DreamWorks we to concentrate on creativity,” he
a range of existing users had been are trying to build what the hype says.
using it already. tells you is the digital studio of the “So we allied ourselves with
More than 500 Animo systems 21st century. In fact, that is pretty partners we would need to devel-
have already been sold around the much true.” op the components. We partnered
world—including 100 to Dream- “Most of the initial effort is early on with Silicon Studio and
Works, 120 to Warner Bros and going into feature animation sim- set out to define what the studio
further major sales to Nelvana and ply because this is one of the most would require. We also partnered
DIC. Contracts are currently under analyzed and compartmentalized with IBM and Cambridge for the
negotiation with Disney for what
is likely to be the biggest deal so
far.
The biggest user in Britain is
Telemagination, where 9 machines
are used on the studio’s own pro-
ductions and are also offered as a
facility service to other producers.
Current users include Honey-
combe Animation, Snowden Fine
and Bermuda Shorts—which is
producing Channel 4’s new
13-part series of Candy Guard’s
Pond Life on the studio’s Animos.
DreamWorks’ head of technol-
ogy, Dylan Kohler, explained how Pictured left to right: Karen Schmidt (Warner Bros), Heather Kenyon (Hanna-
Barbera), Phil Roman (Film Roman), Dave Master,Tom Knott , and Max Howard (all
Animo is being integrated into the three from Warner Bros.) at the Warner Bros. Feature Animation party.
company’s new digital studio, Courtesy of Ron Diamond
50
elements. Also Avid and We are also interested in using its ent,” says Roy Conli, head of
Alias/Wavefront. vector package but we think this Disney’s Paris studio and co-pro-
“The network should be able will have a lot more use in effects ducer of The Hunchback of Notre
animation. At the moment we are Dame. Although they are both
concentrating a lot more on the bringing major production work
If you are a producer trying
front end of the process.” One of to Europe and providing fresh
to raise a crew for a the most significant developments employment prospects for
smaller budget, it makes for this year’s Festival was the pres- European animators, many inde-
life very difficult. ence of such a large number of vis- pendent producers fear the
itors from American studios. process could damage the indus-
Warner Bros. and Disney were try by creating a talent shortage
to support all sorts of systems. We both there in force in order to feed and forcing up the rate for the job.
are starting with feature animation their new studios in London and “We are all having problems either
but some of the key components Paris respectively. losing staff or having to pay more,”
will have to be of use in the other says Jerry Hibbert of Hibbert Ralph
divisions. One of the fundamen- The Changing Landscape Animation and chair of the Guild
tals is the asset management sys-
F
eature animation is in high of British Animation.
tem. This is a huge database cov- demand and there are a very “There is an upside in that
ering every digital piece that goes limited number of artists who British animators are getting lots
into your film—a sound file, a cel, can produce the quality of work. of money and experience. But if
a palette. That means we will be Opening in Europe is one way of you are a producer trying to raise
able to go back to Prince of Egypt working with great animation tal- a crew for a smaller budget, it
as a historical record. We could makes life very difficult.”
even go back and use the ele- But the smaller American
ments of it in things like an independents also made the
interactive game. “We are trip to Cardiff, many of them
working with Animo in devel- hoping to develop relationships
opment. Animo shares the dis- with partner companies in
tributed workstation approach Europe. With the changing US
that we have. Each worksta- market making life increasing-
tion can run the same soft- ly difficult for independents,
ware—both Intel machines they are now keenly eyeing
and Silicon Graphics. What Europe for their expansion
that means to us is that we can plans. Few European anima-
have workstations on their tion studios have so far made
own but also drafted in to any kind of real impact in the
work together. American market. But at the
“For a larger studio like us, same time many producers in
we want to have things on dif- Europe are now looking to see
ferent platforms. Very often cer- if they can carve out a slice of
tain software is available on just that very tough American pie.
one platform or another so it is The Festival featured a session
nice to have a mix of systems. devoted to cracking the
I think that the world is chang- American market but the
ing and that it is best to focus Europeans soon discovered
on software first and foremost that transatlantic cooperation
and hardware as you choose. Arthur Sheriff (Aardman Animations Publicist) was the recipe of the day.
and unidentified at the “iced” Vodka shot ice
“Cambridge has also done sculpture.Those who participated received “The landscape in the US
a grand job in respect to the a 20th Anniversary Aardman T-shirt. has changed so much in the
studio’s desire for openness. Courtesy of Ron Diamond past few years with vertical
51
integration, forcing all mators in Russia outside

of us to think of new of Moscow—including
ways to find a way in,” the Sverdlovsk Film
says Nina Hahn from Studio in Yek-aterinburg.
Sunbow Entertain- Two of these films have
ment in New York. “It since been nominated
is all about thinking for Academy Awards—
globally, which really Korova in 1990 and
is a first for the creative Gagarin earlier this year.
industry. It is like mak- In Hungary, Varga
ing a quilt, with all was the first studio to be
kinds of people play- set up outside the state
ing their part. No mar- system. Since 1989 it has
ket should operate to TVC’s John Coates at the Aardman 20th Anniversary grown to a permanent
the detriment of any celebration party after an “iced” vodka shot. staff of 50 animators
other.” Courtesy of Ron Diamond from Hungary, Russia
Joint developments are the and then in the long-term to look and Eastern Europe.
way forward, according to Phil for a US deal. There is a lot to be “We started out as a service
Roman of leading American inde- learned by going there but it takes company. We learned a lot from
pendent Film Roman. “If a a long time.” The Festival managed other directors and tried to under-
European producer works with an to face East as well as West, with stand what the market wanted
established US producer, it is a lot a focus on several Russian and internationally and tried to devel-
easier because there is a level of Eastern European studios within op projects. Now we are looking
comfort for the Network to work its international programming. for co-productions. Our main aim
with a producer who has already Co-production with the West is of is to get out into the international
delivered for them,” he says. growing importance to them, with market with our own projects,”
One European producer who Britain’s S4C in particular continu- says director Entrees Erkel.
has been working for the past ing to make heavy use of their tal- The first original project, with
three years at getting European ents. Its latest series, The Bible, is publisher Dorling Kindersley,
co-productions off the ground in due to go on air soon, Faiths of began last year and The Tales of
the US is Jorge Iglesias of Spanish the World is now in production Brer Rabbit, a co-production with
company AKA. He has been devel- and a series of Epic Tales is in Clear Idea, starts this summer. In
oping Mondo Logo with a team development. the meantime, the studio has also
of American writers. Varga Studios from Hungary been working on four programs
“The key in the US market is and Pilot, Second Frog and for S4C, and on The Willows In
credibility. You have to have a Sverdlovsk from Russia were all had Winter and Wolves, Witches and
long-term perspective and you special programs featured in the Giants for TVC and Honeycomb
have to have your eyes wide open Festival screenings. Pilot Moscow Animation.
to reach the talent,” he says. Animation Studio was the first pri-
vate animation company to be set
East European Developments up in Russia. It has produced many
t is still a very difficult path for original shorts since it began in
I European producers. I think that 1988, with an animation school

