Last Month in Animation

* Tuesday, October 19 - Sunday, November 7. Los Angeles, California and New York, New York, USA.
The Museum of Television and Radio in New York and Los Angeles hosted a retrospective of Hanna-Barbera's television series with a series of 60-minute screenings. The series included The Fantastic Four, Space Ghost, Superfriends, The Banana Splits, Josie And The Pussycats, Magilla Gorilla, Top Cat, Ricochet Rabbit, and Yogi Bear. The new Spumco/Cartoon Network Yogi Bear shorts have sparked a debate among fans regarding the quality of Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear shorts in particular, and Hanna-Barbera's television output in general. This event was a rare chance to see many of the films and judge their entertainment value for oneself. For more information on future Museum of Television and Radio events contact: Los Angeles: 465 N. Beverly Drive, Beverly Hills, Tel. (310) 786-1000; New York: 25 West 52 Street, New York, Tel. (212) 621-6600.

American actors Billy Crudup and Billy Bob Thorton lend their voices to the U.S. release of Princess Mononoke. © Miramax Films.

* Tuesday, October 19 - Saturday, November 20. USA.
To celebrate the U.S. premiere of Studio Ghibli's Princess Mononoke, directed by Hayao Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli retrospectives were held throughout the United States. Most of the retrospectives showed all of Studio Ghibli's films: Nausicaä Of The Valley Of The Wind (1984), Laputa, Castle In The Sky (1986), Grave Of The Fireflies (1988), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989), Only Yesterday (1991), Porco Rosso (1992), Pom Poko (1994), Whisper Of The Heart (1995), andPrincess Mononoke (1997). Theaters or organizations that hosted retrospectives include Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, September 12 - November 20; AFI Los Angeles International Film Festival, October 21 - 29; Cleveland Cinematheque, Cleveland, Ohio, October 28 - 31; Egyptian Theater, Seattle, Washington, November 5 - 11; and the Berkeley Pacific Film Archive, Berkeley, California, November 13 - 28. For more information visit www.nausicaa.net/miyazaki/films/festivals.html.

* Tuesday, October 19 - Sunday, January 30, 2000. Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
The International Museum of Comic Art presents The Art of Charles M. Schulz, creator of the comic strip, Peanuts. The exhibit displays artifacts, photos, magazine covers, Broadway and movie posters, toys, dolls, blow-ups of historic strips and more tracing the decade-by-decade evolution of Schulz' creation in the context of American history. IMCA is located at 201 Plaza Real in Boca Raton's Mizner Park, just one block north of Palmetto Park Road on Federal Highway. For more information Tel. (561) 391-2200, or visit www.cartoon.org.

The February 1998 issue of Animation World Magazine features a profile of the Museum.

* Tuesday, October 26 - Sunday, October 31. Leipzig, Germany.
The 42nd Leipzig International Festival for Documentary and Animated Film was held. This annual event featured documentary films and videos, as well as animated productions. For more information Tel. + 341 980-4828; or E-mail: dock-leipzig@t-online.de.

* Thursday, October 28 - Sunday, October 31. New York, New York, USA.
The Museum of Modern Art presented The National Film Board of Canada: 60th Anniversary Program, a Retrospective. The Museum is located at 11 West 53 Street. For further information Tel. (212) 708-9500.

* Friday, October 29, 6 pm. New York, New York, USA.
John Canemaker, animation historian and author, lectured on Disney Studio storyboards and their creators at the Museum of Modern Art in the Titus II Theatre. The presentation included slides of storyboard drawings and clips from famous Disney films, such as Snow White and 101 Dalmatians. At 5:30 pm, preceding the lecture, Canemaker signed copies of his new book, Paper Dreams: The Art And Artists Of Disney Storyboards, which will be available for purchase at the theatre and the MOMA bookshop. The museum is located at 11 W. 53 St. For more information on other museum events call Tel. (212) 708-9400.

Read Mike Lyons' review of Paper Dreams: The Art And Artists Of Disney Storyboards in this issue of Animation World Magazine.

* Friday, October 29 - Sunday, October 31. Hollywood, California, USA.
Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Christmas (its official title) played at Disney's El Capitan theater. The El Capitan is located west of Highland on Hollywood Blvd. For more information Tel. (323) 467-7674.

