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Scandals, Smokescreens and a Golden Age?: Canadian Animation in
the 21st Century
(continued from page 3)
There are also a number of companies expanding their animated possibilities
with a low-end multi-media approach. The pioneer of this new trend
is undoubtedly Toronto's Cuppa Coffee Animation. Founded in 1992 by
Adam Shaheen and Bruce Alcock, Cuppa Coffee has set the industry standard
by selling bold, experimental graphics to advertisers and broadcasters.
In just eight years, Cuppa Coffee has produced some landmark work
for Canada's MTV, Coca-Cola, Mazda, the Ottawa '98 Festival Trailer
film, and two particularly creative children's shows Crashbox
and Clever Trevor. Another Toronto-based company, Head Gear
was formed in 1997 by former Cuppa Coffee directors, Julian Grey and
Steve Angel. Head Gear specializes in the production of mixed media
techniques and has already produced a handful of inspired spots for
The Sundance Channel, Nestle, and three very funny condom ads. C.O.R.E
Digital, primarily a computer effects service house, recently ventured
into proprietary production by co-producing the series Angela Anaconda.
The show is a striking stylistic departure for television animation.
Using a two-dimensional collage style with scanned photos, Angela
Anaconda is the portrait of Angela and her not so perfect life with
family, friends, teachers and arch enemy, Natette Manoir.
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Transfigured. ©
National Film Board of Canada.
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While we constantly hear talk that the computer age is bringing with
it the freedom for anyone to create their own works of art, we rarely
see these expressions of freedom and when we do they aren't particularly
good. However in 1999, far from the swank, trendy office suites of
Toronto animators, 79 year-old René Jodoin, who retired from
the NFB in 1984, sat in his Beaconsfield, Quebec basement and made
Between Time and Place. This short experimental film expands
on Jodoin's life long fascination with all things geometrical and
explores the nature of time and space between musical notes. Remarkably,
Between Time and Place was made using an old Amiga program
without any corporate or government funding.
Gettin' Learned...
On the educational front, there has been much debate about the
direction of educational institutions. Some criticize training schools
like Sheridan College, Algonquin College and Vancouver Film School
among others for simply mass producing parts for the Disney empire.
At the same time, the most cutting edge schools like Emily Carr and
Concordia are producing work that is interesting, but not risk taking
by any stretch of the imagination. Some of the most promising Emily
Carr graduates include Ryan Schweitzer (Dog, 2bit Facial),
Paula McBride (The People Collector, Something Extraordinary),
Sonia Bridge (The Day Stashi Ran Out of Honey) and Jakub Pistecky
whose film Little Milosh recently won the Best Canadian Student
Film at the 1999 Ottawa International Student Animation Festival.
Ironically, Milosh is a beautifully designed and well-told
story, but is decidedly mainstream in the gothic tradition of Tim
Burton and Vincent Price. Concordia has produced a number of independent
orientated films over the years, but these films are rarely shown
because of the school's inability or apathy when it comes to self-promotion.
Most recently, Anouck Prefontaine generated enthusiasm for her NFB
inspired film, Oh Lord. Outside of Emily Carr, Canadian student
animation is not particularly inspiring. Many new schools have started
animation departments simply to cash in on the success of Sheridan
and Vancouver Film School. Like a pack of starving lap dogs lunging
at leftover entrails, schools are mass producing students to learn
a single way of animation so they can find immediate jobs in the midst
of the animation explosion. But if the industry ever collapses, these
students will be without work and the proper training to evolve on
their own. The government must assume the brunt of the blame. Their
systematic dismantling of funding for education has forced schools
to find new avenues of funding and more often than not this involves
corporate sponsorship and with that an industrial make over of the
institution's aims. As long as the students are finding jobs and are
content to accept a variety of unimaginative positions it is doubtful
that the quality of animation education will improve in the years
to come.
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Alexander Petrov, painting one of
the approximately 29,000 images to create his 22-minute animated
adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea. © Pascal
Blais Productions, Inc.; Imagica Corp.
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The Independent Plight
Another area of concern, as it is perpetually throughout the world,
is the state of independent animation. With government funding in
decline, the NFB absorbing two decades of cuts, and the industry booming,
it has become increasingly difficult for independent animators to
get their films made, let alone seen outside of a festival. Oddly
enough, Canadian independent animation has arguably never been stronger.
Thanks to committed associations like Quickdraw Animation Society
(QAS) and Atlantic Filmmakers Cooperative (AFC) among others, a modest
but consistent body of independent work is being produced outside
of the traditional confines of the NFB. Cooperatives throughout Canada
have been a key developer of Canadian film talent. By providing equipment
and training for reasonable rates, many aspiring artists are turning
toward cooperatives as an alternative to the increasing costs of post-secondary
education. Additionally while film schools tend to provide industrial
training, co-ops afford an environment conducive to independent artists.
QAS was founded in 1984 and is a non-profit, artist run centre that
is committed to any type of animation. The co-op has nurtured the
likes of animators Richard Reeves (Linear Dreams), Wayne Traudt
(Movements of the Body), Carol Beecher (Ask Me), Kevin
Kurytnik (Abandon Bob Hope, All Ye Who Enter) and Don Best
(Raw), and has emerged as a leading producer of 'alternative'
animation in Canada. In addition, QAS offers animation classes and
scholarships to any and all aspiring animators. While Halifax's AFC
is not animation specific, a small group of animators has emerged
from Canada's Mecca of the East most notably Helen Hill, a former
California Institute of the Arts student who now teaches courses at
the AFC and the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. Hill has fashioned
a deceptively primitive body of work that is best described as quirky
and unpretentious portraits of highly personal journeys into lands
foreign and exotic, yet strangely familiar. Hill's most recent film,
Mouseholes is a moving, comic-poetic tribute to her grandfather
that merges cut-out and live-action with actual interviews between
Helen and her grandfather along with snippets of dialogue from the
funeral.
Beyond cooperatives, a number of independent animators have furnished
independent careers primarily on their own with minimal government
support. Gail Noonan has been making films in British Columbia since
1989, but has found festival success with recent films Your Name
In Cellulite and The Menopause Song. While Menopause
lightly celebrates the joys of menstruation, Your Name is a
damning comment of the mass media's perception of women's beauty.
Noonan's latest film, Lost and Found, is a tale about two children
who encounter 'homeless' people. Stephen Arthur has a very diverse
background that includes feature film scriptwriting and neurobiology.
He has been making experimental films since 1969. In recent years
he has turned more toward surrealistic exploratory works. Transfigured
(1998) brought movement and interaction to Canadian painter Jack Shadbolt's
work, while his latest film, Vision Point (1999) is a journey
through Western Canada as if on a liberated roller coaster.
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