The French have always been heavily involved throughout the history of animation and hosts a variety of prestigious universities, the best known being Gobelins School of Image. Gobelins is a college located in the Latin Quartier dedicated to the visual arts. Since Gobelins began offering its animation program in 1975, several of its students have gone on to work for several companies not only within in France, but also at large studios including Disney, Dreamworks, Pixar, and Warner Brothers. The rising star in animated film companies, Illumination Entertainment (Despicable Me, The Lorax), was founded by a Gobelins alumni Pierre Coffin. Each year, the Gobelins Youtube page posts their students' graduate films, most of which are nothing short of remarkable. Below I have listed eleven of my favorites in chronological order (with descriptions from the Gobelins website). Why eleven? …Making lists is hard.* 1.) After the Rain - 2008
"A child fishing in a puddle using bananas as bait catches a bigger fish than he can handle and flees with the giant fish in pursuit."
2.) For Sock's Sake - 2008
"A sock escapes from the clothes line to go clubbing."
3.) Trois Petits Points - 2010
"A seamstress is waiting for her husband to come back from the war."
4.) Le Royaume - 2010
"Just arrived in a wood, a king wants a beaver to build him a castle."
5.) A Travers la Brume - 2011
"Two brothers are hunting a legendary creature. As they hunt, the fog separates them…"
6.) Fur - 2011
"Banned from his town because of his animality, a wolf man decides to make this segregation come to an end."
7. ) Who's Afraid of Mr. Greedy - 2011
"A man comes to get back his identity, stolen by an ogre while he was a child."
8.) In Between - 2012
"A young woman is being followed by a crocodile who represents her shyness. As he makes her life a living hell, she tries by every means to get rid of him."
9.) Trouble on the Green - 2012
"In a little french town, a minigolf tournament is organized each year. But this year, the news have announced the end of the world."
10.) One Day - 2012
"One man always on the move will have an encounter that puts into question everything he knows."
11.) Eclipse - 2012
"On a distant planet, two sientists analyzing the field for its magnetic properties are facing an extraordinary phenomena linked to the lunar eclipse."
* For those who enjoyed this list, I recommend checking out the 2013 graduate shorts, Un Conte (not for the faint of heart) and Annie (which is reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim and Adventure Time). The Gobelins students also create television spots for the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Notable spots include Monstera Deliciosa (2009) and Beyond the Sea (2012).
The Oscars are fast approaching with a live screening set for March 2nd. While the Oscars are and have always been biased towards certain films (specifically English speaking ones usually produced by major Hollywood studios or well known directors), they have become increasingly popular and prestigious. The movies nominated for best picture always get lots of fanfare, but films in other categories are sometimes overlooked.
The short film categories often suffer from this. This is shame because they are a great way to showcase talents from across the globe. Because they cost significantly less to produce they can vary greatly in their subject matter and style. While some of them are made by larger studios, many of them are not and are very personal films made by small independent creators/companies passionate about the medium.
The Oscar nominated animated shorts from last year.
For those of you who have yet to see them, the Oscar nominated animated shorts this year, are overall, a pretty solid bunch. The nominees include a Disney short, three entries from Europe, an anime, and an independently produced short. If you happen to attend the screening of the nominees at your local theater, you will probably notice that the program also includes three honorable mentions which were not nominated for the Oscars. Fortunately, they are also fairly enjoyable as well. (Unfortunately, the animated shorts are 'hosted' between each segment by two obnoxiously unfunny CGI animals. But, hey, at least the awards aren't being hosted by Seth MacFarlane again this year.) So without a further ado, here are some brief reviews (and winner predictions) for the nominees and honorable mentions for the Best Animated Short of 2014.
The Nominees
Get a Horse!
Director: Lauren Macmullan
Company: Walt Disney Animation Studios
Country: USA
Get a Horse is a throwback to Disney's original rubber-hose Mickey Mouse shorts from the early 1930s with a twist. When Peg Leg Pete attempts to run a hay wagon off the road, Mickey and Horace are forced out of the movie screen and into the theater, becoming CGI colored versions of themselves. Horace and Mickey then battle Pete, who has kidnapped Minnie, by finding ways to interfere with movie playing on screen. While the premise is a bit gimmicky and not entirely original, (Tex Avery loved inserting self aware sight gags into his cartoons, and Get a Horse bears some resemblance to Osamu Tezuka's 1985 short,Broken Down Film) the film has been made with so much love and passion it is hard not to smile at the character's antics. Get a Horse is not necessarily the best nominee, but it has already become an audience favorite, having won the Annie Award for Best Animated Short Subject and being nominated for Best Animated Film at the San Diego Film Critics Society. More than likely it will probably win the Academy Award. Get a Horse also features original voice recordings from the 1930s, marks the first appearance of Oswald the Lucky Rabbit in a Disney cartoon in over 84 years, and is the first Disney production to be directed solely by a female animator.