* Monday, November 1 - Friday, November 5. Trivandrum, Kerala, India.
Toonz Animation India, a new animation production studio and full-service facility, hosted "A Week with the Masters," which brought the top names in international animation pre-production together to discuss the importance of story boarding, character design, and story development. Among the guests were keynote speaker Rob Coleman, Industrial Light & Magic's Animation Supervisor on Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace; producer-director-writer Derek Lamb; Ian Diamond of Cartoon Network; Maurice Noble, art designer for many Warner Bros. classics; and Ishu Patel, an Academy Award-nominee and multiple award-winning Indian animator who currently serves as a professor at USC's School of Cinema/Television in the division of animation and digital arts. For more information visit www.toonzanimationindia.com.

* Friday, November 5 - Sunday, November 14. Flagstaff, Arizona, USA.
The 2nd Annual Worldfest-Flagstaff International Film Festival, which has been held in Houston for 32 years and additionally in Charleston, South Carolina for five years, made its second appearance in Flagstaff, Arizona. The festival's focused on independent works that have not yet been picked up for distribution. The wide competition program featured eight animation categories and several others, which may accept animated works, such as "computer generated/mixed media." For more information regarding Worldfest in general contact Worldfest, P.O Box 56566, Houston, Texas 77256-6566, USA; Tel. (713) 965-9955; Fax: (713) 965-9960; or E-mail: worldfest@aol.com.

* Saturday, November 6, 9 am - 3 pm. Burbank, California, USA.
Women In Animation sponsored the Third Annual Career Day Event. Panel discussions included "Animation: The Reality of the Business" and "Your Marketing Tools: Resumes, Portfolios and Demo Reels." There also was a portfolio/demo reel review, and small group workshops for both computer and traditional animation. For more information on WIA events call Tel. (310) 535-3838.

* Saturday, November 6, Sunday, November 7, and Wednesday, November 10. Massachusetts, USA.
Mary Kocol's My Father's Story was shown at several places in Massachussetts. October 22, 7 pm: Gallery NAGA at 67 Newbury Street, Boston. For more information Tel. (617) 267-9060. November 7, 2 pm and November 10, 2 pm: Boston Jewish Film Festival at the Coolidge Corner Theatre which is located at 90 Harvard Street, Brookline. For more information Tel. (617) 734-2500. November 6, 5 pm: Northampton Film Festival at the Academy of Music on Main Street, Northampton. For more information Tel. (413) 586-3471. Also visit www.KocoMotion.com for more information about any of these screenings.

Read Maureen Furniss' review of My Father's Story in this addition of Animation World Magazine.

* Monday, November 8. New York, New York, USA.
The School of Visual Arts (SVA) presented the seventh annual New York Digital Salon, an international juried showcase of computer-generated artwork. Computer animation screenings were shown at the SVA Amphitheatre and the exhibit took place in the School's Visual Arts Museum, both located at 209 East 23rd Street. For more information and to view work on-line, visit www.sva.edu/salon.

* Monday, November 8 - Wednesday, November 10, 1999. New York, New York, USA.
Blue Sky Studio's Academy Award and 1999 Annie Award Winning Short Film, Bunny, screened as part of the Shorts International Film Festival at Sony Lincoln Square Cinemas in Manhattan. The festival included many other notable shorts from around the world. For more information please call (212) 343-9598. Bunny also screened via the Spike & Mike Festival at Quad Cinema in New York, NY on November 19, 1999 and will screen at Upstate Films in Rhinebeck, NY on December 3-9, 1999. For more information on these Spike & Mike Festival screenings please call (212) 255-8800 and (914) 876-4546, respectively.

* Monday, November 8 - Sunday, November 14. Esphino, Portugal.
Since 1977, Cinanima International Animated Film Festival has promoted the international art of animation in Espinho, a city located on the Northern coast of Portugal. The week of the 8th through the 14th they hosted their 22nd annual event. For more information contact: Cinanima, Apartado 743, Rua 62-251, 4501 Espinho Codex, Portugal; Tel. + (351) 2 734-4611, 734-1621; Fax: + (351) 2 734-6015; or E-mail: cinanima@mail.telepac.pt. Also visit www.awn.com/cinanima.

*Tuesday, November 9, 1999, 7 pm. Glendale, California, USA.
ASIFA-Hollywood and Glendale Community College presented the Fourth Annual Lecture Series on "Production Management" with guest speaker, Kellie-Bea Cooper. Cooper, Production Manager at Phil Roman Entertainment, has produced award winning independent shorts in both traditional animation and computer animation which have been featured by SIGGRAPH. She has also worked with several studios including Jim Henson Interactive and Warner Brothers. Her background includes work in live action, interactive, Web, commercial TV animation and special effects. She spoke about the differences and similarities between various areas of production; the importance of building a team and a network; tips for good management (including the BIG NO-NO's); and the rewards that come with the work. The event took place at Glendale Community College Auditorium, 1500 North Verdugo Road. For more informationon other Glendale Community College events, call Jonnie Weaver at Glendale Community College, Tel. (818) 240-1000, ext. 5608.

