Lou Romano (left) and Teddy Newton, the production designer and character designer, respectively on The Incredibles, regaled attendees with tales from the film’s production. Courtesy of Pixar Animation Studios.

Also very entertaining and big hits with the crowd were Pixar’s Lou Romano and Teddy Newton, who were the production designer and character designer respectively on The Incredibles. They showed behind-the-scenes drawings and regaled the audience with tales from the film’s production. For instance, did you know that Mirage’s visage based on Sophia Coppola and Brad Bird (his looks only!) is the basis for the film’s villain?

Both Lou and Teddy worked with Brad on the brilliant Iron Giant and moved to California’s bay area in 2000 to work with him at Pixar. However, the director first showed them pictures of the project way back in 1993. Both recounted the experience of working on the film as an absolute joy. “Brad had such a vision, we were lucky,” explained Teddy. Both Teddy and Lou showed masses of sketches and final art, discussing their inspiration and reasoning behind each artistic choice. “The roof dips down in the middle to represent his oppression in the home,” explained Lou while reviewing the designs of the family’s home. “We chose lava because this island becomes Bob’s hell,” he continued clicking to the next slide. Each slide contained such a great nugget of information. Teddy also shared his unusual style of early development, where he cuts images from magazines and then shapes them into collages.

Borivoj “Bordo” Dovnikovic, the master from Zagreb Film, was the subject of a festival tribute. A selection of his films was screened, including Learning to Walk. Courtesy of I Castelli Animati.

They even showed a short film they are working on together and drew for their fans on demand! I have no idea how many copies of The Art of the Incredibles they signed, but they were troopers through and through and the Italian crowd loved the “inside scoop” that they delivered. Many students were taking copious notes throughout their sessions and you could tell they thought it was a big treat.

From High Tech to Low Tech
Two ladies that work in clay also wowed the audience. The adorable Fusako Yusaki showed her films and got big laughs… but I didn’t know why at first… While Fusako moved from her native Japan to Italy many years ago apparently her Italian is very funny due to the way she pronounces words and phrases. But her new countrymen loved every minute! She kept the audience laughing, and her infectious smile and energy endeared her to all.

(Left to right): Tsvika Oren, president of ASIFA Israel, Vesna Dovnikovic, ASIFA secretary general and president Croatia, Igor Prassel of ASIFA Slovenia, film editor Roberto Perpignani and filmmaker Bordo. Courtesy of I Castelli Animati.

U.S. animator Joan Gratz also screened a selection of her films and even did a demonstration of her technique, mixing mineral oil with clay to make it more like a thick, heavy paint. She also had a good time answering questions, speaking slowly so that her words could be translated into Italian exactly. When asked about why Portland, Oregon, her home base, has such a large animation community, she pluckily responded, “It rains so much we need to find an indoor activity that doesn’t result in the production of children.”

The festival also featured a selection of films from Borivoj “Bordo” Dovnikovic. The master from Zagreb Film screened his films and spoke about how the transition from socialism to capitalism was their biggest struggle, not the war. “Socialism was bad for the nation, but good for animation,” he joked. However, he made some serious points — that were seconded loudly from the audience by the one and only Oscar Grillo — that the biggest problem facing national studios now is that often times their first priority is paying the rent… not necessarily making great films. “The criminal act of art!” Oscar called out.