Mr. Hublot moves at a far more leisurely pace than Get a Horse and has no dialogue. However, this largely aids the film rather than hindering it. The short follows a little mechanical man who lives in a Victorian era steampunk-like society. But Mr. Hublot largely chooses to ignore the beautifully rendered CGI/ stop-motion animated landscapes around him. Instead, he focuses intently on his work, preferring the company of his typewriter indoors rather than socializing with others. One day, his work is disrupted after he discovers a small robotic puppy abandoned outside his apartment. Mr. Hublot takes pity on the creature and adopts it. Eventually the puppy grows into a huge dog, and Mr. Hublot is faced with a difficult decision: Should he keep his pet / only friend and allow it to disrupt his work? Or should he get rid off it? Mr. Hublot is a charming short. Although the story is a bit familiar, the short's animation is very distinctive and Mr. Hublot's apparent OCD is very relatable in our day and age. While not as likely to win the AA as Get a Horse, this film has a bit more substance to it. I would love to see what the short's creators do next.
Rating: 4/5
Feral
Director: Daniel Sousa
Company: SousaAnimation
Country: USA
Feral greatly contrasts from the other contestants mentioned so far. It is not cute, funny, or heartfelt, but it is a rather mature, gloomy piece. The short tackles a difficult, yet intriguing subject with no clear answers: How would a feral child react if suddenly he or she were suddenly placed back into society? The huntsman who discovers the lost boy in the film certainly thinks that he is helping the child by reintroducing him to his 'proper place' in society. But the audience is left unsure, especially after they see the boy alienated by his strange new environment. The boy tries to adjust by using the same methods that kept him safe in the woods, but is teased by his peers and misunderstood by others. Feral ends openly with the boy running back towards the forest.
The short is quite ambitious and manages to tell its story with little to no dialogue, but, unfortunately, it can be difficult to understand at times due to its level of abstraction. Feral is indeed beautiful to look at, but feels a bit unevenly paced and may leave its audience cold. Still, one has to admire the efforts of Daniel Sousa's creation as he created almost entirely by himself.
Possessions is perhaps the most unique of all of the nominees and bears a couple of distinctions. It is the first anime film to be nominated that has not been directed by Hayao Miyazaki and its animation is blend of both cel shaded characters and traditional background art. The film's director, Shuhei Morita, is perhaps best known for his half-an-hour ghost story film, Kakurenbo ['Hide and Seek']. (It should also be noted that Possessions was originally part of an anime anthology film, Short Peace, which contained three other shorts including the award winning Combustible.)
In Possessions, a traveler comes across a shrine when he tries to find shelter from pouring rain. He decides to spend the night there, but notices that the shrine is full of neglected items. According to Japanese legend, abandoned items will come to life after one hundred years have passed. The umbrellas, kimonos, and other objects attempt to scare off their unwanted guest. However, the man decides to mend all of the tarnished objects instead and is rewarded for his efforts. Possessions may be more unusual then some of the other candidates, but there is still a small chance it could win. After all, Miyazaki's Spirited Away won Best Animated feature back in 2002 (making it the only anime film to do so so far).
Easily the cutest entry on the list, Room on the Broom is based on a picture book by Julia Donaldson. The short also sports a well known cast, featuring the voices of Gillian Anderson, Rob Brydon, and Martin Clunes among others. Like Mr. Hublot, Room on the Broom blends several animation mediums (specifically models for the sets, CGI for the characters, and traditional animation for fire and water effects). This gives the film its own unique look, which is refreshing in this age where everybody seems to try and copy Pixar's style.
The short itself, is of course, aimed primarily at children, but is actually the longest nominee running at about half an hour. It manages to keep audiences of all ages alike amused with its gentle humor and rhyme filled narration. Room on the Broom is about a kindly witch who flies around with her grumpy cat in tow. The witch keeps dropping things, but the objects are always found by a forest animal. The witch always invites them to ride on the broom with her, despite her cat's protests. However, the broom eventually becomes to heavy to float and the witch runs into trouble with a hungry dragon. While nothing complex is offered in this short, it is quite enjoyable and certainly will please young ones and their families.
Rating: 4/5
The Honorable Mentions
A La Francaise
Directors: Morrigane Boyer, Julien Hazebroucq, Ren-Hsien Hsu, Emmanuelle Leleu, William Lorton
Company: Supinfocom Arles Animation Film School
Country: France
The biggest letdown of this short, however, is its very unsatisfying ending. The audience doesn't even get to see Louis XIV's full reaction to the disasters occurring around him. Still, there is much to be admired about this short on a technical level, given that it is CGI student film that was worked on by only handful of people over the course of three years. It's apparent why A la Francaise wasn't nominated, but it was rightfully given an honorable mention.
