But It's Not So Simple
Then again what is a groundbreaking work? In this post-MTV age we’ve appeared to have seen it all? As John Waters sorta said…can anyone make something that is groundbreaking or shocking that doesn’t involve sex or violence? In Holland, for example, I went to this difficult Japanese experimental screening and then went to a screening of commissioned TV animation (commercials, music videos, ids, etc.). Aside from artistic intention (one sells a philosophy, the other, shoes), they both seemed stylistically similar. With the proliferation of mass media and the need to fill airtime, yesterday’s avant garde is today’s Nike ad.

Besides, much of what we show in Ottawa is already considered ‘out there’ by both the local public and even portions of the animation community. Furthermore, we’re not some free floating entity; we are government supported and receive most of our money from animation studios, schools and software companies. We have to answer to the needs of those who fund us.

Nevertheless, I think competition and retrospective programs can (and should) be easily shaken up. There are many works that straddle the lines between animation, video art and experimental, and in most cases animation festivals shy away from these works. As Carels suggests, there is a tendency in animation, more than in any other art form, to focus on craftsmanship. Animation folks are obsessed with the quality of drawing and animation. WHAT is being said is generally less important than HOW it is being said. I remember some Animation Nation loser saying that Priit Pärn films were poorly drawn…as if there is some set standard of drawing! Or how about those whiners who keep saying Waking Life isn't animation? I mean…first off…Shut the fuck up, it IS animation. 2. Shut the fuck up and THINK for two seconds about the content. Bunch of Disney-Star Wars-Tornado-Norstein weened Wankers. Not to keep harping on The Old Man and The Sea (I could also use the puppet films of Barry Purves, the works of Frédérick Back, any post-Creature Comforts Aardman production or Martine Chartrand’s Black Soul as examples), but while all sorts of animation folks saw this gorgeous, beautiful animated film that used a painstaking fingerpaint technique, I saw a crappy, sentimental film that oh so poorly adapted one of Hemingway’s few decent books. And then there’s the computer. Every goddamn year I am asked why there are not more computer films in competition…well I’ll tell you why, because they suck. The animators are so busy whacking off on whatever cool software they have, they often forget to come up with an actual idea (or at least one that isn't ripped off from some combination of Star Wars-Star Trek-Anime). I kid you not, the computer entries we get (and it’s the same crop as every other festival) are so embarrassingly stupid and riddled with clichés that our decision process becomes that much easier.

Currently there are too many animation festivals showing too many of the same films, all being judged by the same voices. It’s become too cozy and familiar. We need to hear from new voices. We need to get animation artists (and more specifically open-minded animation teachers — like Stephanie Maxwell — who can introduce their students to something beyond the typical animation canon) together with musicians, poets, digital artists, experimental filmmakers so that these worlds can introduce themselves to each other with the long-term hope that something new and inspiring will emerge. A lot of people in animation bitch and moan (including me) over the fact that festival animation remains this hidden little secret…well given that we’ve been sitting in our house with the windows and doors locked and the blinds pulled down…is it really that surprising?

Chris Robinson is but a man. His hobbies include squirrel taunting, goat thumping, meat dancing and elderly peeping. You can find the results at http://asifa.net/robinson