the idea of partnerships with US set up at the studio in 1990 and a
producers is the most obvious per- New Screen Technologies School
Bob Swain, who lives in
Brighton, England, is a
scriptwriter
who
and journalist,
specializes in animation,
spective. But it is also important to in 1994.
The Second Frog Animation computer graphics and special
consider a global perspective. It
effects. This article first
could be more important to devel- Group was established within Pilot
appeared in July issue
op European co-productions and in 1991 to distribute and market of the British magazine, Cuts.
to develop credibility within Europe material being produced by ani-
52
Zagreb 96 by Maureen Furniss
T
he 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 grow-
ing number of important interna-
tional animation events, Zagreb is
unique among festivals for several
reasons. Most importantly, it rep-
resents not only the proud her-
itage of Croatia’s famed Zagreb
School of animation, but also a sig-
nificant political and cultural insti-
tution for the emerging democra- Janet Pearlman and Maureen Furniss paling around at Zagreb.
Courtesy of Maureen Furniss
tic Croatian society. Indeed, one
finds that in Croatia, the celebra-
tion of animation is accorded a Yugoslavia, the look and feel of Lisinski Hall, which housed the
degree of respect that is found in Zagreb—from a visitor’s viewpoint, screenings, many of the related art
few, if any, other countries. at least—is far from turbulent. The exhibitions, and Internet facilities
political situation there may be far connecting the festival to other
from settled, but the festival plan- cities in Croatia and throughout
Most importantly, the ners, Josko Marusic, Margit-Buba the world. Parties were held in the
festival represents not only Antauer and Iva Stipetic, did a center of town, at the Euro-disco
great job in presenting their guests After Eight Club and at a site near
the proud heritage of
with the many natural beauties the National Theater. This year’s
Croatia's famed Zagreb and local entertainments found in picnic was held at a lovely site on
School of animation, but Zagreb and its vicinity. Though cer- Medvednica Mountain. Many fes-
also a significant political tainly one does not wish to forget tival-goers chose to eat in the old-
and cultural institution for the difficulties that Croatia is now est part of the city, with architec-
the emerging democratic experiencing, it is wonderful to be ture dating from the 11th centu-
able to appreciate the many good ry. The narrow streets in that sec-
Croatian society.
things the city has to offer. tion of town are lined with rows
Throughout the five days of of café tables, where evening
Although the news media the festival, there were opportu- guests linger, drinking coffee,
tends to focus on the unrest expe- nities to see many different aspects wine, and beer, speaking various
rienced in Croatia and its neigh- of Zagreb. Many events were held languages (though English always
boring countries of the former on the outskirts of the city, at seemed to be welcome), creating
53
the kind of atmosphere that in its programming and enter-

truly can only be found in tainment. For almost 75 years,
Europe. Posters in the street animation has been produced
announce Zagreb’s many cul- in Croatia, with its famed
tural events, ranging from Zagreb Film studio (started as
gallery openings to dance Duga Film) celebrating its
performances and a range of 40th anniversary this year. A
musical events, from classical special program, “40 Years of
to underground. Prices for the Zagreb Film Animation
food and beverages are rea- Studio,” spotlighted films
sonable by American stan- made for children. Included
dards, so a night of dining in were films from the Professor
the old town turned out to Baltazar series, as well as a
be affordable as well as fun. number of other short works
My first night in the city, I by Zlatko Grgic, Boris Kolar,
walked through this section Ante Zaninovic, Dragutin
of town for some time, try- Vunak, and Borivoj Povni-
ing to counteract the effects kovic. Two Zagreb animators
of a long plane ride and a 10 were honored with gallery
hour time difference. Many showings of their artwork in
attractive young women various media: Vunak’s exhi-
were poised at tables and bition focused primarily on
apparently eager to flirt with works of the past 3 years,
John Dilworth and Niko Meulemans
my two male companions, at the Zagreb Festival Picnic. while the professional opus of
who shall remain nameless Courtesy of Maureen Furniss work by Dovnikovic, better
as they both have girlfriends. important in part because of its known as Bordo, was pre-
At times, the atmosphere of the role in bringing an international sented in a showing of his illus-
festival was decidedly more busi- spotlight on the city. trations, comics, and graphic de-
ness-like. On more than one occa- For me, the diplomatic com- signs from the past 46 years. A ret-
sion, government dignitaries wel- ponents of the festival are among rospective of Macedonian films
comed festival guests with recep- the most interesting. A discussion included 13 short works produced
tions and small-group meetings. of politics was never far from the between 1971 and 1989.
Certainly, the biggest event of this surface of things. In most cases, it
type was one involving Croatian seemed that everyone felt relatively Special Programs
President, Franjo Tudjman, Pro-
A
free to voice their discontent with long with more local pro-
gram Director Josko Marusi, and the slowness of change and, over- duction, the animations of
several attendees. Canada’s Am- all, I sensed less optimism than I other countries also were
bassador invited Canadian festi- felt two years ago on my first visit featured in special programs. Five
valgoers to dine with him, includ- to Zagreb. Another change I programs of British productions,
ing Chris Robinson (Director of the sensed was an increasing Amer- curated by Pat Raine Webb, cov-
Ottawa Festival), Caroline Leaf ican presence in the city itself, ered works from throughout its
(recipient of the festival’s Lifetime which I viewed with some disdain. animation history, while recent
Achievement Award) and anima- Store windows carried an unset- American work was the focus of
tor Janet Perlman. All festival tling amount of Disney merchan- Warner Bros., MTV, Hanna-Barbera
guests were invited to the resi- dise and the golden arches of and Disney programs. A more mar-
dence of the city’s mayor, a ges- MacDonald’s could be seen plas- ginalized group of artists were fea-
ture that served to underscore the tered on posters throughout the tured in a four-day program,
importance of animation as an city. “Articulated Light: The Emergence
aspect of Zagreb’s cultural heritage. Fortunately, the festival still of Abstract Film in America.”
The festival is viewed as being retains a strong sense of tradition Among the other highlights
54
was the presentation of the fest.hr.