Rating: 3/5
The Missing Scarf
Director: Eoin Duffy
Company: Belly Creative Inc.
Country: Ireland
The Missing Scarf is one of those films that takes all of your expectations then completely subverts them in the best possible way. The short begins like a typical children's story. Narrated calmly by George Takei, it tells the tale of Albert, an optimistic squirrel, who has lost his scarf. Albert goes to the woods to search for it, but meets several other animals who have problems of their own (such as an owl who is afraid of the dark and a fox who fears being disliked by others). Albert gives each of them advice about how to deal with their problems, however the short becomes subtly darker as time goes on. So much so that even the bear's troubling existentialist question may not seem as impractical as it sounds. The Missing Scarf's animation, done in a combination of Adobe Flash and Blender, suits the style of the film well. It is simple and to the point. The cute character designs also greatly contrast with the black humor at The Missing Scarf's ending. Personally, I think this short should have also been nominated, but The Missing Scarf was probably too unorthodox for the Academy's tastes. Their loss.
Many people where surprised when they discovered that Pixar received no nominations this year, not just for their main feature, Monsters University, but also for for their short, The Blue Umbrella. In the case of The Blue Umbrella, however, it is pretty apparent to see why it wasn't nominated. There is nothing wrong with the film, in fact it contains some beautiful CGI effects and utilizes some really creative animation on various inanimate street objects. However, The Blue Umbrella fails to offer its audience anything that they haven't already seen before.
The story is cute (involving a male blue umbrella who gets separated from his love interest, a red female umbrella), but it bares an uncanny resemblance to the 1954 Disney short, Jonny Fedora and Alice Blue Bonnet, and is rather predictable. The animation on the umbrellas is also somewhat disappointing. The drawn on cartoon faces simply don't blend very well with the short's otherwise photorealistic style.
Here is one of my favorite, if somewhat less talked, about spooky cartoons, 'Pink Plasma' (1975). The cartoon's gags are a bit familiar, but that's probably due to DePatie-Freleng Enterprises being largely staffed by former WB animators. (The Pink Panther's conflict with the vampire bares a lot of resemblance to the Bugs Bunny short, 'Transylvania 6-5000' made 12 years earlier.)
At any rate, 'Pink Plasma' is pretty entertaining. It's got a great sense of atmosphere and pleantly of fun little sight gags. It's also pretty amazing that theatrical shorts were still be made in the '70s, although not very many. The Pink Panther was really the last major character used for such a format. Enjoy!
It's that time of year again. Carved pumpkins line people's porches and parents grudgingly buy big boxes of candy while their kids decide what to wear for Halloween. Animated cartoons and films have long been made centered around the holiday. In fact, just last year three titles were released alone (Hotel Transylvania, Frankenweenie, and ParaNorman). However, very few such animated films have reached the acclaim of Disney's version of Sleepy Hollow, which curiously was adapted by Disney's rival, Ub Iwerks, over ten years earlier as a theatrical short.
Because the two films were based on the same story by Washington Irving and were made by staff associated with Disney they have several similarities. But, it is probably easier to notice their differences. The Sleepy Hollow segment was part of Disney's 'package film' series and runs at half an hour, whereas Iwerks's version is under ten minutes long. Since Iwerks's short was made in the 1930s, it utilizes the old school, bouncy rubber hose technique. Its color pallet is also quite limited, since Disney was the only animation studio with the rights of using the three color Technicolor process up until 1936. Instead, the short utilizes the two color Cinecolor process, as did most other cartoon companies at the time.
The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad is far more sophisticated in many ways. Since the movie was made right before Disney released Cinderella, its first 'true' feature since 1942, the animation is fully released and very fluid. It's moody use of Techicolor and perspective greatly heightens the contrasting scenes at Katrina's dinner party and Ichabod's encounter with the Headless Horseman. Ichabod also makes heavy use of dialogue (narrated and sung primarily by Bing Cosby), whereas Iwerks was more comfortable using pantomime and sight gags to get his message across. Thus, the characters in the Disney version are given more of a back story and fleshed out, while Iwerks manages to establish the basics allowed within the short runtime of his cartoon. (Interestingly enough, Ichabod and his rival, Brom Bones, look similar in both films, but Katrina does not. She is noticeably bigger in the 1934 incarnation, which is closer to the original source material. However, Disney's Katrina resembles a more aloof Cinderella.)
Iwerks's Brom Bones, Katrina Van Tassel, and Ichabod Crane.
Disney's version.
