ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 3.7
- October 1998
On A Desert Island With. . .
Commercial Independents
compiled by Wendy Jackson
This month, we picked three animators who manage to
balance their work on independent films with their commercial animation careers,
and asked each of them what films would they want to have with them if stranded
on a desert island. Swedish animator Jonas Odell has directed television ids
for the likes of the Swedish Lottery, Locomotion and Cartoon Network. With
Stig Bergqvist, he recently made an independent film called Otto which
is currently making the festival rounds (next stop Ottawa). Steve Box is a
director at Aardman Animations in Bristol, England. His short film Stage
Fright won a British Animation Award and the Children's Jury Prize at
Annecy '98. Cynthia Wells recently completed a stint as a commercial director
at Rhythm & Hues in Los Angeles and is now focusing solely on her second
independent film, The Shadow of Doubt. Peter Reynolds is founder and
creative director of the Boston-based animation studio, FableVision, which
has recently produced commercials for the NBA, and WNBA. Reynolds' short film
The
Blue Shoe is distributed by Link Entertainment
and was just picked up for a two-year run in Spike and Mike's Festival of
Animation.
There are, of course, many other animators who balance
independent work with commercial careers. Several of them, in fact, have already
participated in AWM's Desert Island series. Visit our back issues to read
top ten films as selected by Bill
Plympton, Aleksandra
Korejwo, Barry
Purves, and Paul
Vester.
Jonas Odell's Top Ten:
Steve Box's Best Bets:
"I'm not sure that ten animated films would be
my first choice if I was marooned on a desert island, but if it were, these
films would provide me with an amazing range of emotions and keep re-proving
to me the possibilities of animated filmmaking."
- The Big Snit
by Richard Condie. "Actually any Richard
Condie film... He's a genius."
- Creature Comforts by Nick Park. "It
doesn't matter how many times I see this film or that I know the director.
It's a modern masterpiece."
- Knick Knack by John Lasseter. "Perfect
use of computer animation is John Lasseter's hallmark, the right tool for
the right job. Toy Story is also superb."
- The Snowman (TVC). "That bit...when
they take off!!"
- Tom and Jerry in The Cat Concerto (MGM).
"Apart from being timed to its perfection, I find it slightly surreal
compared to other Tom and Jerry films."
- Neighbors by Norman McLaren. "A great
moral tale told with unbelievable imagination and humor."
- A Christmas Carol by Richard Williams. "The
feel of the animation, the design of the characters and the color scheme
perfectly suit this grotesque Dickens classic. It also reminds me of my
childhood."
- The Clangers (any episode) by Oliver Postgate
and Peter Firmin. "Gentle, imaginative and surreal with the most character-full
voice-over ever from Oliver Postgate."
- Lucas the Ear of Corn by Bill
Plympton. "I find the naiveté of the
animation and the low quality of this film combined with Bill Plympton's
sense of humor totally hilarious."
- Alice by Jan
Svankmajer. "Epic, unique and inspiring.
A true master of animation."
Cynthia Wells' Wishes:
- The Man Who Planted Trees by Frédéric Back.
- The Mighty River by Frédéric
Back.
- Anything done by Richard Williams.
- The Monk and The Fish by Michael Dudok De
Wit
- The Beatles'
Yellow Submarine by George Dunning.
- The Snowman (TVC).
- Moonbird by John and Faith Hubley.
- My Neighbor Totoro by Hayao Miyazaki.
- Winsor McCay's collected works.
- Caroline Leaf's films.
Peter Reynolds' Selections:
1. Insektors: "Pas de Kadeau pour Noel"
(The Christmas Special) by Renato and George Lacroix, (Fantôme)."Inventive, whimsical, complex and delicious. I sat slack-jawed
seeing this the first time at the World Animation Celebration in 1997. A rare
gem."
2. The Point directed by Fred Wolf. "(Starring
the voice of Ringo Starr and the music of Harry Nilson.) Original! Fantastic!
And packed with great messages about being great at being who you truly are.
A favorite at FableVision Animation Studios!"
3. Abel's Island by William Steig, directed
by Michael
Sporn. "(With the lush voices of Tim Curry
and Lionel Jeffries.) Steig's un-careful and inky illustration is lovingly
interpreted. A must for a desert ISLAND!! That is what the story is about!"
4-6. My Disney Faves: Snow White, Beauty
and the Beast, Mulan.
7. The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by Chuck Jones.
"This one changed my life. Every bit of it is magic. Music, animation,
backgrounds. Yum! Mr. Jones took a Seuss story and made it even better. THAT
is a feat!"
8-10. Hayao Miyazaki's Castle in the Clouds,
Kiki's Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro. "He is
truly a master. We love him so much here at FableVision. He really defies
traditional pacing, allowing scenes to float gently with no need to layer
in music or action. Is it any surprise that Disney doctored the "quiet
scenes" in their new release of Kiki? I think we all can learn a lot
from Miyazaki's gentle storytelling that allows the essence of the story to
breathe."
Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor
by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.
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