Norm McLaren's Neighbors

Norm McLaren was born in Stirling Scotland in 1914. He studied at the Glasgow School of Art. His earlier works involved scratching the enamel off of film and painting on it. Two of his earlier films won several prizes at the Scottish Amateur Film Festival.
McLaren moved to New York just before World War II, and asked to join the National Film Board of Canada a few years later. In 1952, McLaren made one of his most recognized shorts, Neighbors. The short is about two men who live in similar houses right next to one another. The men are friendly toward each other at the start of the film, but when a small flower blooms between their two houses, the men fight over who it belongs too. The men fight to a point where they harm one another and their respective families, without realizing they have killed the flower in the scuffle.
Although it is now one of McLaren's well known pieces, it was considered controversial at the time it was made.

"I was inspired to make Neighbors by a stay of almost a year in the People's Republic of China. Although I only saw the beginnings of Mao's revolution, my faith in human nature was reinvigorated by it. Then I came back to Quebec and the Korean War began. (...) I decided to make a really strong film about anti-militarism and against war." — Norman McLaren

Despite this, Neighbors had won both a Canadian Film Award, Academy Award and an Oscar, under the Documentary category.




site

|-Kelly-|

Priit Pärn

Born in Estonia in 1946, Priit Pärn is one of the most recognized animators from the area. Although art and animation were not Pärn's first profession, he always found time to draw. His drawing were featured in local papers and he eventually was asked to work with Rein Raamat on the film Kilplased. After this experience, Pärn directed his own film, called Is the earth round?
In the years after, Pärn made many films that have won numerous awards. A good number of his films subject matter involve dark and historical reference to growing up in Estonia under the Soviet rule. His drawing style was concidered unusual and non-Disney-esque, which is what the Soviet's wanted. His way of drawing became influential however in his native Estonia, as well as around the world. His influence can be seen in television shows such as Rugrats, and AHHH! Real Monsters.
Today Priit Pärn teaches at the Turku University of Applied Sciences: Art Academy, in Turku Finland, as well as continuing his art practice.

Kas maakera on ümmargune? (Is the Earth Round?)

|-Kelly-|

Lenica and the Grotesquery of Ubu Roi

There are some high quality images from Jan Lenica's animation film, "Ubu et le Grande Gidouille," posted on one of my favorite image-sites, 50watts.com. The explosive, grotesque and surreal theatre work by Alfred Jarry is an inescapable one, revisited and re-made numerous times by the creative minds it attracts. Lenica's own aesthetic makes it his own, especially with his strong and bold, yet highly organic graphics. The animation utilizes cut-outs, drawing and painting in a collagist's manner. Pieces and parts of bodies float serenely, suddenly twitch, fly off screen, lay leaden in sullen austerity, and generate a tense, surreal and phantom-like landscape.

Jan Lenica is an essential part of the animation filmmaking landscape. His role as a Polish poster designer brought him success, but his eventual move into animation cemented his legacy. Initial animation explorations with his compatriot, Walerian Borowczyk, or "Boro," garnered the art world's response, culminating in the film "Dom" ("House")

Lenica and Boro were referring to their own style as barbaric, in that their efforts to bring life to their images using animation were not concerned with graceful qualities. Instead, their style was halting, twitchy, crude (sometimes) and gestural. Their subject matter was most frequently about the political, and the crushing control of the individual's spirit, which was necessarily disguised in metaphor and symbol as a way to get past the Soviet Communist censors.

Lenica's death in 2001 left behind a proliferation of compelling work in both design and animation.

(Here's a not-so-great quality upload of his film here (or directly on youtube), but copy nonetheless.)

| post by Lorelei |

Pixilation

Pixilation is a type of stop-motion animation that uses people instead of things such as objects or puppets. One of the earliest experiments with this form of art was in 1909, when Segundo de Chomón created a comedy-fantasy called, El hotel eléctrico. The film is a surreal short that depicts a suit case unpacking and furniture rapid swirling around in a room. The film was a part in several attempts at pixilation for Chomón.

-Matt

Yōji Kuri/Shin Chan?

Yōji Kuri is an animation artist most known for his work during the 1960's and is known to be of large importance to the history of animation. Known to be dark humored, independent and minimal artist, his work seems to capture a disturbing perspective of love and sex. Some such films as Human Zoo(1960) and Ai-Love (1963) depict this type of imagery and end fairly quickly. The time range for Kuri's work seems to be shorter then ten minutes, perhaps implying the shorts are more of a thought then a statement.

He later produced an animation film The Bathroom (1970), it too was along the same subject matter as previous work. One part of the film at the end depicts butt and leg sculptures; the style and location (bathroom) reminded me of the TV show Shin Chan. Shin, a 5 year old boy whom is obsessed with human privates, frequently flaunts his rear and enjoys time in the bathroom.

Yōji Kuri continues to draw today as well as teach animation at the Laputa Art Animation School.

-Matt

Ladislaw Starewicz & Today

In Ladislaw Starewicz's The Cameraman's Revenge (1911), a grasshopper seeks revenge on a beetle by filming the beetle's wrong doings and projecting them for others to see. The early stop-animation gives a glimpse at a world of bugs similar to the more recentPixar film A Bug's Life (1998). The two films are somewhat similar in that the bugs live in a somewhat human-like society. Although it is not clear if The Cameraman's Revenge inspired or helped in someway to the latter but one other more recentfilm might have been.

Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas

(1993), is extremely similar aesthetically

to Starewicz's The Devil's Ball. The dark imagery or nightmarish creatures

almost look like a past

version of Burton's

film. The amount of detail in The Devil's Ball (1933) is impressive. And once more the characters in both films are three-dimensional Perhaps Starewicz's vision stills runs through

animation today, inspiring

other creations to come.

Matt

Themes of Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

Hayao Miyazaki's began created Nausicaa in manga form in 1982. He finished the last chapter of the manga in 1994, spending his time in between working on Studio Ghibli films. In 1984, after reading the first few chapters of the manga, Miyazaki was asked if he wanted to make Nausicaa into a film. Miyazaki originally refused the offer. He then agreed, but only if he could direct the film.
Nausicaa is the story of a post- apocalyptic world that had been destroyed by humans. Several "tribes" of humans still live in small settlements scattered about. One of these world is the Valley of the Wind, where Princess Nausicaa lives. She is a young woman who is skilled with fighting as well as talking to the creatures that live in the valley. Part of the world is an area called the Toxic Jungle. Nausicaa, believes there may be answers to finding a way for humans and nature to communicate there. One day an airship crashes near the valley and a fight breaks out between several human groups. Nausicaa learns of a secret, that the Pijet kingdom is making a weapon they call the Giant Warrior. Nausicaa feels that she must help protect the world from an em-pending war, like the prophesy of the world says.
Miyazaki's film had strong environmentalist undertones, as well as a reference to Japan, post WWII. The world Nausicaa lives in has been ravaged and there is little clean water. These images evoke the thought of post war environmental issues. This is also made clear by the use of showing the type of devistation nuclear weaponry can cause. In Nausicaa, this is show with the giant warriors energy blast.
Another theme Miyazaki has been know to use and is present in Nausicaa is his view toward powerful, heroic female characters. Nausicaa is a great example of this. Nausicaa is a skilled fighter, which can me seen when she take revenge for her father's death, but is also a kind and giving character. She is seen making one of the worlds large insects calm by simply keeping calm herself and charming the creature.

Sources

|-Kelly-|

Tanks, Torpedos & Bomber-jackets: WAR & POP-CULTURE

Desperate times call for desperate measures and Mickey's "gang" was the answer. During WWII, just like any war, there was mass amount of propaganda flickering across the globe; On one side one sees "purity" trying to triumph over the "weak" and on the other Mickey and the gang confronting the World's worst nightmare.

The Disney characters were a main motivator for Americans to get in the war, but it did not stop there. Shortly following the propaganda explosion, a request from a Naval Squadron in Floyd Bennett Field was made to Disney for a Military logo. The idea blew up and at the end of the war the number reached to about 1,200 emblems. These were made for American troops as well as allied. The characters consisted of almost every character from Disney excluding Mickey, who stayed home for the defense. One of the most popular characters for the emblems was Donald Duck. Due to his aggressive attitude and short-fuse temper it is no wonder why he was chosen so many times. Some other characters that made the list, but were created exclusively

for the war were Seabee and the Flying Tigers.

Disney was a huge significance to Americans and people world-wide during WWII and it was due to Disney himself feeling obligated to

something for the American cause.

Disney/Military Emblems

More...

-Matt

The Betty Boop Film

Many, many many people do not know that a Betty Boop feature was in production back in '93. Fleischer Studios got about six months into production when Frank Mancuso took over MGM studios, and everything came to an abrupt halt. This is the only known footage available from the film that never was- an animatic for a musical sequence between Betty and her father. Like the old shorts, the producers sought to keep Jazz music intertwined with Betty's character.

http://www.moorestudiosinc.com/bettyboop.htm

After watching the animatic, from a link I found ages ago (and was subsequently very difficult to unearth again after hosting was changed), a few fellow artists and I mused about what the film would have been like. There was a sort of mesmerizing, sad beauty to this little snippet of the story- perhaps I wouldn't have given it a second glance if it was just the stills released, or some concept sketches. Seeing the scene in motion, and hearing the lovely ballad are what really stick with me.

I sure don't know what the entire story of the film would have been, but I remember getting really nervous at the rumor of a CGI Betty Boop movie. Makes you wonder- "What if?"

-Lily H.

Little Nemo

Winsor McCay's comic about a young boy named Nemo was introduced in 1905. The original title was Little Nemo in Slumberland, but was changed later to In the Land of Wonderful Dreams, when it was picked up by a different newspaper.
The story followed the adventures of Nemo in the dream world of Slumberland. Often Nemo would find himself in dangerous and even life threatening situations, but always woke up in his bed before anything should happen to him.
McCay, along with James Stuart Blackton, created a short animation based on the comic strip in 1911. Later, in 1989, director Masami and Masanori Hata, along with William T. Hurtz, made a feature animated film loosely based on McCay's comics. The film was first released in Japan in 1989. Then in the US in 1992. The film was not well received by viewers and considered a box office flop, despite getting positive reviews from several papers. The film is beautifully done and has a wonderful storyline. I highly recommend it.

|-Kelly-|