ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 3.8 - November 1998


The Golden Cartoon

by Jacques-Rémy Girerd

Download a Quicktime movie of L'Enfant au Grelot. 878 K. © Folimage.

Jacques-Rémy Girerd. © Folimage.

Editor's Note: Upon hearing the news that L'Enfant au Grelot/Charlie's Christmas won the Cartoon d'Or, Animation World Magazine asked director Jacques-Rémy Girerd, a long-standing, well-respected member of the European animation community, to share his thoughts on winning the Cartoon d'Or, the status of animation production, his upcoming project, and the opening of his brainchild L'Atelier-Ecole des Arts Animes.

The Cartoon d'Or
The Cartoon d'Or award is my first, big reward. This prize is a very strong sign of recognition by the entire profession. I've never felt such a strong emotion. The whole auditorium gave me an ovation and I experienced a great moment of happiness.

This award was one step forward for me. I began to make animated films in 1978. Ten years later, I won the Cesar award for The Little Circus of All the Colors (Le Petit Cirque de Toutes les Couleurs). Today receiving the Cartoon d'Or, as well as an Emmy nomination for Charlie's Christmas, won't change my way of working. On the contrary, it encourages me to continue on the path that I have always taken: that of hand-crafted quality.

L'Enfant au Grelot /Charlie's Christmas by Jacques-Rémy Girerd. © Folimage.

L'Enfant au Grelot /Charlie's Christmas by Jacques-Rémy Girerd. © Folimage.

Animation in Europe and the World
In recent years, animation has enjoyed a vivid evolution, after a long period of lethargy. In France, as elsewhere, animation has become a worldwide business, with a high-pressure division of labor: the stories and characters are conceived by people living in London, Paris or Los Angeles, and animation and painting is executed in Shanghai or Taiwan where the cost is not so high. Folimage has done just the opposite. Everything is done right in Valence, from planning to realization, from backgrounds to voice recordings and all without recourse to computers. Folimage is the only studio in Europe to have retained 12 cel painters.

My Upcoming Project
After the Cartoon d'Or, I returned to my project, The Prophecy of the Frogs, a feature-length animation that was presented to the Cartoon Forum at Syros, and aroused the interest of a number of participants. The story of this animation, about 75 minutes long (the final length isn't quite set yet), revolves around the myth of Noah's Ark, but with a very contemporary viewpoint. The release date is set for the year 2000.

A New School
L'Atelier-Ecole des Arts Animes will open its doors in the year 1999. This project is completely novel in that the school will educate students in the entire process of directing animation films, contrary to other schools which only teach the certain, different skills involved in the chain of creating an animated film.

The course of study will unfold over three years, during which the students will have the opportunity to make one or more animated films, relying especially on the material and experience of the Folimage Studio. The recruitment of students will begin in February 1999, based on their portfolio and a competitive selection. Potential students must be at least 23 years old, and convince us of genuine experience in the field of animation, or a very important personal motivation.

For further details, please contact:

Isabelle Elziere-Delalle
Atelier-Ecole des Arts Animes,
6, allee Jean Bertin
26 000 Valence
FRANCE
E-mail:
ecole.film.animation.valence@wanadoo.fr

Jacques-Rémy Girerd is the director of this year's Cartoon d'Or winning film, L'Enfant au Grelot/Charlie's Christmas.


Note: Readers may contact any Animation World Magazine contributor by sending an e-mail to editor@awn.com.


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