As for the Headless Horseman himself, Disney and Iwerks handle the character rather differently. Both of the horsemen are introduced as menacing figures. Iwerks establishes this using his multiplane camera (which would later be adopted and refined by Disney after Iwerks returned to the studio). The camera adds a sense of depth as the Horseman races across the screen, accompanied by a haunting score by Carl Stalling (who later became famous for composing various Looney Tunes shorts). However, the mysteriousness of the Horseman is quickly pushed aside for laughs. The figure is revealed to be Brom Bones, and Ichabod later crashes Brom's and Katrina's wedding by dressing as the Horseman.
In The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, none of this happens. Although the Horseman is a legendary figure and is implied to be Brom, the events that occur after Ichabod encounters the Horseman are left for the audience to interpret. Ichabod's fate is never fully revealed after his disappearance, giving the audience the choice whether to believe the legend or not.
Iwerks introduces the Headless Horseman via the multiplane camera.
So does Disney, in a more sinister way.
So which film is 'better?' It is really hard to make a fair comparison, since they were made at different points in history and have different intents in terms of entertainment. Both films are historically significant and have very effective musical scores. Those looking for strong character development and a good scare will probably prefer the Disney version. However, anyone simply wanting some light hearted entertainment and a quick laugh will like Iwerks's short.
What do you think? Watch the two films and compare them yourself.
The complete short.
Click here to watch the segment of Disney's film (or else Ichabod will eat his hat).
As always, whenever I review an obscure work, I post it here on the blog if it is available from Youtube. Tonight's offering is the half an hour Russian film, Rusalochka (aka 'The Little Mermaid') from 1968. Dark, heartfelt, and expertly crafted, Rusalochka is quite unlike any other fairytale adaptation that you are ever likely to see. It is presented below in Russian audio with English subtitles.
This fairly loyal adaption is an artistic spectacle to boot.
For those only familiar with the Disney version of Han Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid, the original version is considerably more brutal and tragic (but honest). It might also be surprising for some to learn that The Little Mermaid was, in fact, adapted twice before the Disney film debuted in 1988. Both versions, the 1968 short, Rusalochka, and the 1975 anime feature, are far more loyal to Anderson's tale and bare little resemblance to Ariel's undersea frolics. However, while the later is more well known, it is also less skillfully directed and cheaply animated. The 1968 film, on the other hand, is a overlooked piece of art.
Rusalochka opens in modern day Copenhagen, Denmark. Several tourists gather around the capital's famous mermaid statue, as a tour guide explains its significance. A fish in the water below the tourists scoffs at their foolishness, and then proceeds to tell about the doomed love of the mermaid.
Upon reaching her 15th birthday, the Little Mermaid is allowed to swim up to the surface above. As soon as she does, however, the Mermaid spots a young prince caught up in a dreadful storm. She admires the man's bravery and decides to save him, declaring that, "The beautiful and the brave should not perish." After the mermaid returns to the ocean, she decides that she wants to become human. Unfortunately for her, the Prince is found on shore by another women, whom he mistakes as his rescuer.
"These stupid people! They think that love exists and mermaids don't!"
From this point on, Rusalochka's story differs greatly from Disney's The Little Mermaid. The mermaid runs away from home to meet the sea witch. The sea witch is not a malevolent character. She is just an eccentric, but wise individual. The witch warns that if the prince does not wed the mermaid, she will turn into sea foam. However, the mermaid has her mind set on love and exchanges her voice for a pair of human legs.
By the time the film reaches its climax, the mermaid must make the choice wether to not to release a storm on the prince, so that she can return to her sisters in the sea, or allow the prince to marry another. The unintentional consequences of the Mermaid's love become painfully apparent when she chooses to die rather than kill her lover, who is unaware of the whole ordeal (though he still cares for the Mermaid). But like the Prince, The Mermaid is also a flawed character. Although her bravery and perseverance are certainly admirable (She is willing to endure pain with every step she takes as a human), the Mermaid is quite naive and is easily swayed by her overwhelming emotions. The decisions that she makes aren't always smart, but the audience still feels for her when reality comes crashing down on her dreams.
Each scene utilizes a different style and color scheme to effectively convey mood.
Rusalochka's animation style is also in stark contrast to that of Disney's. This is apparent at the very start of the film, which is shot in black and white, featuring animated characters alongside real life photo stills. After the introduction, Rusalochka switches over to a more complex, design based style. Although the animation may seem a bit jerky by modern standards, it is lovingly drawn in every frame. The look of the Rusalochka is heavily based upon Medieval paintings and frescos. Its artwork is filled with elaborate patterns and textures. Rusalochka's symphonic score also helps aid each scene's emotional resonance. Although the film contains little dialogue, it does not need extra talking to convey its message. Indeed, the film is primarily a visual experience.
Quite easily one of the most beautiful animated shorts ever created, Rusalochka manages to be a unique and faithful retelling of one of the world's most famous fairytales. Because it is so different than what most Western audiences are accustomed too, I hesitate to recommend it to someone uninterested in 'art house films', but I highly suggest that everybody else should seek out this mini masterpiece.
