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Sunday Sept. 26, 5:30 PM THE McBOING BOING REVOLUTION: UPA CARTOONS plus a Cool Illustrated Lecture by Russell Merritt Russell Merritt is a film studies professor at UC Berkeley and co-author of Walt in Wonderland and a forthcoming book on Walt Disney's Silly Symphonies. He will also introduce the films of Jir Trnka on October 3.With this illustrated lecture he will chart the studio's meteoric rise, and screen brand-new prints of hard-to-find cartoon masterpieces including Chuck Jones' Hell-Bent For Election (1944, 16mm), the first Gerald McBoing Boing (Robert "Bobe" Cannon, 1951), based on Dr. Seuss's story about a kid who doesn't speak words, but only makes sounds; John Hubley's Rooty Toot Toot, UPA's jazz version of "Frankie and Johnny", Willie the Kid (Robert "Bobe" Cannon, 1952), the make-believe fantasy film that James Thurber thought the perfect cartoon; The Oompahs (Robert "Bobe" Cannon, 1952) and The Tell-Tale Heart (Ted Parmalee, 1953), Edgar Allan Poe dementia told in the Surrealist style of de Chirico and Dali, with narration by James Mason. 35mm unless otherwise noted. At the Pacific Film Archive Theater: 2575 Bancroft Way @ Bowditch, Berkeley. www.bampfa.berkeley.edu

Tuesday, Sept. 28, 7:15 PM ASIFA-SF and the SF State Animation Club present A DOUBLE BILL! At 7:15 THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT W with the filmmaker in person. An entertaining well made documentary by Robin Chin, John Grimes and Louise Rubacky assisted by dozens of volunteers including Mike Nolan, ASIFA-SF's webmaster and other ASIFA-SF members. The film is an intelligent discourse about who Bush really is. Its target audience is voters in swing states. Hopefully it will stimulate political thought and encourage people to vote. DVDs and VHS copies and screening schedule available at SomethingAboutW.org At 8:15 MONDO MEDIA PRESENTS THE MAKING OF THE LATEST "HAPPY TREE FRIENDS" DVD Learn how this series has become a worldwide international hit and meet the artists responsible for Mondo's sensational success story. It started out as a web show, now it is a hit with the MTV crowd, especially in Europe, and Happy Tree merchandise is being sold all over the planet.

Saturday Oct. 2, "FORBIDDEN PLANET" AT THE PRESIDIO'S FREE THIRD ANNUAL FILM IN THE FOG SCREENING The screening of 1956 sci-fi classic will be in CinemaScope on the lawn of the Main Post Theatre, 99 Moraga Avenue in the Presidio. A picnic and concert begins at 5:00 pm, the feature and a Tom and Jerry cartoon starts around 7 PM. Bring short lawn chairs and blankets. Arrive early to reserve a spot from which to enjoy the SuperSonic Saxes and Brass Wings from the Air National Guard Band of the West Coast Food and beverages from the White Star Cafe will be available for purchase.

Sun. Oct. 3, 5:30 PM SHORTS BY JIRI TRNKA, Introduced by Russell Merritt Trnka's first films, The Animals and the Brigands (1946, 9 min) and a slapstick treatment of the German occupation, The Springer and the SS (1946, 13 min), were revolutionary. Then came his many unforgettable puppet films, from the 1949 Song of the Prairie (21 mins), an affectionate parody of the Western, to his last film The Hand (1965, 19 min), a dark allegory about artistic freedom in a totalitarian society, considered his masterwork. When Trnka died in 1969 at the age of 57 he was given a state funeral. Four months later, The Hand was banned. Also on the program: Archangel Gabriel and Mother Goose (1964, 29 mins), 35mm prints, Pacific Film Archive.

Wed. Oct. 6, 7:30 "THE PIED PIPER" Jiri Barta (Czechoslovakia, 1986) Barta teamed up with the legendary Jiri Trnka Animation Studio to turn the Pied Piper fable in to an extraordinary work using puppet animation, ornately designed oil-painted backdrops, and live action. Recreating a Czech medieval town on a miniaturized set of baroque slants and Expressionist shadows, Barta creates a Gothic world caught somewhere between Gaudi and Kafka, Caligari and Svankmajer. You know the story, but Barta uses various woods and patterns to create a different look for each human puppet. He overruns his town with alarmingly real rats, giving further power to his parable of a society overrun with vermin, and consumed by scavengers. Color, 35mm Preceded by shorts by Jir Barta: Disc Jockey (1980, 10 min). The Extinct World of Gloves (1982, 16 min). The Club of Discarded Ones (1989, 25 min). 106 min plus intermission, 35mm, at the Pacific Film Archive.