Life Achievement Award to Because I will be serving on
Caroline Leaf, who is best my first selection committee
known for her sand, oil on (for the Ottawa Festival) in
glass, and scratched anima- a couple of weeks, I was
tion created during her 20 particularly interested in the
years at the National Film dynamics of the competi-
Board of Canada and else- tion. The Zagreb Festival’s
where. Australian film schol- selection committee includ-
ar and artist Erik Roberts ed Gunnar Strøm of
organized a retrospective Norway, Jill McGreal of the
screening of Leaf’s films, United Kingdom and Ivan
including The Owl Who Ladislav Galeta of Croatia.
Married a Goose (1974), The committee selected
The Street (1976), Interview more than 50 films from 472
(1979), A Dog’s Tale (1986), submissions and, it seems,
and Entre Deux Soeurs (Two there was generally con-
Sisters, 1990). Later in the sensus on what works
week, Leaf and a small made it into the competi-
group of festival attendees tion. When questioned
gathered for an informal about one or two films,
chat as part of a series enti- committee members did
tled “Conversations with the indicate that political reasons
Masters,” a regular event at necessitated the inclusion of
Zagreb that allows 10 to 15 works that otherwise might
Bretislav Pojar and Gunnar Strøm at Zagreb.
people to get better ac- Courtesy of Maureen Furniss
not have been chosen. With
quainted with an honored these exceptions, the quali-
artist. As a special tribute to Leaf, embraced the Internet to create a ty of work submitted was of the
several artists collaborated on a stronger international presence for same general standard that one
short film entitled Leave a Normal itself. At one time, the government sees at most festivals. I often hear
Life, which made its debut at the provided Internet access to its citi- the comment that there has not
festival. The film includes visual and zens free of charge and many been a real stand-out lately,
aural segments created by Janet thousands of people made use of though Priit Pärn and Janno
Perlman, Derek Lamb, George public facilities. Now commercial Poldma’s 1895, which won the
Griffin and Leaf’s other close providers have begun service with- Grand Prize, seems to have been
friends, and features a soundtrack in the country, which changed the generally viewed as most worthy
by Peter Gabriel. nature of the Internet access. of the honor. The Public Prize went
Nonetheless, thousands of Croa- to American John Dilworth’s
Online & Other Judging tians and other individuals were crowd-pleaser, Dirdy Birdy (1994)
able to get detailed information (his Chicken from Outer Space,
S
everal programs were dedi-
cated to new technologies about the festival. By accessing the which got an Oscar nomination
and their role in the realm of Zagreb Festival’s home page, a earlier this year, and was included
animation. Playing a major role in viewer could see brief clips of all in the festival’s Hanna-Barbera
the festival was the Croatian the films in competition and vote “What a Cartoon!” screening).
Academic and Research Network for his or her favorite work. The The festival jury was quite well
(CARNet), which used the latest winner of the Internet competition rounded, including Derek Lamb,
technologies to provide access to was Nick Park’s A Close Shave who has worked extensively in
the festival to World Wide Web (1995). You can see the Zagreb fes- Canada, the United States and
users across the planet. I find it fas- tival’s home page at http:// Europe, Erik Roberts of Australia,
cinating to see how Croatia has www.awn.com or http://anima- Dragutin Vanuk of Croatia, Marjut
55
Rimminen of Finland, who is work- mation from the United Kingdom what I would estimate to be
ing in London, and Bretislav Pojar had a strong presence. In recog- between 100 and 200 official
of Czechoslovakia, who has nition of the level of excellence guests, the festival is small enough
worked internationally. I was found in many works from the UK, that you can get to know almost
pleased that the festival added a the award for Best Producer was everyone in attendance. The city
category for abstract films, which given to the Arts Council of itself offers a relaxing experience
generally cannot compete with England. with plenty of interesting historical
narrative films for recognition. and cultural spots to visit within a
Austrian Barbel Neubauer, who The city itself offers a few minutes walk or taxi ride. One
lives in Germany, won first prize in of my companions felt the festival
the category for her film, Roots
relaxing experience with was a bit dull for his tastes, prefer-
(1995), for which she created plenty of interesting ring instead his more energetic
images directly on film and an orig- historical and cultural spots partying experience at Cardiff and
inal score. Killian Dellers of to visit within a few minutes other festivals. Certainly, Zagreb
Switzerland and Clive Walley of walk or taxi ride. does not offer the large-scale
Wales shared second prize for their events of Annecy, Ottawa, or
films, Vision (1995) and Diver- many other sites, but to be truth-
timento No. 5—Slapstick (1994), It was somewhat surprising ful I hope it never does.
respectively. that a film as popular as Nick Park’s Unfortunately, I am sure it is
In the regular categories, Best A Close Shave was not awarded a only a matter of time before the
First Film was won by German prize by the jury. Prize winners rep- presence of Disney merchandise
Tyron Montgomery for Quest resented a wide range of emerges from the shop windows
(1996), with second place shared approaches in terms of form and to infiltrate the festival itself—along
by Kevin Richards of the UK for content, which indicate a prioriti- with the forces of other major ani-
Pariah the Red Man (1994) and zation of experimentation over mation studios—beyond the
Piet Kroon of the Netherlands for commercial formula and general- screenings that occurred in this
Dada (1995). Best film in category ly popular approaches. Two films time. Festival organizers spoke with
A (30 seconds to 5 minutes) was that did not win prizes appealed me about trying to lure more par-
won by Swiss animator Georges to my interest in live-action/ani- ticipation by the larger studios,
Schwitzgebel for L’Anée du Daim mation combination films and the which apparently remain hesitant
(1995), with second places given surreal: 15th February (1995) by due to the local political situation
to Swiss animator Jonas Raeber for the UK’s Tim Webb and Las Partes and the festival’s relatively small
Gruezi (1995) and Canadian de mi que te aman son seres commercial potential at this point.
Christopher Hinton for Watching vacios (The Parts of Me that Love I can understand the reasons for
TV (1995). Best film in category B You are Empty Beings, 1995) by the festival wanting the support of
(5 minutes to 30 minutes) was Mercedes Gaspar of Spain. Both such large corporations, which can
won by Russian animator Oksana films use very dark humor in deal- provide funding that the Croatian
Tcherkassova for Nyurkina Banja ing with the subject of relation- government no longer can assure.
(1995), with second prizes won by ships, mixing pixillated human Still, I am glad to have experienced
British artists Karen Kelly for Stressed movement with object animation. the Zagreb festival as it is now.
(1994) and Peter Paar for The Anyone who has been involved in
Maureen Furniss is the
Wooden Leg (1994). Category C, an empty, meaningless relationship Editor and Publisher of Animation
for films produced on video, was or who has been disillusioned by Journal, a scholarly journal based at
won by Jan Otto Ertesvag of love (and I know there are some Chapman University, in Orange,
Norway for Processor (1995), with of you out there!) will find solace in California, where she is an Assistant
special recognition given to The these works. Professor in the School of Film and
End (1995) by Chris Landreth of Finally, I like to note the Zagreb Television. She can be reached by
Canada. A number of other prizes Festival is a unique event that has email at furniss@chapman.edu.
Animation Journal’s home page is
were also given out. provided some of my favorite ani-
http://www.chapman.edu/animation.
As in most recent festivals, animation-related experiences. With
56
The Hunchback of MTV?