* Thursday, November 11 - Sunday, November 14. New York, New York, USA.
New York University hosted a symposium on The National Film Board of Canada in honor of the NFB's 60th anniversary. For more information on the event Tel. (212) 596-1660.

* Friday, November 12, 7 pm. Santa Monica, USA.
The Women In Animation Shorts Fest 2 was a showcase for short animated films made by WIA members and other filmmakers from around the world. The program included Life, the hilarious new animated jam session from Mo Willems and 32 other animators from New York, including Tissa David, George Griffin, Yvette Kaplan, Candy Kugel and Bill Plympton. The event took place at 7pm at Santa Monica College, Academy of Entertainment and Technology, Second Floor, 1440 Stewart Street, Santa Monica, California. If you have shorts you would like to show in future WIA festivals, send them to: WIA Shorts Fest, c/o Wendy Jackson Hall, 2003 Rome Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90065, USA. For more information: Tel: 323-441-9340; Fax: 323-441-9341; or E-mail: wendy@animedium.com.

* Friday, November 12, 9 am. Savannah, Georgia, USA.
Larry Lauria gave a "Character Design Workshop" in SCAD's Trustee Theater. Lauria, whose Web site, Toon Institute, is a part of the growing Animation World Network family at www.awn.com, discussed the nature of characters and the elements of good character design, plus showed clips of his animated characters. Guests sketched along in this interactive workshop. The Savannah Film Festival, November 6 - 13, showcased over 80 films and a number of workshops in all genres. For more information call the box office at (912) 525-5050 or visit www.scad.edu\filmfestival.

AWN is proud to host Bill Plympton's Web site and Larry Lauria's Toon Institute.

*Saturday, November 13 - December 23, 1999. New York, New York, USA.
The Gifted Images Gallery, located in Rockville Centre, will host the exhibit. "The Art of Disney Storybooks," is a collaboration between Walt Disney Art Classics and Disney Publishing. The exhibit features reproduced artwork from various storybook adaptations of Disney's most beloved films. Included in the exhibition is "An enchanting dress," from Cinderella and "Magic mirror on the wall" from Snow White. Appearing at the premiere event this Saturday, November 13th, will be Gil Dicicco, an internationally renowned illustrator, who has adapted many of Disney's classics for story books. He also worked at the Disney studio, as Art Director for The Great Mouse Detective. At the premiere event, Mr. Dicicco will host a Q&A session and sketch and illustrate for the audience. For more information contact Gifted Images at (516) 536-6886.

*Sunday, November 14, 1999, 5pm. West Los Angeles, California, USA.
Hollywood Shorts, a monthly festival series introducing emerging directors and their productions, was presented by Griffith Place Films. The program brings together the Los Angeles film community through short subject film, video and animation. The Hollywood Shorts web site is presented by L.A. Live! and brings featured directors and production teams to the world view. For submission guidelines and deadlines, contact Kimberley Browning at HShorts@aol.com or call (310) 358-7634.

* Tuesday, November 16, 7 pm. Los Angeles, California, USA.
The Goethe-Institut presented a program featuring nine new animated short films from Germany. In conjunction with this screening Academy Award-winning visual effects specialist, Volker Engel, spoke. The German-born animator commented on the film selections and discussed animation and special effects in general. Engel's credits include visual effects work on Godzilla and Independence Day, for which he won the Oscar. Films from Thomas Meyer-Hermann, Heinrich Sabl, Thomas Stellmach, Tyron Montgomery and Kirsten Winter were featured at the event. There is also an accompanying art exhibit at Chapman University. The Goethe-Institut is located at 5750 Wilshire Blvd Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90036. Tel.: (323) 525-3388.

* Tuesday, November 16 - Thursday, November 18. London, England.
One of Europe's premier computer generated animation and special effects festivals, London Effects & Animation Festival awards the best work from around the world in the following categories: Commercials (Animation); Commercials (Live Action); Short Film; Music Video; Feature Film; Student; Titles, Idents and Stings; Education and Simulation. An independent panel, comprised of industry experts judged entries. All nominations were showcased at the LEAF Awards on November 16. The London Effects & Animation Festival is part of Digital Media World, the biggest creative technology event in Europe. For more information visit www.digmedia.co.uk.