Thurs. Oct. 7, 5:30 THE CZECH YEAR Jiri Trnka (Czechoslovakia, 1947) Free First Thursday Screening! Tickets available at the PFA Theater starting at 4:30. Trnka's first puppet feature uses simple wood-cut figures to illustrate traditional folk customs and celebrations as seen in villages throughout the year, set to Czech folk songs. One of his own favorite films, it's a charming work, perfect for all ages. 75 mins, No dialogue, B&W, 35mm, Pacific Film Archive

NATIONAL NEWS (top)

INTERNET ANIMATORS ARE GETTING POLITICAL This Land is Your Land by JibJab (Greg and Evan Spiridellis) is a funny parody of the Woody Guthrie song that stars both major candidates taking jabs at each other. (Bush to Kerry, "You liberal sissy." Kerry to Bush, "You right-wing nut job.") Due to word-of-mouth and then national press and TV coverage (Wall Street Journal ,Leno, NBC Today, etc.) the website www.jibjab.com had millions visitors. The Woody Guthrie estate has objected to the parody of the song. They probably don't have a leg to stand on (did they complain to get JibJab more publicity - I suspect Woody would have approved of this work) but they did get a lot more visitors to visit the site. It is worth visiting if you haven't seen it. It makes Bush look like an idiot and isn't all that flattering for Kerry. Another fine work is Brother Can You Spare a Job by Tom Neely and Greg Saunders. The 30-second version won the Move On.org "Bush in 30-Seconds" contest. There is also a 7-minute version of this fine b/w cartoon done in a 1930s style. It really captures the feel of the depression era, but the voice on the radio telling us our economy is growing belongs to George W. Bush. It is worth putting up with the download time to see this impressive work (even with DSL). See it at www.brothercanyouspareajob.com.

"LION SLEEPS TONIGHT" COMPOSER'S FAMILY SUES DISNEY according to Variety the family of composer Solomon "Mbube" Linda, who died in 1962, has filed a suit against The Walt Disney Co. for the use of the song in the The Lion King. The copyright infringement suit is for $1.6 million.

MIYAZAKI'S "HOWL'S MOVING CASTLE" IS THE FIRST ANIMATED FEATURE AT THE VENICE FILM FESTIVAL IN 30 YEARS BEING SHOWN IN COMPETITION Being shown out of competition will be the world premiere of DreamWorks' Shark Tale and Steamboy by Otomo Katsuhiro, Japan. Festival runs Sept. 1-11.

NICKTOONS FILM FESTIVAL - IS IT A GOOD DEAL OR A RIP-OFF? By Karl Cohen Since publishing our last newsletter I found out about an animation competition by a major cable network that looks like a way for them to assemble a TV series and only pay $10,000 to acquire product for it. Spike pays people who get in the Sick and Twisted show a token fee for the use of their work. What Nickelodeon is doing is paying one prize of $10,000 and everybody else gets "free exposure." They want your work for non-exclusive use for 5 years and they give you nothing for it but exposure. They will pay you something if they produce a video and/or DVD, but there is no guarantee such a product will be made when people can tape the program for free. It is probably safe to assume they will rerun the program several times over a five-year period if the program is any good. If Nickelodeon was a struggling corporation I might take pity on them. I don't as I read in Television Week (1/5/04 p. 3), "When it comes to licensing its brands for consumer products, Nickelodeon has proved that it has the Midas touch, selling $5 BILLION in goods based on hugely popular Nickelodeon characters such as" I suspect Nick can afford to pay animators for using their work. I also think they can afford to be generous towards artists, not just pay them a token fee. I think they should learn to treat artists with more respect. I'm not surprised that Animation Magazine promoted the competition as they were probably paid to help advertise it and/or have had other business dealings with the network. Their support doesn't certify that the competition is a good deal for struggling animators. I assume most of the magazine's income comes from paid advertising, not from subscriptions. When I decided to write about the competition I asked several people for their opinions. Howard Beckerman (animator, university instructor, author) wrote back, "It's the same old game. MTV had a contest several years ago for animated spots. They offered a few money prizes, but you could just see all these kids spending time and money making a short film hoping to win. I explained how unfair this was to some of the people at MTV, but they didn't even acknowledge a possible inequity. In the end, the very capable Bill Plympton won first prize, and he was already a known producer. They should have just gone to him and paid him for a spot instead of spinning a lot of naive people's wheels." Another famous New York animator wrote me, "Good point, Karl. More people with influence need to speak up about these kinds-of cheap ass scams." A friend in NY sent my initial note to somebody involved with the competition. The person wrote back, "I do not think it's a rip-off, even if Karl isn't happy about it. A "non-exclusive" contract means one is still free to sell or do anything else one wants with one's work, and even if you're not being paid, playing on Nick could be a big step up for some people I'm not endorsing this festival. I just let people know about it. They are free to do what they want with the information. It is probably a better opportunity for students or newcomers than established animators, but there are many instances of competitions in all fields where there is only a single prize; i.e., Metropolis magazine's Next Generation contest for designers, also $10,000." I appreciate that person's comments, but I feel that unless your work is truly wonderful or your name is as well known as Bill Plympton's, a good way to kill a potential business deal with another TV network or DVD company is to let them know Nick already has non-exclusive rights to your work. Most TV networks want exclusive use of a product - period. They may not care if the work was first shown in a few festivals or at a few local theaters, but I suspect exposure for 5 years on Nick will not help you get your work on Comedy Central, ABC, etc. It might help you get it on a foreign network. The Nickelodeon contract isn't the only questionable contract I've seen recently. An irate animator sent me a copy of a contract from a well-known business. For $250 they wanted the animator to sign all rights over to them forever! (DVD, TV, videotape, theatrical, non-theatrical, etc.) This wasn't a 1 year or 5 year contract, but FOREVER! They also wanted all merchandising rights, the right to deduct certain things from the $250 payment (clearing music rights). They did allow the artist the right to enter their work in film festivals.