by William Mortiz
Quasimodo atop the cathedral in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.

© Walt Disney Pictures
M
ax Fleischer’s motto was “If that question about Disney’s latest mation. It’s just a good movie.
it could be done with live feature, The Hunchback of Notre The adaptation of the story,
action, it’s not animation,” Dame, which has already been credited to Gorillas in the Mist
and Dave Fleischer once griped to filmed several times as a live-action screenwriter Tab Murphy, cleverly
me about how many thousands feature, in addition to Franz eliminated some of the complexi-
of times he had to repeat that to Schmidt’s operatic treatment ties of Victor Hugo’s storyline, care-
the animators over the years to get (which supplied some of the music fully sidestepping the brothels, tor-
them to improve their work with for the Alfred Newman score to tures and philosophical intricacies
those imaginative, visionary impos- William Dieterle’s splendid 1939 (the two heroes, one poet and one
sibilities that belonged exclusively version). The answer, however, is warrior, are condensed to one sen-
to the realm of creative animation. that Disney has managed to make sitive soldier) and other aspects of
What would the poor Fleischer a wonderful movie out of the original which would have
brothers think about the current Hunchback (with one hideous been unsuitable for younger view-
animation scene, in which almost blemish, which we’ll come back to ers. Making Clopin a narrator/mas-
every animation studio is involved later), a film so moving and thrilling ter-of-ceremonies was also an
in duplicating live-action stories? and inspiring that it doesn’t mat- excellent idea that allows the basi-
cally adult story to become an
One can hardly help asking ter whether it’s live-action or ani-
excellent childrens’ adventure tale.
57
the story. Key staff visited Paris to

study the real Notre Dame cathe-
dral and Victor Hugo’s own sketch-
es of the Paris he knew and imag-
ined, while Disney’s unit continued
to provide authentic detail, and
this all pays off superbly.
The musical score also helps
support this respectful treatment
of Victor Hugo’s historical romance,
with an almost operatic tone to
the serious numbers (including real
chants, and use of a hundred-year-
old organ and a professional choir
recorded in London). The orches-
trator, Michael Starobin, also
The rescue scene with Quasimodo and Esmeralda employed some genuine instru-
from The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
© Walt Disney Pictures ments of the late medieval period
(such as hammered-dulcimer, git-
˙Of Dieterle Born Art director Dave Goetz, layout tern and shawm) to give the pro-
I
t must be noted that the adap- supervisor Ed Ghertner and back- fane scenes an added sense of
tation is very much of Dieterle’s ground/color artist Lisa Keene authenticity.
Hunchback — in particular, The computer-generated crowd
Charles Laughton’s boyish Quas- scenes with an active cast of hun-
imodo with his one lumpy eye is A genuine woman of color,
dreds are duly impressive, the Feast
clearly the model, just as Sir Cedric intelligent and capable. of Fools full of lively whimsy, and
Hardwicke’s thin, pinched face the action-adventure scenes with
inhabits the animated villain Frollo. deserve special credit for creating chases and fights very exciting. The
But this doesn’t really matter, and sustaining a medieval atmos- quite effective voice talents include
because the Dieterle film is so fine, phere, and a clear sense of the Demi Moore as Esmeralda (in the
it amounts to good taste to imitate antithesis between the sacred and animated visuals, by the way, a
it, and in most cases the Disney profane which lies at the heart of genuine woman of color, intelli-
version lives up to the high stan-
dard set by the earlier film. For
example, the brilliant scene (not in
Hugo, but created by Bruno Frank)
in which Esmeralda enters Notre
Dame for the first time, and prays
to Mother of God to help her out-
cast people while the “devout
Christians” pray for money, sex and
glory, the Disney team have sup-
plied a great musical number “God
Help the Outcasts” with knockout
color visuals, Esmeralda slowly
walking through the shadows and
light-shafts of the cathedral until
she finally stands bathed in a man-
dala of light from one of the The gargoyles (Hugo,Victor, Laverne) with Quasimodo
stained-glass rose windows. and Esmeralda in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
58
place in the cathedral of Notre statements identify this gargoyle

