Animation Nations · 2016. 5. 22. · live-action films (as in Mars Attacks! ) and of digital special effects (as in Forest Gump) have started to blur the line between live action

FebruarFebruary 1997y 1997 VVol. 1 No. 11ol. 1 No. 11

Animation NationsThe State of America sToon BoomKorea s 21st CenturyGoals

Piet Kroon onAnimating in TwoWorldsJackie Leger onSuzan Pitt

Editor’s Notebookby Harvey Deneroff

Where the Action IsHarvey Deneroff sums up the current state of America’s animation industry, with an emphasis on recentmergia mania, feature films and prime time shows..

The Lyon Conference (English & French - Anglais et Français)Jean-Luc Ballester talks how a 1983 government proposal changed the French animation industry andhow the major entertainment union used it to improve working conditions for animation artists.

The Changing Winds of Korean AnimationChung-bae Park explains why South Korea is turning its attention to animation as part of its economicstrategy for the 21st century.

Shin Dong Mun, an Old Warrior in Korean AnimationJohn A. Lent interviews one of the pioneers of Korean animation, who had a profound effect on thecourse of the nation’s indigenous production.

Staying Ahead of the GameJerry Hibbert, drawing from his own experience, provides some thoughts on the need for productioncompanies to embrace change.

Animation in SingaporeGigi Hu reports on the current attempt by the island nation to bolster its fledgling animation industry.

Don’t Quit Your Day Job,Work the Night ShiftDutch filmmaker Piet Kroon contributes the first in an occasional series devoted to a day in the life of ananimation artist. Herein, Kroon explores the whys and wherefors of how he balances working as anindependent filmmaker while holding down a full-time job at Warner Bros.

Susan Pitt:An Animator’s JourneyJackie Leger explores the visions of painter, designer and animation filmmaker, Suzan Pitt.

In Passing

Louise Beaudet:A Passion For Animation (English & French - Anglais et Français)Cinémathèque Québecoise, Tom Knott, Caroline Leaf, Gerald Potterton, Hélène Tanguay, AdrienneMancia, David Ehrlich.

Renzo Kinoshita:A Talk With Miyasan Sadao MiyamotoBy Harvey Deneroff.

Remembering AlMark Mayerson on.Al Eugster.

Festivals, Conferences, etc.NATPE ‘97:The Buzz of the Biz!by Susan Hornik

Heard at NATPE 97by Wendy Jackson

News

Desert Island Series . . .Animation Industry-itesPiet Kroon, Pat Raine Webb, Jerry Hibbert, Steve Hulett, Jeff Massie and Georges Lacroix.

AWN ComicsDirdy Birdy by John R. Dilworth.

Next Issue’s Hightlights

Cover: Raven in Ralph Bakshi’s Spicy City, his forthcoming series for Home Box Office premiering in July. ©1997 HBO Animation .

ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE February 1997 2

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© Animation World Network 1996. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network.

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by Harvey Deneroff

Animation FamiliesLast month, the Los Angeles

County Museum of Art importeda Fleischer retrospective fromAmerican Museum of the MovingImage in New York City andcurated by Mark Langer. OnFriday, January 10, there was areception in honor of animatorMyron Waldman and MaxFleischer’s son, Richard. Langerand the Museum took advantageof the occasion to gather all theex-Fleischer people and/or theirfamilies they could find. It wasperhaps the last opportunity tohave such a gathering whilesome of the original Fleischerartists were still alive.

The unusual part for me wasbeing invited not as a member ofthe press or as an animation his-torian, but because my fatherhad worked for the FleischerStudios. As an animation histori-an, this fact had many timeshelped pave the way in inter-viewing my father’s friends andcolleagues. Such was the smallcommunity of artists that was theNew York animation industry ofthe 1930s and 40s, even if theydid not know him, they at leastknew of him. To tell the truth, itwas hard for me to conceive ofbeing the subject of being thesubject of any sort of historicalinquiry.

When Jerry Beck once tried tofind out about my father andhow it was to be the adult son ofan animator, I was taken aback.Why would he want to know

IMATION WORLD MAGAZINE

such things? After all, my fatherdied when I was young and heshouldn’t waste his time with me!

However, with my seven-year-old daughter, Allegra, I am notabove pointing out that hergrandfather Joe had actuallyworked on some of the BettyBoop and Popeye cartoons shelikes so much. But it was not untilthe end of the reception, whenall the ex-Fleischer people andtheir families were asked to posefor a group picture that she final-ly realized that she was, in herwords, “part of the Fleischer fam-ily.” It was a proud moment forme, that seemed somehow toprovide a sense of closure.

When I first started doingresearch on the 1937 Fleischerstrike, I only half jokingly said Iwas only doing it to have achance to meet my father’sfriends. As it turned out, myresearches did help me develop aclearer picture of who my fatherwas, as well as who I was.

My feelings, if anything, wereonly deepened, as it was only a

few days before that I heard ofthe death of Al Eugster. I hadonly met him briefly when Idropped in to see him at Kimand Gifford, in New York, backin 1979 or 80. He was also afriend of my father’s and some-where I still have the kind letterhe wrote him when he was ter-minally ill. Yet, it was only afterhearing of Eugster’s death did Icome to realize that after hispassing, that he was responsi-ble in a way I hadn’t thought of

before for my interest in anima-tion.

You see, Eugster was one ofmy father’s classmates in the Artprogram at Cooper Union, inNew York, in the late 20s andearly 30s. (This was still a timewhen Cooper Union, a richlyendowed private school, wastuition free.) The class graduatedin the midst of the GreatDepression, when jobs, especial-ly for an artist, were very scarce.However, as animator EddieRehberg recalled, Eugster wasthe only student who alwayscame to class dressed in a goodsuit. When asked where he gothis money, Eugster explained thathe was working in animation. Asa result, my father, Rehberg andseveral others followed him intothe business—a decision whichcertainly influenced my careerchoices many years later.

January also saw the passingof Louise Beaudet and RenzoKinoshita, two people who ded-icated their lives to helping the

February 1997 3

ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE

ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK6525 Sunset Blvd., Garden Suite 10

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ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE [email protected]

PUBLISHERRon Diamond, President

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EDITOR-IN-CHIEFHarvey Deneroff

ASSOCIATE EDITOR/PUBLICITYWendy Jackson

CONTRIBUTORS :Jean-Luc BallesterHarvey Deneroff

Jerry HibbertSusan L. Hornik

Gigi HuWendy Jackson

Piet KroonJackie LegerJohn A. Lent

Mark Mayerson Chung-bae Park

WEBMASTER -TECHNICAL EDITOR

Guillaume Calop

DESIGN/LAYOUT :Guillaume Calop

IMP Graphice-mail : [email protected]

ADVERTISING SALESNorth America : Bart VitekEurope : Vincent FerriUK: Roger Watkins

animation community defineitself.

When I was a budding ani-mation historian, Beaudet wasone of my heros. (It was a senti-ment that I’m sure was shared bymany others.) After all, she wasthe curator in charge of anima-tion at the CinémathèqueQuébecois, the only film archivethat specialized in animation! Inthe days before the currentboom, when animation was stilllargely considered a marginalactivity, Beaudet and theCinémathèque provided a senseof validation for filmmakers andhistorians alike, and helped pavethe way for the current wide-spread interest in animation.Thus, I was delighted when sheagreed to write a story on theCinémathèque, when I wantedto start a series on occasionalpieces on archival resources forthe Society of Animation StudiesNewsletter.

Renzo Kinoshita was anaccomplished filmmaker, but heis perhaps most widely thoughtof as being synonymous withASIFA-Japan, an organization hehelp found and nurture. Alongwith his wife and collaborator,Sayoko, he also had more than alittle to do with starting theHiroshima InternationalAnimation Festival. As such, hebecame a vital cog in Japan’s ani-mation culture. And while Renzoand Louise were never part of myimmediate animation family, as AlEugster was, in a very real sensethey were.

—Harvey [email protected]

February 1997 4

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AN

WWhheerree tthhee AAccttiioonn IIssWWhheerree tthhee AAccttiioonn IIssby Harvey Deneroff

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The American animation indus-try is riding high these days inmore ways than one. Its sheer

size and dominance inboth the domestic andmost international marketshas made it the envy ofmost other animationnations. And for better orworse, it’s where the actionis.

Los Angeles studioshave now become homebase for an increasinglyinternational cadre of ani-mation artists. The glamourand money that have longattracted their live-actionbrethren to Hollywood arenow working their magicin the frame-by-frameworld.

Only a few years ago, it wassomething of an oxymoron to talkabout animation art and Hollywoodin the same breadth. After all, its“Golden Age” had long since dis-appeared into a nostalgic haze—aconcept glorified some 30 years agoin André Martin’s magnificent poster-sized chart on the “Origine et âged’or du dessin animé américain de1906 à 1941/Origin and GoldenAge of the American Cartoon Film,1906-1941.” While there were therehave been revisionists who have dis-puted the parameters of this peri-od, there was no dispute that it rep-resented an era that was no more.

However, the recent boom hascaused most commentators tospeak of a new Golden Age. In

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terms of the sheer volume of ani-mation being turned out andmoney being earned, there has

never been any period like it in thehistory of the medium. Animatedfeatures are almost becoming acommonplace in theaters, while thedirect-to-video market is providingan increasingly lucrative market forlower budgeted titles. Television pro-duction is not only expanding, butis showing an increasing willingnessto venture out of the kiddie rut intomore adult programming. The inter-active realm, despite recent set-backs, promises continued expan-sion, especially as the introductionof DVD-ROM, with its increased stor-age capacity, should increase thedemand for animation in terms ofboth volume and complexity. Finally,the increased use of animation inlive-action films (as in Mars Attacks!)

s card from Warner Bros. displaying the fruitsWarner/Turner Broadcasting merger.

and of digital special effects (as inForest Gump) have started to blurthe line between live action and ani-

mation, providingeven more employ-ment for animationartists.However, it is almost

too easy to fall into thetrap of characterizingthe current era morein terms of expansion(of the number of ani-mators, the number oftheatrical films andtheir increasing boxoffice returns) and toalmost neglect lookingat “artistic” side ofthings. Animation hasbeen a stepchild sovery long, it becomes

tempting to stand in awe of block-busters like The Lion King and quick-ly put aside any critical qualms onemay have about them. For a filmlike Space Jam, the Warner Bros.publicity machine hyped the film’stechnical wizardry that to talk aboutanything else seemed like heresy.(Somewhat the same approach wastaken by Disney is promoting ToyStory.)

While the current batch of ani-mated event films may often leave

of the Time-

Only a few years ago, it wassomething of an oxymoron totalk about animation art and

Hollywood in the samebreadth.

February 1997 5

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DreamWorks SKG last year made its ani-mated debut last year with its “clay

adventure” CD-ROM, The Neverhood, viaDreamWorks Interactive, a joint venture

with Microsoft.

series of New York-based Jumbo Pictures,as bought by Disney last year.

something to be desired, there isstill much to be admired inAmerican animation today, espe-cially in television. After all, onerarely hears of “creator-driven” in thesame way in theatrical circles as intelevision. Producers perhaps feelthey can ill afford to allow the cre-ative freedom in theatrical films thatbig name directors get in the live-action arena. Perhaps, as one wagpointed out to me, the reason mosttheatrical films follow the Disneyfashion for using two or more direc-tors on a film is not so much toshare the workload, as it is to bettercontrol the creative process.

Merger FeverOverhanging all this has been

the specter of the recent wave ofmergers and takeovers, along withthe growth of new broadcast net-works in the United States. Theeffect, especially in television, hasbeen to effectively curtail marketaccess. For instance, Disney’stakeover of ABC effectively shut outmost non-Disney companies fromthe network’s Saturday morning lineup. In addition, as a result of get-ting ABC, it took control of DIC


Entertainment, a major producer ofTV animation for both the domesticand international market; if this wasnot enough, in a separate deal, itbought out New York-based JumboPictures and promptly put a newversion of Doug on ABC.

Time-Warner’s merger withTurner Broadcasting, saw TurnerFeature Animation absorbed byWarner Bros. Feature Animation,while Hanna-Barbera has nowbecome a division of WarnerTelevision Animation. Time-Warner,which controls the budding WBNetwork and several cable channels(including HBO, which has just setup its own animation studio) addedseveral animation-friendly cable out-lets, including the Cartoon Network,as well as the rights to the MGMcartoon library and the pre-1948backlog of Warner Bros. cartoons.

Twentieth Century Fox has com-bined its highly successful FoxChildren’s Network with Saban, aleading international supplier ofanimation programming; Saban, inturn, continues its deal to handlechildren’s programming for theParamount-controlled UPN net-work.

P a r a m o u n t ,which wasengulfed byViacom a few yearsback, could alwaysask Saban to stepaside and turn thejob over toNickelodeon, partof Viacom’s MTVN e t w o r k s .N i c k e l o d e o n ,though, seems pre-occupied for thetime being withdoing more anima-tion for its cable ser-vice and expandinginto theatrical ani-

Doug, the flagship which w

mation. With Fox, WB and UPN tying up

increasingly larger blocks of time ofonce independent TV stations, theAmerican market for syndicatedshows (i.e., programs sold directly tostations rather than to networks)has shrunk drastically. Even Disneyhas had to scale back on the syndi-cation deals for its Disney Afternoonpackage, and now allows stationsto broadcast less than its full pack-age. However, given Disney’s situa-tion, I suspect the company willsomehow endure this hardship; thesame, however, cannot be said forstudios who do not have their owntelevision networks (terrestrial, cableor satellite) to rely on. The situationeffectively precludes most overseasproducers from making furtherinroads into the US TV market forthe immediate future; the situationmust be especially frustrating toJapanese companies, who haveseen their product gain popularity inhome video.

Theatrical FeaturesThe most visible and seemingly

most lucrative branch of the US ani-mation industry lies in theatrical fea-

February 1997 6

A

Space Jam.

avis on the set of their landmark featureeavis and Butt-head Do America.

tures. The field has been almosttotally dominated by Disney sincethe alliance between StevenSpielberg and Don Bluth endedafter The Land Before Time (1988).One after another, the films put upby various pretenders, ranging fromRich Animation (The Swan Princess)to MGM (All Dogs Go to Heaven)have fallen by the wayside.However, late last year, there weresigns of erosion. The Ivan Reitman-Warner Bros. Space Jam generatedenough money at the box office todemonstrate that someone elsebesides Disney can successfully mar-ket an animated event film. (The factthat the film’s inflated budget mayseverely interfere with its profitabil-ity, is really of little concern in thesematters.)

The second and most importantbreakthrough was Mike Judge’sBeavis and Butt-head Do America(MTV Animation) which has brought

Animation has been a stepchildso very long, it becomes

tempting to stand in awe ofblockbusters like The Lion Kingand quickly put aside any criti-cal qualms one may have about

them.

NIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE

in more than half the money thatSpace Jam did, on a budget per-haps one-tenth its size. Besides lay-ing the groundwork for theatricalversions of such shows as TheSimpsons, it may very well rid thecommon misperception that ani-mated features can only be suc-cessful if they appeal to kids. If itdoes open the doors to lower bud-geted animated features aimed atolder audiences, it will surely makeBeavis and Butt-head Do America alandmark film.

In the meantime, MTV’s sistercompany Nickelodeon is goingahead with a movie based on itspopular Rugratsshow from KlaskyCsupo, which ismost definitely kidfriendly.. This con-ceivably could befollowed by a ver-sion of Jon Sciesakand Lane Smith’swacky children’sbook, The StinkyCheese Man, to bedirected (or at leastco-directed) bySmith; like Beavisand Butt-head DoAmerica, this is

Butt-head and Bedebut, B

would be done in New York (andpossibly other animated features tobe done by Nickelodeon). If so, thecity will have finally reestablisheditself as a major regional productioncenter, a cachet it lost with thedemise of Famous Studios,Terrytoons and the shift of animat-ed commercial production toHollywood in the 1960s.

In the meantime, Warner Bros.,20th Century Fox and DreamWorksare actively pursuing the Holy Grailof Disney-style animated block-busters with their own in-houseunits. Warner Bros. FeatureAnimation, fresh from its rescueoperation on Space Jam and bol-stered by new talent absorbed fromTurner Feature Animation, is bettingon The Quest for Camelot, whichwill do battle during the Christmasseason with Don Bluth’s Anastasia,being done in Phoenix, Arizona, atFox’s new animation facility.

DreamWorks SKG is mountingthe most ambitious assault onfortress Disney, with four animatedfeatures in the works, starting withthe an epic-scaled biography ofMoses, The Prince of Egypt, for1998. The company is strongly hint-ing that it will not necessarilyindulge in the excess of merchan-

February 1997 7

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Klasky Csupo’s Rugrats feature based on thepopular TV show will be Nickelodeon Movie’s

first animated feature.

r. Katz, Professional Therapist, Comedy Central’sprime time animated hit show.

Mike Judge’s King of the Hill.

dising hype and tie-ins that seemalmost de rigeur for any major ani-mated film these days. If this is real-ly so, it would be a refreshingchange and perhaps indicatesDreamWorks’ hopes that the filmwould be taken more seriously.

The company, spurred on bythe success of Toy Story, last yearbought a 40% interest in PacificData Images, a major computeranimation house, and immediate-ly put it to work on Ants, featuringthe voice of Woody Allen; also inCGI is a version of William Steig’sbook, Shrek, to be done byDreamWorks Feature Animationitself, which will also use motioncapture techniques. Warner Bros.will also chime in on the CGI frontwith a version of Ted Hughes’ IronGiant (Iron Man), which has beenin development for several years.

TelevisionThe announcement that the

CBS will give up programming ani-mation on Saturday mornings wasremarkable only for the way it wasalmost treated as a nonevent. WithNBC having done the same fiveyears ago, that leaves ABC as thelast of the original three terrestrialnetworks programming animationat that time of the week. But withABC’s Saturday mornings givenalmost entirely over to Disney prod-uct, the days of Saturday morninganimation as we once knew it arenow over.

While the major networks weredecimated by such upstarts as theFox Kids Network andNickelodeon, their exit from themarket does change the dynam-ics of the market somewhat.Though the licensing fees paid bythe likes of CBS to producers hadbeen cut over the past few years,it was still considerably more thanthat paid by most of its competi-

D


tors, (I’ve heard said that the reasonthat Nickelodeon has not dealtmore with more traditional studios,is that they demanded higherlicensing fees than Nickelodeonwas willing to pay; while the dif-ferential has narrowed over theyears, it remains significant.)

Despite this and the increasedconcentration of power in TV, pro-duction continues to increase. Ofspecial note is the proliferation ofprime time shows, mostly on cable,but also on-air. It is an aspect oftelevision animation that is perhapsthe best indicator of how far thingshave progressed over the last fewyears. Thus, after several fruitlessattempts to cash in on the earlypopularity of The Simpsons, alldoubts have vanished about theviability of programming animationin the evening hours, especially ifthey aimed at adults.

Cable’s Nickelodeon continuesto flex its muscles not only byincreasing the number of animat-ed shows it puts on, but by begin-ning to program such shows in theevening/prime time hours, includ-ing Craig Bartlett’s Hey Albert andKablam! Sister channel MTV willgive us more episodes of Beavisand Butt-head along with its newspinoff, Daria, featuring BABH’sonly “intelligent character.”

Of more interest though is whatHBO is doing; a premium cablenetwork noted for its top flightoriginal movies, HBO also expand-ing into more adult animated fare.Thus, Ralph Bakshi, whose NewAdventures of Mighty Mousespurred the current rage of creator-driven shows (as well as bringingthe talent of John Kricfalusi to thefore), will be returning to series tele-vision with Spicy City, whichpromises to be in the sameraunchy mode as many of his the-atrical films.

February 1997 8

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Ralph Bakshi’s new HBO series, Spicy

HBO will also air a version ofTodd McFarlane’s comic book,Spawn, from its new in-house stu-dio, along with more episodes ofHyperion’s stylish Fairy Tales forEvery Child, which offers multicul-tural renderings of familiar stories.

The Cartoon Network, despiteits international success, still remainsunseen on many US cable systems.But this has not stopped it fromi n t ro d u c i n gmore andmore news h o w seach sea-son. (Theyare alsobroadcast on sistercable channelsTNT and TBS,which are morewidely seen inthe US.).At leastone a year isbeing basedon its widely publicized WorldPremiere Toons, which are essen-

Hanna-Barbera’s Cow and


tially series pilots dressedup as old-fashioned car-toons. Nevertheless, ithas provided a vehiclefor reaching out to bothyoung filmmakers andsuch veterans as RalphBakshi (whose work wasconsidered too risqué tobe shown) and BrunoBozetto. To date, Cowand Chicken, Dexter’sLaboratory and JohnnyBravo have gone thisroute.

Among terrestrialbroadcasters, Fox is bet-ting on Mike Judge’sKing of the Hill, which isbeing shown right afterThe Simpsons. Producedconcurrently with Beavisand Butt-head DoAmerica, Judge’s new

show, despite its rather tentativenature of its early episodes, isremarkable for its sympathetic por-trayal of a middle American family,which seems a hell of a lot truer tolife than most of today’s TV sitcoms.

Steven Spielberg, whose com-pany, Amblin, enjoyed a productiverelationship with Warner Bros. inproducing such shows as Tiny ToonAdventures and the delightful Pinkyand the Brain (especially in its primetime version). He is now supervis-ing things at DreamWorks TVAnimation and is is looking towardthe new WB Network to debut his

prime timeadventure seri-

al, Invasion: America.In addition, there are

such cable standbys asKlasky Csupo’sDuckman (USA Network)and Dr. Katz ProfessionalTherapist (ComedyCentral).

City.

Chicken.

Home VideoThe home video market has

long been one of the animationindustry’s most lucrative outlets. Untilrecently, most attention in this arenahas been focused on the video ver-sions of such blockbusters as ToyStory and such classics as SnowWhite and the Seven Dwarfs. Morerecently, the direct-to-video markethas exploded, what with Disney’stwo Aladdin sequels setting newsales records for original video pro-ductions. Universal Cartoon Studiosis enjoying similar success, if on alesser scale, with its follow ups toThe Land Before Time. Both studioshave stepped up production in thisarea, with Disney opening a newCanadian studio, with branches inToronto and Vancouver, devotedstrictly to making home videomovies.

However, until the direct-to-video market starts to be moreadventuresome, most of the interestwill be in this month’s long-delayedrelease of Richard Williams’ The Thiefand the Cobbler (even if it is in itsbastardized version) and in the lat-est in anime.

Harvey Deneroff is Editor ofAnimation World Magazine; he

also edits and publishes TheAnimation Report, an industry

newsletter.

The situation effectively pre-cludes most overseas produc-

ers from making furtherinroads into the US TV market

for the immediate future.

February 1997 9


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ddee LLyyoonnar Jean-Luc Ballester

L’Animation étant tout à la fois un Art, une tech-ique et un secteur industriel, raconter l’histoire de

’animation en France en tentant d’aborder ces troisspects, et en faisant le parallèle avec l’évolution duyndicalisme dans ce milieu serait certes du plus grandntérêt, mais nécessiterait pour le moins un ouvragentier. Telle n’est pas mon ambition. Au début desnnées quatre-vingt, le microcosme de l’animationrançaise fut secoué par des bouleversements quillaient grandement modifier la physionomie de cette

profession sur le planéconomique et social, avec degraves répercussions auniveau culturel : C’est sur cetépisode que je voudraisrevenir, car il a laissé des tracesdans le paysage audio-visuel.

En réponse aux assisesde l’Animation qui en 1983avaient réuni à Lyon l’ensem-ble de la profession et les pou-voirs publics, le Ministère dela Culture décida de mettre en

lace un plan de relance du Dessin Animé Français,ecteur industriel potentiellement créateur d’emplois,it “Plan Image”. Le SNTPCT (Syndicat National desechniciens et Travailleurs de la Productioninématographique et de Télévision [Audio-visuel]),ui s’était toujours battu pour structurer cette profes-ion artisanale, trouva tout naturellement sa place enremière ligne de ce combat. Pourtant, malgré laobilisation d’une grande partie de la profession,

ette relance n’atteignit que partiellement ses objec-ifs. De plus, bien que les analyses et revendicationsue le Syndicat avait exposées publiquement depuis

Français

ur (The Actor) (1974).

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oonnffeerreenncceey Jean-Luc Ballaster

Telling the story of animation in France alongith the evolution of the labor movement would

ertainly be of great interest, since animation is an art, technique and an industry. It might take a wholeook to do so, but that’s not my objective. What Iould like to do is to recall the turbulent times in

he 1980s, when the microcosm that is French ani-ation was deeply shaken by changes that were to

hange the profession’s outlook on the economicnd social levels, with deep repercussions on the cul-ural front, the results of whichre still being felt in the audio-isual field.

In response to the 1983yons Conference, whichrought together both publicuthorities and professionals

n the field, the French Minsterf Culture decided to imple-ent a plan to boost the

rench animation industry, aector which had great poten-ial for job creation. That planas called: Plan Image.

The SNTPCT (National Union of Workers andechnicians of TV and Film Production) found itselft the forefront, since it had always fought to restruc-ure that profession. Despite the mobilization of areat many professionals, the initiative only partlyttained its objectives. Furthermore, the union suf-ered despite its stated analyses and claims that wereaken into consideration by an increasing numberf professionals. Thus, it might be helpful to analyzehat led to this partial failure.

Today, all over the world, animation is experi-

English

Jean-François Laguionie’s

February 1997 10


adoks

plusieurs années aient été prises en compte par unnombre croissant de professionnels, l’image du syn-dicat en sortit affaiblie.

Analyser ce qui s’est passé à l’époque peut nousaider à comprendre quelles furent les causes de cedemi-échec. Aujourd’hui, non seulement le dessinanimé connaît dans le monde un nouvel “âge d’or”,mais le SNTPCT retrouve une certaine vitalité dansl’animation et draine de nouvelles générations detechniciens. Cette mise en perspective ne relève doncpas de la vaine nostalgie, mais doit permettre de mieuxcomprendre la situation actuelle de l’animation enFrance, quel rôle y joua le Syndicat et quelle place iloccupe aujourd’hui.

Une profession à la recherche de son identitéC’est en 1974 que fut créé un secteur Animation

au sein du SNTPCT, afin de donner à cette professionl’identité dont elle avait besoin pour se développer.Les deux premières tâches de ce secteur furent derenforcer, chez ces individualistes que sont les ani-

mateurs, l’idée de solidarité, etde faire reconnaître cette pro-fession dans les instances dontelle dépend. Pour cela, l’objec-tif principal fut tout naturelle-ment de la doter d’une baseconventionnelle.