MARK OSBORNE GETS A GUGGENHEIM FELLOWSHIP TO MAKE A SHORT Working with Karen Dufilho-Rosen, producer of several Academy Award-winning animated shorts at Pixar, they plan to create The Better Half, a 7-minute stop-motion work. It is a tale of someone so in need of a companion that he creates that friend with material from his own clay puppet body. "The story is an allegory of co-dependency and of the complicated and sometimes fragile nature of relationships." Guggenheim Fellowships are given to individuals for a project that will take between 6 to 12 months to complete. The average amount of a Fellowship grant in 2003 was approximately $35,747. Osborne's More was the first animated stop-motion film to be presented in IMAX. It won numerous awards in 1999, at Sundance, the USA Film Festival, ResFest and at other festivals. He works as a director in feature animation development at DreamWorks, and has directed live action sequences for a Spongebob feature. Karen Dufilho-Rosen has been head of Pixar's shorts department for several years and has also produced the fake "outtakes" for several of their features. www.happyproduct.com.

SYLVAIN CHOMET ("TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE") SIGNS ANOTHER DEAL TO DIRECT The new contract is with Universal for an animated feature about a mouse living in exile with a nice rat and a servant girl who is mistaken for a princess. It is based on a children's book, The Tales of Despereaux. He also has a deal with Dimension films to direct an untitled animated feature.

TACKY "SNOW WHITE" SEQUEL WAS PRODUCED BY A CON ARTIST WHO IS BACK IN ACTION Happily Ever After (ca. 1990) is a really bad low budget sequel to Snow White. It was produced by a company located in Texas using Filmation in LA as their production house. The animation business wasn't booming at that time so several Disney artists laid-off after Black Cauldron found employment at Filmation and didn't return to Disney until Oliver & Company and Little Mermaid. A former Disney animator told me he knows Disney artists who worked on this Snow White sequel, but do not like to admit it. (He named some, but good taste will prevail. I've destroyed his list. They have suffered enough.) I recall wondering, when I saw the film's press book back in the early 90s, who was responsible for what looked like an awful production (their Snow White was ugly). My question was answered when the film was mentioned in a long article in the SF Chronicle (July 14, 2004). Most of the article was about a Milton Verret and his current investment scheme, buying and selling Ronald Reagan gold coins. The reporter looked into questionable claims in the ad suggesting the coins would soon go up in value. The ad claimed Verret's experts think gold could go from $390 an ounce to $1500 an ounce. Verret was selling the coins for a somewhat inflated price. In 1985 a judge found Milton Verret guilty of selling coins that "were not worth as much as advertised. Verret's company... declared bankruptcy that same year." He then formed another coin company "and First National Film Corp., for the sole purpose of marketing an animated, non-Disney sequel to 'Snow White' called 'Happily Ever After.' In 1998, the FCC ruled that Verret made 'false and misleading statements' about the movie's revenues, causing First National Film's share price to plunge from $9 to 28 cents. Verret was permanently barred from serving as an officer or director of a public company." For more on Verret read "Gold ad doesn't glitter" by David Lazarus, July 14, 2004 www.sfgate.com/business One ex-Disney artist who worked at Filmation e-mailed me, "The first time I spotted a video of my last Filmation feature Legend of Bravestar it was covering the front wall of a porno-video store. You know how those stores fill up their window with old traditional movies so you can't see the real stuff inside. I went in to buy Bravestarr and got the strangest looks from the proprietor! "Hmmmm... so THATS what your into eh? You Sick Bastard!"