Dame. If I were a good Cath- episode as a link with the Disney
olic, I think I would be offend- tradition, and compare it to the
ed-indeed, if I were a good pink elephant sequence in
pagan, I would be offended, Dumbo. Certainly not the Walt
since the genuine historical Disney tradition, for there are no
gargoyles actually represent jalopy races (nor obnoxious creeps)
the spirits of the old pre-chris- in Snow White, nor telephone calls
tian religions, and are much or airplanes in Cinderella or
more imaginative character. Sleeping Beauty. And the pink ele-
One of the gargoyles, Hugo,
is particularly offensive, com- Indeed, if I were a
pounding the kitsch of Phil
Silvers and the camp of Jim
good pagan, I would
Carrey-totally obnoxious. In be offended.
the official The Making of The
Frollo, narrator of Hunchback of Notre Dame phants are wholly integral to
The Hunchback of Notre Dame. documentary, producer Don Dumbo’s contemporary circus
Hahn calls Hugo “a crazy frat ambience and the particular plot
gent and capable), Kevin Kline as boy,” but what is Animal point of the accidentally inebriat-
the blond-bearded soldier House doing in medieval Paris? ed heroes. I can see no real excuse
Phoebus, and Tom Hulse as Where was Dave Fleischer when for the “gargoylettes” in
Quasimodo. Hulse himself sings they needed him? Hunchback, except as a bid for
quite well his operatic aria “Out The official Disney press release Broadway. Much of this same team
There”, but Esmeralda’s heart-rend- calls these gargoyles “kind of the was responsible for creating
ing aria “Outcasts” is supplied by Disney mortar that holds the Beauty and the Beast, which is still
a professional singer, Heidi whole story together,” but the running in its hit stage version.
Mollenhauer, whose voice timbre effect is quite the opposite-it makes And the press release describes this
blends seamlessly with Demi the carefully built magic of the “showstopping tune” as “in grand
Moore’s speaking voice. bygone era crumble. Other official boulevardier style with a touch of
Compounding the Kitsch
W
hat a waste, what a
shame, then, to find in
the middle of a magnif-
icent, splendid film a set of char-
acters and a musical number so
vulgar, so tasteless and so far
removed from the medieval peri-
od that it completely spoils all the
spellbinding adventure in this spe-
cial atmosphere. I refer to the intro-
duction of three gargoyle “comics,”
and their song “A Guy like You,”
which attempts to lure Quasimodo
out of the cathedral by depicting
a gambling casino (poker chips
and roulette wheel) and a low-cut
gowned torch-singer splayed Esmeralda and Phoebus in The Hunchback of Notre Dame.
across a bar piano. All of this takes © Walt Disney Pictures
59
I should have guessed by the

way the gargoyles are being
pushed in the print ads and other
promotional materials that at some
level “Disney” suffers from a real
lack of confidence in the true excel-
lence and virtues of their
Hunchback of Notre Dame—even
though the same team did pro-
duce a Best Picture Oscar nominee
without any obnoxious anachro-
nisms. Or is it just a triumph of an
MTV era sensibility that doesn’t
shrink from snatching images and
ideas from any source, and does-
Esmeralda greeting Quasimodo during the Festival of the Fools.
n’t care if the mood and tempo
© Walt Disney Pictures changes completely every five min-
utes, with no unity or direction
Broadway panache.” If that was Broadway was their last concern beyond the pleasure of the
the case, it seems quite misguid- while working on a film, when moment? In either case, it’s sad,
ed to me, since the audience for their only care was making the because without the gargoyles,
Broadway shows is vastly different best film possible. Why, I asked, did Disney’s Hunchback of Notre
and more sophisticated than the gargoyle Hugo have to be so Dame would have been a great
very much younger audiences for obnoxious, since no one else in film; with the obnoxious anachro-
Disney movies. The number the film, even the villains, were nisms it becomes an average com-
should be cut from the film and really obnoxious? They said they promised committee-assembled
saved for the Broadway version of believed Hugo was in a Disney tra- piece of commercial mishmash.
Hunchback, when it would be eli- dition of “loudmouth sidekicks” of Too bad.
gible for a Tony as an original which they offered the examples
song. of Baloo in Jungle Book and Jiminy
In a mad hope that I could con- Cricket in Pinocchio. Hugo reminds
vince someone to cut the gargoyle me more of Lampwick in Pinoc-
number before Hunchback open- chio, so much so that during the
ed in movie theaters, I wrangled climactic (genuinely touching)
a phone interview with directors
Gary Trousdale and Kirk Wise. They
adamantly defended the gargoyle
Don’t get mixed up with
sequence, insisting that it was him; he hangs out with
“deliberately anachronistic,” and really bad friends.
since gargoyles were fantastic crea- William Mortiz teaches film and
tures anyway, that seemed to give moment in Hunchback , when a
“a crazy license for them just to go little girl reaches out to touch animation history at the
nuts for a minute.” Dramatically, Quasi, I felt like warning her, “Don’t
California Institute of the Arts.
they said, it also set Quasimodo get mixed up with him; he hangs
up for the disappointment he was out with really bad friends.” In any
about to encounter in the next case, the directors suggested I wait
scene. They seemed peeved at my until the film came out on video
suggestion that the number might or laserdisc, and then I could just
have been inspired by thoughts of cut out or skip over the abom-
a Broadway version, and said inable gargoyle sequence.
60
The Olympiad of Animation compiled by Frankie Kowalski

This time ’round, I reminisced with animators who produced short animated films for The Olympiad of
Animation—Melinda Littlejohn (Breath of Seth), Raul Garcia (Animarathon), George Schwizgebel (Hors-
Jeu), and Jonathan Amitay (The Spirit of the Olympics).
Melinda Littlejohn’s Raul Garcia’s picks...