Le SNTPCT tenta d’abordde faire inclure l’animation dansla Convention Collective de laP r o d u c t i o nCinématographique, sans suc-cès à ce jour. Dans le mêmetemps, plusieurs accords d’en-

treprise furent signés dans les studios où ce syndicatétait parvenu à s’imposer, notamment à la Savec,entreprise de production dépendant de la puissanteMutuelle Générale de l’Éducation Nationale, et aux 3A,le studio fondé par Jacques Rouxel, créateur desShadocks. Les films industriels de Rouxel qui tran-chaient sur la production habituelle lui permirent, àcoté de cette production “alimentaire” mais néan-moins créative, de produire des oeuvres plusambitieuses, comme les films de Piotr Kamler ou MichelOcelot. La Savec, grâce au soutien de la Mgen, pro-duisit un grand nombre de courts-métrage, dont ceuxde Michel Gauthier. Belokapi, créé en 1968, avait uneproduction régulière de petites séries (Plume d’Élan,de Philippe Landrot, La vache Noiraude ou LesMiniminos, de Gilles Gay). Le SNTPCT, bien implanté

(The Shadoks) (1968).

encing a new “Golden Age,” and SNTPCT is regain-ing its vitality and recruiting a new generation oftechnicians.

In order to understand the current situation inFrance, we need to look back at the past, not as anexercise in nostalgia, but to see what role the unionplayed and what status it has today.

A Profession in Search of its IdentitySNTPCT’s Animated Cartoon Section was created

in 1974. The aim was to give the profession the iden-tity it needed to grow. The first two tasks the sectorfaced were to reinforce the idea of solidarity amongindividual animators and to help promote that pro-fession within the animation industry. In order toachieve these goals, it was important to provide itwith a basic agreement.

Initially, SNTPCT unsuccessfully tried to includeanimation in the film industry’s basic contract. At thesame time, the union was able to sign a number ofagreements were signed in the studios, particularlyat Savec, a production com-pany affiliated with the pow-erful Mutuelle Generale del’Education Nationale ( ateacher’s union) as well as 3A,the studio created byJacqques Rouxel, the creatorof Shadocks, and Belokapi.

Rouxel’s industrial filmsallowed him to stand apartfrom the usual “spaghetti” pro-ductions and allowed him toproduce more ambitiousworks, such as films by PiotrKamler and Michel Ocelot. Thanks to the help ofMgen, Savec was also able to turn out a great manyshort films, including those of Michel Gauthier.Belokapi, which started in 1968, was regularlyinvolved in doing miniseries like Plume d’Elan byPhilippe Landrot, La Vache Normande or LesMiniminos by Gilles Gay. Firmly established in thesestudios, SNTPCT had the opportunity to improveworking conditions that allowed the gains in cre-ativity and wages that followed.

Since its closing in 1977 of Idefix, created threeyears earlier by Uderzo and Goscinny, French ani-mation had been plagued by inefficient equipmentas well as a reduced number of technicians.

As the union stated its memorandum to theMinistry of Culture, “The lack of incentive to produce

Jacques Rouxel’s Les Sh

February 1997 11


dans ces studios, eu l’opportunité d’y faire progress-er les conditions de travail qui permettaient cette créa-tivité, et les conditions salariales qui la sanctionnaient.

Cependant, depuis la fermeture en 1977 du stu-dio Idéfix fondé 3 ans auparavant par Uderzo etGoscinny, la situation du Cinéma d’Animation Françaisse caractérisait par des entreprises aux équipementspeu productifs et insuffisants, et par un nombre réduitde techniciens. Comme le constatait le Syndicat dansle mémorandum qu’il remit à l’époque au Ministère dela Culture, “l’absence d’impulsion à la production entre-tient cette situation de faiblesse structurelle et de non-compétitivité de nos entreprises”. L’industrie de l’ani-mation se résumait donc à la difficile survie de petitsstudios, parmi lesquels on peut citer ceux d’AlbertChampaux, de Manuel Otero (Cinemation) ou d’AndréMartin et Michel Boschet (Les Films Martin Boschet).Le Syndicat ne parvint jamais à s’imposer dans cespetites structures travaillant au “coup par coup”, etles conditions de travail et de salaires n’y étaient pasgarantis.

C’est pourquoi l’état des lieux dressé à Lyon en1983 fut alarmant : alors même que les chaînes detélévision diffusaient de plus en plus d’heures d’ani-mation dans les programmes pour enfants, de moinsen moins de ces films étaient réalisés en France, mêmesi certains y avaient été conçus (Ulysse 31, de NinaWolmark et Bernard Deries, ou L’aventure de la vie,d’Albert Barille). La plupart venait du Japon ou desÉtats Unis. La France, habituée à travailler de façon arti-sanale, paraissait incapable d’assumer des produc-tions qui nécessitaient des équipes importantes, desdélais serrés et des coûts de fabrication concurren-tiels. Même le marché des spots publicitaires échap-pait aux animateurs français au profit de leurs col-lègues anglais.

Pourtant, si la France avait disposé des moyensnécessaires pour produire et réaliser ne serait-ce quela moitié de la production diffusée annuellement surles trois chaînes d’alors, cela aurait déjà couvert 500emplois en France. Constat d’autant plus désolantque l’animation, inventée par les Français EmileRaynaud et Emile Cohl, fait partie intégrante de l’i-dentité culturelle du Cinéma Français.

La Loi des SériesInterpellé par la profession, dont le SNTPCT qui

était apparu à cette occasion comme l’organisationla plus représentative d’un secteur éparpillé, Jack Lang,Ministre de la Culture, débloqua un crédit de 8 millionsde francs pour le dessin animé et les nouvelles images.

has created structural weakness and made our com-panies noncompetitive.” The industry could be divid-ed into “small studios which were trying to survive,”among them were those of Albert Champaux,Manuel Otero (Cinemation), or André Martin andMichel Boschet (Martin Boschet Films). The unionwas never able to establish itself in those studios,which were operating on a “once in a while” basis.Naturally, working conditions and wages were notguaranteed there.

Because of that, the assessment made by the1983 Lyons Conference was alarming. While TV sta-tions were broadcasting more and more animatedshows for kids, fewer and fewer were made inFrance, despite the fact that some were conceivedthere (e.g., Ulysse 31 by Nina Wolmark and BernardDeries, or L’Aventure de la Vie by Albert Barille).

Most of the shows came from Japan or the US.Because it was still working at a craftsman’s scale,France seemed unable to handle productions requir-ing large crews, tight schedules and competitive pro-duction costs. Even the commercial spot market waslost by French producers to their English colleagues.

If France were equipped with the means neces-sary to produce just half of the shows broadcast eachyear on the 3 major networks, that could have gen-erated 500 jobs. That fact is all the more distressingwhen one realizes that animated cartoons, whichwere invented in France by Emile Reynaud and EmileCohl, are an integral part of French cinema’s cultur-al identity.

Broadcast Series LawAn eight million franc credit was granted by

Culture Minister Jack Lang to promote animation fol-lowing the request by professionals centered aroundSNTPCT, which became very much involved. Butdespite its involvement, the union was also very crit-ical of the measures that were adopted. It seemed tomake more strategic sense to them to foster the devel-opment of agreements with large consumer orga-nizations, instead of handing out subsidies for thedevelopment of new techniques which did not give

Rouxel’s industrial filmsallowed him to stand apart

from the usual “spaghetti” pro-ductions and allowed him to

produce more ambitiousworks, such as films by PiotrKamler and Michel Ocelot.

February 1997 12


nie’s P Merm

Le Syndicat s’impliqua beaucoup dans cette relance,appelée pompeusement “Plan Image”, bien querestant très critique par rapport aux mesures adop-tées : plutôt que de distribuer des subventions pourde “nouvelles techniques” sans s’être assuré au préal-able d’un développement programmé de la produc-tion, il nous paraissait stratégiquement prioritaire d’im-pulser la production nationale, notamment par undéveloppement important des commandes des grosconsommateurs institutionnels. C’est en permettantle développement du marché que nos entreprises,assurées d’un débouché, seraient amenées à s’équiper,à assurer l’emploi des techniciens, et à reconstituerleur capacité d’autofinancement.

Le studio France-Animation, nouvellement crééavec l’appui du Ministère de la Culture pour être lefer de lance de cette relance, et Belokapi relevèrentpourtant chacun de leur coté le défi en se lançantdans la fabrication de séries “lourdes” d’animationpour la télévision (26x26 ou 52x13). L’ambition deces deux entreprises de rester dans des coûts de fab-

rication compétitifs tout en pro-mouvant une certaine “qualitéfrançaise”, tant dans la factureque dans le contenu, se heurtaimmédiatement au problème durecrutement de professionnelsaptes à mener à bien une fabri-cation de type industriel. D’autresstudios tentèrent le pari et, seheurtant aux mêmes difficultés,eurent moins de chance et dis-parurent rapidement ( Exemple: BZZ, qui devait produire la sérieBibifoc, finalement animé en Asie)

France-Animation, dirigé par Gilbert Wolmark, s’ad-joignit les services de Michel Gauthier. Diplômé del’IDHEC (Institut des Hautes ÉtudesCinématographiques, ancienne appellation del’actuelle FEMIS : Fondation pour l’Étude du Montage,de l’Image et du Son.), section Animation, MichelGauthier avait fait ses premières armes à la fin desannées soixante avec l’équipe des Shadocks deJacques Rouxel avant de réaliser de 1974 à 1984 unequarantaine de films commandités de plus ou moinslongue durée, abondamment primés dans tous lesfestival d’animation ou de courts métrages ( AlloscopieN° 1 : Grand prix du Festival de Biarritz 1976, MisterJerry et Dr Debyll : Prix du Film Publicitaire au FestivalInternational d’Annecy 1979, Un Matin ordinaire :Prix Jean Riesser Nadal au Festival International de

ot’r et la fille des eauxaid) (1974)

any assurance of any actual production.As they put it: “Market development will enable

our companies to insure employment for our tech-nicians and rebuild their capacity to finance theirprojects themselves, because they would have anassured market waiting for them.”

France Animation Studio, which had been newlycreated, thanks to the help of the Ministry of Culture,was designed to spearhead that renewal; along withBelokapi, it decided to meet the challenge by start-ing production of large-scale TV series (26 x 26 or52 x 13).

The desire of these companies to remain com-petitive in terms of cost, while promoting a certain“French quality” in the manner and content of theshows, soon came against the problem of findingprofessionals who could effectively handle industri-al-style production. Other studios tried to meet thechallenge and encountered the same difficulties; asthey were less fortunate, they quickly disappeared(Ex Bzz that made the Bibifoc series, which wouldfinally be animated in Asia).

Under the leadership ofGilbert Wormak, FranceAnimation hired MichelGauthier, a graduate of IDHEC(Institute for Graduate Studiesof Film, the former name oftoday’s FEMIS [Foundation forthe Study of Editing, Image andSoundtrack]) where he majoredin animation. Gauthier got hisinitial training at the end of the60s, on Rouxel’s Shadocks.Between 1974 and 1984, heproduced about 40 films (short and long series),which was warmly received in cartoon and shortfilm festivals (Alloscopie Nº 1, Mister Jerry and Dr.Debyll, Un matin ordinaire, La Campagne est si bell.)

He quickly established himself as an original writer,whose artistic inspiration closely followed the pathblazed by John Hubley. But it was in another aspectof his prolific career that Wolmark was mostly inter-ested in. Within the union, Gauthier and his teamhad already completed an in-depth study of the ani-mation industry, as well as on working conditions;and had tried to establish a methodology that wouldensure the efficient production of TV series withoutsacrificing creativity. It was this initiative that led to theagreements signed with Savec and 3A. That knowhow had been successfully tested with such broad-

Jean-François Languio(Pot’r and the

February 1997 13


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ré MarAre the1962).

Lille 1981, prix spécial du Festival de Grenoble1981,1er prix du Festival International d’Espinho,Cinnanima 1981, Grand prix du Festival Internationalde Stuttgart 1982, La Campagne est si belle : 1er prixdu Festival International d’Antibes, prix spécial du juryau Festival de Marly-le-Roi 1986, nominé aux Césars).Il s’était vite affirmé comme un auteur original,inscrivant sa démarche artistique dans la voie ouvertepar John Hubley.

Mais c’est un autre aspect de sa carrière prolifiquequi intéressa sans doute Gilbert Wolmark : Dans lecadre du syndicat, Michel Gauthier et son équipeavaient mené depuis longtemps une réflexion appro-fondie sur les métiers de l’animation et les conditionsde travail, et tenté de mettre en place une méthodolo-gie apte à assurer la fabrication de séries avec effi-cacité au plan économique, sans sacrifier pour autantl’aspect créatif.C’est cette démarche qui avait permisd’aboutir à la signature des accords d’entreprise à laSavec et aux 3A. Ce savoir-faire avait été expérimen-té avec succès sur des séries telles que Amstram Gram(60 min) ou M Le Martien (60 min), deux productions

Belokapi.

Un enjeu économique et culturelMichel Gauthier participa donc

à la fondation de France-Animation en dirigeant la miseen place de la structure et del’équipe de réalisation desMondes Engloutis (26 X 26 Mn.).Bélokapi, de son coté, dirigé parNicole Pichon, recruta MichelPillyser et Bernard Kessler pourmener à bien la série Robostory.Contrairement à ce qui se passaà France-Animation, l’équipe de

Robostory, forte de son expérience et majoritairementsyndiquée, refusa de transiger sur les salaires, esti-mant avoir déjà prouvé que les coûts de fabricationpouvaient être concurrentiels avec les minima ratifiésconventionnellement. Ce différent amena MichelGauthier, qui plaçait le débat moins sur le planéconomique que culturel, a quitter le syndicat. Maisil n’en continua pas moins à défendre l’animation :dénonçant les producteurs qui choisissent de délo-caliser la fabrication en expliquant que les story-boardsont fait en France, Michel Gauthier répond que “l’an-imation, du latin Anima, est partie intégrante de lacréation, elle est indissociable de la conception (...).

tin’s Mais où sont les Blacks of Yesteryear)

ast series as Amstram Gram (60 minutes) or M leartien (60 minutes), both Belokapi productions.

n Economic and Cultural StakeGauthier was involved in the founding of France

nimation, directing the implementation of its struc-ure and team that were to produce Mondeglaoutis (26 x 26). On the other hand, under the

eadership of Nicole Pichon, Belokapi hired Michelillysser and Bernard Kessler to complete theobostory series. Because they were unionized andxperienced, the Robostory team, as opposed to thene at France Animation, refused to give in on theatter of salaries, as they felt that they had alreadyroven that their production costs could be com-etitive. This debate forced Gauthier to resign,ecause for him the debate was more cultural thanconomic. But this did not prevent him from defend-

ng France Animation.Denouncing the producers who chose to export

roduction under the pretext that the storyboardsere done in France, Gauthier stated that,

Animation, from the Latinnima, is an integral part of thereative process, that it was notisassociated with its concep-

ion . . . It is not something thate conceived of as a mechani-al process which can be sub-ontracted out.”

Equally convinced that thenimation was a cultural tool asmportant as its commercialotential, the union always

ought to safeguard the artisticnd technical qualities of films.hey fought to get legislationassed that would put an end

o the legal vacuum that still exists in that profession,ut also to defend working and salaries Many

hought that the wages proposed by the union wereoo high and that it was an attempt to destroy thendustry. “Producers would never be able to makenimated cartoons in France with such high salaries.”

It’s a fact though that with those “high salaries,”elokapi was able to produce Robostory, a 52 x 13eries at FF 42,000/minute, while at the same timerance Animation produced Les Mondes Engloutis forF 52,000/minute, paying their technicians wageshat were 50% lower.

Because of a severe shortage of highly-skilled pro-

Michel Boschet & Andnègres d’antan (Where

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February 1997 14


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Cet événement rare ne peut être envisagé commeun processus mécanique et donc, être délégué”.

Convaincu également que le film d’animationreprésentait un support culturel non moins importantque ces potentialités commerciales, le Syndicat s’esttoujours battu pour la sauvegarde de la qualité artis-tique et technique des films. Cela non seulement enréclamant une réglementation pour mettre fin au videjuridique dont souffre toujours cette profession, maiségalement en défendant les conditions de travail etde rémunération. Beaucoup trouvaient les salairessyndicaux “délirants” et criaient au sabordage : jamaisles producteurs n’allaient pouvoir produire de l’ani-mation en France avec de pareils salaires! Pourtant,avec ces salaires “délirants”, Belokapi a produitRobostory, série de 52 fois 13 minutes pour un coûtminute de 42 000 Fr. alors que dans le même temps,France-Animation produisait Les Mondes engloutis à52 000 Fr. la minute avec des salaires de techniciensinférieurs d’environ 50%. En effet, en raison dumanque dramatique de professionnels confirmés,France-Animation avait du recruter une grande par-tie de débutants (98% des techniciens accédaientpour la première fois à la pratique de leurs métiers).

Cette équipe parvintpourtant rapidementà un niveau techniquequi lui permit demener à bien deuxsérie de 26 épisodesdes Mondes Engloutis.Cette nouvelle généra-tion de techniciensque le syndicat ne sutpas rallier ne prit pastout de suite la mesuredu lien existant entrela pratique de ce méti-er et le contexte éco-nomique et socialdans lequel il s’exerce.Cette prise de con-science vint avec l’ex-périence, et se con-

crétisa notamment au moment de la liquidation deBélokapi qu’avait rejoint Michel Gauthier, suivi par unepartie de son équipe. Mais il était sans doute déjà troptard. L’abandon de la défense des salaires fut fatal auxaccords qui tombèrent en désuétude, et au cours desdix années qui suivirent, le niveau des rémunérationss’effondra jusqu’à atteindre un niveau proche du SMIC

(The Three Inventors) (1980).

essionals, France Animation was forced to hire andarge number of beginners (for 98% of them, it washeir first job in animation). That team, nevertheless,as able to quickly gain a technical mastery that

llowed it to produce 2 blocks of 26 episodes of Lesondes Engloutis. The union was not able to recruit

his new generation of technicians, who were notble to immediately appreciate the relationship thatxisted between trade practices and its economicnd social context.

But awareness came with experience, as waseen with the liquidation of Belokapi, a companyhat Michel Gauthier and his team had finally joined,ut it was too late.

The agreements fell apart, and for the next 10ears, salaries dropped to a point, in some cases,lose to the minimum wage. Working conditionslso deteriorated without preventing the producersrom subcontracting in the name of “economic real-sm.”

Today, that debate belongs to history. Francenimation sent animation to China and the Bayardroup liquidated Belokapi. There was neither highages nor any series to produce.

sterix to theescue

Production of ani-ated TV series wasot the only aspect of

he promotion of ani-ation. Gaumontlanned the produc-

ion of a feature film,o be directed by Paulnd Gaëtan Buzzi

nspired by Albertderzo and Renéoscinny’s Asterixomic books. To dohis, Gaumont had touild a structure thatould allow it, latern, to make two otherovies with the two famous Celts. Because cartoon

nimation was not recognized in any bargaininggreement, the contract signed by Gaumont boreob descriptions corresponding to live-action classifi-ations.

That situation helped a multinational team ofechnicians to realize this lack of recognition. Being

Michel Ocelot’s Les trois inve

February 1997 15


(Salaire Minimum de Croissance [actuellement : 6 431Fr mensuels.] Salaire plancher au dessous duquelaucun salarié ne peut être payé, selon la législationfrançaise, sauf de rares exceptions.) dans certains cas.Les conditions d’emploi et de travail se dégradèrentégalement dans les mêmes proportions, sans que celaempêche les producteurs de retourner à leurs vieilleshabitudes de sous-traitance, au nom du “réalismeéconomique”... Aujourd’hui, ce débat appartient àl’histoire, France Animation sous-traite l’animation enChine, le groupe Bayard a liquidé Belokapi, il n’y aplus ni salaires “délirants”, ni séries à animer...

Astérix à la Rescousse !La production de séries télé ne fut pas le seul volet

de la relance du dessin animé : La Gaumont mit enchantier la fabrication d’un long-métrage, réalisé parPaul et Gaëtan Brizzi, tiré de la bande dessinée Astérix,d’Albert Uderzo et René Goscinny. Pour cela elle créaune structure qui lui permit ensuite de réaliser deuxautres films avec les célèbres gaulois. Les fonctions del’animation n’étant reconnues dans aucune conven-tion collective, les contrats de la Gaumont portaientdes dénominations de fonctions correspondant à despostes dans la prise de vues réelles. Cette situation fitprendre conscience à une équipe où se côtoyaienttoutes les nationalités d’Europe, du manque de recon-naissance dont souffrait cette profession. Trop faible-ment représenté dans cette équipe très hétéroclite,le Syndicat ne put négocier directement un accordd’entreprise. Pourtant, la présence de Yannick Piel,producteur des Astérix, représentant la Gaumont dansla commission mixte d’extention de la ConventionCollective de la Production Cinématographique per-mit au Syndicat de négocier les définitions de fonctionet d’obtenir en 1989 leur adoption dans le cadre decette commission. Malheureusement, pour des rai-son inhérentes à cette commission et n’ayant rien àvoir avec l’animation, cette extension n’a toujours pasété ratifiée et reste donc sans effet à ce jour.

Après la réalisation des trois long-métrages d’Astérixet bien que le succès fut au rendez-vous, la Gaumontne maintint pas la structure, et l’équipe de très hautniveau qui avait animé ces trois films fut dispersée,pour le plus grand dommage de la productionfrançaise. Si la Gaumont avait maintenu ce studio,elle en avait les moyens, la France disposerait d’unoutil de production de long-métrage, ce qui n’est plusarrivé depuis le studio Idéfix, capable de rivaliser avecles géants américains et japonais.

poorly represented amidst a diverse team, the unionwas not able to directly negotiate a contract withthe company.

The presence, however, of Yannick Piel,Gaumont’s producer on Asterix, in the multilateralcommission for the extension of collective bargainingof film production, allowed the union to negotiatewithin that commision! Unfortunately, due to a rea-son pertaining to the commission, and which havenothing to do with animation, the extension wasnot ratified and remains without effect.

After the three Asterix films were made, anddespite the company’s success, Gaumont did notmaintain the structure and the high quality team thatmade these films were dispersed, to the sorrow of theFrench film industry. Had Gaumont kept the teamintact, which it was able to do, France would thenhave been equipped with the means to produce ani-mated features in competition with the US andJapanese giants. That has not happened since thedays of the Idefix Studio.

French Animation: Let’s LiquidateThe final blow to the attempt to revive French

animation was, without doubt, given by the liqui-dation in early 1988 of Belokapi by the Bayard Group,which controlled it. The closing of a studio that wasturning out five international quality series, was aneye opener to the technicians who fought for fouryears to live up to the challenge posed by the PlanImage.

Their efforts were reduced to nothing, althoughthey had already won a challenge thought by manyas impossible to meet: to establish the basis for aFrench animation industry of a certain level for theproduction of TV series, as well as for the making ofquality features. Efforts that were destroyed by thecynicism and lack of cultural ambition of those inwhose hands lay the destiny of the audiovisual indus-try.

By seriously questioning what they called the“unwise” management practices of Nicole Pichon,whom they accused of launching too many showswithout securing their financing, the leaders of the

While TV stations were broad-casting more and more ani-mated shows for kids, fewer

and fewer were made inFrance, despite the fact thatsome were conceived there.

February 1997 16


Le dessin animé français : on liquide...Le coup de grâce à cette tentative de relance du

dessin animé français fût sans conteste la liquidationdébut 1988 de Bélokapi par le groupe Bayard, quien avait pris le contrôle. Cette mise à mort d’une struc-ture qui était en train de fabriquer cinq séries de niveauinternational ouvrit les yeux des techniciens qui s’é-taient battus depuis quatre ans pour relever le défidu Plan Image. Alors qu’ils avaient gagné ce pariréputé impossible : établir les bases d’une productionFrançaise d’animation de niveau industriel, aussi bien

pour la production de séries télé quepour la réalisation de long-métragesde qualité, ils virent leurs efforts réduitsà néant par le manque d’ambition cul-turelle et le cynisme de ceux qui déte-naient entre leurs mains l’avenir del’audiovisuel : Remettant en cause lagestion “imprudente” de NicolePichon, accusée d’avoir lancé trop deséries importantes sans s’assurer deleur financement préalable, lesdirigeants du groupe de presse ont“liquidé en huit jours une entreprisequi existait depuis vingt ans”, commele soulignait Michel Gauthier, qui réal-isait alors Ys La Magnifique dans lestudio montreuillois. Comment enétait-on arrivé là ?

La télévision française, à la dif-férence des networks américains ou

japonais, paie très mal le dessin animé : de 10 à 15%du budget de fabrication, alors qu’il faudrait qu’elle lefinance pour 50 à 70%, comme cela se fait dansd’autres pays. Le producteur doit alors monter sonfinancement en spéculant sur les retombées finan-cières des droits dérivés : jouets, gadgets, livres... ven-dus dans la foulée de la diffusion. Bélokapi a vu cettebelle mécanique s’enrayer lorsque TF1 (premièrechaîne de télévision française, anciennement chaînepublique, privatisée en 1986 par le Gouvernement)a annulé la diffusion de Robostory, pourtant com-mandée par la Une au temps d’Hervé Bourges, pourcause de privatisation. Les espoirs de commercialisa-tion des droits dérivés se sont envolés, et Bélokapi adu rembourser les avances consenties par les fabri-cants de jouets et par les éditeurs. Il n’y a guère derecours contre ce genre “d’accident”, toute chaînerestant libre de ne pas diffuser ce qu’elle a payé, et lesdéprogrammations sont monnaie courante danstoutes les télés commerciales. La Une avait déjà mis

Press Group “in 8 days liquidated a company thatexisted for 20 years,” Michel Gauthier said at thetime, while working on Ys la Magnifique in theMontreuil Studio. What led us to that?

Unlike the American and Japanese networks, thefees French television pays for animated program-ming are very low; being only 10% to 15% of theiractual budgets versus 50% to 70%. Producers thushave to come up with the rest of the financing ontheir own, betting on additional income from otherrights, such as toys, gadgets, books, etc. Belokapisaw the downfall of its enterprise when TF1 (the

French public TV network, which was privatized in1986), under the direction of Hervé Bourges, can-celed their showing of the Robostory episodes it hadordered because of privatization! The prospects ofmarketing the program’s ancillary rights vanishedand Belokapi was forced to return the down pay-ments it had received from toy manufacturers andpublishers. There is no protection against these typesof “accidents,” because TV networks have the free-dom on whether they will broadcast a show theybought or not—”deprogramming” being a commonpractice among commercial broadcasters. TF1 hadonce before put Belokapi in jeopardy when pro-duction of Robostory was beginning by withdrawingfrom the financing package, although it was sup-posed to come up with a quarter of the budget.Nicole Pichon was then forced to make up for the bal-ance through the banks.

At the time of Belokapi’s liquidation, the man-agement of children’s programming units contend-

Paul & Gaëtan Brizzi’s Fracture (1977).

February 1997 17


Bélokapi en difficulté au début de la production deRobostory, qu’elle devait financer à hauteur du quartde son budget, en se retirant du montage alors quela série était en cours de fabrication, obligeant NicolePichon à trouver cette somme auprès des banques.