How long did it take the animators to draw this single panel alone?
Visually elaborate? Possesses a dreamlike quality? Moves at a tranquil pace? It must be a Russian cartoon!
Several Russian animated productions have been showcased on this blog before, including the work of Yuri Norstein, the ever popular Cheburashka series, and the 1957 film, The Snow Queen. Although the golden years of Soviet era animation are long gone and the former studio giant, Soyuzmultfilm, is plagued with problems, an occasional high profile product still comes out once in a while.
Truly, it's a shame that much of Russia's output from the 1950s through the 1980s is ignored here in the West, no doubt due to tense political misgivings between the country and the United States. Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of Russian animation is not propaganda. It covers a wide variety of genres, ranging from family aimed fantasies to complex adult dramas. Most of this animation is highly lyrical in style, is artistically unique, and quite often contains social commentary. Interestingly enough, cartoon television series never really caught on in Russia (save for foreign exports) and animated features became increasingly less common in the second half of the 20th century. Short films were the preferred format, and it has been argued by some that animators living during this period perfected it.
Below, I have complied a list of ten notable (and often overlooked) Russian shorts from over the years with English subtitles. Enjoy!
1.The Golden Antelope (1954)
This half an hour short practically plays out like a feature film. "The Golden Antelope" is notable for being directed by Lev Atamonov, who was one of the best known and most respected animators in his homeland. He was very active during the second era of Soviet animation. This era strove to reach a sense of 'fairytale realism' in a similar vein to that of Disney. (Later, Russia would begin to distinguish itself from Western cartoons by producing more ethically inspired works.) Unlike Disney, however, Atamonov's films tend to be closer to their source material. They have a crisp, simplified design to them which greatly influenced future anime directors, including Hayao Miyazaki.
"The Golden Antelope" is about an impoverished but kindhearted Indian boy. He helps an antelope escape from a band of hunters lead by a greedy raja. The raja wants to capture the antelope because she produces gold coins whenever she taps her hooves. The golden antelope is so grateful to the boy, that she promises to protect him. The antelope later must journey with the boy to the palace of the raja, after it is discovered that the boy hid her.
At its heart, "The Golden Antelope" is a moral story about the virtues of humbleness and how wealth can corrupt. Indeed, the raja is so selfish, that he initially considers giving the boy a gold coin, but then reconsiders and simply 'lets the boy live'. On the other hand, the boy shows no interest in obtaining riches. He is completely unswayed by the offers made by the raja and his servants. His friendship with the antelope and the compassion he shows to the other jungle animals ultimately is rewarded, whereas the raja almost becomes buried alive in coins, due to his insatiable greed.
2. The Mitten (1967)
After years of working at Soyuzmultfilm, Roman Kachanov, made his first big break with this charming little film. In "The Mitten", a girl desires to have a puppy of her own after watching various people play with their dogs outside on a snowy day. However, her mother is not so keen on the idea. The girl resolves the issue by imagining that her mitten is actually a small red puppy. She even enters her mitten into a dog contest, which results in an interesting turn of events.
This stop-motion short proves that one does not need to use dialogue (or have a high budget) to create something memorable. In fact, the short's simple yet focused plot has much more heart than many of this year's expensive blockbusters do. Its musical score and character interactions easily rival any of the material that Rankin / Bass put out during the same time period.
3. Ballerina on a Boat (1969)
One of Lev Atamonov's later works, "Ballerina on a Boat" marked a significant departure in the style of Russian animation. As with many countries during the 1960s, Russian animation became increasingly more abstract in style and began dealing with a wider range of topics. The animation is somewhat reminiscent Ludwig Bemelman's Madeline books. Most of the short's characters, particularly the sailors, are drawn in a very boxy, geometrical manner. On the other hand, the titular ballerina is very willowy, weightless, and drawn with fine lines.
As with, "The Mitten", "Ballerina on a Boat" is wordless, but conveys much emotion based upon its classical score and use of body language. The plot revolves around a young ballerina who barely manages to catch a ride on a passenger ship. Once on board, she entertains the ship's captain and crew and makes their work considerably less dull. (There is a running gag of several sailors falling overboard, after failing to mimic the ballerina's movements.) The ballerina is so engrossed with her dancing, that she is seemingly oblivious to all around her. Her actions start to annoy the crew who become concerned about her safety. However, the ballerina later proves her usefulness when she assists the sailors manning the ship in a fierce storm.
