Why Estonia?
The book is based on interviews, and Robinson does not hesitate to juxtapose different opinions. You know, everyone does not like everyone. This gives the book some positive tension, even though it borders upon gossip.

Robinson is known from his columns for AWN as a very personal writer with an irritating style. This book is completely different. It’s personally written, but concentrates on the topic, not on the writer himself.

The story of the book is reliable; it paints a realistic picture. There has been a lot of articles and even one trilingual book (Sergei Assenin: Estonian Animated Films and their Creators, 1986) on Estonian animation but Robinsons book still includes a lot of new information.

The question people always ask is why has Estonian animation made it? Why is it so appreciated? Robinson does not give a direct answer; he even states that it would be naïve to claim that there is one magical reason for it.

Some reasons he list are, “Geography, Finnish television, caricatures, oral tradition, modern art.” All true, but the role of the Finnish television has to be explained. Most Estonians could watch the Finnish television freely during Soviet time, and, due to the closely related language, they even understood it. This, together with a big number of Finnish tourists since the opening of the border in 1964, caused a lot of western influence, which other parts of Soviet Union didn’t have.

One of the main reasons for success is, undoubtedly, the ability to gather the best artists together to do animation. When looking at the names of animation film teams one can notice that the best composers, writers and artists were there. Even internationally famous Arvo Pärt made a lot of animation music. Robinson dedicates one chapter to animation composers, a welcome offering.

Missing Women
An interesting topic, which the book does not touch at all, is the lack of female directors. Only in connection with recent events are some female artists even mentioned. The complete absence of female directors is unique in the world of animation, even though, according to current rumor, a Russian female director is working with an animation film at the Nukufilm studio. The Russians -- one third of Estonian population -- are also a missing from the field of animation.

My theory for the missing women places the blame on the studio system. Directors usually have to rise from animator or camera operator to director, which takes time. As in every hierarchic organisation, women are slow to climb the ladders to the top. Just name the three most famous female directors of Hollywood cartoon factories!

In western European, countries animators usually work alone, set up their own studio and have to apply separately money for each project. This works the same way for both men and for women. And finally the role of women is very traditional in Estonia. It is still very much a society of men, as it was in Soviet time.

The success story of Estonian animation also needed good luck. There were the right men in the right place at the right time doing the right things.

Refreshing
The book is full of interesting information. What do I miss? The birth dates for directors are not always given, which is a pity. Some important films made by Estonian directors for foreign contractors are not mentioned, e.g., seven part series Urpo ja Turpo (1997) co-directed by Riho Unt in Nukufilm studios is both artistically and technically good work. Beyond these details, Robinson’s big picture is reliable.

It is also refreshing to read a book written by a North American writer, as Europeans have covered this topic until now. It is 80 kilometers from my home to Tallinn and I’ve been visiting the city frequently since 1976 -- things looks different from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

At some points Robinson falls for a somewhat romantic view of small brave David Estonia next to big bad Goliath.

I do not believe either that the character of culture can be explained even partly by the structure of the language, as Robinson suggests. But then again, my language has the same structure as Estonian, so I cannot see it from an outside perspective. For me English looks like a funny and peculiar language.

These criticisms aside, the main thing is that this is a good book.

Between Genius & Utter Illiteracy: A Story of Estonian Animation by Chris J.Robinson. Tallinn, Estonia: Varrak Publishing, 2003. 276 pages. ISBN 9985-3-0722-4 (softcover $30.00)

Heikki Jokinen is a freelance journalist based in Helsinki, Finland and serves as a board member of ASIFA.