"CREATIVITY MAGAZINE" TELLS HOW THE SPY VS. SPY MOUNTAIN DEW ADS WERE MADE Those clever ads were a combination of live action on monotone sets, blue screen, miniatures, puppets and CG. Stan Winston in LA created 12 masks for the spies to wear. Each had a different expression. The transitions between the different expressions were done in CG with Maya.

EISNER VS ROY DISNEY BATTLE has cooled down, but it probably isn't over. In July Eisner told executives at a meeting in Sun Valley, Idaho that he misses his old job as chairman of the board (he was removed from that post after shareholders voted against him) and that the new chairman "can't wait to get out" of that job.

BLUTO'S VOICE HAS BEEN SILENCED Noted voice actor Jackson Beck died in July at 92. He was the voice of Bluto in over 300 Popeye cartoons and the announcer on Superman radio shows> He was the guy who said the man of steel was a "strange visitor from the planet Krypton who came to earth with amazing physical powers far beyond those of mortal men, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, wages a never ending battle for truth and justice." He also played other roles on the radio show and had a long career doing other voice s on radio and TV.

ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD IS HONORING THE ORIGINAL TOM AND JERRY (NOT THE CAT AND MOUSE) On Sept. 25 Mark Kausler and Jerry Beck will present a tribute to these long forgotten human stars of animation. Their lively surreal cartoons were produced in the early `30s at Van Beuren in New York City. The screening will be held at 3 PM at the AFI screening room at 2021 Western Ave. in LA. On Oct. 30^th at 3 PM they are showing Z IS FOR ZAGREB at the AFI screening room (possibly the DVD of their best work). On Nov. 20 they are presenting "A quiet afternoon with Mr. Lawrence!" He worked on Ren and Stimpy, Rocko's Modern Life and Spongebob Squarepants. .

ASIFA'S INTERNATIONAL BOARD MET AT ZAGREB AND THE MINUTES REVEAL SOME OF THE INTERESTING THINGS ASIFA IS DOING AROUND THE WORLD October 28 will be celebrated as International Animation Day in many parts of the world. Events are planned in at least 30 countries (covering N. and S. America, Africa, Asia and Europe). Our chapter will present the ASIFA-East Annual Competition that evening at the Exploratorium, a noon showing of the ASIFA-India competition finalists (includes the exceptional Drum, Raju and I and 10 other works) and possibly a third program at another location. A film exchange program is being set-up so programs can be made available to groups. The reels will probably be limited to screening by the different chapters. Rules and other details are still being developed. ASIFA has endorsed an animated peace project that will bring Israeli and Palestinian students together at the I Castelli Arimati festival in Italy. ASIFA Partner festivals are well run events that our association endorses. At present we recognize 3 international events as partners: Zagreb, Hiroshima and Cinanima in Espinho.

The ASIFA archive film prints are in Berlin and the tapes in Babelsberg. The collection had been in the Swiss Cinemateque and touring programs had once been organized (we showed several in the 1980s) but their budget was cut and now the films are in storage. Board members are trying to find a way to make it possible for groups and researchers to once again have access to the collection.

WHAT IS ASIFA? ASIFA is the French acronym for "Association Internationale du Film D'Animation," an organization founded in 1957 in France by a group of professional animators and chartered by UNESCO in 1960 to encourage the art of animation and further international understanding and goodwill through the animation medium. Today, there are ASIFA chapters in nearly thirty countries worldwide.

DVD NEWS (top)

KRICKFALUSI'S REN AND STIMPY COMING OUT ON DVD Paramount Home Video is going to release them in a box set on Oct. 12. It will contain the entire Ren & Stimpy seasons 1 & 2. The fans can't wait, but Paramount is being strangely quiet about this important "happy, happy, joy, joy" event. It isn't clear if the prints of the 30+ shows are uncensored. The 3-disc set runs 418 minutes. Amazon.com list it at $27.99 (a 30% discount off of $39.98)

"HARVIE KRUMPET" WILL BE RELEASED ON DVD IN NOVEMBER Harvie won the 2003 Oscar for best animated short. With Adam Elliot's earlier shorts. $19.99.

RUSSELL MERRITT HAS SOME HOT DVD NEWS He writes, "Film Preservation Associates is going to put the Great Nickelodeon Program on DVD, which means the vaudeville version of Gertie the Dinosaur with a live actor playing McCay, and the 1903 San Francisco version of Melies Trip to the Moon, where a narrator and actors performed live behind a screen will at last become immortal. Stay tuned."