“Les lois économiques du moindre coût s’ap-pliquent également au dessin animé”, faisaient remar-quer avec cynisme les responsables d’unités de pro-gramme pour la jeunesse au moment de la liquida-tion de Bélokapi, en arguant que le prix de revient etd’amortissement des dessin animés français étaitencore largement supérieur à celui des pays d’Extrême-Orient. En moyenne 50 000F la minute contre 2 000au japon, où le travail est parfois sous-traité en Coréeou à Hong-Kong. Les équipes des Mondes engloutis(52 000 Fr la Mn), de Robostory (42 000 Fr la Mn)ou de Ys la magnifique (32 000 Fr la Mn) s’inscrivaienten faux contre ces déclarations : “Dire que la Toei peutproduire un épisode par jour est faux,” protestaitMichel Gauthier. “La cadence est au mieux d’un parsemaine. A Bélokapi, nous étions arrivés à deux parmois, pour un coût de 32 000F la minute. En outre,l’industrie japonaise dispose de 30 000 salariés, con-tre 300 en France.” Ajoutons que les arguments etcomparaisons des responsable de chaînes relevaientd’une mauvaise foi éhontée : Le but du Plan Imagen’avait jamais été de s’aligner sur la capacité de pro-duction du Japon ou de la Corée, mais de construireun secteur industriel apte, entre autres, à préserverla spécificité culturelle de l’animation française.Jacqueline Joubert, responsable des émissions pourla jeunesse d’Antenne 2 (Deuxième chaîne de télévi-sion française, publique) se voulait rassurante etdéclarait : “J’ai imposé un quota de 30% d’animationnationale dans mes programmes, je compte bien lerespecter. Nous diffuserons les films commandés àBélokapi.” Encore aurait-il fallu que ces films puissentêtre terminés, ce qui ne fut pas le cas de Ys laMagnifique, malgré les efforts déployés par l’ensem-ble de l’équipe pour tenter de sauver le projet. A2n’augmenta pas son apport pour combler le troucreusé par la defection de Bélokapi, et comme aucunautre investisseur ne vînt apporter ces 8 MF man-quants, la série pourtant à moitié animée finit auxoubliettes.

Ys la magnifique, la serie engloutieCe projet, lauréat du Concours A2/Ministère de

la Culture, est devenu en 1985 la première grandecoproduction franco-canadienne d’envergure inter-nationale. Son ambition était de renouer avec le pat-

ed that the production and depreciation costs ofFrench animation were still higher than those of com-panies in the Far East, which prompted them to cyn-ically comment that, “the economics of lower costalso applied to the animation industry.”

On average, the cost for one minute of animationwas FF 50,000 in France against FF 2,000 in Japan,where the work was often subcontracted out toKorea. The teams working on Mondes Engloutis (FF52,000/minute), Robostory (FF 42,000/minute), orYs tla Manigique (FF 32,000/minute) were at oddswith the declaration that, “It is wrong to say that Toeican produce an episode a day,” as Michel Gauthiersaid in protest. At best, the schedule would be oneepisode per week. With Belokapi, we were able toturn out 2 a month, at a cost of FF 32,000/minute.Furthermore, the Japanese industry is 30,000 work-ers strong compared to 300 in France. We must alsoadd that the arguments and figures cited by the dif-ferent network heads were shameful and dishonest,because Plan Image’s objectives has never been toalign with Japanese and Korean production capaci-ties; instead, they were to build an industrial sectorable, among other things, to maintain the culturalspecificity of French animation. When JacquelineJouvert, head of programming at Antenne 2 (France’ssecond public TV network), declared that, “I imposeda 30% quota for national animation and I intend torespect it,” she just wanted to be reassuring. She alsoadded that, “We will broadcast all the shows orderedfrom Belokapi.” But in order for her to do so, theshows had to be finished, and this was not the casewith Ys la Manifique, despite all the efforts put forthto save the project.

Antenne 2 did not increase its share to make upfor the hole left by the withdrawal of Belokapi; andsince another investor did not come up with theextra FF 8 million, the half-finished series ended upforgotten.

Ys la Magnifique, or the Engulfed SeriesIn 1985, the project, winner of the Antenne

2/Ministry of Culture contest, was the first Franco-Canadian production of international standing. Itsaim was to reconnect with its European cultural her-

Animation is not somethingthat be conceived of as a

mechanical process which canbe subcontracted out.

February 1997 18


mler’s

rimoine culturel européen (Ys la Magnifique s’inspired’une légende bretonne), et de montrer qu’on peutservir des histoires originales par une animation dequalité tout en respectant les contraintes de la série.

A l’époque, cette ambition était considérée parbeaucoup comme “irréaliste, dépassé, voir mêmeinutile”. Ce combat a été abondamment dénigré. Ona reproché au techniciens qui le menaient, dans leSyndicat ou en marge de celui-ci, de tout miser sur lesséries, considéré comme des produits “médiocres”. Sicertains se sont beaucoup battus pour qu’existe unsecteur industriel de l’animation de série, c’est parcequ’ils considéraient que c’était sur cette assise quepouvait se construire une industrie du long métrage,mais aussi un espace de création pour le courtmétrage d’auteur. En effet, cet objectif devait perme-ttre de créer une dynamique économique propre à

rejaillir sur l’ensemble des productions d’animation etsortir l’animation du ghetto de l’artisanat. C’est le casau Japon, où les innombrables séries dont la télé nousa abreuvés sont la rançon pour les chef-d’oeuvre d’unTakahata ou d’un Miyazaki. Nous ne nous sommespas battus pour imposer de l’animation “médiocre”,nous nous sommes battus pour tenter de construireles bases d’une industrie.

Aujourd’hui, pratiquement plus aucune série n’estanimée en France, et l’animation en général n’y arien gagné : Si plus aucun producteur de séries ne faitle pari de fabriquer en France, il semble tout aussiimpossible de réaliser un long-métrage en France, sil’on en croit les difficultés rencontrées par Jean-FrançoisLaguionie (Le château des Singes) ou Michel Ocelot(Kirikou et la Sorcière). Quant au film français La Vieest un Grand Chelm, d’Albert Kaminski, il a été animé

Une mission éphémre (A Short-Life Mission) (1992).

itage (Ys la Magnifique was inspired by a Brittanylegend) and to show that it was possible to offeroriginal stories using quality animation, while respect-ing the demands of a series. At the time, that ambi-tion was considered by many as “unrealistic, out-dated and even useless,” and was widely criticized.The technicians who were working on it, union andnonunion, were blamed for betting too much on a“mediocre” series. If many fought hard for the exis-tence of an industrial sector capable of producinganimated series, it is because they considered that itwas only on that foundation would it be was possi-ble to build an industry capable of turning out fea-ture films and leave enough creative space for shortauteur films. In fact, that objective was supposed toallow the creation of an economic dynamics thatwould trickle down the whole animation industryand pull it out of the craftsmanghetto it was kept in.

This is the case in Japan,where the numerous TV series arenothing but the ransom that wehave to pay to see masterpieceslike those of Takahata or Miyazaki.We did fight to end up providingmediocre animation to the public.Our fight is an attempt to buildthe foundation of an industry.

Today in France, there are nomore animated series, and that isnot a gain for animation in gen-eral. If no producer is ready to beton making a series in France, itwill seem impossible to expect tosee feature films as well. The diffi-culties met by Jean Francois Laguione in the mak-ing of Le Chateau des Singes or Michel Ocelot withKirikon et la Sorceiére are a testament to that. As forthe French film La Vie est un Grand Chelm, it was ani-mated in Romania.

Embezzlement of Public FundsAlthough the demise of French animated car-

toons was also a serious failure of the government,it did not stop it from “opening the umbrella” so tospeak. Two special funds were used: the supportfund and the support account both served as a shieldand an alibi for hiding. The reality is that those fundsare being collected even as we speak, by producerswho are not doing any work on in France exceptfor storyboards, graphic research and the model

Piotr Ka

February 1997 19


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en Hongrie, co-production oblige.

Le détournement des fonds publicsBien que la liquidation du dessin animé français fut

un grave échec aussi pour les pouvoirs publics, legouvernement, “ouvrit le parapluie” : le fond de sou-tien et le compte de soutien furent les deux dossiersalibi derrière lesquels l’Etat s’abrita. En réalité, ces aidessont encore aujourd’hui raflées par des producteursqui ne fabriquent pas sur le territoire : A part le story-board, les recherches graphique et les model sheets– du travail pour une dizaine de personnes – l’ou-vrage s’en va très vite en Corée ou à Taïwan, et nerevient que pour la sonorisation et le mixage, c’est àdire la signature. Ainsi les fonds publics vont finale-ment à la production étrangère et subventionnentl’emploi des Coréens ou des Taïwanais.

Les chaînes de télé, de leur coté, n’assument pasleur rôle : favoriser une production nationale pourcontribuer à créer leur propre marché, base indis-pensable à l’existence d’une industrie, et permettrel’expression culturelle de la France. Elles se contententde remplir des grilles de programme avec des pro-duits bon marché.

L’échec du Plan Image ne se situa donc pas seule-ment sur le champs de la bataille mondiale que selivrent les grandes puissances sur le plan économique,il n’eut pas seulement des répercussions sociales dom-mageables, ce fut bien une défaite sur le plan cul-turel. Les chaînes de télé et les grands groupes quidétiennent les destinées de l’audiovisuel entre leursmains portent la lourde responsabilité de cette échec.

Mickey a la Rescousse du Dessin Animé Français,ou le Contraire...

Aujourd’hui, le dessin animé connait un renou-veau prometteur dans le monde : aussi la Gaumontrevient-elle à la série, Dupuis, après le succès de Spirou,continue l’adaptation du patrimoine de la B.D. fran-co-belge, plusieurs séries sont en chantier. Très peu,voire même aucune ne sera animée en France, cecombat là est perdu. La bataille pour les conditions detravail est sans cesse à recommencer. Les militants duSNTPCT sont toujours là pour la mener, malgré lesrevers et les difficultés, partout où ils sont.

Notamment dans le studio de dessin animéfrançais qui réunit la plus grosse équipe d’animateurseuropéens, le seul qui ait la capacité de produire deslong-métrages sans sous-traiter, Walt Disney FeatureAnimation France. Ironie du sort, ce studio vient d’ap-porter une contribution décisive à l’adaptation en ani-

eets—enough to keep 10 persons busy. The realork is sent off to Korea or Taiwan, only to comeack for postproduction (sound, editing, etc.). It islear that public funds are subsidizing jobs for Koreansnd Taiwanese.

TV networks don’t play their role either. Instead ofromoting a national production that will create itswn market, which is the indispensable basis for thexistence of an industry that would help createrench cultural expression, the networks limit them-lves to filling their schedules with cheap product.

The failure of Plan Image is not to be found onlyt the level of competition between the economicperpowers, which has more than adverse social

ffects; it is also a failure on the cultural front. The net-orks and the large organizations responsible fore future of audiovisuals bear a heavy responsibili- for this failure.

ickey to the Rescue of French Animation,r the Other Way Around

Today, animation is experiencing a promisingorldwide renewal. Gaumont has decided to comeack for the Dupuis series after the success of Spiron.aumont continues to mine this Franco-Belgian ani-ation heritage. A number of series are under way.ery few or none will be made in France. The fight already lost. The battle for better working conditionsust be fought endlessly. The members of SNTPCT

re there to fight it, despite the setbacks and diffi-ulties, wherever they may be. Especially in the Waltisney Feature Animation studio in France—the onlyudio that can claim to have the largest team ofuropean animators, which also has the capacity toroduce animated features without subcontractingork out.

Ironically enough, that same studio made anportant contribution to the adaptation of a mas-rpiece of French cultural heritage: Victor Hugo’sotre Dame de Paris. It may seem pitiful that notne French producer was able to acquire the nec-

Unlike the American andJapanese networks, the fees

French television pays for ani-mated programming are verylow; being only 10% to 15% of

their actual budgets versus 50%to 70%.

February 1997 20


mation d’un chef d’oeuvre du patrimoine culturelfrançais : Notre Dame de Paris, de Victor Hugo. Onpeut trouver désolant qu’aucun producteur françaisne se soit donné les moyens de puiser dans ce patri-moine et qu’il soit exploité, pillé diront certains, par lesMajors compagnies américaines. On peut aussi con-sidérer que, justement, le studio Disney, basé àMontreuil, en banlieue parisienne, est un studiofrançais, réunissant une équipe française eteuropéenne unie et fière de sa spécificité.

Créée en 1990 en son sein, la section syndicale duSNTPCT a su redonner à ce syndicat une audiencequi dépasse les limites de l’entreprise. En effet, celle-ci ne s’exprime pas seulement dans le nombre desadhésions, mais également dans le fait que les can-didats présentés par le Syndicat aux élections des insti-tutions de représentation du personnel sont régulière-ment élus à une large majorité. Non seulement leSyndicat a su retrouver auprès des nouvelles généra-tions de techniciens une crédibilité qu’il avait perdue,mais il a su également s’imposer auprès de la Directioncomme un interlocuteur incontournable. C’est ainsique plusieurs accords ont pu être ratifiés, notammentun accord de salaires minima garantis qui fait déjàréférence dans la profession, le premier depuis l’a-bandon des accords antérieurs au Plan Image. Onest peut être loin du secteur industriel où plusieursgrosses structures fabriqueraient des séries de qual-ité, mettant en valeur le patrimoine culturel français,loin du plein emploi pour les techniciens de l’anima-tion, les lay-out men, animateur et autres décorateurs.Toutes choses qu’avait promis ou laissé entrevoir lePlan Image. On est loin du Syndicat présent danstoutes les grandes entreprises, imposant la négocia-tion de ses revendications, loin des conditions d’em-bauche et de travail garanties conventionnellement.Pourtant, la présence de Disney en France peut êtreun atout non seulement pour le dessin animé français,mais également pour le Syndicat. Car c’est aussi enmultipliant les contacts avec les syndicats des autrespays, en cherchant à élargir son audience au delàdes frontières et en étant présent au sein du plusgrand et du plus célèbre studio de Dessin Animé quele Syndicat pourra continuer à se battre pour faireentendre la petite voix singulière du dessin animéfrançais.

Jean-Luc Ballester est le représentant et editeur del”Animation”, journal du secteur animation du SNT-

PCT.

essary means to tap into that heritage and insteadwatch it pillaged by major American corporations.Of course, one may argue that Disney’s studio, basedin Montreuil, on the outskirts of Paris, is a French stu-dio with a French and European crew, and is proudof its specificity.

In 1990, the union created as a section of SNT-PCT in Disney and was able to acquire an audiencewell beyond the limits of the company. That audi-ence is expressed not only in the number of mem-bers, but also in the fact that its people on the Boardof Personnel are regularly elected by large margins.They were not only able to recapture its credibilityamong the new generation of technicians, but itwas also able to present itself to management as amajor interlocutor. It then became possible to seethat many agreements were signed and, in particu-lar, a minimum wage agreement, which stands as areference point in the industry, since the terminationof the agreements prior to Plan Image.

We are certainly far from being a full-fledgedindustrial sector, with large studios turning out qual-ity productions promoting France’s cultural heritage.And we are far from full employment for the indus-try’s technicians—layout artists, animators and design-ers—things that were promised or hoped for withPlan Image. Yes, we are far having a strong unionpresence in all the major companies, able to compelnegotiations for our claims. And we remain far fromhaving contracts guaranteeing basic hiring and work-ing conditions. Despite all that, the presence ofDisney in France must be viewed as a plus, not onlyfor French animation, but for the union as well. It isonly by multiplying contacts with unions in othercountries, by trying to broaden its audience beyondnational boundaries, by being present inside themost famous animation studio of them all that theunion will be able to continue the fight that will allowthe singular little voice of French animation to beheard.—Translated from the French by Bassirou Thioune

Jean-Luc Ballester is a representative of and Editorof the newsletter for the Animation Department of

the SNTPCT in Paris.

February 1997 21

AN

I

The Changing Winds of KKoorreeaann AAnniimmaattiioonn

by Chung-bae Park

i n

n December, South Korea, knownas the “Miracle on the Han River”and a major automobile and semi-

conductor exporter, joined theOECD. Today, however, the mostimportant topic of conversationconcerns the future of Korea’s enter-tainment industry. And animation isthe center of that industry. Nineteenninety-five will be rememberedas a turning point for Korean ani-mation: it was the year when theworld’s second channel devotedexclusively to animation wasestablished and when Korea firstplayed host to the SeoulInternational Cartoon &Animation Festival (SICAF). Theseevents took place against a back-ground of the increased pro-duction of animated features, allof which signaled the start of anew phase in Korea’s animationindustry.

From Subcontracting toPlanning

Korean animation nominallybegan with a commercial forLucky Toothpaste in 1956. But,it is usually agreed that it reallybegan with the production of HongGil Dong (1967), the country’s first

Off

Korea’s animation industryacquired the unique distinctionof being dominated by feature

films.


animated feature by Shin DongWoo of the Shin Dong Hyun broth-ers (Korea’s answer to Walt and RoyDisney). The film’s success sparkedpublic interest in Korean animation.Though after one more film, theShin brothers’ success ended dueto a dispute with their distributor. Inthe early 1970s, the market for

Korean animation rapidly shrank asthe country was flooded with for-eign animated films and TV shows.

Korea’s animation industryacquired the unique distinction ofbeing dominated by feature films.Most American and Japanese TVseries were being animated in

cial poster for the Seoul International Cartooand Animation Festival (SICAF).

Korea, but local broadcast outletscould not afford to make suchshows themselves. As a result, Koreabecame subordinate to theAmerican and Japanese oligopoly.

A Decade of SubcontractingThe 1970s was the decade of

subcontracting. Korean animators,because of their low wages andhigh skills, were in high demandby American and Japanese pro-ducers. While subcontractinggreatly expanded the Korean ani-mation industry, it also gave it abad name, as it seemed to demon-strate a lack of creativity and plan-ning.

Before the 1988 Seoul Olympics,as a result of cultural reform, therearose a demand for domesticallymade animated TV series. Thedemand was finally met whenKorea’s two major broadcasting sta-tions, KBS and MBC, showed thefirst locally-made animated series:Wandering Gga Chi and Go OnRunning Hodori. The followingyear,Wonder Kiddy 2020 sparkedinterest on the international scene.

While both subcontracting anddomestic production continued tocoexist after 1988, some studiosbegan to enter into co-productiondeals with Japanese and Americancompanies, enabling Korea to beginentering the international anima-tion market. Disney’s success in1992, spurred a revival the follow-

February 1997 22

AN

ing year of local animated featuresfor the first time in seven years.

What Inspired These Changes?The first factor in changing

Korea’s animation industry was thatthe country’s major industrial com-panies changed theirattitude about investingfor the 21st century.With the worldwideentertainment industryexpected to becomehighly profitable, theybecame eager to enterthe field, which ofcourse included ani-mation!

Jeiljedang investedin DreamWorks SKGand began to produceanimation throughJCOM. The Dong YangGroup established theTooniverse cable channel, whilesuch industrial giants as Samsung,Hundai, and DaeWoo are alsoentering the fray.

Second, there were changes inthe structure of the animation indus-try itself. During the 1970s and1980s, Korea had been relied on asa source of cheap labor. When itswork force became more expensiveand Korea started to shun low techindustries, it started to lose subcon-tracting work to Southeast Asia andChina. It is a situation that threatensthe livelihood of the some 20,000people employed at 450 studios.These workers, along with themajor industrial companies, pro-vided the basis for a transition from

View outsidSI


subcontracting to indigenous pro-duction. This resulted in develop-ment and planning departmentsbeing set up in the larger studios.

Third, changes occurredbecause of the new expectationsengendered by the success of

Disney animated fea-tures and the globalspread of Japaneseanimation. Disney’ssuccess, in particular,allowed Korea todream of animationas being a viableindustry in the sameleague as automo-biles and semicon-ductors. And it wasthe success of near-by Japan’s animationindustry that sup-ported that dream.

From the Edges Towards theCenter

These structural changes result-ed in many changes in the Koreananimation industry itself. Nineteenninety-five, the first year of plannedanimation, proved to be the turn-ing point. The most importantchange, though, was the birth ofthe Dong Yang Group’s Tooniverse.(Until then, Dong Yang had beena leading confectionery and financecompany.) The laws governingKorean cable television demandedthat 30% of programming be local-ly made, a mandate that was easi-ly fulfilled by animation. As a result,along with co-ventures in such relat-ed industries as cartoons and

e of theater atCAF.

Armagedom (1995).

games, the animation market start-ed to take off.

Another important change wasthe increase in the production of in-house productions and the contin-uing challenge of making feature-length films. The number of ani-mated features increased steadily(one each in 1993 and 1994, andthree in both 1995 and 1996), asdid the number of TV shows (fiveto six new series a year between1994 and 1996). However, with theexception of Little Dinosaur Dooly inDecember 1996, most indigenousanimated productions have notbeen successful. This shows that,despite Korea’s demonstrated tech-nical proficiency in animation, itsproductions lack the creativity char-acteristic of Korean cultural prod-ucts.

For 1997, it is expected that thedevelopment and production oforiginal material will provide newopportunities to incorporate Koreanstyles, characters and plots, result-ing in films of the same quality asDooly. Korean animation is ready tocompete in the international mar-ketplace through original TV seriesand international co-productions.

As to computer animation,Korea, which was once a desert,

While subcontracting greatlyexpanded the Korean anima-tion industry, it also gave it abad name, as it seemed to

demonstrate a lack of creativi-ty and planning.

February 1997 23

A

Poster for 1995 version of Shimbrothers’Hong Gil Dong.

has made significant progress,which started withWa Bull in 1991.The progress eventually resulted inhaving films entered into competi-tion at last year’s HiroshimaAnimation Festival; in addition, thistechnology is now being used inmovies, commercials and otherareas of film and television.

Due to the animation boom, anumber of animation schools wereestablished. Thus, the number ofanimation courses has increased

The laws governing Koreancable television demanded that30% of programming be locallymade, a mandate that was eas-

ily fulfilled by animation.


1995 version of Shimbrothers’Hong Gil Dong.

from only one prior to 1995, to fourin 1995, and eight last year. Thesewell-educated directors, animatorsand planners will ensure that theexpansion of the local industry willnot be short-lived and as such willprovide the most powerful force inKorean animation.

Recent developments in anima-tion parallel the country’s industrialpolicy, which is noted for govern-ment working hand-in-hand withthe private sector. The most impres-sive example of this collaborationwas SICAF, where attendance wasover 300,000, once again illustrat-ing the great interest in locally-madeproduct. The Korean governmentalso sees animation as the mostcompetitive industry for the 21stcentury. To demonstrate their con-fidence, it has provided tax breaksby changing animation’s industrialclassification and providing servicesto producers—two changes whichclearly demonstrates the govern-ment’s commitment to the field.

Despite all the changes andprogress made by Korea’s animationindustry, it continues to remain onthe periphery of the internationalsubcontracting system. The windsof change are blowing, but nobodyknows whether they will turn into atyphoon or simply fade away. Somespeculate that the future of Koreananimation is not bright, because ofthe industry’s inability to plan,investors who demand immediateresults, and the overwhelming

power of Disney and Japanesecompanies.

However, with substantial invest-ment from the country’s industrialgiants, the increased interest by thepublic, and a new cadre of highlytrained animation artists, the Koreananimation industry now has thepotential to change.

Animation in Korea can perhapsbest be compared to country’s shoeindustry. During the 1970s and1980s, Korean labor was a vital fac-tor in subcontract shoemaking, arole now assumed by China andSoutheast Asia. Recently, a sloganused by a local shoe manufacturer

gained considerable popularity: “Toconquer or be conquered.” Thismotto perfectly expresses the criti-cal situation of today’s Korean ani-mation industry.

Dinosaur Dooly (1996).

Chung-Bae Park is Vice Presidentof MICOM , in Korea, and whosebook, Animation Story, was pub-lished last year. An experienced

animation producer, he was untilrecently President of Seiyong

Anitel.

February 1997 24

AN

Shin Dong Mun, Shin Dong Mun,

An Old WAn Old Warrior inarrior inKorean AnimationKorean Animation

by John A. Lent

One of the well kept secretsof the animation world isthe role played by South

Korea, both in the production offoreign films and television showsand in the dynamic transformationof its sluggish domestic industry.In just 30 years, Korea has become


Poster from Shin’s second feature, MoChadolbawee. Courtesy of Chung-bae

the world’s largest animation pro-ducer, its 80 to 100 studios churn-ing out up to 1,000 works yearlyfor US, Canadian, Japanese, andEuropean clients.

Even more impressive are thestrides made to develop local car-toons, mostly since 1994.

Discovering that 98% ofall exportable visualproducts from Koreawere animation, thegovernment actedquickly to exploit thisresource. In less thantwo years, it granted theindustry manufacturingstatus, affording a 20%tax break; established anannual Seoul Inter-national Cartoon andAnimation Festival(SICAF), contests toencourage the creationof local cartoon charac-ters and animation, andannual prizes for thebest animation; pro-moted co-productionefforts; spurred the cre-ation of at least nineuniversity and collegetraining programs inanimation and cartoonppee &

Park.

arts, and set in motion plans for acomics/animation museum and ananimation town.

Some results of this activityinclude the production of at leasta half dozen feature-length films,the establishment of a televisioncartoon network, the bindingtogether of the desperate anima-tors into a professional organiza-tion, and the publication of a quar-terly animation journal.

Observing this phenomenalgrowth with more than a bit ofnostalgia and wonderment hasbeen the acknowledged father ofKorean animation, Shin DongMun. Punctuating his reminisceswith the question, “You ever hearsuch a miserable story of anima-tion?,” Shin delights in delights intelling how the industry grew fromthree people (himself, his wife, andhis brother Shin Dong Woo) tothousands of employees, from onemakeshift studio to about 100, andfrom hand-made equipment tocomputer technology.

Born in 1927, in what is nowNorth Korea, Shin has lived a life ofa movie script. His early interestsin science and art were combinedas he pursued the study of archi-tecture, a subject which he soon

February 1997 25

A

Story sketches for Shin’s first feature,Mong Gil Dong.

realized was not to his liking. Hedropped out of the university atthe beginning of the Korean War,and during the ensuing conflict,was a prisoner of both the NorthKoreans and the Americans.

ImprovisationsShin broke into animation with

no knowledge of the field, butarmed with dogged determina-tion. His first work was a com-mercial for a Korean rice winecompany, completed at the timeof the historical student uprisingsin early 1960. For the next sixyears, Shin continued to produceanimated commercials, until in1966, he and a few friendsembarked on making Korea’s firstfull-length feature, Mong GilDong. Based on a comic bookstory by Shin’s younger brother,Shin Dong Woo, Mong Gil Dongwas an immediate success. Thenumber of people who saw it inSeoul during the first two weekstotaled more than 200,000. Shinremembered police controllingtraffic in front of the theaters, therebeing so many ticket holders.