desert island picks...
When I was invited to
I love the idea and participate in The Olym-
energy behind the pics of Animation I felt real-
10.
Olympiad of Animation. ly honored and decided
It built up to a wonderful to make the most amaz-
frenzy of animators and ing animated film ever
artists descending upon done—Hollywood here I
Los Angeles from all over go, ok back to reality. I
the planet. We closed a ended up with the
few bars and opened a longest animated film that
few breakfast joints $150 can buy. Two min-
before it was over—alot utes and 12 seconds and
of those people still a cast of animators worth
remain my dearest of a feature film. Necessity
friends and networks! I Olympiad of Animation film, Breath of Seth is the mother of all inven-
think the funniest thing by Melinda Littlejohn. tions and having no
that happened was money to produce the
when the sound track failed on a rather politically film, I asked every friend working in animation to ani-
graphic European film and the animator kept yelling mate a scene. I shot the whole film by using the stu-
CONSPIRACY! (that guy went on to work for Disney— dio I worked at as an animator in the middle of the
embracing the LA lifestyle wholeheartedly.” night and using leftover film and tails from my part-
time job as a cameraman. When the film was final-
1. The Rainbow Bear by Bill Melendez ly finished, I had an opportunity to come to L.A. and
2. The Bead Game by Ishu Patel present it. It was very exciting.”
3. Anything by Oskar Fishinger
4. The Ladykillers by Alexander McKendrick 1. The Tell Tale Heart by Ted Parmelee
5. The first hour of The Black Stallion by Carroll 2. Pas de deux by Norman McLaren
Ballard (produced by Francis For Coppola) 3. One Froggy Evening by Chuck Jones
6. Anything by Emory Hawkins (especially the candy 4. Little Red Hot Riding Hood by Tex Avery
monster in Raggedy Ann & Andy) 5. Anna & Bella by Borge Ring
7. Burden of Dreams by Les Blank 6. Creature Comforts by Nick Park
8. The Ghost of Rome by Antonio Pietrangeli 7. What’s Opera Doc by Chuck Jones
9. Anything animated by Bill Littlejohn (especially 8. Getting Started Richard Condie
Snoopy flying his dog house) 9. The Man Who Planted Trees by Frédéric Back
10. All or Nothing by Frédéric Back 10. 2001: A Space Odyssey by Stanley Kubrick
61
George Schwizgebel’s picks... Jonathan Amitay’s picks...
Je ne pratique pas beaucoup de sport mais je Spirit of the Olympics” ... wow! 1984. And it was
suis impressionné par la beauté des mouvements des my first film to be shown internationally. I had no idea
athlétes, les ombres portées et la couleur du gazon. of the importance of such events. While making the
C’est cela, et aussi l’idée naive que l’on choisi tou- film for the Olympics I used sand and shot the film
jours son équipe quand on regarde un match, qui with a very old animation camera that was on it’s last
m’a incité à réaliser Hors-jeu..” sprockety legs. It would jam, oh would it ever jam,
and mostly on the most important jobs. By the time
(I do not practice sport very much but I am impressed I’d finish almost ANY job with that camera, all I was
by the beauty of athletic movements, the shadows left with was the feeling of relief of having managed
that they projects and the lawn color. It is for this rea- to make the deadline. Other than that I was too fraz-
son, and also because of the naive idea that one zled to think about anything else. Even today I find
always picks a team while watching a match, that I it difficult to watch my works from that period seeing
decided to make Hors Jeu.) the jump-cuts and remembering that dreaded ‘click,’
and then opening the camera body and the film
1. Tango by Zbigniew Rybcynski spilling out like bloody spaghetti!”
2. The Tale of Tales by Yuri Norstein
3. Damon the Mower by George Dunning 1. The Mighty River by Frédéric Back, for its awe
4. Le jeu des anges by Walerian Borowczyk some beauty and grand execution.
5. Dream of the Sphinx by James Gore 2. The Street by Caroline Leaf. What can I say ... it’s
6. Refleksy (Reflections) by Jerzy Kucia so fantastically imaginative.
7. The Comb From the Musuems of Sleep by the 3. The Yellow Submarine by George Dunning
Brothers Quay 4. Ivan The Terrible by Sergei Eisenstein. A grandiose
8. Creature Comforts by Nick Park film and you don’t have to understand a word
9. Blinkity Blank by Norman MacLaren of Russian to be mesmerized by it. It’s like “watch
10. The Passing by Bill Viola ing” a Rembrandt, a J.S. Bach or a Beethoven.
5. Seven by David Fincher —it’s opening title which
I found to be a unique piece of artistry and
“branded itself” on my artistic psyche.
6. The Electric Blanket by Asi Dayan, which is gut
stuff and Israeli to it’s last frame, and contains a
controversial and unforgettable scene about dying
and death.
7. Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and
the Media by Mark Achbar A film that will leave
no doubts in the minds of the mad dogs on the
island (and even islands have their mad dogs) as
to my political/social leanings.
8. Unconscious Civilization by John Ralston Saul,
which is a piece of the most brilliant reasoning.
9. For music ... There’s so much ...! On the spur of
the moment I would probably grab any one of
Mozart’s piano concertos. His “Heavenly” music
contains every possible human emotion.
10. I must admit that I would take one of my own
films, Nukie Takes A Valium to remind myself that
I’m not as lousy as I make myself to be sometimes
... ha ha.
62
Virgil Ross – In Memory by Tom Sito
M
aster animator Virgil Ross down the street to “Rosie O’Grady”
died on May 15, 1996 or cakewalked on the vaudeville
from complications of a circuit, even pausing to wrestle a
stroke suffered in March. He was Japanese Sumo wrestler, that was
88. His 60 year career began in Virgil’s work (he was a darn good
1930 at Mintz-Screen Gems, where dancer himself). A virtuoso of tim-
he was hired as a trainee for $6 a ing and gesture, he animated a
week. Tex Avery made him an ani- great deal of Friz Freleng’s
mator at Lantz in 1935, and Ross Rhapsody Rabbit; his other credits
then followed Avery over to include Tex Avery’s Daffy Duck and
Schlesinger’s (Warner Bros.) six Egghead, Freleng’s A Hare Grows
months later. He became one of in Manhattan and I Taw a Putty Tat.
the legends of his profession, work- Virgil was generous with his
ing at Ub Iwerks, Hanna Barbera, time for young fans. While some
Filmation, DePatie-Freleng, Chuck animators at his age withdraw into
Jones, Sam Nicholson and Marvel. solitude, he made himself available
In 1984 he was one of the first for numerous events, where, sur-
artists to receive the Motion Picture Virgil Ross (left) with animator rounded by people, he would sign
Screen Cartoonists Golden Award Warren Batchelder in 1945, autographs and do drawings. And
from That’s All Folks by Steve Schneider.
and in 1988 was honored with he was never too busy to talk to
ASIFA-Hollywood’s Winsor McCay people.
Award for Lifetime Achievement. Virgil was the dance At the end, he was in his room, propped up in his
specialist. Thus, whenever Bugs Bunny tap-danced bed, looking out at his beloved garden, surrounded
Animation drawings by Virgil Ross from Mississippi Hare (1949).