FOUR UPA CARTOONS ARE PACKAGED WITH THE DVD OF "HELLBOY" Paul Mular says they are "The Tell Tale Heart," (it looks like the same master that was used for the VHS tape 10 or so years ago with a jitter at the beginning, noticeable negative dust, and a tape splice repair in the end title) and all three Gerald McBoing Boing cartoons. Planet Moo is presented for the first time in wide-screen letterboxed format, and looks great. When accessing the shorts in the Extras Menu, you must first click the `NEXT' button to get to the `From The Den' option on the next screen." Mular bought his DVD for $15.99. Ub Iwerks' Skeleton Frolic, a color fantasy for Columbia that was inspired by his Skeleton Dance for Disney, is packaged with The Lost Skeleton of Cadavera.

FESTIVAL NEWS (top)

OTTAWA HAND-PICKS 111 FILMS FROM 1978 SUBMISSIONS, SO IF THE JUDGES HAVE GOOD TASTE IT SHOULD BE A GREAT CELEBRATION - The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) has announced that out of more than 1900 entries from 61 countries around the world, only 111 were chosen to compete. The festival takes place September 22-26 in Ottawa, Ontario. The response to the OIAF's call for entries was incredible this year. Chris Robinson, OIAF Artistic Director says, "Ottawa is the toughest animation festival to get a film shown in. We receive more entries than any other animation festival in the world, but have very consciously limited our competition space. There is no perfect selection method or unflinching criteria used when you are dealing with this amount of films. The programme is highly subjective, but I think it gives audiences an outstanding overview of the contemporary animation world." There are only four categories to the competition: feature film, new media, commissioned films, and independent short films. Films submitted include shorts, TV commercials, music videos, Internet series and much more. Robinson said, "If the animation industry is in a slump, you wouldn't know it from the quantity and quality of films we received this year. The commercial work featured an array of innovate styles, techniques and storylines, while the independent films continue to prove that animation is as exciting, poetic and personal as any other art form." At Ottawa the jury views the competition screenings with the audience. The animation festival will have two international juries, one will judge the feature and new media competitions and the other will judge the independent and commissioned competitions. The Ottawa International Animation Festival is the largest festival of its kind in North America and one of the most respected animation festivals in the world. Bringing art and industry together, the festival attracts production executives, artists, students and animation fans from across Canada and around the world. The 2004 OIAF will be held September 22-26 in Ottawa. For further information regarding the festival, please visit their website at http://www.awn.com/ottawa or call 613-232-8769.