4. Winnie the Pooh (1969 -1972, 3 episodes)
Although the Soviet version of Winnie the Pooh is not as well known as the Disney version, it is perhaps the most heartfelt and personal adaptation of the classic childern's story. Fyoder Khitruk, who had previously produced the more adult "The Story of a Crime" (1962) and the satirical "Film, Film, Film" (1968), is a very competent director. He really encouraged his fellow colleges to develop their own unique visuals. This is clearly displayed in his Winnie the Pooh series. The series's backgrounds resemble childern's crayon drawings crossed with traditional folk art. Each character is drawn in a simplified, yet appealing manner.
Although relatively close to his source material, Khitruk took a few liberties, sprinkled with Russian flavor. Winnie the Pooh is not drawn as stuffed doll, but rather as a brown bear. (Khitruk claimed that brown bears were more familiar than teddybears to Russian childern at the time.) Owl is portrayed as female and there is no Christopher Robbin in sight. As the series finished before reaching all of the original book's chapters, Tigger does not appear either. However, the events that take place in the series (such as Winnie trying to steal honey from bees, being 'invited' into Rabbit's house, or trying to cheer up Eeyore) should be immediately recognizable to anybody who has read the books or seen the Disney version. To watch the next two episodes of the series, "Winnie the Pooh Goes Visiting" and "Winnie the Pooh and a Day of Concerns", click on their titles.
5. A Kitten Named Woof (1976- 1982, 5 episodes)
"A Kitten Named Woof" was the last production Lev Atamonov directed before he passed away in 1981. The series's last episode was released posthumously and dedicated in Atamonov's memory. Woof's household adventures usually involve him having to learn about many things, such as why the moon has a reflection and that snow is wet. Being a kitten, Woof is a very curious, albeit quite naive about the world around him.
Woof gave himself his own name because he likes the way it sounds, much to the dismay of a black alley cat. The alley cat acts as Woof's occasional mentor, although he will steal food from Woof and will bully him with little hesitation. Woof must also beware of a grumpy old dog, who hates cats and prefers the company of his bones over anything else. Woof is best friends with a small black and white puppy, Ballon, who bears a striking resemblance to Little Golden Book's The Pocky Little Puppy.
This series is very cute, but manages not to be overly so. This is due to "A Kitten Named Woof" using dialogue in a manner which real childern speak. Unlike some other childern's programs, this one is not taxing for parents to watch with their kids. The series's format is quite unique. Each episode is divided into three short vignettes, each with a self contained story. (Save for the last episode.) The next four episodes can be found here.
6.Vasilissa the Beautiful (1977)
Youtube has removed the English subbed version. A translation can be found here for those curious.
Heavily influenced by the art nouveau illustrator, Ivan Bilibin, "Vasilissa the Beautiful" (director: Vladimir Pekar) harkens back to the older folktale films more commonly made by Soyuzmultfilm twenty years earlier. An old king tells his sons that they must find themselves a bride to marry. Whoever finds the most industrious, kindest and most beautiful women shall become the next ruler. Each son fires an arrow into an open field. Where ever the arrow lands they shall find a wife. Unfortunately, for the youngest son, Ivan, his arrow is caught by a small, green frog. But the frog is actually a women named Vasilissa, who uses her guise to test Ivan's loyalty.
Quite easily one of the most beautiful shorts ever animated, "Vasilissa the Beautiful's" distinctive visuals are quite unlike any other cartoon ever produced. "Vasilissa's" plot is nothing complex, but it manages to hold its self together due to its clever writing and various references to traditional Russian culture.
7. The Firing Range (1977)
Anatoly Petrov's "The Firing Range" (aka "Polygon") is a powerful anti-war science fiction story about the dangers of going to far with revenge. Quite a lot darker than some of the previous entries on this list, the ten minute film takes place on the African coast. A scientist is meeting there with a military power to showcase his invention, an automatic tank that reacts to hostility and fear. The tank was initially invented to end human conflict. But the scientist is bitter and weary from war, after the loss of his son in combat. He successfully manages to turn the machine on all of the generals and high ranking military officials at the meeting, but ends up losing his own life in turn. The presence of everyone at the meeting is erased, and only the native peoples are left alongside the tank. Their childern play on it, unaware of its terrible capabilities, and thus safe.
Also of note, is "The Firing Range's" unique animation style. It is quite realistic, and in places resembles rotoscoping. The technique is called photographica, which consists of layering two celluloids on each character. Each layer has a specific color scheme that creates the illusion of three dimensional rendering, despite that no CGI is used.
8. The Passage (1988)
Although Vladimir Tarasov directed a few episodes of the relatively accessible and family friendly Nu, Pogodi! cartoons, his more personal work is often quite strange but expertly drawn. His films commonly involved lonely protagonists trying to live the best they can in difficult situations. "The Passage" ("Pereval") is based upon a sci-fi story by acclaimed Russian author Kir Bulychov. It is set on a distant planet where a sole spacecraft crashed sixteen years earlier. The inhabitants of the ship were forced to evacuate do to high radiation levels. Now with few survivors left, three young teenagers who were born on this world (Oleg, Dick, and Mariana) must cross a treacherous mountain pass in order to return to the crash site. They must brave the elements and fight off wild animals, in order to get more supplies and alert Earth of their presence.
