Scandals, Smokescreens and a Golden Age?: Canadian Animation in the 21

ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE - ISSUE 5.05 - AUGUST 2000

Scandals, Smokescreens and a Golden Age?: Canadian Animation in the 21^st Century
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Adam Shaheen, one of the founders of Cuppa Coffee. © Cuppa Coffee.

Attempting to define Canada, let alone Canadian animation, is like trying to explain hockey to an American like Nelvana and Cinar who have established themselves as leaders in the mass production of children's television productions. While there are a variety of innovative commercial studios (Cuppa Coffee Animation, Head Gear, Mainframe Entertainment), software companies (Alias|Wavefront, Softimage, Side Effects) and special effects companies (C.O.R.E Digital), the animation landscape is dominated by a plentitude of service studios like Ottawa's Funbag Animation and Dynomight Cartoons and Vancouver's Bardel Animation, Natterjack and Studio B to name a few. With the expansion of the market for animation, many service studios have turned toward original productions. Unfortunately with few exceptions (eg. Angela Anaconda, Rolie Polie Olie, Ed, Edd 'n' Eddy) these productions merely attempt to emulate the American norm.

On the heels of the success of Oakville's Sheridan College, the premiere classical training school in the world, various animation schools have sprung up all across the country. Vancouver Film School, Seneca College, VanArts, Capilano College, College-Interdec and Algonquin College have found success with their animation or visual arts programmes and have become major recruiting sources for the likes of Nelvana and Cinar and most of the American majors.

The emergence of animation into the global marketplace has not been as kind to the art community, but there remains a strong core of independent animation production. Educational institutions like Emily Carr School of Design (Vancouver) and Concordia University (Montreal) encourage students to produce more personal orientated work. Outside the traditional realm of education, non-profit associations like Calgary's Quickdraw Animation Society (QAS) and Halifax's Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC) provide affordable opportunities to those who cannot or do not want to attend costly post-secondary institutions. At the same time, QAS and AFC have produced a strong body of work that is increasingly being acknowledged by festivals around the world. Beyond institutions, a scattered array of artists like Marv Newland, Richard Reeves, Helen Hill, Stephen Arthur, Gail Noonan, and even 79 year-old NFB pioneer René Jodoin, continue to struggle along producing their own personal visions for a modest viewing audience.

Chris Landreth's The End is an example of Canada's technological prowess. © Alias|Wavefront.

The Issues
While the Canada Council has re-emerged as a strong supporter of Canadian artists, the government on the whole has shown more interest in backing industrial projects. In 1997, the Ontario government gave Sheridan College a $12 million grant to open a New Technology Centre. This move was made to benefit the Ontario industry, but arguably most of the students will travel to the U.S. to find more lucrative work. More disturbing still is the government's tax subsidy for the creation of Walt Disney's studios in Toronto and Vancouver (both studios recently closed). A tax credit system was introduced by the Ontario provincial government, but it encourages only the production of computer animation or special effects.

The major problem for Canadian animators remains that of distribution. Despite the emergence of an animation channel (Teletoon) and new opportunities in home video and the Internet, the festival circuit remains the leading source for viewing non-mainstream animation. Since 1976, Canada has been home to North America's largest animation festival, the Ottawa International Animation Festival which, despite heavy government cuts, has managed to remain a primary supporter of independent animation while carving out a place for the industry. In recent years, festivals have started in Vancouver, Halifax and another in Ottawa devoted to student and emerging animators.

Until recently two favourite topics of the Canadian media were the low Canadian dollar and the so-called 'Brain Drain' which has seen Canadian professionals from hockey players (Wayne Gretzky) and actors (Jim Carrey) to writers and doctors lured by increased opportunities and a higher dollar to the U.S. Animation in particular has been affected. Virtually every American studio houses Canadians. Some of the more prominent emigres include John Kricfalusi (Ren and Stimpy) and Steve Williams (the digital guru behind Jurassic Park). Aggravating the situation is the low Canadian dollar. When Walt Disney announced they were opening studios in Vancouver and Toronto in 1995, they said it was because of the legendary reputation of Canadian animators. While there is some truth in that statement, the reality is that in addition to tax subsidies, Disney was setting up shop to take advantage of the Canadian dollar. In essence, Canada was serving as a Korean-like 'sweatshop.' The Canadian dollar is a precarious situation because if the dollar rises to par with the U.S., we will likely see that despite our reputation for producing quality animators, most Canadian studios will be out of work. At the same time, as long as the dollar is low Canadian studios will continue to primarily offer service work to American companies, but at least there is the opportunity to produce original productions.

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