EUROPEAN FESTIVALS IN JUNE, FROM A TO Z

by Nik Phelps and Nancy Denny-Phelps

- Annecy - A week in the sun in the South of France is the best way to prepare for 6 days and nights at the Annecy International Festival of Animation. Annecy has become the "Sundance" of animation festivals where a lot of big business is conducted, the "high profile" names of animation make an appearance with their entourages, and an invite to an "A list" party is carefully guarded. The festival is a mixture of long hours in screening rooms, catching up on the news with old friends and parties. Once again a high point of the festival for us was the student competition. We viewed several top-notch works in this category. ALLERLEIRAUH by German filmmaker Anja Struck stood out. This beautiful puppet film is based on a Brothers Grimm fairy tale. It was a definite favorite of many festivalgoers that we talked to and it won the top award for best school and graduation film. THE HAND BEHIND THE MOUSE: THE UB IWERKS STORY, Leslie Iwerk's film tribute to her grandfather and a separate tribute program of his short films from the 1930's was one of the special festival treats that Annecy continues to excel at thanks in large part to festival Artistic Director Serge Bromberg's love of film history. For those who only know Iwerks as the creator of Mickey Mouse, the program of seldom seen works was a wonderful introduction to the rich body of work of this creative genius. South Korea has made great advances and is becoming an animation force in its own right, not just another place for the United States and Japan to sub-contract out to. Annecy 2004 paid tribute to South Korea, screening three feature films and four programs of short animation. The highlight of the tribute for us was the premier of Nelson Shin's recently completed feature EMPRESS CHUNG. Nelson, not only a fine animator but also a genuinely nice person, said that he still wants to edit out about 25 more minutes from this beautifully hand drawn film. It is a delightful adaptation of an old Korean folk tale. Nelson was worried that Western audiences might not understand the traditional story, but we don't think that he has to worry about that at all. Adding to the films charm is the musical score written and conducted by Nelson. Even more impressive is that this is his first attempt at composing. The legendary Ray Harryhausen was the festival's special guest and they honored him with five screenings that showed off his genius. From the legendary KING KONG to THE 7^th VOYAGE OF SINBAD, we lost ourselves in the dark in his world of ultimate fantasy. Six Years in the making, RAINING CATS AND FROGS from director Jacques-Remy Girard and Folimage Studio is a new twist on the Noah's Ark story. At first glance it appears to be a film for children but as I watched it I realized that it was much more. It deals with the problems of community living, among other social problems on a level that is seldom seen in American films for young people. You get caught up in the lush visuals and don't realize until later that you have been given much food for thought. AVOID EYE CONTACT, the super collection of animation from New York independent animators was screened three different times and even though the last screening coincided with the closing night party I understand that they had a good crowd of those not fortunate enough to have the coveted party ticket. We have left the competition films till last because it was by far the weakest part of the festival. Unfortunately there were entire programs that had only one or two outstanding pieces of animation in them. Many other people that we talked to also felt that it was a very lackluster year for their short film competition. RYAN directed by Canadian Chris Landreth was a wonderful exception displaying artistry and originality. The film combines animation and documentary to delve into the life of Ryan Larkin, a Canadian animator who, decades ago at the National Film Board of Canada, produced some of the most influential animated films of his time. Today, Ryan lives on welfare and panhandles for spare change in downtown Montreal. We are not big fans of 3 D Computer Animation but this film is a definite exception. If you have a chance to see RYAN don't miss it. Again this year the director's chats, led by the witty and knowledgeable Serge Bromberg, were a big highlight of the festival and well worth the effort it took to be up and alert at 9:15 AM. The informal conversation is a great opportunity to hear the director talk in detail about their film and the floor is open for questions and comments from the audience. Even if the chats don't make us like a piece of animation more, it often gives us a deeper insight into what the animator was trying to achieve. The MIFA (International Animated Film Market) was held during the first four days of the Festival this year. MIFA links creativity with commerce from all over the world. This year South Korea, Argentina and China were exhibiting for the first time. I spent a limited time at MIFA, but there seemed to be a buzz of activity and many exhibitors thought that it had been very successful. Our promised tickets for the opening night festivities never materialized so we can't comment on the opening night film and party but we did receive invitations to many other stellar events. The Korean Film Commission hosted a lovely party featuring traditional Korean food and hospitality, the Belgians threw the ultimate beer party, and the French Corporation Futurikon's premier of CHASSEURS de DRAGONS with a splendid party at the Chateau d' Annecy complete with fire dancers and vast amounts of food and drink. The Netherlands Film Commission treated us to an event with a famous "lethal" liqueur - jeniver, along with beer, wine, and nibbles. We also attended many other events, private house parties, and usually ended our evening at our favorite local bar. Not to be outdone, Nik and I carried on a tradition started last year by Adam Elliott (Harvie Krumpet) and the sisters from the Three Bears Studio and hosted a Saturday afternoon pot luck picnic and lake paddle boat race. A truly amazing conglomeration of nationalities gathered on the lawn by the lake and after large quantities of food and drink we took to the lake in our paddleboats. As we all tried to make a straight line to the island and then round it and go back to the boat launch there was much laughter, jumping from boat to boat; a real chance to get rid of a lot of the tension that had built up in anticipation of the awards ceremony that night. Our tickets for the Saturday night awards ceremony and the closing party arrived as promised in our mailbox. The evening opened with M.C. Serge Bromberg, ever the showman, appearing on stage in a beautiful traditional Korean jacket topping his kilt. RYAN RECEIVED A VERY DESERVED special jury Award. ALLERLEIRAUH, from Germany, was a very popular selection for Best School or Graduation Film. As with all awards there are always one or two that you don't agree with. When LORENZO was named winner of the Annecy Cristal (the grand prix award for the short film competition) there were a large number of boos. (Festivalgoers at Annecy are well known for showing their feeling with boos and jeers.) We felt that it's a shame that truly unique and creative work was passed over and the top award given to a film that is merely a showcase for Disney Studios. People suggested the award was due to Roy Disney spearheading the project and as a protest for the closing of the Florida and Paris Disney Studios. LORENZO, is a pleasant little film that does not add anything unique or outstanding that Disney didn't do as well in many of their earlier films. The closing night party at La Plage was full of heartfelt goodbyes or even better "See you in Zagreb on Monday." Although we were disappointed with the overall quality of the competition films, there are many wonderful memories from Annecy 2004 and as always it was wonderful to see many old friends and make so many new ones.