Getting a film like this (70 to80 minutes, more than 125,000cels) into production took unimag-inable patience and ingenuity. Theproblems seemed almost endless.For starters, there was the weath-er. The rainy season played havocwith cels, which stuck togetherand were damaged. Then therewas the lack of training and exper-tise of the small staff, which neces-sitated repeating work; as Shin

Discovering that 98% of allexportable visual products

from Korea were animation,the government acted quickly

to exploit this resource.


said, “We would make 10 minutesof animation, not like it, throw itaway, and do it again and againuntil we got it right.” Improvisationdominated production as Shinapplied knowledge he picked upthrough his many hobbies, one ofwhich is astronomy. He explained:“As for special effects, I taughtmyself. One of my many hobbiesis astronomy. I applied techniquesused by astronomers to get thedouble exposure effect. We impro-vised everything, even the way toget shadow effect through theconcept of accumulation of light.”

Finally, Shin and his crew facedthe problem of obtaining equip-ment and supplies. “We had nocolor, no cels,” he said, “and wecould not import from Japan asthere were restrictions.” The resultwas that scavenging was addedto Shin’s many duties as an ani-mator. When the US Air Forcethrew away expired wide film usedin air surveillance, he was there toretrieve it. The film was erased withchemicals to make it transparent.When he could not obtain the useof the animation camera at the USEighth Army base, Shin sent hiscameraman there to measure thestand and then duplicate it. Thetwo of them designed a hand-made camera.

Disappointments & HappyTimes

Immediately after the releaseof Mong Gil Dong, Shin beganwork on a second feature,Moppee & Chadolbawee, a mix-ture of the fiction of Shin and hisbrother. The six-month productionwas shown in August 1967. Shinused lip synchronization in the car-toon, the know-how for which hegleamed fro his life-long interest inmusic.

Like so many of his works,

Moppee & Chadolbawee cost Shinfinancially. “I made a financial fail-ure and the movie productionpeople were disappointed withme,” he said. A devotee and imi-tator (down to wearing a beret) ofOsamu Tezuka, Shin likes to pointout that Japan’s premier cartoonistalso lost money on his animation.“Mine is a sad story,” he said; “I lostbig money as I don’t have businessability. I’m suitable to be an artist,not a business tycoon like some ofmy juniors.” Among the latter hereferred to are Jung Wook andNelson Shin, both of whom wenton to head major studios afterworking with Shin in the 1960s.

From 1974-80, Shin headedUniversal Art Company, whichworking as a subcontractor forboth Japanese and American ani-mation houses. The companywent bankrupt, mainly because“my junior partner was a swindler,”Shin said. Disenchanted, he quitKorean animation in what hedescribed as the “epochal year of

February 1997 26

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Dong-Hun Shin at SICAF, 1995.

YYour our Ad Ad Could Be Could Be

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for exposure at Animation World

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1980.” For three years, he trav-eled, first settling in Toronto forhalf a year, where he worked as alayout artist at Nelvana. After that,he became somewhat of a freespirit, journeying for two yearsfrom “Texas to Alaska.” He paintedlandscapes, primarily of the 22 USnational parks he visited; the workswere sold to Korean Americans fortraveling money and “some tosend home to my wife.”

Returning to Seoul, Shin wasappointed honorary chairman ofDai Won Animation Company in1983, where he helped with thefeature, Dokko Tao (1983). Thatsame year, Munwha BroadcastingCompany commissioned Dai Wonto produce a daily animation seriesfor children. Dai Won’s head, JungWook, one of Shin’s assistants ear-lier, gave him the assignment todo independently under his ShinDong Mun Production Company.

“We would make 10 minutesof animation, not like it, throw

it away, and do it again andagain until we got it right.”


Shin said this was his “happiesttime,” as he produced the seriessingle-handedly (“I did not employany assistants”) until 1992.

Shin’s last work in animationwas making titles for Ninja Turtlesin 1993. Paraphrasing GeneralDouglas MacArthur, he said that,like old soldiers, he is just fadingaway from animation. He spendshis time now creating paintingsand illustrations of musicians andlistening to the more than 4,300disks he has collected. “I don’twant to do risky work like anima-tion again,” he said.

John A. Lent is on the faculty ofTemple University, in

Philadelphia. He is also the editorof Asian Cinema, the journal of

the Asian Cinema Studies Society,which he also chairs.

February 1997 27





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B

Staying AheadStaying Aheadof the Gameof the Game

by Jerry Hibbert

Jerry Hibbert.

Title sequence for South Bank Show No. 6ondon Weekend Television), directed by Pat

Gavin.

ritain is now generally con-sidered to be one of the coun-tries at the forefront of the ani-

mation explosion. Our home growntalent is in great demand overseas,and our ability to keep one stepahead of the new technologyboom is well known. Few anima-tors now regard technologicalgrowth with suspicion, or as athreat to their traditional skills, butrather the complementary tool itactually is.


The most common mistake I see,is the use of computers in place ofa good idea or as a substitute forpoor draughtsmanship. The purestfilmmaker’s skills (be they for a 30second TV commercial or a one-and-a-half-hour feature) will alwaysbe the most important. The ability tocreate images, the art of character-ization, the scriptwriting, all of theseskills come way ahead of technique.Yet computers, and the inevitableavalanche of new technology nowavailable to studios, should beviewed with discerning enthusiasm!

In the 14 years Hibbert RalphAnimation (HRA) has been operat-ing, I believe that the changes inthe animation industry have beengreater than at any other time. Inorder to maintain our position asone of London’s leading studios, wehave had to keep our eyes firmly onthe horizon as well as on thejob in hand.

Embracing New IdeasAs a studio, we made an

early decision to try andembrace new ideas andexplore new directions in anattempt to keep us on our toes,creatively, and to allow us tocompete successfully in an everchanging market. I hope, thatby taking you through our

(L

company history, I will be able toshow how we have evolved,grown and branched out into newareas as and when the time seemedright. These changes have variedfrom hiring a new director, toexploiting the opportunities offeredby the Internet.

We are, primarily, a commercialsproduction company, having pro-duced over 1300 spots for compa-nies ranging from large multina-tionals to small specialized compa-nies and charities. We have alsodirected music videos for artists likeQueen and Fleetwood Mac, andtelevision title sequences for the UK’sIndependent Network and the BBC.

My partner, Graham Ralph andI joined forces in 1983. In an earlyattempt to buck tradition, we invit-ed maverick designer Pat Gavin tojoin us as third director. His inclu-

February 1997 28

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Dale Farms Bring Me Sunshine spot, directed Ralph.

p

sion was considered to be a radicalstep at the time, as Pat is not an ani-mator in the purest sense, but hislove of animation, combined withhis formidable design and film skillsmeant that he was able to add acompletely new dimension to ourfledgling studio.

In the early years, we concen-trated on commercials and TV titlesequences, including many award-winners for London WeekendTelevision’s arts flagship The SouthBank Show.

As our reputation grew, natu-rally enough, our workloadincreased and by 1989 the need foranother director became of para-mount importance. Luckily we did-n’t have to look far, as one of ourstar animators, Kim Burdon, was theobvious choice. He has gone on toproduce some of our most memo-rable commercials, adding to theawards cabinet in the process! Thestudio does not consider itself tohave a house style—we have con-centrated on being flexible andexperimental and avoided thepigeonholing by clients that can sooften hinder a studio’s growth.

By this, stage, Graham wasexperiencing commercials overload!He had directed hundreds of com-mercials over the previous 6 years,


won over 40 commen-dations from around theworld, and had movedto our own largepromises in London’sSoho.

Graham in particularfelt the need for freshchallenges and anentertaininents divisionseemed to offer theopportunities that he feltwould creatively refreshhim. So in 1989, welaunched Hibbert RalphEntertainment (HRE)

with Graham at the helm.The new company’s aim was to

produce television programs withthe same professional approach andadherence to quality already estab-lished within HRA. Placing theemphasis on strong narrative struc-ture and designing simple, butcharming characters and back-grounds,G r a h a mmanagedto sur-m o u n tthe firstand mostpress ingproblem,that ofhaving toadjust tothe fars m a l l e rbudget sof theentertain-m e n t sworld!

His firstproject, a charming children’s seriescalled Spider!, was snapped up bythe BBC almost immediately. It airedin 1991 and has been sold through-out the world, winning prizes at TheChicago Children’s Film Festival, as

by Graham

Toshiba Ni-Cam s

well as being in competition at fes-tivals in Annecy, Berlin and Adelaide.Graham followed this with a com-plete change of style, producing ahalf-hour version of Wagner’sRhinegold, which was shown onBBC Television in 1994 as part ofthe Operavox series.

Speeding Up the ProductionProcess

By this stage, in an attempt tospeed up the production processand to allow us greater flexibilitybefore entering an edit suite, webecame one of the first companiesto invest in an Animo system. This isa software package tailored to theneeds of animation studios. It runson a network of high-performancePCs and, starting with layoutdesigns, original animation draw-ings and backgrounds, the systemprovides numerous production toolsto produce high quality digital ani-

mation direct to disc, videotape or35mm film. In essence, we use it asa flexible paint, trace and com-positing package, as it can scandrawings; create color charactermodels; digitally paint and recolor

ot, directed by Jerry Hibbert.

February 1997 29

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sequences and combine all this withother media such as live-action or3D animation sequences.

Graham gave it its first real test,employing it for the opening titlesequence on Rhinegold and vari-ous short sequences within the filmitself. It showed great potential fromthe outset, but was slower and lessflexible than we had initially hoped.Now, three years on and severalupdates later, it has shed its teethingtroubles and has become fast andreliable. We now use it regularly forits paint, trace and inbetweeningcapabilities and, ultimately, it will beof enormous benefit to both HRAand HRE, but especially HRE, if theentertainments side take on moreseries work in the future.

After Rhinegold, HRE was com-missioned by BBC to produce aseries entitled William’s WishWellingtons, which has becomesomething of a children’s classic inthe UK. They are now at the plan-ning stages for a third series. Thesecond, meanwhile, has aired in theUS, within Children TelevisionWorkshop’s Big Bag program and iscurrently airing on BBC television inthe UK.

Their most recent, and mostambitious project is a half hour spe-cial entitled The Forgotten Toys.Featuring the voices of Bob Hoskinsand Joanna Lumley, it was shownon the UK’s ITV (Independent) net-work on December 26, 1995. It wasrecently awarded the UNICEF Juryand Children’s Jury prizes for Best

The studio does not consideritself to have a house style—we

have concentrated on beingflexible and experimental andavoided the pigeonholing by

clients that can so often hindera studio’s growth.


Short Film at The Berlin Film Festival.It also went on to be honored atthe Amalfi Animation Festival, theChicago Children’s Film Festival andthe Zlin International Film Festivalfor Children and Youth in the CzechRepublic.

A series of The Forgotten Toysis now in production and due to airin the autumn of this year. The teamis also busy developing a new half-hour special entitled The First Snowof Winter, which they hope to havein production later this year.

The Next Logical StepOne of the greatest changes we

have chosen to undertake, hasbeen the setting up of a 3D depart-ment. After the computerization ofthe 2D paint and trace process withAnimo, the next logical step was togear the studio up to tackle 3Dwork. We began researching thispossibility 3 years ago and eventu-ally, 18 months later, our NewTechnology Unit opened it’s doors.

This was considered to be a rad-ical step for a British studio, not least

The Forgotten Toys (Meridian Broadcasting)Graham Ralph.

because in London, productioncompanies and facility houses aregenerally regarded as two totallydifferent organizations. HibbertRalph was seen to be redefining theaccepted definition of a British pro-duction company. In reality, we saw

it as a simple extension tothe traditional drawn ani-mation skills we alreadypossess.

Most UK productioncompanies are reliant onfacility houses to supply3D computer work,which is budgeted andsubject to inevitable timeconstraints. Although westill have strong workingrelationships with most ofLondon’s facility houses,this new setup hasenabled our traditionallytrained artists, animatorsand directors, to havepersonal access to theequipment, which hasallowed us all far greaterfreedom to experiment

and break new ground.To take control of the new

department and help channel allthis creative energy, we employedNatalie Zita, a former award-winnerwith London facility The FrameStore,to act as Head of 3D. Natalie wasclosely involved in setting up theunit and was attracted to the newdepartment because she felt that itwould encourage original work,particularly at the heart of the ani-mator’s craft: characterization.

Eighteen months later, and witha staff of 12, the New TechnologyUnit has certainly proved itself. Aswell as meeting all our creativeexpectations, it has enabled uswhen necessary to offer agency pro-ducers more flexibility with costs andscheduling, all of which adds up toquite an attractive prospect for our

, directed by

February 1997 30

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ot, directed by Jerry Hibbert.

’s Sleigh Ride spot, directed by Jerry Hibbert.

clients.We have produced in-house

some notable commercials, includ-ing two for Toshiba laptop com-puters entitled London/New Yorkand Town and Country throughDuckworth Finn Grubb Waters(London), and several US commer-cials, including Holiday Celebrationfor FTD through Grey (New York)and Maze and Open Door forAmerican Airlines through DDBNeedham (Dallas).

In 1995, we hired two newdirectors, bringing our total to six.Caron Creed and Andrew Painterhad both worked at RichardWilliams’ studio, amongstothers, and had beenoffered positions at three ofthe major US studios. Wewere extremely pleased thatthey chose to join us, andthey have contributed huge-ly to our success over the last18 months.

With so much newexpertise in house and fol-lowing on from our recentsuccesses in the US, itseemed logical to investigatethe opportunities offered to

Toshiba London/New York sp

Hershey


us by the Internet. We have Set upour web site and continually workto improve it.

Like everyone else, we intend touse it to advertise ourselves and toallow people to “visit” our studio toview some of our past work. Wherewe feel we can most benefit, is byutilizing a video web conference sys-tem made available to us by 2GLSystems Interactive. This packagestreams video animation—still inproduction—through a web con-ference page contained in the com-missioning client’s secure projectfolder. The client can view their com-

missioned animation stage-by-stageduring it’s development, and canview our comments at any time,anywhere, provided they have aWeb browser, a Hibbert Ralph pass-word and a connection to theInternet, and remain confident thattheir work cannot be seen by oth-ers.

This extraordinary leap forwardfor the communications industry willallow us to service clients on theother side of the world, as if theywere a mere street away. Even themost hands-on creative will feel100% involved at every stage of thedecision making process.

Although technical changeshave provided opportunities notpreviously considered possible, thetraditional skills have never beenmore important than they are now.But with a little help from our digi-tal friends, the sky is truly the limit.In the words of the immortal BuzzLightyear, “To infinity and beyond!”

Jerry Hibbert is Director of HibbertRalph Animation and Chairman of

The Guild of British Animation.

The client can view their com-missioned animation stage-by-stage during it’s development,and can view our comments atany time, anywhere, providedthey have a Web browser, a

Hibbert Ralph password and aconnection to the Internet, and

remain confident that theirwork cannot be seen by others.

February 1997 31

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by Gigi Hu

Animation inSingapore

It is often said that the Singaporeeconomy is run by a paternalisticgovernment,, which has been in

power since 1965. Foreign mediaoften associate the Island’s econo-my with the tag name “SingaporeInc.” Singapore Inc. or not, therehave been salient changes in thebroadcasting sector since the early1990s. Amidst lawsuits and warn-ings against foreign press interfer-ence in the domestic politics ofSingapore, the government was notshy about stating its objective todevelop the island city as “an infor-mation and media hub.” Thesedevelopments were crystallized atthe recent MIP Asia Exhibition heldin Hong Kong, a premier Asianbroadcasting exhibition event; theSingapore Pavilion was noticeablyrepresented by 13 media compa-nies. Two of them were animationcompanies, namely Animata andAnimasia.

Government FocusSingapore’s technocratic gov-

ernment has always shown a pen-chant for engineering or IT-relatedindustries. Computer animationseem to fit the high-tech picture.Having attracted companies to setup shop on the hardware side, i.e.,


production and post-productionfacilities, including satellite uplinkand transmission capabilities (thecountry now boasts of being hometo some 15 satellite programmersusing it as a regional beamingbase), the infrastructure is nowready for more adventurous nur-turing.

I say “adventurous” because ani-mation deals with content produc-tion, and it is also closely related to

Ivan Foo (wearing cap) and classmates frPolytechnic at Yoyugi Animation Gakuin

December 1994.

In the Singapore context,investing in high-end comput-ers and software is not a finan-cial problem, provided that it

justifies public spending.

art and design. Such areas have tra-ditionally been given a low priority.Singapore can never be a secondPhilippines, which is well-known forher pool of talented artists and ani-mators. Virgilio S. Labrador,Marketing Manager at AsiaBroadcast Centre, said that, “Up totoday, our best selling medium is

still the Komics, whichwe [have been]acquainted with sinceearly childhood. It isan expressive society,basically. Singing,drawing, believing inromance and adven-ture—this is part andparcel of our visual cul-ture.” His view is alsoshared by fellowFilipino, DavidPatanne, a full-timeanimator based atAnimata, “due to oureconomic background

and structure of society, paper andpencil are the cheapest materialswe can lay our hands on. We sim-ply draw ourselves into college.”

In the Singapore context, invest-ing in high-end computers and soft-ware is not a financial problem, pro-vided that it justifies public spend-ing. In August 1996,Alias/Wavefront, the American ani-mation software company, set up

om Nanyang, November-

February 1997 32

A

o

an office in Singapore. Its Senior AsiaSales Manager, Alex Kelly, reiterateda key fact, that the “governmentand the education segment” isgrowing rapidly in Singapore.

EducationIndeed it is happening in the

polytechnics. In the first quarter of1996, Nanyang Polytechniclaunched its three-year, full-timeDiploma in Digital Media Designaround the time when GCE “O” and“A” Levels results were announced.It was a fast bid to attract youngpeople into the barely formed indus-try. The polytechnic has more than35 SGI machines ranging from Indyto Onyx, and other Mac and PC-based workstations. The courseaims to provide professional train-ing in creative and IT skills. To helpaccomplish this, it signed a three-year Memorandum of Understand-ing with Sheridan College, bring-ing in Canadian expertise and thetransference of artistic skills andknowledge.

I had the privilege of visiting this“hottest course in town.” Indeed,Sheridan College is exposing theNanyang Poly students to classicalanimation first, a step-by-stepapproach that is the both basic and

Drawing and Illustration class at Nanyang Pcourtesy of Albert Lim.


necessary.Over at Ngee Ann Polytechnic,

recent developments include theestablishment of a sophisticated“Digital Effects Studio” at the

Department of Filmand Media Studies.Like at NanyangPolytechnic, thenecessary heavyinvestment comesfrom the EconomicD e v e l o p m e n tBoard, a govern-ment statutoryboard. Both poly-technics are entrust-ed the tasks of notonly training thecurrent cohort offull-time students,but to also conduct

courses to upgrade the skills of tele-vision and multimedia profession-als. Temasek Polytechnic, which hadinitiated and co-organized the firstAnimation Fiesta in Singapore inJune 1996, is also in the process ofrevamping its media design cours-es to meet new challenges.

Animation CompaniesStrictly speaking, there are only

a handful of animation companiesin Singapore, namely Animata, 25

lytechnic. Photo

Garman Animation Studio used 3D animground for this scene from the Thai

Frames, VHQ, Animasia, ID Imagingand Garman Animation.

Though there are not that manyto speak of, each has its own niche.Among them, Animata Productionsis the oldest, with 15 years of gen-uine 2D animation work, which hasbeen slowly progressing from com-mercials to educational programs,feature films and animated episodesof sitcoms. I first met Mogan Subra(Animata’s founder and CreativeDirector) and his staff in 1994,when they spoke of the mediumwith passion and optimism, theirstruggles to get jobs, and at thesame time educating funding bod-ies of the medium’s potential.

Subra’s award-winning shortfilm, The Cage, is of penetratingsubstance and social meaning. Onthe commercial side, Animata hadalso won international awards. Thecompany had also producedSingapore’s first animated feature, a75-minute film on The Life of theBuddha. Their in-house dream pro-ject, a series entitled The Adventuresof Hardy Driftwood, has also takenoff. Two-and-a-half years in the mak-

ing, Animata has finally found asponsoring partner, the Hong Kongand Shanghai Bank who has adopt-ed it as part of their corporate cam-paign, “Care for the Nature.” The

ation composited over a live-action back- feature Sayum Kui (Kantana, 1994).

February 1997 33

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Wendy Boyd teaching Colour Theory modult

series is currently shown daily local-ly on television on Premier 12. Each4-1/2 minute episode is createdespecially for young children andpreteens. Launched in November1996, Hardy Driftwood has goneon a roadshow from school toschool, and a merchandising pack-age of a poster, coloring book, T-shirt and comics is also being mar-keted.

Presently, it is on the way mak-ing a 23-minute per episode ani-mated series of Si doel, a popularsitcom in Indonesia. By the end of1997, the 13-episode show will beseen on 5 TV stations in Indonesia.

Interestingly, Animasia is alsodeveloping along these same lines,but its niche is clearly different. Partof the Wuthelam Group, a multi-national corporation, it has recent-ly merged with Kennedy Cartoons,in Manila, the studio wants toexplore all forms of animation. Justone-year old, it has already gottenseveral commissioned projects: Kleothe Misfit Unicorn, a 24-episodeseries for Stanfield Animation inVancouver and ChucklewoodCritters, a 13-episode series for LosAngeles’ Encore Enterprises.Canadian Glen Kennedy, the ownerof Kennedy Cartoons and an expe-rienced animator (mainly with themajor American studios based inManila like the Hanna Barbera’s Fil-

Polytechnic. Photo courtesy of Alber


Cartoons), noted that“the word got aroundthat Singapore wantedto develop its comput-er animation industry.”He frankly stated thathe is attracted by thefinancial backing ofWuthelam. The compa-ny has already installed$750,000 worth ofequipment and isactively looking for ani-mators and is employ-ing experienced Filipino

animators.

Animasia is also launching itsown character animation series,called Losers in Life, at this month’sNAPTE Convention in New Orleans.Created by Glen Kennedy, it starstwo down and out spies in what is

characterized as a rock ‘n roll com-edy in the spirit of The Simpsonsand Looney Tunes.

O

bwaabev2tMacc

SepA“tr(fa

eT

teii

e, NanyangLim.

Logo animation by Garman Animation for SinChannel KTV’s program, KTV Gold .

Suddenly, there has been aboom in animation in

Singapore with a equally sud-den demand for animators.

bservationsSuddenly, there has been a

oom in animation in Singaporeith a equally sudden demand for

nimators. But Singapore is notlone. The region is opening up itsroadcasting industry. Barely start-d, with a few home-grown indi-idual animators and companies like5 Frames have decided to relocateo Kuala Lumpur. Like Indonesia,alaysia, by early this year, will have

total of 6 terminal TV channels, 8able channels and 20 satellite TVhannels.

Quek Siew Liang, Clientervicing Manager at Animata, stat-d that, “the region is hungry forrograms.” David Shaw, Seniornimator, at ID Imaging, feels thatthe region is in an awake mode;here are opportunities and the envi-onment is more open.”Incidentally, Shaw was recruitedrom Australia through the Internetbout one-and-a-half years ago.)

Singapore is susceptible to for-ign influences. Independence Day,he Rock, Toy Story—such movies

have exposed the popu-lation to the wonders ofspecial effects. JonathanAng, Senior 3D Designerat VHQ, a companyknown more for its one-stop post-production ser-vices, noticed that adver-tising agencies and theirclients are now betteracquainted with thecapabilities of digitaldesign for which there isa growing demand.

But one of the chal-lenges he faced was thetime factor. Clients aregenerally ignorant of the

ime needed to do animation andxpect these jobs to be completed

n a couple of weeks. His experiences shared by Shireen V. Pinto,

gapore’s

February 1997 34

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3D animated commercial produced byVHQ.

Director/Administration at IDImaging (a company which spe-cializes in computer animation), saidthat, “Clients expect us to cater tolast minute jobs. They didn’t realizethat a 15-second animation job,depending on its complexities, cantake up to 2-1/2 months involvingfour persons’ work.”

Garman Herigstad, Americananimator cum animation softwaretrainer, who has extensive experi-ence in Asia, finds Asian clients “tendto want it quick and cheap.” Havingworked in Hong Kong, Taiwan,Thailand and China, he finds thatperhaps art skills are not a prizedpossession in Chinese society. Now,with the onslaught of computertechnology and heavy investmentby government in digital media, hecautioned about the inadvertentproduction of computer technolo-gists and information animators inthe long run.

The FutureAs an animation scholar and a

video/filmmaker, I welcome thisoverwhelming explosion of interest

If all goes well, Singapore maymeet the expected demand for2,500 digital media design pro-

ducers by the year 2000.


3D animated commercial produced by V

in animation. For one thing,Singapore’s young people nowhave more choices of training cours-es and broadcasting personnel havemore opportunities to relearn andupgrade their skills. If all goes well,Singapore may meet the expecteddemand for 2,500 digital mediadesign producers by the year 2000.

Albert Lim, Coordinator atNanyang Polytechnic’s Digital MediaDesign Centre, puts it clearly that,“Singapore is attempting to createan animation industry, we are at thetraining people stage. Our ultimategoal is to help contribute to themedia hub of this region.” I couldnot disagree. It does make sensethat, with the country’s strong ITinfrastructure and a general non-technophobic populace, Singaporecan contribute to the world’s ani-mation arena as Philippines has.However, I just wonder whether thehigher authorities are aware of thenature of this medium. DonaldDuck will quack and strike unrea-sonably if you try to make him con-form; look what happened toMichael Jordan at the Toon City inSpace Jam and the in the Japanesecult film, Akira, which is superblyrebellious in both its storytelling con-tents and techniques.

Can animators been mass-pro-duced? Lilian Soon, animation

teacher at Temasek Poly’sVideographics andPhotography Course, saidthat, “For last year, out ofover 20 students, I waslucky to have 3 who werecommitted to do an ani-mation work for their grad-uation project.” RecalledNgee Ann Poly graduate,Juan Foo, for their batchwho graduated in 1995-96,only four were keen aboutstudying the medium fur-ther. Their enthusiasm,HQ.

though, did lead them to a subsi-dized trip to Yoyogi AnimationInstitute in Tokyo, where theyattended an 8-week crash courseon cel animation. Juan will neverforget his Japanese counterparts’fervor, “Oh, they draw while queu-ing or waiting for classes.” It was aneye-opening experience for him.

Two foreign speakers whoattended the Animation Fiesta inJune observed that, “the countryneeds more Subras, the kind of TheCage productions.” In short, ani-mation that “breathes,” emotionssublime or expressed.

Well, the machines have arrived,foreign companies have movedtheir base to Singapore and spon-sorship is not lacking. It will be inter-esting to further monitor Singapore’sattempt to develop a computer ani-mation industry and how it will helpcontribute to the government’s over-all objective of turning the islandrepublic into Asia’s broadcastinghub.

Gigi Hu is now a Ph.D. studentbased at the University of Hong

Kong, Department ofComparative Literature. Prior to

this, she was a media and culturalstudies lecturer at Temasek

Polytechnic, School of Design,Singapore. Last year, with LilianSoon, she organized Singapore’s

Animation Fiesta.