*Tuesday, November 16 - Thursday, November 18, 1999. Hollywood, California, USA.
Life, the new independent animated short film directed by Mo Willems and featuring animation sequences by 32 other animators including -- Joey Ahlbum, Amanda Baehr, Paul Belliveau, John Canemaker, Christy Karacas, R.M. Charde, Craig Churaman, Tissa David, Karen Disher, Rob Dress, Steven Dovas, Tom Eaton, George Griffin, Yvette Kaplan, Candy Kugel, Dean Kalman Lennert, Peter List, Laura Margulies, Guy Moore, Jennifer Oxley, Sue Perotto, Bill Plympton, Chris Prynoski, John Robertson, Eugene Salandra, Matt Sheridan, Pat Smith, Michael Sporn, Steve Talkowski, Karen Villarreal, Tom Warburton, John Wilson -- screened in Los Angeles for three days. The film was shown at Laemmle's Sunset 5 Theater, 8000 Sunset Blvd.

* Wednesday, November 17. Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
The annual Best Of Banff Television Festival is a traveling showcase featuring highlights of the 20th Banff Television Festival, which took place June 13 - 19 in Banff, Canada. The program made its Ottawa, Canada stop at the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull on November 17, 1999. S4C/BBC's Gogs: Gogwana, winner of this year's Banff's Best Animation Program Award, and NFB of Canada/Channel Four's Snow Cat, a nominee for Best Animation Program at Banff, were featured animated programs. "Best of Banff," which is screening across Canada, began in Vancouver on October 19, 1999 and also appears in Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Toronto. For more information contact The Ottawa-Hull Film and Television Association, The Ottawa-Hull Film Office, c/o Joanna D'Angelo, 61A York Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 5T2. Tel. (613) 789-9919 (Film Office), (613) 789-3836 (Association); Fax: (613) 789-4724; E-mail: office@ohfta.ca. Also, for a complete touring schedule and program, visit www.banfftvfest.com/main.html.

*Thursday, November 18, 1999. Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Brian Lemay, Co-ordinator of the Classical Animation Program at Sheridan College and author of the books Designing Cartoon Characters for Animation, Layout and Design Made Amazingly Simple and The Advanced Layout and Design Workbook, spoke on Character Design and Animation Layout. Lemay brought his portfolio and had copies of his books available for purchase. Sponsored by the Toronto Animated Image Society, the event was held in Meeting Room "C" in Lillian H. Smith Public Library, 239 College Street. The discussion was free to TAIS members and CA$4 for the general public. For more information call Cory at (905) 451-5905.

* Monday, November 1 - Wednesday, December 15, 1999. Orange, California, USA.
An exhibition of New Animation from Germany consisting of models, paintings, sketches and production shots from the works of eight young German animators will be on display at Chapman University. For more information including a screening schedule call: (714) 997-6729.

* Wednesday, November 24 - Saturday, November 27, 1999. Valenciennes, France.
European Gathering of Young Digital Creation highlights the technologies of the future and purposes a realistic look at the jobs of tomorrow. The four day gathering featured conferences, round table discussions, and screenings of the best digital work and three-dimensional films. The event was sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Valenciennes in association with Supinfocom.

*Friday, December 3, 1999. New York, New York.
Cartoon Noir is a feature-length compilation of animated short films and features works from the American and European artists. Featured in Cartoon Noir is: APE, Julie Zammarchi's darkly comic critique of monogamy, meat eating, and the daily pattern of human brutality; Altair, Lewis Klahr's collagist elegy on New York nightlife; Club Of The Discarded, Jiri Barta's tale of a family of discarded mannequins who enjoy a quiet life in an abandoned warehouse until a group of hipster mannequins move in and spoil the neighborhood; Gentle Spirit, Piotr Dumala's Dostoyevsky-inspired story of the psychological landscape between a young lady and an ominous male figure; Joy Street, Suzan Pitt's story of a woman who journeys from suicidal despair to personal renewal with the help of an unlikely spirit guide; and The Story Of The Cat And The Moon, Pedro Serrazina's mini-classic of the fatalistically unrequited love as a cat ceaselessly seeks the moon. The film will play at Cinema Village and will be followed by a national release in most major markets. For more information, please contact Phil Hall at Open City Communications, (212) 714-3575 or Opencity@aol.com.