© Warner Bros.
63
by hundreds of get well cards and is currently a Senior VP of Physical Aladdin and the King of Thieves,
drawings sent by all those he Production at Fox, is negotiating which features the voice of Robin
made memories for. out of his contract to work on Williams as Genie. The co-promo-
So, as long as there are people Ants. tion with McDonald’s and General
who break into a smile at the Mills is valued at $70 million.
antics of Bugs and Daffy, Virgil
Ross’ memory will live on.
New Line Television Syn-

dicates The Mask. In an effort
to strategically market the CBS #1
rated Saturday morning series The
Mask, the series will be stripped
Monday through Friday beginning
this September in addition to its
weekly CBS network broadcast.
The showis based on the original
feature film of the same name from
New Line Cinema. The series is
produced by New Line Televsion
and Film Roman (The Simpsons,
Garfield).
DreamWorks Lights Fire

Under Ash. DreamWorks has The Mask.
© New Line Productions
acquired the feature film rights
toJoe Quesada and Jimmy
Palmiotti’s new comic book hero, Little Orphan Annie Finds Festival Note: Sarah Watt
Ash,. in which the company is tar- A Home In TV. One of the just won the Special Achievement
geting as a franchise for its ani- most popular strips in comic art Award for Animation at the San
mation unit. Ash tells the story of annals, Annie is being recast as a Diego Film Festival for her film,
a firefighter who miraculously sur- new, contemporary character in Small Treasures.
vives a blazing inferno and comes
an animated, action-adventure
to realize he was spared by a force The following items are
series. Now in development, the
from the future that has given him
weekly, half hour show will be co- from AWM’s June 7, 1996
extraordinary powers. It will be
produced by Abrams/Gentile Email News Flash
adapted for the screen by Rand
Entertainment (Sky Dancers and
Ravich.
Dragon Flyz) and the Fremantle
Colossal Pictures Files For
DreamWorks And Pacific Corporation (international distrib-
utor for such shows as Grace Un- Chapter 11 Bankruptcy. The
Data Images’ First Project troubled San Francisco-based stu-
der Fire and 3rd Rock From the
In The Works. The film,Ants, Sun). dio, known for such TV shows as
will be produced by Eron Warner, Aeon Flux and Liquid Television,
Brad Lewis and Patty Wooten has sought protection from its
Disney Campaigns With
through PDI. Though specific creditors while seeking to overhaul
details of the story line are being McDonald’s and General its operations. Previously, it had
kept under the wraps, Ants is Mills For Aladdin Video. stopped producing TV commer-
described as a computer-generat- Buena Vista Home Video is putting cials, despite being one of the top
ed animated feature similar in theatrical style promotion behind studios in the field and announced
process to Toy Story. Warner, who its direct-to-video premiere of that it was concentrating on devel-
64
opment projects. The company Harvey 10% of the profits. Harvey the lives and work of Disney con-
said that the latest move will allow further charges fraud, breach of cept artists from the thirties to the
it “to reorganize its business in a contract and copyright infringe- present; Tex Avery (Turner
profitable direction.” Part of the ment. Court date is set for Publishing) presents a candid
reorganization involves a shakeup December 3rd, 1996. assessment of the innovative ani-
of its management team. Thus, mation director during his work at
Chairman and co-founder Drew New Line Cinema Selects MGM Studios from 1942-1955;
Takahashi is said to be “refocusing Screenplay For Cross, A and Felix: The Twisted Tale of the
his efforts as Colossal’s Chief World’s Most Famous Cat (Da
Dark Horse Comic Book.
Creative Director”; in addition, Jan Capo Press), which is a paperback
New Line has added Cross to the
Bauman, previously Controller at reissue of Canemaker’s 1991
list of comics being developed into
Pixar, has been appointed Chief account of pre-Disney animation
features due to the drive of
Financial Officer; and former Pacific as seen through the most popular
acknowledged comics fanatic
Data Images Executive Producer, silent cartoon character of the
Michael De Luca. Other projects
Jana Canellos, is Director of Sales 1920’s. Canemaker, who heads the
include, Avengelyne, Blade, and
and Marketing. animation program at New York
Spawn. The studio’s last hit The
University, is also an accomplished
Mask which grossed more than
Buena Vista Home Video $300 million worldwide, was also
filmmaker and frequent lecturer on
Releases In Indonesia. Walt the art and artists of animation.
based on a comic. Cross which is
Disney home video will be released based on an unpublished novel by
legitimately in Indonesia starting Andrew Vachss and James Colbert Film Roman To Produce
next month with PT Vision called Cross Genesis, is about a Richie Rich TV Series In
Interprima Pictures. Indonesia was family of misfit mercenaries and Association With Harvey
off limits to the U.S. majors until childhood friends who fight urban Entertainment. The 13 half-
last year. The market was 100% crime. hour series will be syndicated by
pirated until 1991, when the gov- Claster Television. Film Roman will
ernment cleared the shelves of be producing new shorts for each
video stores and burned stacks of episode, which will also feature
cassettes. After that, the business films from the Harvey library. This
consisted largely of imported is a similar strategy Harvey fol-
laserdiscs. The first package con- lowed in their popular Baby Huey
tains the animated feature The Show. Richie Rich, known as “the
Goofy Movie and Disney indicat- richest kid in the world,” is, of
ed it will start dubbing Pocahontas course, a popular comic book star
for sell through, once it has been and recently was the basis of a live-
able to cast suitable voice-over tal- action feature starring McCauley
ent. Culkin.
Trial Date Set For Betty Steven Spielberg To Pro-

