Gregory V. Sherman and Jeffrey Sherman

A wonderful surprise waited for me Saturday morning, when I went seeing the boys. Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman had been with me through my entire life. I listened to their songs, from Winnie the Pooh and Jungle Book, from Mary Poppins through to Aristocats. All I knew about the artists, that they were brothers, had written unbelievable amounts of music and lyrics, had a close relationship to Walt Disney and that they had also composed the music for “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” which is no Disney movie! Little did I know that there is so much more.

So what about the films?

... after all this is a film festival.

First of all I want to say that it's really hard to make an excellent film.

I'm just completing my fifth film, and believe me it's very easy to fall in love with your work, not so easy to see it with some objectivity.

All the films that made it into competition are here for a reason - there is something about them that is excellent. It could be the story, or the animation, or a unique voice and style, perhaps it's the way the story and music interplay, it could be an unusual technique, or a particularly superb sense of timing.

Stephen Beck (interim director, LSU Center for

computation & Technology) (l) and John Hays (animation

producer, Howl).

written by Joe Strike

I arrive at Baton Rouge’s Belle Hotel, which until April was the Sheraton Baton Rouge. (BR from here on, saves space.) The hotel’s terrible online reviews don’t seem to apply, as the place is actually quite nice. (Wish the internet service was a little more steady, but I’m online now – for the moment…)

Evening comes and Stephen Beck, the current director of Louisiana State University’s Center for Computation and Technology (the Festival’s host) picks me up. We’re heading for the Rave Theater a ways down from BR’s Shaw Center for the Arts, where the Festival is based. Rave? I’m expecting a spontaneous dance party in some empty warehouse, but the Rave is a classy 15-screen multiplex, and they’re about to show Tangled to various invited guests and schoolkids.

The Russian party.

By David Tousek

So what exactly have we learned at MIFA? Have we gained something meaningful? I have to admit I need more time to answer such a question, to see if an event of this kind brings along something worth the effort invested into just coming over. After all, if the animation business is about relationships / partnerships, then there needs to be a lot more work done after the event beside the initial quick flirting. But...

...I think I have been really open in my second post where, I believe, I made obvious that what one gains is the real-time networking, friendliness and sharing the same passion for the craft.  It’s an experience which encourages and supports our hard work and passion to produce animated movies.  Such inspiration is most needed especially for us that live in such a hard Bohemian environment in Central Europe.

So what is it about I Castelli Animati that makes it one of the most loved animation festivals in the world?

The answer is simple... and evident from the first moments of arrival. It's the people.

Luca Raffaelli, the artistic director, is a warm, intelligent man who is captivated by animation. The author of two books on the subject, his delight in cartoons and animation shapes the overall feel of this festival.

Emanuela Marrocco is the operations director. Thanks to her and her hardworking team of Liz Fairs, Sabrina Perucca, Maurizio Quattrini, and Vincenzo Silvestri, the festival runs smoothly.

Mike Springer of Google

Too much work, too little sleep. So many friends, old and new. Amazing things flying on the big screen. This is VIEW Conference 2009. But everything has a price, like not being able to make it for the first session in the morning.

Since in one of my many past lives I also taught computer graphics to American architecture students in Rome, I have quite an interest in 3D applications for modeling and visualization. So, with another coffee, I attended the Workshop: “Using Google SketchUp for Design and Geo-Modeling: A Beginner's Course” with Mike Springer, Software Engineer at that small, un-known, provincial company named Google.

By Nancy Phelps

This year was a very special 30^th Anniversary for the Trickfilm Festival of Animated Film in Stuttgart, Germany.  My week began Monday evening, the night before the official festival opening, when I attended the opening reception for an exhibition of works by former students of Professor Albrecht Ades, founder of the prestigious Film Academy Baden-Wurttemberg in the nearby town of Ludwigsburg.  He is credited with ushering in a new era of modern German animation which was highly influenced by Czech works and laid the foundation for today’s thriving entertainment industry in the Baden- Wurttemberg region.

The large outdoor screen

From 1980 to 1991 some 30 films were produced in his class and the Professor’s strong motivating influence on his students is reflected in the works of some of the now famous animators who studied under him.  Looking at the graphic works in the exhibit, some by Thomas Meyer-Hermann, Andreas Hykade, Sabine Huber and Gil Alkabetz, I could see that they have taken their teacher’s motto “We must kill Mickey Mouse” to heart.

For the 2012 opening night ceremony, the festival staff chose a new format.  Instead of the usual round of introductions and speeches followed by a screening, the first competition program was interspersed among the introductory speeches.  The festival received a special birthday present when Malte Dringenberg, head of Mercedes-Benz Classic Press Office, who announced to the audience that Mercedes-Benz has become a very active festival sponsor.  (Stuttgart is the home of Mercedes-Benz.) Another high point of the evening was  the awarding of special Life Time Achievement Trixie Statutes to Professor Albrect  Ades and Gabriele Rothemeyer.  Ades founded the Trickfilm Festival and served as its first artistic director from 1982 to 2003.  Ms. Rothemeyer followed him in the position from 2003 to 2005, and succeeding her is Ulrich Wegenast, the present director.

By David Tousek

MIFA is a trade show for studios, producers, individual artists and pretty much anybody involved in animation so they can share time and space intensively for just a couple days of the year to see if they can do business together. And so people talk a lot. Yeah, it’s all about talking and knowing how to start a conversation as well as ending it in the right time.... you can imagine.  That’s basically what it’s all about and how to take advantage of such opportunity to have all the key players and everybody else as well on the same spot. But this is typical for any tradeshow, at least the philosophy and logic behind it. However, MIFA has something much more valuable - being extremely friendly. I cannot think of another term other than a family party (though I assume your family is also pretty cool.)

You may find a tradeshow to be a common gathering event that any industry has. But what I saw and experienced at MIFA is that this gathering is more than unique. How friendly and open minded everybody is, considering that most of the people are competitors one way or another. It’s actually pretty unbelievable.

Dustin Grella's Prayers for Peace.

By Dan Sarto

Is it just me, or do Canadians like to congregate and talk hockey while blocking the entrance to every elevator, hallway, doorway and turnstile in the vicinity?  It seemed every single path I took yesterday was impeded by some throng completely oblivious to those trying to navigate past them. Oh, plus I saw some good films!

Overlooking the canal

By Dan Sarto

25 hours after leaving my comfy LA bed, I’ve arrived in Annecy.  The town is quiet, but it’s the quiet before a storm brewing on the distant horizon.  The calm is in direct contrast to my second flight, from DC to Geneva.  Sprawled within 5 feet of my seat were not 1 but 2 families, 6 kids total, 4 parents, 1 nanny and 1 set of grandparents.  Not one kid was over the age of 7.  In an age of fundamental change in airline comfort, service and safety, where the indignities of modern travel begin when you undress to get through security, one thing seems perfectly clear – kids either should be confined in storage or not be allowed on planes at all. Nothing like getting woken up by a toddler pulling your arm, asking you, “Why are you so fat?” How cute. For that matter, teens should be barred from travel completely. And from the dinner table.