The Amalfi coast, site of Cartoons on the Bay.

The second edition of Cartoons on the Bay, the only festival in the world devoted entirely to television animation, took place last month (April 5-9) on the picturesque southern Italian coast of Amalfi, near Naples. Only in its second year, this festival has become an important event for the animation world. It is at once a cultural event for animators, filmmakers, executives, animation critics and historians, a privileged circle for discussing the everlasting moral, psychological and educational issues surrounding television and children; and, perhaps most importantly, an occasion for showing the little known treasures of the history of animation to a hungry public.

The professional attendance was mainly from Italy, with a mix of European and American executives participating in the seminars. It was also a treat to have the presence of animation master Jimmy Teru Murakami (When the Wind Blows) visiting from Ireland. Italians Bruno Bozzetto, Guido Manuli, Giuseppe Laganá, Pierluigi De Mas, Marco Pagot and Enzo D'Alò were all present, wise-cracking and discussing their new projects. Bruno Bozzetto confessed that he is thinking of developing a new feature film, his first since Allegro non Troppo in 1978.

As is the case with many animation festivals, there are usually more events going on than any one person can keep up with. The 58 films in competition and 56 in showcase were screened in the evocative, although somewhat freezing setting of the ancient Arsenali (shipyards) hall, while the programs of animation previews and live-action TV productions for children took place in the nearby village of Maiori. Meanwhile, a program on music and cartoons was being presented in Salerno, the biggest town of the area. My feeling is that the festival would have been better if it had been more localized. But it is nevertheless true that this inherent flaw is also the charm of the festival.

The Amalfi Coast.

An important aspect of Cartoons on the Bay is its many conferences and seminars, which were mainly devoted to "children and television," the theme of this festival. Also of interest were the seminars "Scaling the Height of Animation," which discussed the limits of animation market, and "Writing for Animation", a professional seminar for animation scriptwriters.

And The Pulcinella Goes To. . . .
The international jury was comprised of Marc du Pontavice of Gaumont Multimedia in France, Robby London of DIC Entertainment in USA, Theresa Plummer-Andrews of BBC Childrens Programmes in U.K., Michael Schaak of Trickompany Filmproduktion in Germany, and Alessandra Valeri Manera of Mediaset Networks in Italy.

Timon & Pumba. © Disney

Of the 58 films in competition, the top prizes were awarded to Rotten Ralph by John Matthews of USA for the Best Childrens Series category, and to Link by Tapani Knuutila of Canada for the Best Adult Series category. These were two well-deserved prizes, according to the general opinion of the festivalgoers, who generally agreed about the rest of the prizes as well. The Sun is a Yellow Giraffe by Finland's Elmer Diktonus of the Epidem studio brought home both the UNICEF Award and the Silver Pulcinella for Best European Series, while Moscow-based Christmas Films' Testament: The Bible in Animation, directed by Aida Ziablikova, was awarded both the Silver Pulcinella for Best TV Movie and a special mention for Best Direction. The four other films awarded Silver Pulcinellas were Cosgrove Hall's (U.K.) Brambly Hedge for Technical Innovation, Hanna Barbera's (USA) Dexter's Laboratory for Best Script, Grand Slamm's (U.K.) Percy the Park Keeper for Best Series for Infants and Walt Disney's (USA) The Lion King's Timon & Pumba for All Audiences.

My favorites which were not awarded prizes include Hanna Barbera's Cow and Chicken, by David Feiss and Robert Alvarez, Nickelodeon's Rocko's Modern Life by Robert McNally-Scull, Warner Bros.' Superman by Toshihiko Masuda, which is very faithful to the original comic strip and very well modernized.