February 1997 35

TdtTpamIpPewat

agGbAm

ANI

DonDon t t QuitQuitYYour Daour Day Job,y Job,

WWork the Nork the Night Shiftight Shiftby Piet Kroon

he first thing I do in the morn-ing is check my fax machine.Most mornings I will find

esigns sent to me by Gill Bradley,he art director of my film.R.A.N.S.I.T. Sometimes I find keyoses from one of the animators forpproval. Then I log in to pick upy email. Production notes from

ain Harvey, T.R.A.N.S.I.T.’s Britishroducer, or correspondence fromicture Start, the Dutch co-produc-r. Real urgent issues I try to dealith straight away, but there is not

lot of time in the morning. I haveo get to work.

I drop off my son at his school,fter a busy family breakfast, andet on the freeway to drive intolendale. By day, I work as a story-oard artist for Warner Bros. Featurenimation. By night, I direct a 10inute animated short, that is being

MATION WORLD MAGAZINE

Piet Kroon’s DaDA.

produced in Europe. From time to time everybody

who works in the animationindustry should make a shortpersonal film. Most peoplehaven’t done their own thingsince college. Don’t get mewrong. I enjoy working in fea-ture animation very much. Thequality standards are high in fea-ture animation. You have to pushyour limits, so you grow as an artist.

But on the other hand there’sthe”cog in the machine” trauma.Working in a big studio your artisticscope is precisely defined: you areanimating, doing lay outs, clean upsor painting backgrounds etcetera.It is virtually impossible to influenceanything beyond your scope. Youare making the film that the studiohas bought off on. The reels arelocked, the dialogue is recorded.The big machine is running.

That’s why every now and againyou should put together your ownlittle machine. Celebrate yourstrengths and learn to live withyour weaknesses. Exorcise some ofyour own demons along the way.

Dropping Out to Make DaDAAfter having animated on

Amblimation’s Feivel Goes West

/An American Tail II in London, Idropped out of the feature anima-tion business to make DaDA, a 10minute short, produced by Cilia vanDijk and financed by the Dutch FilmFund. I wrote the script while I ani-mated with Paul Driessen on his filmThe Waterpeople. I guess I took acue from his work: to develop a filmout of a simple, strong, visual idea.

In DaDA, everybody walksaround carrying books on theirheads. The more books stacked onyour cranium, the smarter you areperceived to be. The story takes offwhen a little boy is born with a per-fectly round head. To the horror ofhis parents no books will stay put,no matter what they try. Ultimately,they take their son to a hospital,where a learned scholar saws offthe top of the kid’s skull to study hisbrain. The doctor discovers the kidis really a genius. He realizes that it

Piet Kroon

February 1997 36

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is not the books you carry aroundthat matter, it is how you “process”them and create something newout of them. The final twist of thefilm, that somehow seems to beespecially shocking to Americanaudiences (maybe because they aresuckered out of a happy ending), isthat the father feeds the brilliantbrain to the cat. Because with thetop sawed off, he can pile an infiniteamount of books on his son’s head.He’d rather have a kid that looksintelligent, than an intelligent child.

While I was working on DaDA,I became a father myself. Actually,the last scene I animated before myson Jesse was born was the one ofthe expectant father nervously pac-ing the room (off screen soundeffects provided by my wife).Beyond that, life has not imitatedart yet. We have no cat.

So what demons did I exorcise?The story has a lot to do with mybackground in university. Somehow,the book list you attached to yourpapers always seemed more impor-tant than the paper itself.

I studied Film and TheatreStudies, that is where I (re)discov-ered animation and made my veryfirst film, The Balancer (1987).

DaDA made it’s international


debut as an officiaselection of th1995 Berlin FilmFestival. Since thenit was screened aZagreb, HiroshimaOttawa and manother internationafilm festivals. Ovethe two year perod it toured the festival circuit, received a numbeof special mentionand won a couplof awards, like thGolden Mikeldi fo

est Animated Film at the Bilbaohort Film and Documentarestival 1995.

eady To Be a Cog AgainIt took me two-and-a-half year

o complete DaDA. I wrote andirected it, animated (most of) itrganized the xerox and paint (withhe help of numerous volunteersersonally put down every singlel under the camera (those are mingerprints up there!), edited it, andupervised the effects and soundditing. Believe me, even though as a blast, after that you are read

o be a cog in the machinegain.

So a year-and-a-half ago Ioved out to Los Angeles toork as a storyboard artist forarner Bros. Feature Animation.BFA is a brand new outfit,hich is great from my point of

iew, because everything is still flux. There are a lot of oppor-

unities to grow.Animating is like acting.

oductions).

From time to time everybodywho works in the animation

industry should make a shortpersonal film.

Storyboarding, to me, is filmmakingin the truest sense. It is about exper-imenting and developing. You basi-cally get to take the first whack atvisualizing a script or a treatment.You go through the whole cine-matographic process of staging,breaking down sequences intoshots. And you explore characterrelationships, dream up gags, any-thing to make the film more enter-taining.

You sketch out you story ideasand pitch them to the director andthe producer. Like a carsalesmanyou talk them through the conti-nuity boards, giving your best shotto sell the exitement, the drama, thefun. Sometimes they buy it, some-times they don’t. Your soul getsstepped on a lot in story. It’s onething when an idea or gag is reject-ed, what is worse is when they arehalf used or used the wrong way.

On the basis of the storyboardsthe timing of the film is worked outin the storyreels, the first mock upversion of the film to be, completewith soundeffects and scratch dia-logue. Then the exact cinematog-raphy of the shots is determined inlay out and the scenes are distrib-uted to the animators. So when youwork in story there will never be asingle drawing on the screen thatyou can call your own. Nothing topoint at. There are not many peoplewilling to be bored to death withendless stories about who thought

February 1997 37

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of what and which idea sparkedwhat gag three months later.

The film I work on at WarnerBros. is called Quest for Camelot,directed by Frederic DuChau andproduced by Frank Gladstone. It isto be the first fully animated featurethat this studio produces, not count-ing Space Jam, as a combination oflive action and animation, and CatsDon’t Dance (which Warners basi-cally acquired as part of the merg-er with Turner).

Mixing Arthurian myth and fan-tasy elements, Quest tells the storyof a young girl who has to riseabove herself to find the lost swordExcalibur before a ruthless barbarianoverthrows Camelot. For the storycrew, it presented a great challenge,since the film was, to a large extent,developed on the boards. A crewof 12 storyboard artists delved inand produced numerous sequencesand put several versions of the filmon a reel. Of course, there were tri-als and tribulations and, as always,it had to get really bad in order toget any better. There are always warstories. The good thing is thatWarners did not lose its cool. Theykept hammering away at it to getit right. Story on Quest is windingdown now and the studio is already


Character design by Gill Bradley for PietKroon’sT.R.A.N.S.I.T. (Nice image, but

taken from a less than optimum xeroxcopy; lines need to be darker.)

in full production.Of all the major studios that got

into feature animation, Warners has,in my mind, the biggest potentialto actually get a piece of the Mouse’saction. The box office success ofSpace Jam is a case in point. The

studio is part of a gigantic mediaconglomerate and can really put afilm in the marketplace. My son hadnever heard of Michael Jordan, butguess who he pretends to be whenhe is within 10 feet of a ball now?

T.R.A.N.S.I.T.Right before I moved to America

I had written and storyboardedanother short film,T.R.A.N.S.I.T. I leftwhile it was looking to get financed.Producers Iain Harvey and CecileWijne had to raise serious money(that is, for an independent short),because of the special way the filmwas set up. T.R.A.N.S.I.T is a film insequences, each sequence (ofabout a minute each) to bedesigned in a different graphic style,to be animated by a different ani-mator, directed by me by fax, phoneand email from L.A.

In the Netherlands, most direc-tors of animated films tend to workalone, and tend to work for years

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Layout design for Piet K

nd years on a film. There are aumber of reasons for this: their

ilms are highly personal, executedn a highly personal style, and this

ay they do not have to split theoney.

I was always at odds with this

pproach. Some people are greatesigners, but couldn’t animate toave their life. Some great anima-ors don’t have a story to tell. Ielieve working with different peo-le can only strengthen your film. It’setter to get feedback upfront thanfter the fact. As a director, youhould be confident enough to taken influences, harness them andeep the vision. Also, on a moreractical level, with a bigger teamou can produce the film a lot fasternd move on to the next idea. Two-nd-a-half years is a long time topend on 10 minutes.

The downside of working withore people is you have to haveoney to pay them. When youork on your own brainchild, it’s

roon’s T.R.A.N.S.I.T.

It’s one thing when an idea orgag is rejected, what is worse is

when they are half used orused the wrong way.

February 1997 38

AN

easy to work for peanuts. If the gov-ernment grant runs out, you justtake on commercials to keep your-self going. That’s how I producedDaDA and I did have a few peopleI paid on that.

Last summer, T.R.A.N.S.I.T final-ly came together as a full-blowninternational coproduction withfinancing from the Dutch FilmFund, Canal + in France andChannel 4 in England. So, now Ispend my evenings writing notesand memos, reboarding bits andpieces, doing layouts and charac-ter sketches. Five sequences arealready underway. I took great careto make an extensive storyboardand a tight reel to guide the ani-mators along. Later this month thefirst scenes will start to trickle in, andI will know if the monster will comealive.

Set in the 20s, T.R.A.N.S.I.T tellsthe story of a tragic love triangle.We meet three characters and findout just how they interrelate as the

Character modelsheet for Piet Kroon’sT.R.A.N.S.I.T.

The downside of working withmore people is you have tohave money to pay them.

When you work on your ownbrainchild, it’s easy to work for

peanuts.


film sweeps across Europe in sevensequences. Working out the artdirection proved to be an enormoustask. London-based art director GillBradley selected and defined sevengraphic styles, derived from the artdeco period, inventing new ani-mation techniques along the way.

Getting the characters to trans-late consistently from style to stylewas one of the biggest tricks of thefilm. We decided to base the char-acters on real actors. Last November,when I was on a quick working visitto London, we arranged a videoshoot. We had cast the film before-hand. We had the actors act outscenes from the film, as referencefor the animators. The main pur-pose was to give the animators aclear picture of who the charactersare. But they might also pick upsome little idiosyncratic quirkiness-es: pouting lips or a sweltering blink.To me, that is what separates greatanimation from good animation: ifthe animator reaches into his or herown experience and captures thestuff that life is made of. Have yourcharacters rub their noses like youraunt Edna and you’ve made themhuman. The extraordinary lies inthe ordinary.

I was lucky to get a great teamof animators to work onT.R.A.N.S.I.T. Michael Dudok deWit, whose film The Monk and theFish was nominated for anAcademy Award in 1994, is doinga sequence that is set on an luxu-rious ocean liner. Keiko Masuda,who did marvelous work on TheTaylor of Gloucester, animates afateful night in Venice. ArjanWilschut, a young and comingDutch animator who also animat-ed on DaDA (and most recently on

Joanna Quinn’s Famous Fred), hasa bloody confrontation inAmsterdam. Valerie Carmona, acharming independent filmmaker

from France, presents a champagnepicnic in St. Tropez. A great new tal-ent fresh from the Royal College ofArt, Andrew Higgins, will conducta murderous tour of Egypt, togeth-er with Gill Bradley. Another greatDutch animator, Jeroen vanBlaaderen, gives chase on theOrient Express. Nicolette van Gendt,who did some amazing work onGeoff Dunbar’s Daumier’s Law, getsto handle the steamy love scenes inBaden-Baden.

In April, I will take another tripto England to direct the openingand closing sequences. They will bedone by Richard Randolph of EalingAnimation and involve the NorthSea, a diver, and hopefully no rain.

By July 1997, T.R.A.N.S.I.Tshould be ready, and strawberrieswill never be the same . . .

Frames from storyboard for Piet Kroon’sT.R.A.N.S.I.T.

Piet Kroon is a Dutch filmmakercurrently employed during theday at Warner Bros. Feature

Animation in Glendale.

February 1997 39

AN

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Suzan Pitt:An Animator’s Journey

by Jackie Leger

Suzan Pitt’s concern for psycho-logical explorations of thefemale psyche has been a vital

force behind her career for over 25years. This can be seen in Crocus ,one of her early films which is a sur-realist exploration into female sexu-ality, as well as in Asparagus, a clas-sic that explores subliminal imageryof the feminine dream, and in hermost recent film Joy Street , her chefd’oeuvre that relates issues ofdepression and healing.

For many years, Pitt has beenmerging the female psyche to herpersonal creative projects in suchareas as painting, performance art,and theater design, as well as ani-mation. One might say that she is aRenaissance woman. While thedeep dark depths of the psycholo-gy of being are rarely brought outin animation, Pitt can, in this respect,be associated with pioneer anima-tor Winsor McCay. His early comicstrip/film Dreams of a Rarebit Fiendprobed inner world dreams as mas-terpieces of whimsy, imagination,wit and nightmares, depictinghuman fears and delusions. Withfilms full of observations and

Many of her films were devel-oped in collaboration with herstudents, a fact which Pitt con-siders an important part of her

artistic development.


insights, both McCay and Pitt aimedto give relevance to their charac-ters. Pitt has often criticized the ani-mation business as avoiding themain goal of story telling, which ishaving something relevant to say.

An Eerie Doll HouseSuzan Pitt

grew up inKansas City,Missouri andrelates much ofher imagery toan eerie dollhouse found inan attic of an oldhouse, whereshe would climbdark stairs to getto this miniature,imaginary world.This doll housebecame her ownprivate theater, where she createdstories which later influenced herfilms.

Pitt’s creative career began atCranbrook Academy of Art, wherein 1965 she received her BFA inPainting. Like many of her genera-tion, she began filmmaking with ahand held 8mm camera; transfer-ring some 200 drawings onto film.One of her early pieces in 16mmBowl, Theater, Garden, MarbleGame made use of cutout imagesarranged in a semiabstract form. A

S

recipient of many grants and anavid teacher, she began her mostimportant formative years with thecompletion of Crocus, a surrealisticstudy and an ode to the femininedream and the natural world. Manyof her films were developed in col-laboration with her students, a fact

which Pitt considers an importantpart of her artistic development. Thesuccess of such early films as A CityTrip , Jefferson Circus Songs andCels , made with students at theMinneapolis College of Art andDesign, brought her recognitionand gave her the experience need-ed to produce larger projects.

Asparagus is the now classic filmthat secured Pitt’s reputation as amajor American animator. After tak-ing four years to make, Asparagus,completed in 1979, won awards

uzan Pitt’s Joy Street.

February 1997 40

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Suzan Pitt’s Joy Street.

’

around the world, including FirstPrize at the Oberhausen FilmFestival in Germany and awards atAnn Arbor, Baltimore and AtlantaFilm Festivals in the US. Designedlike a Pandora’s box, the film opensup the depth of Pitt’s own inner psy-che, merging sensual and surreal-istic imagery in the form of aFreudian dream. Focusing on erot-ic metaphors and intellectual refer-ences, she makes this matted-celwork a visionary masterpiece.

Expanded CinemaBy the late 1970’s, Pitt was

involved in the Expanded Cinemamovement which led her to mergeperformance art with animation. Pit’sintroduction to this art form wasdeveloped in a course she taughtin 1976 at Harvard’s CarpenterCenter entitled Loops. In the class,she had her students deconstructanimation to analyze all of its parts.This exercise grew into a large ani-mated/live show that included peo-ple as cartoons, experimentalimagery from rear screen projection,and drawing on soundtracks. Theseearly endeavors expanded her workinto the world of real space andtime, which grew into many moreperformances. In 1980, Pitt pre-sented a performance at the VeniceBiennial entitled Suone e Immagine,set to the music of Richard


Teitelbaum Also in1980, shecreatedWindow, athree dimensionalinterior and filminstallation com-missioned andexhibited by theInstitute ofContemporary Artin Philadelphia.And in 1985, shecreated ESO-S, atwo screen perfor-

mance with live music by John andEvan Laurie done at the PyramidClub in New York.

Continuing her painting career,Pitt exhibited widely with a soloexhibition at the Denise ReneGallery in Dusseldorf and theDelahuty Gallery in New York, aswell as several group exhibitions.These led to an invitation to createdthe sets, costumes and animationforThe Magic Flute, an experimen-tal opera created by the avant-garde

director Nicholas Lehnhoff . Afterdoing projections for this uncon-ventional New Age production from1983-87, she designed the sets for

Suzan Pitt

Richard Foreman’s Symphony forRats in New York. Lehnhoff thenengaged her again for his produc-tion of Berlioz’The Damnation ofFaust for the State Opera ofHamburg, a large budget produc-tion in a high-end theater, with anhour of animation and effects inter-spersed throughout the three hourperformance.

Joy StreetDuring the 1990s, Pitt’s work

became focused on the naturalenvironment and political activism,in particular rain forest activism.These activities and her travels toexotic places like Guatemala, Belizeand Mexico had a major impact on

her career and her most importantpersonal film Joy Street . Made in1995, it has been acclaimed atevery major film festival from

s Joy Street.

Designed like a Pandora’s box,the film opens up the depth ofPitt’s own inner psyche, merg-

ing sensual and surrealisticimagery in the form of a

Freudian dream.

February 1997 41

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Troubles the Cat, directed by Pitt for The Ink Tshe has recently signed a long-term agreeme

part of its Ink Tank Too operation.

Suzan Pitt’s Asparagus.

Hiroshima to London, and all thosein between.

Traveling through Guatamala in1993, she began painting livelyimages of animals and birds withcolor and fantasy, very much influ-enced by natural settings of the rainforests. These evolved into images inJoy Street . During this time, shealso received several commissionsfor paintings, including a mural forthe US Post Office in Fountain City,Wisconsin, and a series of silkscreensfor Artists for Nature, an activistgroup in Germany exhibited at theEarth Summit in Rio de Janiero in1992.

Analyzing Joy Street, one mightsay it is the culmination of Pitt’s lifeas an artist and a woman. Theimages begin like a GermanExpressionist nightmare of a womandepressed by the concrete worldshe lives in. Set to the hauntingmusic of The Jazz Passengers, thisvisual poem relates a sort of psy-chodrama of a plight which in facttouches the life of many. Saved from


this bad dream by ananimated mouse (andwhat a mouse!), Pittdevelops the secondpart of the film as an odeto the great classics ofanimation, with all thedynamism and pacing ofa 1930s Fleischer car-toon. She blends herpersonal aesthetic withall the pizzazz of a mas-ter animator. The energyof the mouse, whirlingwith joy and innocence,and the deep pain of thewoman make a trulyinteresting movie expe-rience. Pitt’s statementthroughout the filmreflects the passing ofnature and innocence asa road to depression and

emptiness.Today, Pitt continues to travel

and present her work at festivalsand universities. She often gives alecture entitled “CartoonWilderness,” which discusses paral-lel histories of film animation, andwilderness exploration and exploita-tion. This program was recently pre-

ank, whichnt with as

sented at the Virginia InternationalFestival, with the theme of “WildPlaces/Endangered Species.” Shealso recently directed Troubles theCat, 12 different six-minutesequences produced by The InkTank for the Cartoon Network edu-cational series, Big Bag, whichexplore issues of ethnicity and self-awareness. Pitt is now one of thedirectors represented on the rosterof The Ink Tank Too, a new divisionof The Ink Tank in New York. Pitt’sactivism, diversity and creativity willkeep her work relevant well into thenext millennium.

Jackie Leger is a Santa Monica-based documentary filmmaker

interested in the roots ofAmerican experimental film.

The energy of the mouse,whirling with joy and inno-

cence, and the deep pain of thewoman make a truly interest-

ing movie experience.

February 1997 42

ANIMA

Suzan Pitt Animation FilmographySuzan Pitt Animation Filmography
Animated FilmsThe following films, except when noted, were produced and directed by Pitt. All were in color, exceptwhere noted.
Bowl, Theatre, Garden, Marble Game (1970), 7 min., 16mm.*Crocus (1971) 7 min., 16mm.A City Trip (1972), 3 min., 16mm.Cels (1972), 6 min., 16mm.Whitney Commercial (Whitney Museum of Art, 1973), 3 min., 16mm.*Jefferson Circus Songs (1973), 20 min., 16mm.*Asparagus (1979), 20 min., 16mm.Night Fire Dance (Columbia Masterworks Records, 1986) (Co-Director), 1 min., 35mm., black & white.

Music video, with music by Andreas Vollenweider.Big Time (Warner Records, 1986) (Storyboard & Animation), Music video; music by Peter Gabriel.Surf or Die (Profile Records), 3 min., 35mm. Music video; music by The Surf M.C.’s.The Damnation of Faust (Hamburg State Opera, 1988), one hour, 35mm.Bam Video (Brooklyn Academy of Music, 1990), 3 min., 35mm.Colors/Colores (Public Broadcasting System, 1995, 1 min. 15 sec., video.Joy Street (Channel Four & PBS), 24 min., 35mm.Troubles the Cat (The Ink Tank, 1996) (Director), 12 six-minute sequences for the Cartoon Network.

*Distributed by the Museum of Modern Art, New York and the British Film Institute, London.

TION WORLD MAGAZINE

Expanded Film PerformancesLoops (Carpenter Center for the Visual Arts, Harvard University,. 1976),

a multidimensional, live film theater performance combining filmon several scenes, actors and music by the Harvard ComposersEnsemble .

Asparagus (Whitney Museum of American Art, 1979), film installationand exhibition of drawings.

Suone E. Immagine (Venice Biennale), film performance with compos-er Richard Teitelbaum.

ESO-S (The Pyramid Club, New York, 1985), a two-screen film perfor-mance with live music by John and Evan Lurie.

Stage & Costume DesignThe Magic Flute (State Opera Theater, Weisbaden, Germany, 1983-87). Sets, cos-

tumes, and animated films for production that was in repertoire for sev-eral years..

Richard Foreman’s Symphony for Rats (1988), animated sequences. (New York City.)The Damnation of Faust by Hector Berlioz (State Opera Theater, Hamburg). Sets,

costumes and animated films.

February 1997 43

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O

Louise Beaudet:A Passion For Animation

prcmapQgQéts

In Passing

n January 3, LouiseBeaudet, perhaps the mostfamous and respected ani-

mation archivist in the world diedof lung cancer. In her role as cura-tor of Montréal’s CinémathèqueQuébecoise, she more than helpedfulfill that organization’s special inter-est in animation. Herein are a fewthoughts by some of the peoplewho knew and/or worked with her.But first, to provide some generalbackground, we start off with thetwo part press release issued by theCinémathèque Québecoise.

International Luminaryin the World of AnimationLouise Beaudet Dies at Age of 69

Montréal, January 7, 1997—It iswith sadness that theCinémathèque Québecoise learnedof the death of Madam LouiseBeaudet, on January 3 as the resultof a long illness.

Louise Beaudet worked at theCinémathèque Québecoise for 28years. She was first hired to coordi-nate a large animation retrospectiveat the 1967 World’s Fair in Montréal(Expo 67), she was then madeCurator of Animation, a position sheheld until October 1996.

During her long career, LouiseBeaudet manifested a boundlesspassion for animation. The interna-tional animation communityacknowledged that she played amajor role in established the validi-


ty of this cinematic genre. Sheauthored a number of historicaltexts, essays and monographs. Herexceptional programming skills werefrequently in demand by festivalsfor which she organized retrospec-tives which were always rich andsurprising.

Louise Beaudet started theCanadian chapter of theInternational Animated FilmAssociation (ASIFA-Canada) forwhich she served as president formore than 10 years. In September,1996, ASIFA-Canada presented herwith the honorary Norman McLarenHeritage Award at the OttawaInternational Animation Festival.

In January 1995, Louis Beaudetwas the first recipient of a newaward created by ASIFA-East, inNew York, to honor people who,while not being animators, devotedtheir lives to promote independentanimation.

Her colleagues at theCinémathèque, as well as thenumerous animators in many coun-tries who knew her, cannot forgether smile which was as strong asher passion for animation.

Summary of Her CareerBeginning in 1973, Louise

Beaudet was Curator of theAnimation Section of theCinémathèque Québecoise, whereshe had been working full-timesince 1968, after having collabo-rated in the Retrospective ofInternational Animation for Expo 67.

Le 3 janvier, Louise Beaudet,eut-être la plus célèbre et la plusespectée des conservateurs deinéma d’animation dans leonde, est décédée. Le texte ci-

près est un communiqué deresse de la Cinémathèqueuébecoise qui retrace lesrandes lignes de sa carrière.uelques collègues et amis ontgalement apporté leurémoignage (texte en anglaiseulement, voir ci-contre)

Louise

Beaudet:

une passion

pour

l’animation

February 1997 44

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She shared her knowledge ofanimated film with the Franco-Québecoise Office, the New YorkAnimation Festival (she was a jurymember in 1975), the CanadianFilm Institute, at the Ottawa,Toronto and Hamilton InternationalAnimation Festivals, at the New YorkFilm Library (at a 1978 symposium),the Sinking Creek Film Celebration inNashville (1979), the Museum ofModern Art in New York as part ofretrospectives of the 40th and 50thanniversaries of the National Film


Front half of cover illustration by Jacques issue of the ASIFA-Canada m

Board of Canada (1980, 1989), andat the Varna Animation Festival inBulgaria for a Canadian retrospec-tive (1981).

Starting in 1982, she was invit-ed to prepare and present exhibi-tions on animation, organize retro-spectives, or be part of symposiumsdevoted to pioneers and filmarchives by such organizations asthe Musée des beaux-arts inMontréal, the Museum of ModernArt in New York, Pacific Film Archivesat the University of California,

Drouin from the Tribute to Louise Beaudetagazine (September 1996).

Sommité internationale enmatière de cinéma d’anima-tionLouise Beaudet décédée àl’âge de 69 ans

Montréal, le 7 janvier 1997 – C’estavec tristesse que la Cinéma-thèque québécoise a appris ledécès de Madame LouiseBeaudet, survenu le 3 janvierdernier des suites d’une longuemaladie.

Louise Beaudet a été à l’em-ploi de la Cinémathèque québé-coise pendant 28 ans. Engagéeinitialement pour coordonner l’or-ganisation d’une importante rétro-spective de cinéma d’animationpresentée dans le cadre del’Exposition Universelle de 1967,elle s’est par la suite vu confier lafonction de conservateur du ciné-ma d’animation. C’est ce postequ’elle a occupé jusqu’à octobre1996.

Tout au long de sa carrière,Louise Beaudet a manifesté unepassion sans limite pour le ciné-ma d’animation. Son rôleprépondérant dans la mise envaleur de ce genre ciné-matographique est reconnu àl’échelle internationale. Elle estl’auteur de nombreux textes his-toriques, essais et monographies.Ses qualités exceptionnelles deprogrammatrice étaient regulière-ment sollicitées par les festivalspour lesquels elle organisait desrétrospectives toujours riches etétonnantes.