Boop Cartoon Copyright. duce Dramatic Animated
Harvey Entertainment sued John Canemaker Has Three Series For The WB Net-
Fleischer Studios and its attorney Animation Books For Fall work. The fledgling network
Stanley Handman, charging that Release. John Canemaker will announced that it will be adding
they failed to pay Harvey royalties have three books dealing with the Invasion America, a new prime
for the use of Betty Boop. Harvey art and history of animation pub- time animated serial to its sched-
seeks to void a 1980 agreement lished later this year; Before the
that gave Fleischer the rights to ule. The show is the maiden effort
Animation Begins: The Art and from DreamWorks’s new television
the cartoon character in return for Lives of Disney Inspiration Sketch
managing them and paying animation division, in which
Artists (Hyperion Books) chronicles,
Spielberg is closely involved with.
65
WB programming head Garth Beast, Who Framed Roger Rabbit Toy Story Distributed To
Ancier described the show as, “an and The Lion King, has entered Chinese Audience. Shanghai
animated dramatic series with the- into an exclusive seven year agree- Film Studio will distribute Disney’s
atrical scope and primetime qual- ment with Walt Disney Feature Toy Story next month, making it
ity.” Animation.. Hahn who has been the first Chinese film studio to dis-
associated with Disney for 20 tribute a foreign movie. China has
Invision Entertainment years, produced the current ani- decided to allow its studios to do
Joins Production Team Of mated musical The Hunchback of so as a trial scheme to boost their
Sandbox Entertainment Notre Dame. Under terms of the coffers. Actual film imports are still
On Pillow People. InVision, the new arrangement, he will contin- controlled by the state-run China
new startup company that recent- ue to produce animated fare on Film Import and Export Co.
ly took over production of USA an exclusive basis for the studio, Disney’s Lion King earned about
Network’s popular Street Fighters but he will also venture into live- 30 million yuan ($3.6 million) at
show, announced that it will be action or live-action/animation the Chines box office.
working closely with Banana- combos on a first look basis.
Mation, Sandbox’s newly formed Nickelodeon To Produce
animation subsidiary. The project Pipkin Promoted To Vice First In-House Project For
will use traditional cel animation President Of Production By Pre-schoolers. The cable net-
(provided by Invision) as well as 3- Klasky Csupo. Margot Pipkin in work has made a 20-episode
D computer animation (by her new role, will oversee the pro- commitment for the computer ani-
BananaMation). The series will duction of the company’s TV series: mated Blue’s Clues, a show in
debut nationally in syndication in Rugrats, Duckman and Aaahh! which an animated puppy helps
September 1996. Real Monsters. Pipkin, who was solves the day’s puzzles, with the
previously producer on Duckman, help of host Steve Burns using
Casemiro To Head Creative will oversee budgeting, talent and non-verbal clues. It will be shown
Affairs At Klasky Csupo, studio relations with Paramount as part of the network’s Nick Jr.
Inc. Eryk Casemiro comes to Television Group. Pipkin joined Programming block, which is tar-
Klasky Csupo following his work at Klasky Csupo in 1987 as a pro- geted to the 2-5 age group.
Broadway Video as Director of ducer of the prime time series The
Creative Affairs, where he partici- Simpsons. Comedy Central Makes
pated in the development of Deal With Fox For The
Wayne’s World and produced the Disney Pacts With Creative Tick. The agreement, which will
CBS holiday special Frosty Returns Capers. Disney Interactive has include 10 new episodes, involves
with renowned animator Bill signed an exclusive multiyear deal airing the shows on The Comedy
Melendez. His responsibilities at with Creative Capers Entertain- Channel the day after they air on
Klasky Csupo will include manag- ment, the Glendale-based anima- Fox Children’s Network. The deal
ing development of television tion and design studio. Capers is the latest example of giving cable
series, specials and special projects. principals Sue and Terry Shake- exposure to a series shortly after
speare and David Molina have its broadcast run. While The Tick is
The following items are been associated with Disney on a a Saturday morning children’s pro-
from AWM’s June 21, 1996 number of film, TV and consumer gram, the takeoff on the cartoon
Email News Flash: products over the years. Under the superhero genre has a large
pact with Disney’s year-old inter- young adult following, which
Hahn Gets Animated Deal. active division, Creative Capers will Comedy Central believes can make
Disney-based producer Don Hahn, continue to work on projects with an attraction in prime time.
who worked on Beauty and the other divisions at Disney.
66
Animation World Magazine

1996–97 Calendar
With the Hiroshima Animation Festival on the horizon in

August, we thought we would take the opportunity to take
an extended look at Japanese animation, and anime in par-
ticular. Thus, our theme is “Anime, Anime, Anime—A
Worldwide Phenomenon.” We will lead off with an authori-
tative survey by Fred Patten, Mark Segall will profile Manga
Entertainment (the leading international distributor of
anime), and John Gosling will report in from the UK.
In addition, we will have an interview with Raoul Servais,

who is being honored at Hiroshima, Mark Langer will report
on Shanghai’s Animation Fiesta, and Aaron Burger looks at
the state of the (animation) art. Look for these and other
items in the next issue available online on August 1, 1996.
International Television (September)
Politics & Propaganda (October)
Theme Park Animation (November)
Interactive Animation (December)
Animation Festivals (January ‘97)
International Animation Industry (February '97)
Children & Animation (March '97)
67

AWNMag1 4

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

You might also like

AWNMag1 4

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

AWNMag1 4

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

July 1996 MAGAZINE Vol. 1, No.

Editor's Notebook by Harvey Deneroff 4

The Mighty Animator: Frédéric Back by William Moritz 6

TVC, 1957-1997 by Jill McGreal 10

Quirino Cristiani,The Untold Story of Argentina's

Sue Loughlin:An Animator's Profile by Rita Street 20

Robert Breer:Animator by Jackie Leger 24

The Olympiad of Animation:An Interview with Fini

Animation at the Olympics by Mark Segall 32

The Great Adventures of Izzy — An Olympic Hero

“So,What Was It Like?” The Other Side Of Animation's

When The Bunny Speaks, I Listen by Howard Beckerman 42

No Matter What, Garfield Speaks Your Language

Festival Reviews and Perspectives:

Desert Island Series... The Olympiad of Animation compiled by

Preview of Coming Attractions 67

Champions of Animation “Quirino Cristiani, The article, “Robert Breer: Animator.”

T Animation, which is com-

Speaks Your Language,” the effort that goes into some-

The Mighty Animator:

Back: Yes, that’s right. I was

Moritz: Now they’ve closed

Back: Yes. And it’s too bad.

and documentaries, so when I

The Man Who Planted Trees

T Wind in the Willows, TVC’s

commissions and staying into another studio.

Programmes, John was directed by Joanna

I held in Turin, Italy, I happened

at Cristiani's wedding. (The press, Foreign Affairs.

W November 29, 1981, when he was

I couldn’t believe I was

Social Reform and

To complete Grand National

Rita Street, a freelance writer

based in Los Angeles, is the

Animation and former editor

and publisher of Animation

Amnesty International PSA

non in the 1960s, Breer befriend- the quick movements of a Tex

the simple tech- he prefers animation

The Olympiad of Animation

where she briefly wound Scott, took the event

were picked from films made by widespread publicity and critical

The Champions Of Animation

31. Band Concert, Walt Disney, USA, 1935

An Overarching Concern fable about greed.

REGISTER with Animation World

• Receive our biweekly animation News Flash via email

• Get announcements of Animation World Network developments

• Be a part of the global community of AWN. Interact with

animation professionals, scholars and fans all over the world

face and fixed up his teeth a bit. Rings—Perseverance, Integrity, exciting.”

“So, What Was It Like?”

UPA studios, March, 1957

good old days animators lived on

How It Really Was

55 cents could proba- Hurtz (Rocky and