BAF06 – Bradford Animation Festival
The best animation festival across the Atlantic is the Bradford Animation Festival in the UK presented by the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television. The festival announced their November 2006 guest list:
Confirmed guests for 2006 so far include Joanna Quinn, Dave Burgess from Dreamworks Animation, Andreas Hykade, Marc Craste, Suzie Templeton and Chris Shepherd. If that’s not enough to whet your appetite BAF06 will also be hosting a special tribute to Paul Berry, taking a retrospective look at the work of Halas and Batchelor and commercial animation comes under the spotlight with an all-star discussion panel.
The highlight of that list is, of course, Joanna Quinn. Her multi-award winning film, Dreams and Desires will be shown at the festival.
A major figure in the world of animation, Joanna’s distinctive drawing skills, characterisations and humour, mark her out as a truly unique talent. Her graduation film, Girls Night Out won three awards at the world-renowned Annecy animation festival in 1987. She received Oscar nominations two years in a row, the first for Famous Fred in 1998 and again with Wife of Bath in 1999. In 1987, Joanna formed Beryl Productions International Ltd. with producer and writer Les Mills. Based in Cardiff, her highly talented team have produced a plethora of successful commercial work for clients that include Charmin, Whiskas and United Airlines.
She’s a super animator with a truly distinctive style. They don’t get any better. You can get a taste of her animation at Beryl Productions. Watch her showreel at your own risk. She’s so brilliant you might not be able to pick up your own pencil again. Don’t miss this festival if you’re in the UK from 15 – 18 November 2006.
[tags]Bradford Animation Festival, BAF06, Joanna Quinn, 2D animation[/tags]
Ottawa International Animation Festival ’06 Sept. 20 – 24
This is the 30th anniversary year of the Ottawa International Animation Festival. It is the finest animation film festival on the North American Continent. This is a unique event in the world of animation and very worth your while. Besides, it’s in beautiful Ottawa. From the Ottawa Start:
Adding local flavour to the Festival, four Ottawa animators are included in this year’s selected films. John Mark Seck‘s Vissi d’arte, a gritty urban retelling of the tragic Puccini opera ‘Tosca,†and Chris Dainty’s Emma Graves, a quirky tale of talking tombstones,will make their world premieres in the Canadian Animation Showcase. Also selected for OIAF 06 are two talented high school animators: Michelle White’s Blinky Goes to the Movies, a light-hearted look at old movies, and Boris Maras’ Flash-animated Nedrick’s Misadventures in the Montgolfier will be competing as part of the TELETOON Canadian Student Animation Scholarship program. This program, now in its 9th year, gives young animators from across Canada an extraordinary chance to be recognized for their skills.
Other notable films include:
…Joanna Quinn’s hilarious ode to film-making, Dreams and Desires, which won the Grand Prize at both the Annecy and Zagreb festivals earlier this year; The Carnival of the Animals, a delightful musical erotic fantasy by Michaela Pavlatova; three-time OIAF Grand Prize winner Andreas Hykade (Ring of Fire) returns with The Runt; legendary New York animator George Griffin’s disturbing deadpan comedy, It Pains me to Say This; the Canadian premiere of Rabbit, Run Wrake’s magical adult fairytale; and Never Like the First Time by Swedish animator extraordinaire Jonas Odell, in which four people recount their first – and very different – sexual experiences.
There’s no where else in the world where you can view such an impressive list of animated films. If you can’t make it to beautfiful Ottawa (which is awfully damn hot this year, by the way) you can still participate in the fun via the OIAF podcasts. Mark you calendar now.
[tags]OIAF, Ottawa International Film Festival, animation[/tags]
Austin 2006 Flashforward Film Festival Finalists
Our favorite flash animator, Chris Georgenes, is one of the finalists in the cartoon category in the Austin 2006 Flashforward Film Festival. Dimples liked all of the finalists. When flash animation is done well, it’s nearly as good as some of the best hand-drawn animation. Unfortunately, most of it looks like the frozen figures with moving lips that dominate the Cartoon Network. The winners will be announced in September 2006. You can vote on-line for the people’s choice award here.
[tags]2D animation, flash animation, flashforward film festival[/tags]
Disney Must Read This Blog – Return to 2D Animation
The dimpled one thinks Disney is listening. John Lasseter is keeping his promise to bring back hand-drawn animation to Disney. The word is out that 3D CGI is not a sure ticket to big box office. It’s commonplace. Moreover, it’s not as pleasing to the viewer as traditional 2D animation. Disney is showing some foresight and placing a bet on the revival of 2D animation. From Reuters:
Walt Disney Studios has reunited with the directors of its box office disaster “Treasure Planet” as part of a plan to get back into the decidedly unfashionable business of traditional animation.
The new project, “Frog Princess,” will put a female spin on the classic fairy tale, according to sources.
It will be overseen by John Musker and Ron Clements, who left the studio shortly after “Treasure Planet” bombed at the end of 2002, grossing just $38 million domestically.
This is the right thing to do but, is this the team to do it? Dimples is skeptical.
[tags]2D animation, Disney, John Lasseter, Little Mermaid, Frog Princess[/tags]
Mocca Arts Festival this Weekend
If you’re in New York City this weekend, make time for Mocca.
“Meet comics and cartoon artists! Get sketches and autographs from Gahan Wilson, Joe Staton, Fly, Paolo Rivera and others at the MoCCA Fundraising Sketch Table! Buy comics, comix, cartoons, graphic novels as well as prints and original artwork! Sit in on our always entertaining and educational panel sessions! “
Mocca along with the Small Press Expo in San Francisco are absolutely the best conventions for finding strange things and strange people.
[tags]Mocca, art festival, cartoon, comic[/tags]
Ricky Gervais’ Flanimals to Become TV Cartoon Series
UK comic Ricky Gervais is a busy man. He’s responsible for the television series “The Office” and “Extras”. He does radio, stand-up and pod-casts and recently he did “The Simpsons”. On the side, he’s created a series of playful monsters in his children’s books called “Flanimals“. These creatures are about to become a new animated cartoon feature on ITV1 in the UK. Meet some of the Flanimals. This is Plamgotis.
This lovely guy is Clunge Ambler.
Needing a good dentist is Grundit.
The Dimples team senses the beginning of a great cartoon as well as a massive action figure marketing empire.
[tags]Ricky Gervais, Flanimals, 2D animation, animation, children’s books, cartoons, The Simpsons[/tags]
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