Louise Beaudet est à l’originedu chapitre canadien del’Association Internationale du Filmd’Animation (ASIFA-Canda) dontelle a occupé la présidence pen-dant plus de 10 ans. En septem-bre 1996, ASIFA-Canada lui adecerné le prix honorifique“Heritage Norman McLaren” à l’oc-

February 1997 45

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Berkeley, the San Francisco FilmFestival, the Pacific Cinemathequein Vancouver, and festivals in Bristol,Brussels and Annecy (jury memberin 1985), and the Museum of FineArts, Boston.

She wrote articles forQuébecoise, Canadian and Frenchcinema journals, texts for exhibitioncatalogues at Berlin and Montréal(in 1982), and for works jointly pub-lished by the CinémathèqueQuébecoise and Les éditions PierreLherminier in Paris (Les cinémasCanadiens), with the Cinémathèquede Toulouse for Charles R. Bowersou le mariage du slapsticks et del’animation and Du nouveau surCharley Bowers. She is the author ofthe monograph, Á la recherche deSegundo de Chomon, published bythe Annecy Festival (1985) on theoccasion of a retrospective of thisSpanish pioneer.

She was a member of the Boardof Directors of ASIFA-Canada from1970 to 1979.

On January 25, 1996, ASIFA-Eastpaid homage to her for her over 25years of accomplishments: her build-ing of the Cinémathèque’s collec-tion, her collaboration with numer-ous festivals, her participation andcreation of special programs, hergood taste in the field of animation,and her connivance (complicity)with the animation filmmaking com-munity. Louis Beaudet is the firstrecipient of this new award.—Translated from the French byHarvey Deneroff & Annick Teninge

Tom Knott,Warner Bros.Feature Animation (formerlyDirector, Ottawa InternationalAnimation Festival)

Louise Beaudet was a pioneerin every sense of the word, how-ever she would not have consid-ered herself one. Although not a


filmmaker, Louise filled a role ofequal importance, that of promot-ing films and filmmakers both oldand new. More importantly, sheensured that many of these filmswould be able to be seen by futuregenerations through her efforts asan archivist. No one had more pas-sion for animation as an artformthan Louise. In the world of ani-mation she was a treasured icon.

While I was with the OttawaInternational Animation Festival Ihad the opportunity to work withLouise on a number of occasions.She always provided the greatestretrospectives. The Festival was nota Festival without the presence ofLouise.

Looking back on the currentresurgence and interest in anima-tion the foundation was not laid bysuch films as The Lion King andWho Framed Roger Rabbit, but bythe pioneering efforts of people likeLouise Beaudet. Louise you will bemissed.

Caroline Leaf, Filmmaker,Cambridge, Massachusetts

Every Wednesday evening inMontreal, Louise hosted a programof animation films at theCinémathèque Québecoise. Icounted on Louise’s programmingto keep me up to date andinformed about what was happen-ing around the world in animation.There were films from festivals…noneed to leave Montreal to see thebest of the festivals…and archivalfilms, and often filmmakers werebrought in. It was great program-ming. I will always rememberLouise’s chuckling laugh. She wasreally a lady, poised and sparkling.

Gerald Potterton, GeraldPotterton Productions,Montréal

With the passing of Louise

casion du festival du cinéma d’an-imation d’Ottawa.

En janvier 1995, LouiseBeaudet fut la première recipi-endaire d’un nouveau prix créépar le groupe américain ASIFA-Eastpour souligner le soutien offert pardes personnes qui, sans être desanimateurs, ont consacré leur vieà la mise en valeur du cinémaindépendant.

Ses collègues de la Cinéma-thèque, aussi bien que les anima-teurs de nombreux pays qui ontfréquenté Louise ne sont pas prêtsd’oublier son sourire qui n’avaitd’égal que sa passion pour le ciné-ma d’animation.

Resumé de carrièreLouise Beaudet est conserva-

teur depuis fin 1973 de la sectionAnimation à la Cinémathèquequébécoise où elle est perma-nente depuis 1968, après avoircollaboré à la rétrospective mon-diale du Cinéma d’Animation dansle cadre d’Expo 1967.

Elle a fait profiter de ses con-naissances du cinéma d’animationà l’Office franco-québécois, auFestival du Film de New-York(membre du Jury en 1975), àl’Institut canadien du Film, auxFestivals Internationaux d’Ottawa,Toronto et Hamilton, au New-YorkFilm Library (symposium en 1978),au Sinking Creek Film Celebrationde Nashville (1979), au Muséed’Art Moderne de New-York dansle cadre d’une rétrospective pourle 40e et le 50e anniversaire del’O.N.F. (1980, 1989), au Festivalde Varna en Bulgarie pour unerétrospective canadienne (1981).

Depuis 1982, pour préparer etprésenter des expositions sur lecinéma d’animation, organiser desrétrospectives ou participer à destravaux consacrés a des pionnierset aux archives de cinémathèques,

February 1997 46

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Beaudet, the animation world haslost one of its greatest friends. Herkindness, humor, helpfulness andknowledge of just about anythingto do with animation and its expo-nents around the globe wasunique. Sleep well Louise, we willnot forget you.

Hélène Tanguay, National FilmBoard of Canada

Remembering LouiseLouise Beaudet died of cancer

on January 3. For the past 18months, we both found ourselvesgoing to the same hospital, as a lit-tle over a year ago I suffered astroke. I spent many, many days dur-ing the last year at the hospital fortests of all kinds; at the same time,Louise was going through radio-therapy and chemotherapy. Andwe met more than once in the cor-ridor. We were both going throughsome very difficult times. Thank Godmy health is good now. Becausewe were both home last year, wehad the chance to visit more andthink about life and how precious itis. Writing these words makes mefeel happy and sad at the sametime. I miss Louise a lot and, at thesame time, feel very privileged to

Left to right:Adrienne Mancia, Louise BeauDrouin, and Helene Tanguay at Ottawa 96

Candy Kugel.


have been able to be together somuch.

Louise and I have been col-leagues and friends for over twodecades. Her dedication to the artof animation really inspired methrough the years. When I started atthe NFB in the Festivals Office in

1970, I did not knowthat much about cine-ma and even less aboutanimation. I loved car-toons, like everybodyelse, but was ignorantabout Canadian andinternational animation.In 1974, the FestivalsOffice moved next toNorman McLaren andGrant Munro’s office—what a way to introduceme to such a wonderfulworld! I am not sure ofthe exact date, but I thinkI met Louise for the first

time in 1975. The Festivals Officecollaborated constantly with her atthe Cinémathèque Québecoise.

Louise is, as far as I’m con-cerned, the best animation pro-grammer I have ever known. Shealways knew what to select andhow to present it. The order of thefilms in every program was perfect.We all know how important it is fora film to be well programmed.

In 1979, I joined ASIFA-Canadaand was elected to the board thesame year. I spent the next 15 yearswith Louise working on special pro-jects, organizing events, workingon the magazine, doing numerouscollaborations with the OttawaFestival and it’s many directors, wel-coming international guests toMontréal like Yuri Norstein, BobClampett, Lou Bunin to name onlya few. So many came to theCinémathèque through the years.Thanks to Louise, as I met and dis-covered so many great animators,

det, Jacques. Photo by

elle a été invitée par le Musée desBeaux-Arts de Montréal, le Muséed’Art Moderne de New-York, laPacific Film Archives de Bekerley,l’Universite de Californie, le Festivalde San Fransisco, la PacificCinémathèque de Vancouver, lesfestivals de Bristol, Bruxelles etAnnecy (membre du Jury en1985), le Musée des Beaux-Arts deBoston.

Elle est l’auteur d’articles parusdans les revues de cinéma québé-coises, canadiennes et francaises,de textes pour des cataloguesd’exposition à Berlin et Montréal(en 1982) et de travaux co-éditéspar la Cinémathèque québécoiseet les éditions Pierre Lherminier deParis (les cinémas canadiens ),avec la Cinémathèque deToulouse pour Charles R. Bowersou le mariage du slapstick et del’animation et Du nouveau surCharley Bowers. Elle est l’auteurde la monographie A larecherche de Segundo deChomon publiée par le Festivald’Annecy 1985 à l’occasion d’unerétrospective de ce pionnierespagnol.

Elle exerce des responsabilitésau sein du Conseild’Administration de l’ASIFA Canadade 1970 a 1991.

Le 25 janvier 1996, ASIFA-Eastlui a rendu hommage pour le tra-vail accompli depuis plus de 25ans: la mise en place de la collec-tion de la Cinémathèque, sa col-laboration à de nombreux festi-vals, sa participation à l’élabora-tion de programmes spéciaux, sonbon gout en matière d’animationet sa connivence de tous lesinstants avec la communauté descinéastes d’animation. LouiseBeaudet est la première récipi-endaire de ce nouveau prix.

February 1997 47

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my life changed! It was also because of her that I

joined the ASIFA-International Boardof Directors. I spent 6 years on theboard with a fantastic group of indi-viduals. Our meetings weremore than long, but I haveto say that those years wereso formative and enriching.I met the Kinoshitas, JerzyKucia, Pat Webb, NicoleSalomon, and so many oth-ers dedicated to the devel-opment and promotion ofanimation throughout theworld. I have been activein ASIFA for so many yearsbecause of her.

Louise and I workedhard and enjoyed workingtogether. She used to saythe same thing about me.We worked so well as ateam. We had so much funinventing new projects. Webelieved in animation andwe loved animators. I stilldo, of course! We alsowanted to have a strongASIFA-Canada, that was rep-resentative of its member-ship. Canada is a huge country andwe did our best to reach out andhave personal contacts with themembership. I made so many newfriends through ASIFA.

We both retired from the ASIFA-Canada Board a few years ago. Ileft the Festivals Office to becomethe Marketing Officer for the EnglishAnimation Department at the NFB.Now, I really work closely with theanimators! It’s really great to bearound Wendy Tilby, Paul Driessen,Chris Hinton, John Weldon, JanetPerlman, and all the new “younger”animators.

I miss working with Louise. I missour conversations on animation andcinema in general. I miss my friend.

When Louise died, she not only

Left to r


left us a big hole in our lives, Louiseleft behind a mountain of accom-plishments. She was, is, and willalways be such a force in the ani-mation world.

Adrienne Mancia, Museum ofModern Art, New York

The following is excerpted fromMark Langer’s interview withMancia in last month’s issue ofAnimation World Magazine.

The first international animationprogram I did at the museum wasafter the Zagreb Festival in 1972.Zagreb was different then, filledwith freshness, vitality and humor.The work coming from the ZagrebStudio was so lively and inventive. Imet Louise Beaudet there and wedecided to collaborate to bringthese films to North America—sheto the Cinémathèque Québecoise

ight: Hubert Tison, Louise Beaudet and Adrian Mlast year’s Ottawa Animation Festival.

in Montreal and me to New York.The “Best of Zagreb” show was

a success, and we began to bring inother venues, such as Edith Kramer’sPacific Film Archives in Berkeley and

the Museum ofContemporary Arts inBoston. Increasingly,there were other venuesthat wanted the Zagrebshow that Louise and Iprogrammed, but wecouldn’t handle the work.We were able to do whatwe could only becauseYugoslavia would fundcultural activities. Thehead of the Studio,Zelimir Matko, was anentrepreneur. He headedsales and marketing forthe Zagreb Studio and hehelped Louise and I bringthe films we chose toNorth America by speak-ing to various producersand animators andencouraging them tocooperate with us.

Louise had the bestanimation archive in the

world in Montreal and was myguide to all this. We decided thatbased on the “Best of Zagreb” show,we would do the “Best of Annecy”in alternate years. We also did a“Best of Ottawa” once and two“Best of Hiroshima” shows. Theseprograms were always chronicallyunderfunded. We would get traveland hospitality by being invited to siton juries, by begging for hospitali-ty from the festivals or sometimes alittle from our institutions to coverprint transportation, etc.

What I tried to do with the pro-gramming, a little subversively, wasto draw it out for a week. With the“Best of Zagreb” or “Annecy” as ananchor, we would also programhomages to filmmakers or present

ancia at

February 1997 48

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animation from various countries—Japanese animation, Khitruk, PrittPjarn, and so on. We did our “Bestof . . .” until a year ago. Louise hasbeen in ill health and wanted toretire. This, plus a shortage of fundsstopped the program. Frankly, out-side of the CinémathèqueQuébecoise, I do not know an insti-tution where the exhibition of ani-mation is a priority.

David Ehrlich, Filmmaker &ASIFA-International VicePresident, Randolph,Vermont

The following is excerpted fromEhrlich’s obituary in the January1997 issue of the ASIFA-EastAnymator; in turn, it was based ona piece in the September 1996ASIFA-Canada magazine.

I first met Louise in 1982. Shewas sitting on the patio outside ofthe old Annecy Casino sipping aglass of white wine with a few maleadmirers and she graciously invitedme to sit down. After pouring me a


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glass, she asked me what I hadthought of Paul Driessen’s new film.I remember that in the first blush ofwine to my cheeks, I uttered a fewwords of what I naively thoughtpassed for wisdom. Louise gentlysmiled, placed her hand on my armand said: “But my dear, surely younoticed that . . .” And she launchedinto one of the most thoroughlyperceptive analyses of a film I hadever heard at a festival. Awed, all Icould do was bring the glass to mylips and nod appreciatively.

Now, 15 years and a number ofglasses of wine later, I am still a bitawed by this wonderful lady, by allthe energy and charm she mus-tered to put together the 1982 Artof Animation show at the MontréalMuseum of Fine Art (I say “charm”because who else but Louise couldhave talked the Czechs into partingwith their whole Trnka collection!),by all the wonderful shows she sin-gle-handedly organized at theCinémathèque Québecoise, by herleadership of ASIFA-Canada and bythe professionalism and warmth

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with which she would alwaysreceive the visiting animators Iwould bring to her through theyears. More than anyone I know inour family of animation, Louise rep-resented the nobility and purity towhich we all aspire. She was alwayshonest with others and with herown ideas, and she continued tofight unhesitatingly and vigorouslyfor what she felt was the highestform of our art. Thank you Louise,for what you have done for all ofus. We hold up our glasses andtoast you in all our languages, andI can hear you saying, “But mydears, I thank all of you for whatyou have done for animation! I’vedone nothing.” Well, Louise, you’vedone everything and we love you.

For more on Louise Beaudet,we heartily recommend readers totake a look at the September 1996issue of ASIFA-Canada, devoted to a“Tribute to Louise Beaudet,” thatincludes 12 articles celebrating herlife and career.

February 1997 49

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Renzo Kinoshita:Renzo Kinoshita:A A TTalk alk With MiyWith MiyasanasanSadao MiySadao Miyamotoamoto

In Passing

by Harvey Deneroff

Renzo Kinoshita - 1990

Renzo Kinoshita began work-ing as an independent ani-mator in 1967. His own

major work, Made in Japan wonthe Grand Prix at the New YorkInternational Animation Festival in1972. He became involved withASIFA (The International AnimatedFilm Association) and was a towerof strength as vice president. Hiswisdom and dedication had agreat influence on animation inJapan and throughout Asia andhe established the ASIFA Japannational group in 1981. In 1985,the first Hiroshima AnimationFestival was held as a result oflong years of tireless work by himand his wife Sayoko. His otherwell-known works includeJaponese (1977)—a send up of allthings Japanese, Picadon


(1978)—a moving portrayal of thehorror of the A-bomb attack onHiroshima, and The Last Air RaidKumagaya (1993). It was a greatpleasure to work with him and Iwas proud to be his friend. I willmiss him sorely.”—Pat Raine Webb, President,ASIFA-UK

As Pat Webb so eloquentlystates in her brief tribute, RenzoKinoshita was a major figure in theinternational animation commu-nity. For many, he and his wifeSayoko were the personificationof the spirit of independent film-making in Japan, and were close-ly associated with ASIFA-Japan andthe Hiroshima Animation Festival.But in talking to Miyasan SadaoMiyamoto, a veteran Japanese ani-mation artist who knew Renzosince they were both apprenticeanimators in Osaka back in 1957,I got a somewhat different per-spective on him as both artist andhuman being.

Miyasan, whose appearance,with trim beard and bald head, ashe likes to point out, makes himlook very much like Renzo, is cur-rently character art manager atDisney Consumer Products inBurbank. He came there afterworking as a directing animator

and designer at Baer Animation.His career in Japan spanned near-ly 35 years and includes workingat Osamu Tezuka’s MushiProductions on Astro Boy. He alsoworked at Sanrio (in Tokyo andLos Angeles) and Toei Animation,before establishing his own com-pany, Raku-Kobu, an animationand merchandizing company inTokyo, in 1989.

The following is based on myconversation with Miyasan, withWillie Ito, another friend of Renzoand a colleague at Disney, actingas translator. Miyasan said he had“many, many memories of Renzo,”and here are some of the ones heshared with me.

We were both from the Osakaarea and started at the same timeat a little animation studio therewhere we were in training togeth-er. Renzo sat in front of me andhe looked older; I thought he wasa veteran animator and was thusa little shy about approaching him.

He was quite famous in Japan,not for his own films, but for

the work he did on a 90 minuteTV show back around 1965

called Geba Geba.

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Kinoshita's The Last Air Raid Kumagaya (1993).

Kinoshita's Made in Japan (1972).

Meanwhile, Renzo looked back atme and thought I was an old vet-eran, and was also a little reticentabout striking up a conversation.And that, basically is how ourfriendship began.

Eventually, I moved to Tokyoand started working for MushiProductions. Then, lo and behold,Renzo came there and startedworking there at the studio, wherewe both worked on Astro Boy asanimators.

There are some funny littleanecdotes I could tell about whenwe were a bunch of young guysworking together, raising hell anddoing all sorts of funny things.Renzo was a little cheap aboutgoing to the barber shop. Backthen, believe it or not, he had alot of hair and I had an ElvisPresley. Renzo asked me if I couldgive him a trim. So, I took a pair ofpaper scissors and started to trimhis hair. It was kind of uneven, soI cut a little bit more. There werea bunch other guys working inthe place and one of them said,“Let me have a hand at it now.”Eventually, they all got in on it andpretty soon his hair was a totalmess, short here and long there.In the end, he was forced to go


to a barber shop and have it cor-rected. But, of course, the barbercut everything to match the shortpart. So, when he came back tothe office, he was almost bald. Theirony of it all is that it never reallygrew back to its fullest. So, theway we all remember Renzo, withhis bald head was the result of usfooling around and giving him thishaircut.

There was another animator,who would go out and raise hellwith me and Renzo. But I was theone who would have to watchtheir sake drinking to make surethese two guys didn’t get into anytrouble. This all happened, ofcourse, before Renzo was marriedto Sayokosan.

After about a year at MushiProductions, Renzo left and gotinto making his own films, while Istayed on doing TV series and fea-ture films. Renzo met Sayoko atMushi, where she was sort of asecretary to an executive. She hadgone to art school and hung outwith our crowd. That’s how theymet. About three years later, afterhe started his own studio, theygot married.

Renzo had a unique style, andI remember when I became oneof the premiere animators in Japanand had had the chance to eval-uate a lot of artist portfolios. Butwhen I would see Renzo’s work, I

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got the feeling that if they werefor sale, they would be worth buy-ing, they were that good.

Renzo was quite involved withthe independent filmmakingmovement and ASIFA, but I wasnot closely in touch to talk aboutthese things. However, I vividlyremember when he andSayokosan were the motivatingforce to get the HiroshimaFestival off and running.Sayoko was always verymuch involved in the cre-ative part of it. She wouldgo out and really promotea lot of their travels toASIFA events, which theyalways did together.

He was quite famousin Japan, not for his ownfilms, but for the work hedid on a 90 minute TVshow back around 1965called Geba Geba. He didbrief, five second spots,with a character spacedthroughout the showcalled Geba Geba Ozisan(Uncle Geba Geba.)which they blended opti-cally with a live-actioncomedian and they wouldbanter back-and-forth. Andthat was a very popular characterfor Renzo.

But Renzo’s main focus was hisown little films and documen-taries. But to make money in orderto keep these films in production,he would make commercials tosubsidize his independent films.His company was always a twoman studio. It was him andSayokosan. He would hire peoplelike me to come in and help himout on a film, but he never hadlike a full-time crew. Renzo wasessentially the art crew, whileSayokosan would do the ink andpaint and background.


Among his tight circle offriends, there are some veryfamous illustrators who all kind oflearned together. Renzo couldalways depend on them to comein and help them out on a film.So, he was able to get the bestdesigners and illustrators and allthat. He was very dedicated inmaking his films and developing

his craft, and he was very proud ofit, but in a low key sort of way.

It’s ironic about the film hemade about Hiroshima and the A-bomb. You see, I was born inHiroshima and experienced thebombing as a child and saw themushroom cloud. I never talkedabout what I saw or experiencedto Renzo, but what he depictedin his film was so true to life: thebomber flying over, the blue sky,and the smokey part; I was justabsolutely flabbergasted at howreal Renzo’s image was; it wasexactly like what I actually saw.

It was funny, because as fellow

Renzo's autograph from Hiroshima 96 to our own Wendy Jackson.

animators, we would always dis-cuss what we’re working on, whatare our new ideas. But that wasone film that we never actuallytalked about. If we did talk aboutit, I would have described it vivid-ly, because as an animator you’reable to describe things that way.But in spite of that, Renzo cap-tured it all.

When we were studentsand learning the craft, wewould talk for hours aboutAmerican animation. Wealways spoke of how some-day we would come to theUnited States and work inthe animation businessthere, which I eventuallydid. I would write lettersand at Christmas we wouldexchange cards, where Iwould say, “Come on,when are you ready tocome to America and workhere?” And he would say,“I would love to, but youknow how much I likeapple pie. Do you have agood recipe for apple pie?”So, I said, “My wife makeswonderful apple pies, so if

you come you can have allyou want.” And that was the

very last note I sent to him in mylast Christmas card I sent him. Inthat note, I also said, “I will becoming back to Japan in May, sowe will get together and we’ll talkmore about American animation.”

I heard the news of his deathfrom a friend we both workedwith in Osaka, who sent me theobituary in an Osaka newspaper.It’s rather poignant that we endedup talking about apple pies andAmerican animation.

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RReemmeemmbbeerriinngg AAllby Mark Mayerson

Animator Alfred Eugster, whosecareer started in the silent era andended doing animation for TV,passed away the night of January 1,1997 at the age of 87. The follow-ing memoir and biofilmography wasprepared by his friend and sometimecolleague, Mark Mayerson.

Ifirst met Al in 1975 when I wasresearching an article on cartoonsreleased by MGM when he let me

interview him about the Iwerks stu-dio.

When I went up to Kim andGifford, I had no idea what to expect.Al was 66 at the time, and I guess Iexpected to see a balding, white-haired old man. Instead, I saw some-one who could have been in his 50s.He had a full head of brown hair andan upright posture and he energeti-cally waved me into his office andanswered all my questions, and evenlent me a staff photo of the Iwerksstudio.

In 1976, I had finished school andstarted working in film as a produc-tion assistant at J.C. Productions, oneof the many small commercial hous-es in New York. At the same time, Iwas animating as a hobby and wasable to use the studio’s facilities toshoot my animation on 16mm. Ishowed it to Al and asked him if hethought I was good enough to workprofessionally in animation. He toldme I was. Coming from someonewho had worked for Disney and


Fleischer, his opinion meant a lot tome. Shortly after that, I took my firstanimation job at Teletactics.

I worked with Al on two occa-sions. In January 1978, I helped out

on the Science Rock episode aboutgravity. It was a short freelanceassignment, and I always thoughtthat I got the job out of pity. Al knewI wasn’t working steadily and I believehe convinced Kim and Gifford thathe needed help hitting a deadline.The second time was from May untilOctober 1980. Kim and Gifford wasdoing the TV series Drawing Power,created by George Newall and TomYohe, the people behind theSchoolhouse Rock series.

It’s All ProductionThe studio’s work was very flat in

design and limited in animation, butAl was an expert at breaking up a

Eugster in a detail from his class gradua-tion picture from Cooper Union in 1932.

Photo courtesy of Harvey Deneroff.

character into separate cel levels tokeep it alive. His work was far supe-rior to anyone else’s on the series andhis exposure sheets were an educa-tion.

Al gave every scene his full atten-tion. He never felt superior to thematerial or hacked something out toget it off his desk. Within the limita-tions of budget and schedule, heworked hard to get the maxiumumentertainment out of every scene.

I hadn’t been animating for manyyears, and the show was being madewithout pencil tests. If I was having aproblem with one of my scenes, Alwould always take time to help meout with it. “It’s all production,” hewould say, meaning that it was asgood a use of his time as his ownwork.

Al was very regular in his habits.I’ve heard stories that people couldtell time by when he lit up his cigars.He kept all his papers meticulouslyfiled, and anything he wasn’t surehow to classify he put in a file marked“limbo.”

Al Eugster was always generousin helping people professionally.Assistant animator Ed Cerullo told methat when he worked with him inthe 1950s, Al gave him opportunities

Coming from someone whohad worked for Disney and

Fleischer, his opinion meant alot to me.

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Left to right: Otto Englander, Shamus CulDisney in 1935. From Shamus Culhane’

Other People (St. Martin’s Press, 1986). Co

to animate. Joe Funaro, who workedat Famous Studios before enteringthe priesthood, remembered Al fond-ly in an article that appeared in theNew York Daily News.

A Very Private ManAfter Drawing Power, I moved to

Toronto and kept in touch with Almostly by phone and mail for thenext 12 years. I have to admit thatour conversations grew awkwardafter he retired. We didn’t have awhole lot in common except anima-tion and I’m sorry to say that I let ourcontact lapse in 1992.

In 1996, Bill Lorenzo threw amemorial tribute to Shamus Culhane,and mentioned that Al’s wife hadpassed away and that he was in aretirement home and gave me hisaddress. I wrote to him, but manyweeks went by without a reply, so Icalled the retirement home. I had noidea what condition Al was in, so Iwas afraid that he might be too ill tocommunicate. I was told he was okayand I phoned him directly andreestablished contact. I called him reg-ularly after that and visited him twice,in October and on December 28, justdays before he died. During the firstvisit I gave him a copy of the newbook on the Schoolhouse Rock series,


and the last visit Igave him a copyof David Gerstein’sFelix book, NineLives to Live. WhileI got it backwards,I’d given Al mater-ial that reflectedthe start and endof his career.

Al had defi-nitely aged since Ihad last seen him.He had heart trou-ble and failing eye-sight. He hadgiven up his cigars

due to doctor’s orders. He was bentover and moved very slowly. He alsohad lost strength in his hands andcomplained that some books weretoo heavy to hold. Because of his eye-sight, reading and writing were diffi-cult. When I found this out I com-municated with him by phone. I’dalways call him Sunday nights andhe’d always be watching 60 Minutes.He got a kick out of Andy Rooney, soI timed my calls so they ended wellbefore Rooney’s segment.