While certainly not a perfect film, there is something quite compelling about "Pereval's" freeform strangeness and surreal landscapes. Its limited color scheme, sparse dialogue, and engrossing storyline really draw the viewer into an another reality. The perseverance of the main characters is also quite admirable. Still, one is left to wonder what the short could have been like, if it had managed to squeeze in more details or clarify a few aspects within its half an hour run time.
9. The Old Man and the Sea (1999)
Outside of Yuri Norstein, no Russian director has created such time consuming and technically advanced work as Alexander Petrov. Petrov is one of the few animators in the post-Soviet era to produce a significant body of work. His impressionist paint-on-glass technique has won him numerous awards and his skill is unmatched by the few other filmmakers that utilize the same style. Every individual frame in his films is a piece of artwork within itself.
"The Old Man and the Sea", adapted from the novel of the same name, is Petrov's best known work in the West. The short follows the reminiscences and experiences of an old man named Santiago, who spends much of his time alone in the ocean, usually without catching a thing. Santiago often shares his past experiences with his young apprentice, Mandolin, despite that the boy's parents forbid their child to go out in the ocean. One day, Santiago tries to reel in a large marlin. The fish gets away and Santiago makes it his goal to capture it. "The Old Man and the Sea" moves at a gentle pace, with almost a dreamlike quality. This small Youtube upload does not due the film its proper justice.
10. The Dog Door (2007)
Youtube has removed the video. It can be watched on Dailymotion here.
"The Dog Door" is easily one of the best (if not the best) production to come out of post-Soviet Russia in recent years. Produced by Animos Studios and directed by Natalia Malgina, it follows the hardships of a small pack of dogs living in a ravine. Proud is the leader of the strays which consists of a puppy, a former pet dachshund, a cranky mutt, and the old schnauzer, Lame. The pack is in search of an object called the dog door, which Lame says will lead them to a better life. Proud manages to befriend a poor artist, and often seeks advice from the comically overweight siamese cat, Yamamoto. But, the wellbeing of the pack is continually disturbed by development, and tractors threaten to fill in the ravine.
"The Dog Door" is often very touching and sweet, but it is quite sad. The short often hints at nostalgia for better times, poverty is seen to be rampant, and problems that modern Russia faces often appear on screen. However, this short also stresses the importance of hope, and how even when things seem the worst, we must continue to live.
By the second half of the 20th century, stop-motion animated films had become well established in the minds of movie enthusiasts and television audiences. This is primarily due to several talented individuals: Peter Lord and Nick Park of Aardman Animation, Tim Burton, and Henry Selick. Even current filmmakers continue to utilize stop-motion as an alternate to traditional animation and CGI, be they at the recently established studio, Laika, or independent filmmakers at home or abroad.
Aardman Popularizes the Medium
If you haven't heard of them, you have been living under a rock for twenty years.
Aardman is one of the oldest and most prolific stop-motion studios around today. Established in 1972 by Peter Lord and Nick Park, the company first attracted attention when it produced animated segments for the childern's programs Take Hart (1977-1983) and the Hartbeat (1984-1993). These segments featured a small Plasticine figure called Morph who would interact other inanimate objects and human actors on screen. Nick Park's "Creature Comforts" (1989) became the first Aardman production to win an oscar. The short was humorous take on the interviewing process, involving various animals complaining about their living conditions at a zoo. "Creature Comforts" later spawned a 27 episode series which ran on ITV from 2003 to 2006. "Stage Fright" (1997), a darker short about the relationship between the stage performer, Tiny, and Arnold, a arrogant, unpleasant movie actor, likewise met acclaim despite its more serious subject matter.
Aardman, however, is by far the most famous for creating its Wallace and Gromit series. Beginning in 1989 with "A Grand Day Out", the cheese loving inventor and his silent, stoic dog have gone on to appear in a total of four shorts (as of 2008) and starred in the feature film The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005). Shaun the Sheep, who first appeared in the short, "A Close Shave" (1995), got his own TV series beginning in 2007 and is also scheduled to get his own movie in 2015.
Although Aardman has recently produced two computer animated films, Flushed Away (2006, with Dreamworks Animation) and Arthur Christmas (2011, with Sony Pictures), the studio continues to use Plasticine as their main medium. Chicken Run (2000), an action comedy flick about a group of chickens attempting to escape a farm with the help of an American rooster, was the first of Aardman's stop-motion films. More recently, Peter Lord directed The Pirates! Band of Misfits (2012) which was a modest success at the box office. Two other stop-motion films are currently in development, The Cat Burglars (director: Steve Box) and an untitled Nick Park project.
