Is there a British invasion in animation? U.K. prizewinners at this year’s Annecy included Rabbit. Courtesy of Annecy (left) and © Run Wrake. 

Is British animation on the way to recovering some of the creative vitality we witnessed in the ‘80s and ‘90s?

This is the question that springs to mind when looking at the prizewinners’ list from the 2006 Annecy Festival, where four British films won a total of six prizes between them, starting with Joanna Quinn’s Dreams and Desires — Family Ties (Special Jury Prize, Audience Prize and Fipresci Prize).

In regards Quinn’s film, it’s not so much a revelation than a confirmation of a talent which has consistently matured — the gift for caricature and verve of this Welsh-by-adoption filmmaker is as, as ever, consummately expressed, in this stunning re-invention of amateur documentary filmmaking. A fine piece of virtuoso animation, the likes of which is rarely seen today. Run Wrake’s Rabbit (Jury Special Mention) is undoubtedly the winner with the most “contemporary” feel, although the filmmaker actually took his inspiration from a 1950s reading primer picture book.

In awarding these particular films, alongside others just as graphically oriented, the jury no doubt intended to emphasize that drawing is and continues to be the essence of animation. This was abundantly clear in its choice of Tragic Story with Happy Ending by the Portuguese filmmaker Regina Pessoa for the Annecy Cristal. When graphic style is accompanied by a strong (voice-over) text, one begins to wonder — have the mechanical revolutions of 3D computer animation started to run out of steam?

Joanna Quinn’s Dreams and Desires — Family Ties was honored three times with the Special Jury Prize, the Audience Prize and the Fipresci Prize. © Beryl Prods. International Ltd. 

However… let’s not be too hasty in claiming victory. The all too predictable Delivery by Till Nowak (Germany), which won the Jean-Luc Xiberras Prize for First Film, is a good example of that type of 3D animation in which the software application used is more recognizable than any authorial touch.

Fortunately there are antidotes to the boredom often induced by the sameness of so many of the films, one being the hilarious One D, by Canadian filmmaker Michael Grimshaw, an opportune choice made by the Junior Jury, as well as those student films full of caustic humor such as Tony Comley’s Abigail (Great Britain), which garnered a special mention in the student film category, and Matthew Walker’s Astronauts (Great Britain), which won the prize for Best Student Film.