While Al was very pleasant andeasy to talk to, he was a very privateman. It was only in the last year thatI learned that he had no children. Istarted asking him questions abouthis background. While he’d answerthem, he wouldn’t volunteer anyextra information. I found out thathis father played the French hornwith John Phillip Sousa and Toscanini.His father died young, in his 40s, butAl did not give a cause of death. I

hane, and Al Eugster ats Talking Animals andllection of Bernie Wolf.

He never felt superior to thematerial or hacked something

out to get it off his desk.Withinthe limitations of budget andschedule, he worked hard to

get the maxiumum entertain-ment out of every scene.

also found out that he had a broth-er who worked as a soundman inthe New York film industry. After Al’sdeath, his niece told me that Al alsohad a sister and a half brother andhalf sister. Over the years Al haddropped various bits of information,such as ghosting at least one FelixSunday comic strip page for OttoMessmer or the fact that he’d donecomic book work under the nameEugie. He also told me that his firstFleischer animation was not SwingYou Sinners, but an industrial filmmade for Westinghouse. Al may havemeant Finding His Voice made forWestern Electric, but I’m not sure.

I was shocked to hear of Al’sdeath. He seemed the same inDecember as he had when I saw himin October and he was scheduled tohave cataract surgery on January 8.

Al was the first veteran animatorI ever met, and one of the nicest. Hewas genuinely interested in helpingme out and took an interest in whatI was doing. I’m really, really goingto miss him.

Al Eugster (1909-1997):AnAnnotated Biofilmography

(The filmography proper forEugster’s theatrical films was com-piled in collaboration with DaveMackey and remains incomplete—Mark Mayerson.)

Al Eugster was born on February11, 1909 and began his animationcareer in 1925 at the Pat Sullivan stu-dio, working for Otto Messmer onthe Felix the Cat series. His first jobthere was blackening in drawings ofFelix. While at Sullivan, he attendedCooper Union at night to study art.

Fleischer StudiosIn 1929, Al moved over to the

Fleischer Studios, where he did hisfirst animation.

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Swing You Sinners (1930; Talkartoon)Strike Up the Band (1930; Screen

Song). Eugster was thesole animator.

Sky Scraping (1930; Talkartoon)The Grand Uproar (1930;Talkartoon)The Bum Bandit (1931;Talkartoon)Russian Lullabye (1931; ScreenSong)A-Hunting We Will Go (1932;Talkartoon with Betty Boop)Stopping the Show (1932; Betty

Boop). Al remembered ani-mating Betty Boop imitat-ing Maurice Chevalier andFanny Brice.

Mintz StudioIn 1932, Al went West to work

for Mintz on Krazy Kat cartoons,where he was teamed with PrestonBlair on many films.

Lighthouse Keeping (1932; Krazy Kat)Prosperity Blues (1932; Krazy Kat)The Minstrel Show (1932: Krazy Kat)Wedding Bells (1933; Krazy Kat)Wooden Shoes (1933; Krazy Kat)Bunnies and Bonnets (1933; KrazyKat)Antique Antics (1933; Krazy Kat)Whacks Museum (1933; Krazy Kat)

Eugster is credited as co-writer, not animator.

Ub IwerksAl worked here from May of 1933

to 1935,where he co-animated sev-eral ComiColor shorts with ShamusCulhane.

Jack and the Beanstalk (1933;ComiColor)The Little Red Hen (1934; ComiColor)The Brave Tin Soldier (1934;ComiColor)Puss in Boots (1934; ComiColor)The Queen of Hearts (1934;

Haw


ComiColor)

DisneyHe joined Disney in 1935 and

became a Duck man as well as work-ing on Snow White.

Moving Day (1936; Mickey, Donaldand Goofy)Hawaiian Holiday (1937; Mickey,

Donald and Goofy). Eugsteranmated Donald doing thehula.

Clock Cleaners (1937; Mickey, Donaldand Goofy). Eugster animat-ed the the sequence ofDonald on the mainspring, aswell as the final shot ofMickey, Donald and Goofydoing the shimmy.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs(1937; feature). Most of Al’swork was on the bed build-ing sequence, which was cut,but one of his remainingshots includes birds and ani-mals pulling on Dopey’s robeto warn him that Snow Whiteis in trouble.

Fleischer Studios (Miami)Al rejoined Fleischer to work on

Gulliver’s Travels in Miami and stayedat the studio until 1943, when hewent into the army. During his stay,he had a chance to work Shamus

aiian Holiday (Disney, 1937) featured Eugster’stion of Donald doing the hula.

Culhane again on Popeye MeetsWilliam Tell and A Kick in Time.

Gulliver’s Travels (1939; fea-ture). Eugster did work onGabby, including a shotwhere Gabby and King Littleare covered with stones onthe balcony near the start ofthe film.A Kick in Time (1940; ColorClassic)Way Back When a RazzberryWas a Fruit (1940; Stone Age)Popeye Meets Willian Tell(1940; Popeye)The Dandy Lion (1940;

Animated Antics)Two for the Zoo (1941; Gabby)Baby Wants a Bottleship (1942;Popeye)A Hull of a Mess (1942; Popeye)Mr. Bug Goes to Town (1942; fea-

ture). Eugster animated Mr.Beetle, Swat and Smack. Onescene that’s his is where Swatand Smack are dancing in imi-tation of Hoppity and Honey.Al originally animated thedancing to be faster, but DaveFleischer told him that itwould be sexier if he slowedit down.

Famous StudiosIn 1945, Al joined Famous as a

head animator and stayed until 1957.He worked on a lot of Screen Songsand Popeye cartoons, as well as LittleAudrey and the Noveltoons.

The Enchanted Square (1947;Noveltoon)The Wee Men (1947; Noveltoon)Naughty But Mice (1947; Noveltoon)The Baby Sitter (1947; Little Lulu)Butterscotch and Soda (1948; Little

Audrey). An an interestingparody of Billy Wilder’s LostWeekend.

Sing or Swim (1948; Screen Song)

anima-

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Camptown Races (1948; ScreenSong)Spinach Vs. Hamburgers (1948;Popeye)Readin’, Ritin’, and Rhythmetic (1948;Screen Song)Winter Draws On (1948; ScreenSong)The Emerald Isle (1949; Screen Song)Stork Market (1949; Screen Song)Hot Air Aces (1949; Popeye)Farm Foolery (1949; Screen Song)Our Funny Finny Friends (1949;Screen Song)Win, Place And Showboat (1950;Screen Song)Gobs Of Fun (1950; Screen Song)Lunch With A Punch (1952; Popeye)Fun At The Fair (1952; Kartune)Friend Or Phony (1952; Popeye)Shuteye Popeye (1952; Popeye)Hysterical History (1953; Kartune)Ancient Fistory (1953; Popeye)Baby Wants A Battle (1953; Popeye)Popeye, The Ace of Space (1953;

Popeye) Made in 3D.Crazytown (1954; Noveltoon)Popeye’s 20th Anniversary (1954;Popeye)Mister And Mistletoe (1955; Popeye)Assault And Flattery (1956; Popeye)Parlez Vous Woo (1956; Popeye)A Haul In One (1956; Popeye)The Crystal Brawl (1957; Popeye)Dante Dreamer (1958; Noveltoon).

Features a Little Nemo-likecharacter.

After Famous, Al freelanced forvarious commercial studios in NewYork, including Anim Cent. He alsoworked on the Joe Oriolo Felix theCat TV cartoons.

ParamountIn 1964, he rejoined Paramount,

working under Shamus Culhane andRalph Bakshi before the studio closedin 1967.

The Story of George Washington


(1965; Noveltoon)Poor Little Witch Girl (1965;Noveltoon)Shoeflies (1965; Honey Halfwitch)Baggin’ The Dragon (1966; HoneyHalfwitch)A Balmy Knight (1966; ModernMadcap)The Defiant Giant (1966; HoneyHalfwitch)Potions And Notions (1966; HoneyHalfwitch)A Wedding Knight (1966; ModernMadcap)The Blacksheep Blacksmith (1967;Modern Madcap)Think Or Sink (1967; Merry Maker)My Daddy the Astronaut (1967;

Fractured Fable). ShamusCulhane’s highly praised filmdone in the style of children’sdrawings.

The Squaw-Path (1967; Go-GoToon)The Stuck-Up Wolf (1967; FracturedFable)The Opera Caper (1967; Go-GoToon)The Fuz (1967; Fractured Fable)The Mini-Squirts (1967; FracturedFable)Marvin Digs (1967; Go-Go Toon)Mouse Trek (1967; Fractured Fable)

Kim and GiffordAl joined Kim and Gifford in 1968.

Ironically, at a time when the anima-tion business rarely offered full-timeemployment, he began his longestuninterrupted stay at a single studio.Kim and Gifford did commercial workand also the Science Rock series,which is still being rerun on ABC. Alanimated Science Rock segments ongravity, bones and the nervous sys-tem, among others. In 1978, he didintersititals for NBC’s Saturday morn-ing lineup, based on the themeSaturday Morning Fever. In 1980, Kimand Gifford produced work forDrawing Power, a live-action and ani-

S

mated Saturday morning series forNBC. Al animated all the ProfessorRutabaga segments. (Rutabaga wasa carnival pitchman who extolled thevirtues of fruits and vegetables.)During much of this time, Al workedwithout an assistant or inbetweenerand did all the pencil artwork him-self.

Eugster made perhaps his sole

on camera appearance in JohnCanemaker’s documentary OttoMessmer and Felix the Cat.

He retired from Kim and Giffordand animation in September of 1987,ending a 62 year career.

In 1995, Al’s wife Hazel, knownas Chick, passed away, ending a mar-riage of 61 years. They had no chil-dren. He is survived by a niece, JoanBell and a half-brother, Charles.

Shamus Culhane’s My Daddy the Astronaut(Famous Studios, 1966), designed by GilMiret and animated by Al Eugster. Fromhamus Culhane’s Talking Animals and Other

People (St. Martin’s Press, 1986).

Mark Mayerson works forCatapult Productions in Toronto.

He recently directed and co-wrote Monster By Mistake, a com-puter animated half hour TV spe-

cial that ran on Canada’s YTV.Mark can be reached by email at

[email protected].

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NATPE ‘97:The Buzz of the Biz!

by Susan Hornik

Sky Dancers (Abrams/Gentile & Gaumont),based on the popular girl’s toy.

At the National Association ofTelevision ProgrammingExecutives (NATPE) conven-

tion last month, key television exec-utives from around the world con-gregated in New Orleans towheel, deal and negotiate. Andone trend was clear: animation isthe hottest ticket in town! Kidsshows, adult satires, feature filmsand even network logos have allgone to the toons!

DIC Entertainment’s RobbyLondon feels that the animatedmarket is quite competitive, notingthat, “producers are obliged to takeany action to make their projectstand out from the crowd.” To thatend, DIC’s show is Mummies, a halfhour weekly series which is beingexecutive produced by IvanReitman of Ghostbusters fame.

“Animation is a unique art formwith its own reason for being,” saidSachs Entertainment’s BarbaraSchwecke. Right now, she sees thesurge being led by the major stu-dios and their decision to build theirown animation facilities. While atNATPE, Sachs wanted to sell a thirdseason of Bananas in Pajamas,which is being reformatted to 15minutes and paired with a RandomHouse show, The Crayon Box.Sach’s half hour weeklies, NewAdventures of Zorro and Kewpiehave been sold to WPIX/New York.


E is for Education!Many syndicators with kids prod-

uct stressed the unlimited possibili-ties of animation can adequatelyblend with the limitations of FederalCommunications Commissionguidelines. Summit Media Group’sShelly Hirsch feels that “FCC-friend-ly doesn’t necessarily mean stand-ing in front of a desk. The intentionis to inform and educate—and ani-mation is a tool.” Summit was atNATPE with the youth-appealing,FCC-friendly Mr. Men, Oscar’sOrchestra (part of Summit’s “Just 4Kids” weekly 90-minute program

block, that also includes classic sto-ries called Enchanted Tales) andthe new adult weekly from Japan,Sushi TV.

Bohbot Entertainment’s KarenLee Brown feels that US producersneed to tone down the violence ifthey want to strike pay dirt in inter-national markets, which is whythey are offering the new weeklykids show, Dangerous Dinosaurs.While there’s “enough action tointrigue kids, the heroes usuallydon’t want to use weapons.”Instead, Brown has opted for whatshe terms “nonimitative violentaction,” with plenty of tail-thrashingand growling, but few guns.

MG/Perin has had a lot of suc-cess with their first foray into ani-mation. “We’ve had an excellent

response from our stations to ournew fully animated educationalseries, Chucklewood Critters.” Theshow, which is currently in produc-tion, has been sold to the BBC aswell as to stations in the US.

Co-Production LandAnimation is also very big in

international markets. “There is a lotof demand—more than we canproduce,” explained ClaudeBerthier, chief executive officer ofMarina Productions, who was at theconference to promote The Princessof the Nile, an FCC-friendly series

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Red Raven, Phoenix Animation’s new showwhich is being developed in association

with the Opaskwayak Cree Nation.

Mr. Happy from Summit Media Group’sMr. Men

set in ancient Egypt.Since their introduction, Gau-

mont Multimedia’s highly successfulDragon Flyz and Sky Dancers (bothproduced by Abrams/GentileEntertainment) have sold in over 70territories worldwide. The series,developed from the number oneselling toys in the USA, have recent-ly been sold to RCTI in Indonesia,and Dragon Flyz has gone to FoxKids Network in the UK. Gaumont’sMickie Steinmann was also excitedthat the company had just soldHome to Rent, which already airsin France and the UK, to air on Fox’sSaturday morning lineup. Rock starIggy Pop is working on the thememusic for the show. Gaumont hasalso entered into the enchantingworld of magic with its latest ani-mated series, The Magician.

Many of the companies exhibit-ing at NATPE have established co-productions with a number of dif-ferent countries. For instance,Alliance Communications offeredthe new animated series, CaptainStar. The cult comic strip hero willbe flying onto the small screen in a


co-venture between Filmworks (UK),HTV’s Harvest Entertainment (UK),Alliance CommunicationsCorporation (Canada), ZDF(Germany), Nickelodeon (UK) andCanal Plus (Spain). Other financiersinclude YLE (Finland) and VPRO(Holland). In addition, Alliancebrought a third season of Rebootand another season of Beast Wars,(which is distributed by ClasterTelevision), two high-tech comput-er-generated animation series pro-duced by Alliance and Mainframe.

Catalyst Entertainment teamedwith co-owned Phoenix AnimationStudios, CanWest Global Systemand the Opaskwayak Cree Nationon Red Raven, a new FCC-friendlyhalf hour animated series for fall1998. The program is based on thecomic book and chronicles theadventures of Lynx, a Cree warriorwho can transform himself into asupernatural hero.

One of the most beloved char-acters from the early world of chil-dren’s television is returning this fallthrough an agreement betweenSaban Entertainment and BuschEntertainment. Captain Kang-aroo will be back as the All-New Captain Kangaroo tohighlight the Saban’s KidsNetwork. The FCC-friendlyshow will be an updated,contemporary version ofthe old standard, butenough of the classic ele-ments will be retained to appealto the original viewers who aretoday’s moms and dads.

Many syndicators with kidsproduct stressed the unlimitedpossibilities of animation can

adequately blend with the limi-tations of Federal

Communications Commissionguidelines.

Stay Tooned!The following NATPE items high-

light the convention’s animatednews bites:

• From the start of NATPE’s open-ing session, the innovative useof animation techniques werepresent, when Medialab’sunveiled Cleo, a real-timemotion capture animated char-acter who “starred” in their 3-Dperformance animation presen-tation.

• Montreal-based Telescene FilmGroup is the producer forStudent Bodies, an FCC-friendlylive action/animation series setin high school where kids workon an alternative student publi-cation, which is being distrib-uted by Twentieth Television.The show is scheduled to pre-miere in syndicated television inthe fall of 1997.

• Nelvana had two animated prop-erties at the conference: Ned’sNewt and Sticking Around, ahalf hour series that will be seenthis fall. Sticking Around, createdby Robin Steele and BrianneLeary, was adapted from a seriesof shorts which originally ran onMTV’s Liquid Television. The

company isa l s o

c o -

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producing with Medialab onDonkey Kong Country. Inaddition, Scholastic’s TheMagic School Bus, the ani-mated series produced byScholastic Productions inassociation with Nelvana,has been licensed to approx-imately 80 countries aroundthe world, including the UK,France, Spain, Greece, andseveral countries within theMiddle East and Latin America.

• Desclez Productions announcedthat the company is in pre-pro-duction on three new animat-ed children’s series, Turtle Island,Mirob and The Adventures ofProfessor Iris. Produced byDesclez Productions in associa-tion with Ravensburger, TurtleIsland is a 26 episode, 30minute series which centersaround a group of hilariouscharacters in the South Seaswhose life is constantly inter-rupted by pirates and buccaneerin search of gold and jewels.Designed for children and fam-ily audiences, Turtle Island fea-tures a turtle king, a duckbillplatypus and an octopus beast.Mirob consists of 26, five-minute,3D-animated vignettes thatintroduce preschoolers to arange of experiences of nature


Bohbot’s Dangerous Dinosaurs.

seen through the poetic eyes ofa curious young robot, Mirob,and his three friends, Mimi, Pyraand Cric-Crac. The Adventuresof Professor Iris, which consistsof 52 x 13 minute vignettes, isbased on the Professor Iris char-acter from the puppet series forpreschoolers, Iris, The HappyProfessor.

• Claster Television offered 13 all-new first-run episodes for a sec-ond season of All Dogs Go ToHeaven: The Series.

• Malofilm International, the inter-national distribution arm ofMalofilm Communications, willhandle sales and worldwide dis-tribution for the children’s ani-mated series Turtle Island.

• Fresh on the heels of the successof its Animated Classics collec-

tions, Goodtimes Entertain-ment offered its new animat-ed series The Greatest Heroesand Legends of the Bible,designed for family time peri-ods and mass market videosell-through to buyers world-wide. The series has alreadybeen sold to broadcasters innumerous territories through-out the world, including Italy,Spain and Germany.

• UNICEF is putting out the

•

Encore Enterprise’s Chucklewood Critters.

i

call to find broadcast part-ners to participate as char-ter members of theInternational AnimationConsortium for Child Rights.The initiative is to find broad-cast time for the 100 publicservice announcements(PSAs) on children’s rightsissues currently being pro-duced by more than 80 ani-mation studios worldwide.

“We’re hoping that as the issueof broadcasters’ responsibility tochildren becomes an increas-ingly topical one, networks willsee this as a way of showingtheir support for positive kidsprogramming,” said WilliamHetzer, chief of UNICEF’sBroadcast and ElectronicCommunication Section. The 30second PSAs are being donatedto UNICEF by the producers andwill be distributed to broadcast-ers for free. Cartoon Network,Nickelodeon, RAI Television andYLE-TV Finland are among thebroadcasters already committedto the program.

NATPE announced that DisneyTelevision Animation, AppleComputer and IBM are the latestadditions to the list of leading-edge companies to exhibit atthe first annual internationalNATPE Animation and SpecialEffects (ANIFX) Conference &Exposition, May 8-11 at the LosAngeles Convention Center.

Susan L. Hornik([email protected]) is a freelancewriter/editor in the television/filmndustry. At NATPE, she is the edi-tor of The Daily Express, a con-

vention daily magazine.

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Heard at NATPE 97

by Wendy Jackson

Joel Andryc, Saban’s Senior Vice Presidentof Development.

At the 1997 Convention andConference of the NationalAssociation of Television

Program Executives (NATPE), ourreporter on the scene, asked ani-mation distributors: “What aresome of the considerationsinvolved in developing, produc-ing, and ultimately distributinganimation to the internationalmarket?” Herein are a selection ofanswers followed by some com-ments drawn from a panel dis-cussion “Animation: The UniversalLanguage,” moderated byCartoon Network President BettyCohen , which discussed the real-ities of the much-hyped globalmarketplace for animation.

Joel Andryc, Senior VicePresident of Development,Saban Entertainment, says helooks for properties that “tran-scend cultural boundaries” byhaving evergreen appeal, or uni-versal animal characters, citing asexamples the Saban shows TheAdventures of Oliver Twist basedon the classic literature of CharlesDickens, and 20,000 Leagues inOuter Space a modern adapta-tion of the Jules Verne classic.“Most importantly,” adds Andryc“a show has to have compellingcharacters and stories. If you don’thave those elements, you have a


show that won’t entertain andwon’t sell internationally ordomestically.” Andryc attributesthe success of Saban as a globalcompany to the vision of itsfounder, noting that, “Ten yearsago, when most production com-panies were developing only forthe US market, Haim Saban hadthe foresight to be internationalin scope and predict today’s glob-al economy. As you can see hereat NATPE, the world really hasbecome one market.”

Nadia Nardonnet, ExecutiveVice President of BohbotInternational discussed some ofthe challenges involved in pro-

ducing animation for an interna-tional audience: “Bohbot distrib-utes product in over 55 countries,and animation is the product thatsells well internationally, havingthe most transferable cultural con-tent. But the international marketis a very complex market, andtheir demands are often contra-dictory. They want an animationseries that has notoriety, yet at thesame time they want somethingnew. They want non-violence, butthey also want action. They wantratings as well as educational con-tent. You have to balance all ofthese issues in developing ani-mation product for the interna-tional market.”Linda Simensky, recentlyappointed Vice President ofOriginal Animation for theCartoon Network responded:“If I thought about what every dif-ferent Cartoon Network wanted,it would be difficult becauseeverybody wants something else.In Asia, they like family-orientedshows, in some places they onlylike funny animals, and in otherplaces they like sarcasm. What Ireally try to do is to just not makeshows feel too American. I lookfor the universal gag, the univer-sal sense of humor. I think the rea-son slapstick works is because it’sfunny everywhere. Whatever

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motivates the characters shouldnot be specific to American life. Itry to stay away from Americanjokes, although I’m seeing a lotmore of them now. Why not justcome up with some human per-sonality traits that are universal?”

Nancy Steingard, ExecutiveVice President of UniversalCartoon Studio, noted that “abig focus of what Universal is try-ing to do is to capitalize on ourfranchise properties.” She attrib-utes the international success oftheir animated show Casper, toits quality and the fact that theproperty is already established,having gained wide recognitionwith the recent feature film.Additionally, she points out thatthe international market is veryreceptive to comedy. Anticipatinginternational success for one ofthe new shows in developmentat Universal, Steingard said“Woody Woodpecker is a prop-erty that we have on the draw-ing board right now, and it hasalready been very big in the inter-national market. We have a lot ofgreat plans on the drawing boardfor Woody for the upcoming year,and we have some really amaz-ing talent working on it.”

On the second day of theconference, NATPE presented apanel discussion entitled“Animation: The UniversalLanguage”. With CartoonNetwork President Betty Cohenmoderating, panelists discussedthe realities of the much-hypedglobal marketplace for animation.

Michel Welter of SabanEnterprises International, one

In a good co-production, oneplus one equals three.


of the panelists on the“Animation: The Universal Langu-age,” pointed out that the so-called global marketplace for ani-mation consists mostly ofAmerican shows traveling world-

wide, not the other way around.He noted that, “Out of the 125new shows which were producedand shown in the United Statesin 1995-96, only 17 of them orig-inated from another country.Fourteen of those 17 were fromCanada and the 3 others werefrom Gaumont in France, whohad a co-production agreementwith a Hollywood studio. Theonly way to get a European con-cept produced and shown inAmerica is either to practically sellyour concept to an Americancompany that’s going to changeit, or to go through Canada,which has a unique position tounderstand both the US andEurope.”

Nelvana is one Canadiancompany which is very familiarwith European co-productionscreated for the US market.

Nancy Steingard, Executive VicePresident, Universal Cartoon Studios.

Nelvana Chairman MichaelHirsh, in the course of the paneldiscussion, described the compa-ny’s unique positioning in themarketplace: “Nelvana has beenvery successful in producingEuropean projects with a moreNorth American spirit, which thenallows them to travel. We have aproximity to the US market, so weunderstand the culture. At thesame time, Canada has a heritagethat is a little more European, sowe can appreciate where ourEuropean partners are comingfrom. Working with Europeancompanies, we’ve been able totake characters from one part ofthe world and adapt them so thatthey work all over the world. Thatmarriage between Canadian andEuropean companies also hasanother force behind it. Canadahas official co-production treatieswith those European companies.Producing these shows qualifiesus for various incentive programsin Canada and also qualifies theEuropean co-producers for incen-tive programs in those countries.The combination of those incen-tives, plus the license fees that wecan get in our respective coun-tries on presales allows us to pro-duce those shows without any USpresale. In a good co-production,one plus one equals three.”

Wendy Jackson is Associate Editorof Animation World Magazine.

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Medialab Opens LA Studio.French company Medialab, a sub-sidiary of Canal + has partneredwith US company Four Media toform Medialab Studio LA, a jointventure which is one of the first real-time performance animation studiosto open in Los Angeles. After mak-ing a big splash with presentationsof their work at NATPE 97, the newstudio hopes to secure productiondeals with Hollywood studios, con-tinuing the kind of service work theyhave been providing for Europeancompanies since 1989. Their pro-prietary motion-capture animationsystem can produce up to 15 min-utes of animation per day, and hasalready been put to use to produceoriginal animated characters forEuropean television, such as a 3-DBugs Bunny for RAI-TV (Italy), Bertthe Fish for Nickelodeon UK,


Nelvana’s forthcoming Donkey KongCountry, made with Medialab’s motion

capture technology.

Medialab’s motion capture technology inaction.

Donkey Kong for France 2’s DonkeyKong Country, Digit for Belgacom(Belgium) for the and the virtual talkshow host Cleo for Canal +, who isacting as the LA studio’s spokesper-son for promotions. In addition totheir motion-capture technology,Medialab has produced 3D com-puter animation for TV series, com-mercials, and feature film effects,such as The Adventures ofPinnochio and Insektors .

PDI Adopts New CG Application.Northern California computer ani-mation company Pacific DataImages recently adopted Platform’sLSF (Load Sharing Facility) softwarefor corporate-wide deployment. Asthe studio prepares for productionon Dreamworks’ feature-lengthcomputer animated film Ants, theyrecognized the need for a systemto manage the workload amongtheir cluster of several hundred com-puters. The LSF software maximizestime and computing power by dis-tributing the workload of renderingand processing CG images acrossall of the computers in the network.

Manga Entertainment LaunchesNew Animated Shorts Division

The giant international distributorof Japanese animation has openeda new Animated Shorts Division,which will be based in San Diego,and headed up by animation vet-eran Jan Cox, former producer ofthe Spike & Mike’s Festival ofAnimation collections for MellowManor Productions. Beginning thisfall, the division will distribute aseries of full-length theatrical com-pilations of original animated shortsto be shown in theaters in the USand abroad. “Manga Entertainmentis in the position to provide the bestopportunity for animators of inde-pendently produced short films byenabling them to have their workseen in theaters worldwide by thegeneral public.” said Cox, who isnow accepting submissions forreview. Animators who wish to par-ticipate should contact Cox at 964Fifth Ave, Suite 3300, San Diego,CA 92101 USA.