Zagreb Sunday morning found us packing up our trusty Peugot, biding farewell to beautiful Annecy and heading on to Zagreb. Another entire article could be penned about our lovely drive across Italy and Slovenia to Croatia. We arrived in Zagreb on Monday evening just in time for the opening night festivities. We could immediately sense the warmth and feeling of family that so many friends had said would await us. We were welcomed by Festival Director Margit Antauer (affectionately known to everyone as Buba) and her very efficient staff. Over the next six days we learned what true film festival hospitality is. All across Croatia we found warm, wonderful people who were eager to make us feel at home but none more so than Buba and her festival staff. It was like old home week to be surrounded by so many friends from Annecy and even more old friends we had not seen since KROK 2003. The Zagreb Festival is a festival for and about filmmakers, without a lot of hype. The festival is fully funded by the government and doesn't even need to try to sell tickets to the public so everyone attending the Festival is included in ALL screenings and activities. The competition screenings were high quality due in large part to the festival being held every other year instead of yearly, giving the selection committee a wider range of programming possibilities. Each evening at the competition screenings we were reminded of what an excellent job the selection committee had done and what a difficult task they had given the awards jury. Unfortunately we arrived too late for the opening night competition but we had already seen several of the films so we can say that THE TRAM # 9, GOES and HOME ROAD MOVIES are excellent films. We also missed Bill Plympton's GUARD DOG, which we had seen through several incarnations. We saw the completed version in New York City in May at the Comic and Cartoon Art Museum's Comics Fair. It is a very clever film with all of the classic Plympton touches. New Yorker Alex Budovsky's BATHTIME IN CLERKENWELL and WARD 13 by Australian Peter Cornwell were both audience pleasers. Although THE DRUM from India's Rajesh Chakrabarty and ALLERLEIRAUH animated by Anja Struck are both student films, the selection committee felt that they were such strong works that they entered them in the Grand Competition and we applauded that decision. THE DRUM is a beautiful first film and even more impressive when we found out that the animator also created the beautiful music for the film. (ASIFA-SF showed it as part of our July event and will show it again in October.) PICCOLO MARE from Italian animator Simone Massi with music composed and performed by Nik was also included in the short film competition. The final night of competition screening climaxed with my personal favorite film of the week, KARL AND MARILYN by Priit Parn. True to the grand old school of Estonian animation, the strangely wonderful KARL AND MARILYN deserves more viewings. We were particularly happy to see a strong showing by Cal Arts Students in the Student and Graduate Film category. The quality of their work is the highest tribute that can be paid to Jules Engles. Zagreb also has a separate category of Competition Films for Children. This year KROK was feted as a sister festival and a program of KROK'S Favorite Films was followed by a vodka reception. There was also a program of Animation In the Ukraine. The KROK salute also showcased sensitive and insightful paintings by Gosha Margolin, which were hung outside of the main screening room. His work ranges from the totally whimsical to insightful portraits. We had the privilege of seeing a large body of his work at his home in Moscow two years ago and it was a special treat to get to see many pieces in a gallery setting. It's very difficult to see Cuban animation in this country, so the two retrospective programs from Cuba were a real treat. An anthology of Cuban films was followed by a collection of Juan Padron's work. We were lucky enough to get to know Juan and he is as charming as he is talented. Paul Fierlinger was on hand to present an overview of his work and Nelson Shin's EMPRESS CHUNG was presented as a special program. One of the nicest things about the Zagreb Festival is that it is small enough to have just one competition and student screening a day, so everyone watches the films together and has a lot of opportunities to get to know each other. Everyone is invited to the festival's opening and closing night parties and there are no large exclusive private parties. Most evenings large groups of animators gathered in a local bar for multi-lingual talk until dawn. Since there was only one bar open late it wasn't very hard for all of us to find each other. On Thursday afternoon, the Festival feted all of us with an elaborate picnic lunch in the country. A sumptuous lunch of native cuisine was followed by music provided by local musicians. Nik and Ken Field, a composer-musician from Cambridge, Massachusetts who was attending the festival with his filmmaker wife, joined the local musicians and we all danced. After much wine, vodka and a stroll through the lovely cherry orchards, it was time to return to the screening room. Friday evening brought another Festival party with more sumptuous food, a funny raffle of Festival t-shirts, neckties (the necktie was invented in Croatia) and many other lovely gifts. No one went home empty handed. The Saturday evening awards ceremony arrived all too soon. Koji Yamamura's MT. HEAD was awarded the Grand Prix for Best Film at the festival, so he will be the honorary festival president in 2006. Anja Struck was honored for best first film (She also won best student film at Annecy the week before.) With a heavy heart, we bid adieu to old and new friends at Zagreb. If you only attend one European festival in your life, it has to be either the Zagreb or KROK festival. They are both animated adventures that you will never forget. Editors note: This was written as Nik and Nancy were preparing to leave for KROK and then to perform at the Borders Film Festival in Scotland. They will be back in late September. The Awards at Annecy included the best short award to Lorenzo (Disney), the best first film to Birthday Boy (Australia), the jury's special award to Ryan (Canada), the best feature film to Oseam (South Korea), the best TV series to Creature Comforts "Cats or Dogs?" (Aardman, United-Kingdom) and the best short film for Internet to The Meatrix (USA) At Zagreb the grand prize went to Mt. Head (Japan), the Zagreb award to Fast Film by Virgil Widrich (Austria) plus Fast Film won a 2nd prize from the jury of Croatian filmmakers. The audience award went to Ward 13 by Peter Cornwell (Australia). Peter was a guest of Nik and Nancy Phelps last year and some ASIFA-SF members got to meet this talented stop-motion animator. Two other awards that went to names you might be familiar with were presented to Karl Ja Marilyn by Priit Prn (Estonia) and to I Want a Dog by Sheldon Cohen (Canada). Marcy Page was the producer of Cohen's film and 1 of 3 producers of Ryan.