It's a POW flick starring chickens!
Tim Burton, Henry Selick, and Laika
Tim Burton making weird faces behind two characters you may recognize.
Even if his more recent films have not met as much critical praise as some of his earlier work, there is no denying the popularity of Tim Burton's uniquely gothic and often quirky productions. Burton began his career while working as an animator at Disney. The company was impressed with his work, particularly the stop-motion short, "Vincent" (1982), even though Tim Burton's style was in stark contrast to that of Disney. Thus, Burton was given more freedom to create larger projects. The result was the half hour live action Frankenweenie (1984), a black and white adaptation of the famous horror novel featuring a dog as the Frankenstein 'monster.' Unfortunately, Disney found the film too unorthodox for its standards and fired Tim Burton, fearing that the film would scare small childern. (This is extremely ironic since Disney would later commission Burton to remake Frankenweenie as a stop-motion film in 2012, after Burton had become quite famous.)
Burton's live action film, Beetlejuice (1989) utilized stop-motion special effects, although his more recent productions opted for CGI. Of course, Tim Burton remains famous for writing and producing The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993). Burton did not direct the film due to being preoccupied with Batman Returns (1992). Instead, the cult classic was directed by Tim Burton's long time friend and collaborator, Henry Selick. (Nightmare was also originally released under Touchstone Pictures because Disney was still fearful about offending sensitive parents.) Selick also directed the live action stop-motion combo, James and the Giant Peach (1996), while at Disney. Although the film was not a runaway hit, it has received more recognition in recent years.
In 2005, the Oregon based stop-motion production company, Laika, was established. Its first major production was Tim Burton's Corpse Bride (2005), which met moderate success and was the studio's first Oscar nominated production. Henry Selick's Coraline (2009), which was based on the Neil Gaiman novel of the same name, managed to rank third at the box office during its opening week. Coraline boasted a mastery of stop-motion special effects and CGI unseen in any animated film before. The movie spent over three years in production and was made with over 450 animators, 250 technical designers, and nearly 150 different sets.
Laika's most recent production, Paranorman (2012), was also shot in 3D and utilized 3D printers to speed up the animation process. Paranorman is a comedy horror film about a misfit boy. Norman's ability to talk with the dead allows him to save his town from the curse of a witch and some rampaging (but likewise misunderstood) zombies. Laika is currently working on The Boxtrolls, which is due to release next year on September 26th. Meanwhile, Henry Selick has returned to Disney and is set to direct an adaptation of The Graveyard Book and, possibly, an original project entitled The Shadow King. (Outside of Burton, Selick, and Laika, other recent American stop-motion productions include Wes Anderson's Fantastic Mr. Fox [2009] and... the upcoming CGI and pop reference filled The Lego Movie [2014].)
If you haven't already, watch this movie!
Stop-motion Overseas
Be it at at home or abroad, stop-motion animation doesn't show signs of disappearing anytime soon.
As with hand drawn animation, stop-motion is still commonly used by foreign and freelance animators, despite that major Hollywood players prefer to exclusively use CGI. Winter Days (2003) is perhaps the most ambitious and overlooked production made in the past ten years. The film was a collaboration between 35 animators living in several countries including Japan, Russia, Belgium, Canada, and the Netherlands. Winter Days utilized several animation techniques alongside stop-motion and featured various shorts based upon different Japanese poems. Another Japanese film, The Book of the Dead (2005) was set in during the Nara period, when Buddhism was being introduced from China to Japan. It follows the life of Iratsume, a noblewoman, and her relationship with the religion.
Several productions have also been made throughout Europe and in other countries in recent years. The Legend of the Sky Kingdom(2003) was Zimbabwe's (and Africa's) first animated feature. Although having a somewhat cliche plot, the animation itself was fairly unique. Each puppet was made from trash that the creators happened to find lying around their facility. Peter and the Wolf (2006) was produced by a British-Polish-Norwegian team and, despite having a run time of only 33 minutes, has caught the attention of several movie festivals. Peter and the Wolf is a true classic, not only because it manages to adapt a timeless tale for modern audiences successfully, but also because it manages to convey so much emotion without using any dialogue. Also of note is $9.99 (2008) an Australian / Israeli collaboration about an unemployed man searching for the meaning of life. In 2009 alone, three foreign stop-motion were released. Toys in the Atticwas a Czech attempt at recapturing the spirit of earlier Eastern European animation, whereas A Town Called Panic (Belgium / Luxemburg) was a more slapstick, carefree film about small plastic toys. Mary and Max's (Australia) subject matter, involving a shy man with Aspergers and his young pen-pal, shows just how diverse the animated medium can be.
This short film won an Academy Award (and, in my humble opinion, is superior to the Disney version).