Hollywood Celebrates DepartedAnimators.On February 1st, mem-bers of the animation communitywill gather in Hollywood’s UnitedMethodist Church in a non-denom-inational celebration to honordeparted members of the anima-tion community. The second annu-al “Afternoon of Remembrance” pre-sented jointly by the MPSC Local839 IATSE, ASIFA-Hollywood andWomen In Animation will pay trib-ute to more than 32 people whodied in 1996 and early 1997,including Saul Bass. ShamusCulhane, Al Eugster, Lillian Peel,Virgil Ross, and Clair Weeks.Animation World Magazine willpublish a report from the event innext month’s issue.

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a

Beavis and Butt-head WinMarketing Award.The HollywoodFilm Information Council has award-

e d

Beavisand Butt-head DoAmerica theExcellence InFilm MarketingAward forDecember 1996.Against whatsome consider tobe difficult odds,such as initialpress resistanceand having ateenage mentality film with “no pro-motable stars,” the marketing teamachieved tremendous box office suc-cess in the US, bringing in morethan $51 million so far. Creative pro-motion techniques such as actually

Green,Will Vinton Stufirst female M&M char


Soundtrack album cover from Bambi.

driving a painted Beavis and Butt-head bus across the country andairing pre-produced animated “inter-views” with the characters on TVtalk shows are acknowledged in therecognition of the award.

Disney to Release LimitedEdition Bambi Home Video.

Walt Disney’s fifth animatedfeature, Bambi, will bereleased on home video onFebruary 4 as part of a55th anniversary limitededition package, avail-able for only 55 days.Contemporary Disneyanimators DavePruiksma, Doug Ball,

Mike Surrey and Ron Husband citethe film as being inspirational intheir careers, featuring the contri-butions of several the legendaryNine Old Men animators who are

still with us today, includingMarc Davis, Ollie Johnston andFrank Thomas.

DirecTV To Broadcast MangaTitles. The Patlabor, Angel Cop,The Guyver, Appleseed, and NewDominion Tank Police are amongthe 30 Manga EntertainmentJapanese animation titles to beoffered on DirecTV’s Direct Ticket PayPer View satellite delivery service,beginning February 1.

Vinton Creates Female M&MCharacter. There’s a new face inWill Vinton Studios’ most recentspots for the popular M&M/Mars adcampaign . . . Joining the familiarBlue, Red and Yellow M&M 3-Dcomputer-animated brand charac-ters is an all new Green character(yes, “Green” is her name), the firstfemale M&M character to appear inthe campaign. The first Green spots,entitled Talk Show, Myth andMuscle Men premiered during the

dio’scter!

pre-game telecast on Fox prior tothe Superbowl (January 26). Since

1995, Will Vinton Studio has creat-ed 16 commercials for M&M/Marsand BBDO Advertising.

Coca-Cola’s Colossal Campaign.San Francisco’s Colossal Pictures isback in the swing of things withtwo new commercials for Coca-Cola, one in live-action and oneusing computer animation. Thespots are Drew Takahashi’s mostrecent projects since resuming hisfocus as the company’s chief cre-ative director. Pictogram, the 30 sec-ond spot done in 3D computer ani-mation, was designed and direct-ed by Jill Sprado, while the anima-tion and compositing was producedby Click 3 West. Pictogram will airthroughout 1997 in over 192 coun-tries.

Curious Captures Cap’n Crunch.In their sixth collaboration withBayer Bess Vanderwarker, CuriousPictures presents a new 30 secondspot for Cap’n Crunch Cereal usingcomposited live-action, cel, and SGIcomputer generated images. Thespot, entitled Treehouse, wasdirected by Steve Oakes and fea-tures a cel-animated Cap’n charac-ter as a roving reporter interview-ing kids to get their reactions to theaddition of blue and purple berriesto Quakers’ Crunch Berries cereal.

Colossal’s Pictogram spot for Coca-Cola.

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Sue Loughlin image for Weight Watcher’s new ad campaign, produced by AcmeFilmworks.

Weight Watchers GetsAnimated. Acme Filmworks direc-tor Sue Loughlin created two 30second spots now playing regular-ly on US national television. Thiscampaign marks a new direction forthe client, Weight Watchers, depart-ing from spokesperson advertisingfor the season of increased businessin the beginnings of the new year.Loughlin, creator of the festival-rec-ognized short film The Occasion,has also created a series of threeprint ads as part of the overall cam-paign.

Bruce Willis to Star In SonyPlayStation Game. Shoot ‘em up!Activision is currently producingApocalypse, a new animated action-adventure game for the SonyPlayStation platform, featuring a “vir-tual” representation of Bruce Willis asa main character. Using cyber-scan-ning and motion-capture tech-nologies, artists will create an entire-ly computer-generated 3D charac-ter based on Willis. This project willuse Activision’s new proprietary ani-mation system and engine tech-nology that they have been devel-oping for two years. As part of his


multi-million dollar package, Willisreceived an equity interest inActivision and a profit participationin the title.

Kids’ World First Game StarsHowie Mandel. Kids’ WorldEntertainment, a division of 7thLevel, has released its’ first interactiveCD-ROM title, The Great ReadingAdventure Starring Howie Mandel.Designed for children ages 6 to 9,the animated educational title fea-tures the voices of Howie Mandel(Bobby’s World) as Lil’ Howie andMaurice LaMarche (Pinky and theBrain, Yosemite Sam) as Stinky theSkunk.

Living Books Releases NewArthur Game. Living Books, theSan Francisco-based producer ofinteractive educational entertain-ment for children, has released anew interactive storybook based onthe popular children’s book and PBSanimated TV series Arthur. The prod-uct, entitled Arthur’s Reading Racefeatures animated characters ingames designed to teach basicreading skills to 3-7 year old kids.

The following items are fromAWN’s January 21, 1997 EmailNews Flash:

California To Fund EducationInitiative.After much pushing fromHollywood digital studios facingstaffing crunches, CaliforniaGovernor Pete Wilson stated he willallot $1.2 million of the state’s 1997-98 budget to fund scholarships forstudents pursuing careers in digitalanimation. The funds will bematched by a number of the ani-mation and effects companies seek-ing talent. Additionally, Wilsonrecently unveiled the state’s DigitalHigh School initiative, which willtranslate into $1 billion in technol-ogy for California’s high schools.

Ottawa To Present StudentAnimation Festival. NorthAmerica’s largest animation event,The Ottawa International AnimationFestival announced plans to host anew biannual event, theInternational Student AnimationFestival of Ottawa (SAFO). ExecutiveDirector Chris Robinson notes“Students should have an opportu-nity to have their work screened

Living Book’s CD-ROM of Arthur’s ReadingRoom.

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more often and within a more sup-portive environment.” SAFO willoffer a showcase for the growingnumber of animated student filmsbeing produced, as well as spotlightanimation schools and programsworldwide and offer professionalworkshops. To support the event,the Animarket trade fair introducedat Ottawa 96 will also take place atthe new student festival, offeringthe talent-hungry studios and pro-duction companies an opportunityto get a peek at the industry’s freshcrop of talent. The entry deadlinefor films in competition is July 1,1997. For further information con-tact Chris Robinson [email protected].

Animation Celebration ToInclude Business Conference.TheWorld Animation Celebration to beheld in Pasadena, California March24-30 recently announced detailsfor its 1st International BusinessConference of Television Animation.Twenty producers will be selectedto give 10 minute presentations toall conference attendees, whileanother 10 producers will be cho-sen to present 5-minute videos atthe breakfast symposium.Submissions are being accepteduntil February 15, 1997. For anapplication, contact AnimationCelebration coordinators at [email protected].

Absolut Vodka LaunchesAnimation Web Site. ChristinePanushka, Associate Director ofCalifornia Institute of the Arts’Experimental Animation Depart-ment is subject of and inspirationfor Absolut Panushka, a new on-lineimage advertising campaign forAbsolut Vodka. With Panushka’sdesigns as the doorway and cen-terpiece, the web site (www.abso-lutvodka.com), officially launching


on Thursday, January 23, featuresadditional artwork and animationclips by 24 international masters ofanimation, including Pritt Parn, JulesEngel, Kihachiro Kawamoto, RuthHayes, The DeNoojiers and others.Each animator was commissionedto create an original 10 second ani-mated film including a visual of thesignature Absolut bottle shape. Thesite is being promoted as an “on-line animation festival” with two ofthe films slated to premiere on thesite each week. The films havealready won a prize at the HollandAnimation Film Festival(www.awn.com/haff) for BestApplied Animation Campaign, andare making their US debut at theSundance Film Festival this week.Produced by Santa Monica,California-based production com-pany, Troon, the site also featuresan animation history overview byfilm historian William Moritz and aJava-enabled page which allowsusers to create their own animationon-line. “Animation will be the artof the Internet” predicts Panushka,who believes the medium will bringanimator and audience together.

PBS Builds Home Video Arm andPartners With WebTV. OnFebruary 25, PBS’ newly-formeddivision, PBS for Kids, will release itsfirst home video product, a series ofsix tapes of The Adventures Fromthe Book of Virtues, an animatedseries produced last year byPorchLight Entertainment. Mean-while, PBS announced last weekthat they are partnering withWebTV Networks, Inc. to create cus-tomized on-line content for broad-cast on WebTV’s proprietary deliv-ery mechanism, which allows usersto access the Internet from their tele-vision set. The material will serve topromote PBS’ TV shows, which canbe viewed simultaneously through

WebTV’s system. “Our goal is tocybercast fully integrated, extensiveon-air programming and PBS On-line Web content to a whole newpopulation of Internet users,” notedPBS President and CEO ErvinDuggan at a press conference lastweek.

Fox Kids Network ConfirmsPlans To Launch Cable Network.During the NATPE convention inNew Orleans, Fox Kids NetworkCEO and Chairman MargaretLoesch met with broadcast affiliatesto announce and discuss plans tolaunch a Fox Kids cable networkaimed at rivaling existing networks,such as Nickelodeon and CartoonNetwork. Loesch is currently work-ing on a business plan for the ven-ture, targeting a September 1998launch. Fox Kids Network is attempt-ing to attract affiliate support inadvance by offering to give them a50% profit participation. Talks havealready taken place between thenetwork’s parent News Corp. andInternational Family Entertainmentabout taking a partial stake in IFE’sThe Family Channel, which isalready available in 65 millionhomes. Loesch also indicated thatthe company is considering turningtheir general entertainment cablechannel, fX, into a children’s service.

FOX’s New Animated Show IsKing. Last week’s Nielsen ratingsshowed that the premiere of MikeJudge’s new animated series Kingof the Hill was watched by about19.9 million viewers in the US, rank-ing it the top rated new show ofthe season and number 13 showof the week among total viewers.Just in front of King was TheSimpsons which tallied in at num-ber 12 with 20.4 million viewers,the shows’ highest rating in 2 years.

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Cartoon Network’s SimenskyPromoted / Program News.LindaSimensky has been promoted fromDirector of Programming to VicePresident of Original Animation forCartoon Network Worldwide.Although the titles may not definethe significance of the change,Linda told AWM that her new rolewill involve much more direct devel-opment work as part of the restruc-turing of the merged Turner/TimeWarner company. Responsibilitieswill include overseeing develop-ment of and production for showsproduced at Hanna BarberaProductions, notably drawing onher nine years of experience atNickelodeon.

As president of ASIFA-East, aswell as a frequent visitor to interna-tional animation festivals, Simenskyhas a strong knowledge of short-form animation, which she has putto good use in curating a new pro-gram for Cartoon Network, OCanada, a series of compilations ofanimated shorts produced by theworld-renowned National FilmBoard of Canada. The weekly halfhour program will air at 9:30 p.m.(ET) Wednesday evenings andrepeat each Sunday at 10:30 p.m.(ET). Showcasing more than 50 filmsin all, the series will include 1986Academy Award nominee The BigSnit by Richard Condie and the1953 Oscar-winning Neighbors byNorman McLaren. “This collectionwas actually one of my program-ming goals when I started atCartoon Network,” notes Simensky.She is also responsible for pro-gramming another unique shortfilm collection aired on the network:a collection of the annual winnersof the ASIFA-East animation festivalwhich happens in New York everyspring.

In other programming slots,Cartoon Network is adding three


Kids WB! series to its Friday nightlineup: Steven Spielberg PresentsAnimaniacs, Superman, and StevenSpielberg Presents Pinky and theBrain. This is just one of the manyways in which the merger of TimeWarner and Turner is bringing syn-ergy to animated programming.Cartoon Network president BettyCohen commented that, “Now thatwe are a part of the Time Warnerfamily, we will take advantage ofevery possible opportunity to pro-mote the popularity of these classicand contemporary cartoon starsfrom both Warner Bros. and HannaBarbera.”

Curiously Animated Nick Logo.Curious Pictures recently complet-ed production of a dozen 3 and 4second vignettes to serve as stationidentifications on the Nickelodeoncable network. Emmy-award win-ning director Mo Willems, knownfor his independent films and workon Sesame Street, directed the spotsbringing to life the network’s newcomputer-generated spokespersonLogobelly.

Ovitz Rich,Eisner Richer! MichaelOvitz resigned from his post as pres-ident of Walt Disney Co. inDecember, taking home a whop-ping $38.8 million in severance pay,plus stock options. This sum wasreached after Disney was sued bya group of its stockholders for“waste of corporate assets.”

Meanwhile, Walt Disney Co.chairman Michael Eisner just signeda new 10-year contract to stay withthe company. Worth at least $300million, the deal assures that Eisnerwill be a billionaire by 2006. Onehas to wonder... what do theseguys earn per minute?

Quibble Over Rocky & BullwinkleRoyalties. Animator Ted Key has

filed a lawsuit against Rocky &Bullwinkle current rights holdersWard Productions. Key claims thatWard did not honor his end of thedeal to share with him 25% of prof-its generated from all sales of theRocky & Bullwinkle show to TV,home video or licensing the char-acters for other media projects.Meanwhile, in a separate federalcourt trial, the ownership of rightsto the Rocky & Bullwinkle show isstill under debate by MCA, Wardand General Mills.

Storyopolis AnnouncesAnimated Projects. Software bil-lionaire Paul Allen’s family enter-tainment company known asStoryopolis unveiled several newprojects last week, including sev-eral animated TV shows and fea-ture films. Projects in developmentare all based on illustrated chil-dren’s books. For television, theyplan to produce a series’ withSaban Entertainment and onewith DIC. The feature films indevelopment are part of a first-look movie deal with WarnerBros., and they include adapta-tions of the books NicholasCricket, as well as The Sorcerer’sApprentice, with Geena Davis aslead voice and co-producer, andRed Ranger Came Calling basedon Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoon-ist Berkely Breathed’s recently com-pleted screenplay, and The IguanaBrothers, a road movie starringiguanas for which modelmakersMackinnon & Saunders are slatedto participate in production.

Resident EvilTo Become FeatureFilm. Capcom Co., the Japanesevideo game giant and creators ofthe Sony Play Station game ResidentEvil, have announced plans todevelop the game into a live-actionfeature film. The screenplay will be

February 1997 66

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written by Alan McElroy, writer ofthe Spawn comic book based film.

The following items are fromAWN’s January 7, 1997 EmailNews Flash:

Saban Going Dutch? SabanEntertainment is negotiating anagreement with Dutch media com-pany Arcade NV to acquire a major-ity stake in the company’s cablechannel TV 10. This will likely meanan increase in animated program-ming for the channel, which istransmitted on 80% of Dutch cablesystems. With Saban’s recent for-mation of Fox Kids Worldwide withFox Children’s Network, pursuinginterest in overseas cable operationsfits into their overall plan to distrib-ute their product on a global scale.

Scheimer in Deal With K-TEL.Lou Scheimer Productions hasentered into an exclusive outputdeal with K-Tel to acquire family filmsfor international home video distri-bution. Lou Scheimer, long-time ani-mation industry player and founderand former CEO of Filmation, notesthat he will be looking for newproperties at NATPE next week.

Curious Pictures Creates BestBuy Campaign. Many of our USreaders may have noticed the cleverpuppet-animated commercials forthe Best Buy Company which airedover the holidays, and wonderedwho created them. The three 30second spots; Monsters, Wrestlersand Three Little Pigs were createdby Curious Pictures at their newly-opened San Francisco productionfacility. Director/ designer DenisMorella noted that the goal was tocreate a “Tex Avery/ Warner Bros.style animation, executed in 3D.”Working with Morella on the spotswere former Twitching Images staff,


Animation Director Paul Berry, ArtDirector Graham Maiden andProduction Supervisor Kat Miller, bestknown for their work on TheNightmare Before Christmas andJames and the Giant Peach. (Berry,though, is perhaps best known forhis short, The Sandman, whichplayed on the festival circuit severalyears ago.)

Full Production Slate forDreamquest Images. The WaltDisney Company’s visual effects divi-sion, Dreamquest Images recentlyannounced that they are in pro-duction on seven feature films;Mighty Joe Young, The Absent-Minded Professor, Con Air, Georgeof the Jungle, Kundun, Jungle 2Jungle and Deep Rising. Dream-quest recently completed over 400visual effects shots for the upcomingrelease Honey, We Shrunk Our-selves. Since being purchased byDisney in May ‘96, the studio’s staffhas effectively doubled to well over200 employees, varying from pro-ject to project.

Disney Sets UK Video SalesRecord.The top-selling home videoin the UK this year has been Disney’s1961 re-release of the animated 101Dalmatians. bringing the Britishhome video sales market to a recordhigh this year. Meanwhile, Disney’sanimated feature Toy Story homevideo sold more than 464,000 inthe UK in November alone.

Role-Playing Games To BecomeFeatures. Sweet Pea Entertain-ment, producers of Walt DisneyPictures’ upcoming comic-bookbased feature, GEN 13, hasacquired all rights to the popularfuturistic sci-fi role-playing gameTraveler. The company is nowdeveloping the property into TV andfeature film concepts in collabora-

tion with Grand DesignEntertainment. This and other pro-jects in development by Sweet Peawill appeal to the virtually untappedliterary market of role-playing gamefans, for which there is an estab-lished audience of over 12 millionplayers worldwide. Sweet Pea alsoowns rights to the popularDungeons & Dragons role-playinggame.

WB and Turner Synergy Begins.The merger of Time-Warner andTurner is becoming a reality as weenter the new year, as we werereminded with the Warner Bros.Christmas card featuring a groupshot of characters from both libraries(Fred Flintstone standing right nextto Bugs Bunny!). Over the holidayseason, customers found for the firsttime Hanna-Barbera products forsale in the Warner Bros. StudioStores nationwide. On the air, view-er are seeing Space Jam promotionsand specials on Turner televisionnetworks. In production, manyHanna-Barbera staff are now work-ing on WB TV animation shows,while Jean MacCurdy heads upHanna Barbera Productions (shewas formerly head of Warner Bros.TV Animation division). TurnerFeature Animation’s second andfinal product, Cats Don’t Dance willbe released this spring by WarnerBros.

AFI Offers Animation Classes.The American Film Institute in LosAngeles will offer introductory work-shops throughout January,February and March, focusing onfundamentals of 3D modeling, com-puter animation for interactivemedia and photo geometry. Forinformation call (213) 856-7690.

--Compiled by Wendy Jackson

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DDeesseerrtt IIssllaanndd SSeerriieess .. .. .. AAnniimmaattiioonn IInndduussttrryy--iitteess

Compiled by Wendy Jackson

This month, we asked a few of our writers and people involved in the business of animation to list whatfilms they would take with them if stranded on a desert island. Piet Kroon is a Dutch animator currentlyworking on The Quest for Camelot at Warner Bros. Feature Animation. Georges Lacroix is president of the

Paris computer animation studio, Fantome. Pat Raine Webb is President of ASIFA UK. Jerry Hibbert is Directorof Hibbert-Ralph Animation Ltd. in London and Chairman of the Guild of British Animation. And right here inHollywood, Steve Hulett and Jeff Massie deal with the business of animation as representatives for the MotionPicture Screen Cartoonists’ Union, Local 839 IATSE.

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iet Kroon’s Top Ten picks…

. My Life As A Dog by Lasse Halstrom, abeautiful swedish children’s film . . .bittersweet like life itself.

. Manhattan by Woody Allen, because noteveryone gets corrupted.

. The Life of Brian (Monty Python) by TerryJones—the “bright side of life”.

. 101 Dalmatians (animated) by WolfgangReithermann, Hamilton Luske andClyde Geronomi. because I love thedesign of this film. It has great cari-catured human characters for achange.

. The Big Snit by Richard Condie. Brilliantfun. “Okay teens! Begin to saw!”

. Balance by the Lauenstein Brothers. A perfectly balanced film, a clear idea finds its singularexpression.

. Amarcord by Frederico Fellini. “Una Donna!” Great nostalgic tableaus of childhood, and veryfunny.

. A Good Turn Daily by Gerrit van Dijk. Drop a quarter in thejukebox and watch the world spin.

. Elbowing by Paul Driessen, because it is simple, efficientand eloquent.

0. Raiders of the Lost Ark by Steven Spielberg. What’s adesert island without a rollercoaster?

Piet Kroon

February 1997 68 WORLD MAGAZINE

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Georges Lacroix’s favorites…

“I need to see all of these films again, as I have so much to learn from them.”

1. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfts by David Hand. I first saw it when I was five years old,and I knew at that time that I wanted to be an animator. I must also mention the moviebehind this movie, which is Disney’s Cinderella. If I had a big pocket, i would bring it too!

2. Toy Story by John Lasseter. I like this film so much because it is more about the emotion thanthe technology. Thank you Mr. John Lassetter, Mr. Ralph Guggenheim, and Pixar for prov-ing that we are in a new era of animation. All of the new students born with the computerwill open up a new very wide magic world of this art form. We will have many great sur-prises in the next 10 years. I would like to take my retreat or retirement and step back towatch the new art develop!

3. Bad Luck Blackie by Tex Avery. I’d like to bring the whole Tex Avery collection!4. Red Hot Riding Hood by Tex Avery 5. The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton & Henry Selick, one of my favorite American

animated movies.6. My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki, the master of classic animation in Japan. I like Totoro

because it is so sensitive, but of his other films I also love La Puta, Porco Rosso, and Nausicaa.Miyazaki is a genius. I love the ways of this man, he is great person.

7. Flyer Tombs by Isao Takahata, a film about the Hiroshima bomb. The animation gives the abil-ity to pass emotion through the image with elegance.

8. Akira by Katsuhiro Otamo, the pioneer of new, avant garde animation in Japan. 9. AOS by Yoji Kuri. A very graphic film. I first saw it when I was a student. It shocked and inspired

me. I like the generous ways of Kuri, who is serious yet not serious at the same time. 9. The Man Who Planted Trees by Frédéric Back. He is a great human being. There is much we

can learn from him and his films. I had the honor and privelege to have the Fantômeexhibit accompany the exhibit of Frédéric Back at the Hiroshima Festival in 1996.

10. Le Petit Soldat (The Little Soldier) by Paul Grimault.11. And for good luck!: Topor by Leopold Survage.

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Pat Raine Webb’s picks…

“If I do actually get stranded on a desert island I would really need a minimum of 100 favorites butthese will do as a starter. I don’t dare mention books or music, or I would need a whole issue of yourmagazine!”

Animation:1. The Big Snit by Richard Condie, the funniest serious animated film to date.2. The Tale of Tales by Yuri Norstein, a moving and beautiful Russian epic.3. Once There Was A Dog by Edward Nazarov. This makes me laugh.4. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs by David Hand. This still makes me cry.5.What’s Opera Doc? by Chuck Jones. How could I leave this out?

Live Action:1. The Thief of Baghdad by Ludwig Berger, Tim Whelan & Michael Powell. My all-time favorite film.2. Star Wars by George Lucas. Can I have the trilogy please!3. E.T. by Steven Spielberg. How wonderful to have a lovable alien instead of a revolting one.4. Stand by Me by Rob Reiner. The best ever “coming of age” film.5. King Kong by Merian C. Cooper & Ernest B. Shoedsack, The best ever “monster” movie

February 1997 69TION WORLD MAGAZINE

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Jerry Hibbert

Jerry Hibbert’s selections…

“Here they are in no particular order with a reason forchoosing each—usually personal in some way.”

1. Yellow Submarine by George Dunning, because Georgegave me my first job.

2. Bambi by David Hand. I watched my children watchingthis wide-eyed and learning about the circle of life.

3. Gone in 60 Seconds by H.B. Halicki. Pure car chase fun.4. Carry on Camping by Gerald Thomas. English lavatorial

humor at its best.5. The Girl Can’t Help It by Frank Tashlin—great music!6. Bullitt by Peter Yates, because I always wanted a Dodge

Charger and never got one.7. American Graffiti by George Lucas, the perfect Saturday

night out.8. Ice Cold in Alex by J. Lee Thompson, because my father

fought in the North African desert and took me tosee this one as a boy.

9. Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola.10. The Godfather by Francis Ford Coppola.

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Caricature of Steve Hulett by Scott

Jeff Massie’s…

1. Children of Paradise by Marcel Carne.2. The General by Buster Keaton.3. Great Expectations by David Lean.4. The Invaders (49th Parallel) by Michael

Powell 5. Jules and Jim by François Truffaut.6. The Magnificent Ambersons by Orson

Welles. 7. The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance by

John Ford.8. Rules of the Game by Jean Renoir.9. The Third Man by Carol Reed.10. Yojimbo by Akira Kurosawa.

Steve Hulett’s…

1. The Adventures of RobinHood by Michael Curtiz.2. Aladdin by John Musker& Ron Clements.3. City Lights by CharlieChaplin.4. Gone With The Wind byVictor Fleming.5. His Girl Friday by Howard Hawks.6. How Green Was My Valley by John Ford.7. The Sea Hawk by Michael Curtiz.8. Spartacus by Stanley Kubrick.9. The Thief Of Baghdad by Raoul Walsh.

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February 1997 71IMATION WORLD MAGAZINE

The Dirdy Birdyby John R. Dilworth

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March Issue Highlights

Focusing on the theme of Children and Animation, our nextissue will address several related topics. Taking a look at childrenwho create animation, we will publish a selective survey of chil-en’s animation programs around the world, with special attention

to the ASIFA International’s Children’s Animation Workshops. We’ll explore the ways children’s programs are sold around

e world. We will learn all about the first animated musical for chil-ren on the Internet and who made it. Addressing social action inimation, we will have a story about the Trees for Life program, asell as an update of the UNICEF Animation Consortium, following

the launch of UNICEF’s official site on AWN.

February 1997 72RLD MAGAZINE

Animation (March)

imation (April)

ls (May)

(June)

ks/Strips & Animation (July)

Animation (August)

(September)

Merchandizing (October)

o (November)

Documents

Animation Nations · 2016. 5. 22. · live-action films (as in Mars Attacks! ) and of digital special effects (as in Forest Gump) have started to blur the line between live action