FESTIVALS (top)

48th SAN FRANCISCO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL (APRIL 21 - MAY 5, 2005) ENTRY DEADLINE IS DECEMBER 10 with an early deadline of Nov. 19. The festival has a reputation for showing exceptional works, but in animation the judges have a history of passing on films that will get Oscar nominations and selecting quirky shorts that are often passed over by other major festivals. They seem to look for new and unusual rather than slick and polished work. The entry fee isn't budget priced, but there are a couple of lower cost categories for Bay Area artists. There is a nice cash prize in animation for first place. It is an honor to be in this event, but not all of the winners are shown to the public. Also the press generally overlooks the creators of shorts. They seem to like writing about the next surprise feature or an interview with a rising director from some foreign land. The entry form is online at www.sffs.org; by fax Attention Programming Department 415.561.5099; or by mail: Programming Department, San Francisco Film Society, 39 Mesa Street, Suite 110, The Presidio, San Francisco CA 94129, USA.

ANIMA`05 - III Crdoba Animation Festival will take place in the city of Crdoba, Argentina, April 27th -30th, 2005. The Festival is organized by the Centro Experimental de Animacin (University of Crdoba) and the Centro Cultural Espaa - Crdoba (AECI). Participation is open for animation shorts from all over the world - produced for film, television, video or the Internet - with special interest in those from Latin America. NO ENTRY FEE, Deadline February 18th, 2005 (film, video and television) - March 4th (Internet) Rules/Entry Form available at http://www.animafestival.com.ar info@animafestival.com.ar

ASIFA-HOLLYWOOD ANNOUNCES THE 32nd ANNUAL ANNIE AWARDS FOR EXCELLENCE IN ANIMATION All rules, category information and entry forms are available at www.asifa-hollywood.org or by contacting ASIFA-Hollywood at 818.842.8330. The deadline to receive entry forms is October 1, 2004. All nomination judging material is due by October 29, 2004. Nominations will be announced in early December 2004. The awards ceremony will be Sunday, January 30, 2005.

SLAMDANCE DEADLINE IS OCTOBER 11 The event will be held in Park City, Utah, January 21-28, 2005 This year's event had more than 2,600 submissions. The entry fee is $35 for films under 40 minutes. www.slamdance.com (323) 466-1786.

ASIFA-SF and the SF State Animation Club present

TWO GREAT EVENTS At 7:15 PM

THERE'S SOMETHING ABOUT Wwith the filmmaker in person At 8:15

MONDO MEDIA PRESENTS THE MAKING OF HAPPY TREE FRIENDS "THIRD STRIKE" DVD

with the creative crew in person

Tuesday, Sept. 28

Coppola Theater, (Creative Arts Building room 101) at SF State, free

There's Something About W is a wry, election-year documentary that features the wisdom (?) of President Bush and contrasting analysis and opinions by noted commentators and comedians. The film is an intelligent discourse about W's war, Who benefits from tax cuts, What about workers, Why not affordable health care, Withering middle class, World domination, We the people and so on. It features informative moments with Molly Ivins, Paul Krungman, Al Franken, Kevin Phillips, Bill Maher, Arianna Huffington, Will Durst, Daniel Ellsberg and many others including Michael Moore. Actor Peter Coyote narrates. Its target audience is voters in swing states. Hopefully it will stimulate political thought and encourage people to vote. An entertaining well made documentary by John Grimes, Robin Chin and Louise Rubacky assisted by dozens of volunteers including Mike Nolan, ASIFA-SF's webmaster and other ASIFA-SF members. For screening schedules and to order copies of the video visit SomethingAboutW.org Copies will also be available on VHS and DVD at the screening. Proceeds support the distribution of the work in swing states where voters need to be better informed about their choices in this November's election.

Happy Tree Friends the cute, cuddly and horribly wrong animated series about fuzzy animals that endure outrageous calamities, began as a locally produced Internet show. Today it is a worldwide international hit and merchandise is being sold all over the planet. Meet the artists responsible for Mondo Media's sensational success story and learn how Happy Tree Friends became a hit with the MTV crowd, especially in Europe. The program will cover the history of the show, the current DVD with the directors/writers showing 3 or 4 episodes and a brief talk about the future of the property. The "Third Strike" DVD consists of 14 outrageous episodes and 2 cult favorites, Buddhist Monkey and Cro-Marmot! It also has lots of extras including behind the scenes commentaries with the creative team. DVDs and select merchandise will be available.