Toronto, Ontario – Tinman Creative Studios partnered with the Toronto Animated Arts Festival International (TAAFI) to produce a sponsorship film for the festival’s inaugural year. The animated short, shown ahead of screenings throughout the festival, features Johnny, an animated cartoon character working in Toronto, and showcases the history of Toronto and its contributions to the animation industry.
“When we launched Tinman Creative in January, we weren't the only thing new to happen to the Toronto animation industry. TAAFI, the Toronto Animated Arts Festival International, was also gearing up for their new animation festival so it seemed only natural that the two of us would find each other,” said Tinman executive producer Morghan Fortier.
“Knowing this was Toronto's first animation festival, we felt we needed to showcase the history of Toronto and its contributions to the industry” Fortier continued. “Through our meetings with TAAFI we got to hear a lot of stories of the industry from some of the older animators. These stories were incredibly fascinating, funny and often very touching. This is where we found our inspiration for our main character Johnny, though instead of an animator we decided to look at things from the perspective of an animated character.”
Tinman designed Johnny in a style the studio was experimenting with at the time, giving the character a classic feel made up of simple shapes and animated frame-by-frame. The original intent was to add a textured boil to Johnny’s blue outline to give him the appearance of a pencil test. As the project evolved, the character worked better with a clean line, but the studio kept the blue.
“We feel very privileged to have been involved with the festival, and were thrilled to see our work featured on the big screen,” Fortier concluded. “We're already looking forward to next year.”
Source: Tinman Creative Studios