Animation Magazine Special AFM December Issue #315

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T H E December 2021

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B U S I N E S S ,

T E C H N O L O G Y

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A N I M A T I O N

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THE HEALING OF HOPE. THE BRIDGING OF DIVIDE. “A MARVELLOUSLY COLOURFUL AND EMOTIONAL ADVENTURE, ‘Raya and the Last Dragon’ compellingly argues that the world is a dark place —but THE ONLY WAY TO HEAL IT IS TO HOLD ONTO HOPE.” –TIM GRIERSON, SCREEN DAILY

F O R

Y O U R

C O N S I D E R A T I O N

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

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The perfect gift for the Holidays!

Promo code - AMHOL21

Discounted 1-year print sub, 1-year FREE digital or Both!

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F O R

YO U R

C O N S I D E R AT I O N

B E S T A N I M AT E D S H O R T A N D

A L L

E L I G I B L E

C AT E G O R I E S

W R I T T E N A N D D I R E C T E D BY J O E M AT E O

“ Blush is a poignant, beautiful exploration of grief and loss ” GLAMOUR

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FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION IN ALL CATEGORIES INCLUDING

BEST PICTURE • BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“THE BEST ANIMATED MOVIE OF THE YEAR.” “★★★★★

One of the year’s best movies.

IT’S A WINNER.”

“★★★★★ A WONDERFUL film.”

“★★★★★

THE SOLIDIFICATION OF A RADICAL, NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE IN FEATURE ANIMATION. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller really are light-years ahead of the competition.”

98%

FROM THE OSCAR®-WINNING HUMANS THAT BROUGHT YOU

Proudly Congratulates PHIL LORD & CHRISTOPHER MILLER Producers of The Mitchells vs. The Machines on Receiving the GAME CHANGER AWARD

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December 2021

Volume 35, Issue 10, Number 315

Frame-By-Frame

8 December Animation Planner 10 Stuff We Love: The Animation Lover’s 2021 Holiday Gift Guide

Spotlight

14 Welcome to the 2021 Edition of Our World Animation Summit!

By Jean Thoren

Features

18 All in the Familia Colombiana The creative team behind Disney’s holiday feature Encanto shares the joys and challenges of creating an animated musical set in Colombia.

By Ramin Zahed 26 The Beauty and the Metaverse Acclaimed Japanese auteur Mamoru Hosoda discusses the genesis and inspirations for his latest feature Belle.

By Charles Solomon 30 Peak Performance Writer-director Patrick Imbert scales the heights with his stunning animated feature The Summit of the Gods.

32 Out of Afghanistan Oscar-nominated Czech director Michaela Pavlátová discusses her insightful new animated feature, My Sunny Maad.

By Rich Johnson 34 Animating with Anderson Director Gwenn Germain discusses the charming animated sequence in The French Dispatch.

36 Making More Magic Russian studio Wizart Animation showcases The Warrior Princess at AFM.

18

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38 Bridging Brazil’s Past and Future São Paulo-based Pinguim Content transitions from the small screen to movies with two ambitious new projects.

70 Simian Sniper Lessons Will Speck & Josh Gordon mix nuanced humor and menacing noir in their new Hulu show Marvel’s Hit-Monkey.

40 Playful Life Lessons Riki Group’s new original movie Teddy Boom is a family comedy about a very special stuffed animal.

72 Space: The Pawsome Frontier First-time show creator Jeremiah Cortez shares how he pitched his show to Netflix and realized his animation dream.

42 22 Movies to Track in 2022 Here is an early look at some of the promising animated releases that we hope to see in theaters and/or on the streamers next year.

74 An Unforgettable Ride Talented Taiwanese director Joe Hsieh shares a few key details about the making of his award-winning short Night Bus.

Awards spotlight

48 The Big Award Season Contenders Your guide to the wide list of 2021 animated movies that will be vying for the Oscars, the Annies and other year-end prizes!

By Michael Mallory 58 Short Films on the Long Road Our annual attempt to capture a snapshot of all the amazing animated short films that have won Academy Awards-qualifying festival honors.

64 The 2021 Animated Oscar Crossword

Studio Spotlight

66 Celebrating Three Decades of Iconic Images Cinesite toasts 30 years of amazing VFX work while strengthening its animation feature division.

TV|Streaming

68 Kids in L.A.’s Hipster Hood The creators of Amazon’s new series Fairfax pay homage to a new generation of middle school buddies.

By Tom McLean

76 A Bird’s Eye View of Christmas Directors Dan Ojari and Mikey Please on the magic of needle felt and the joys of making Aardman’s new special Robin Robin.

By Ramin Zahed 78 Some Thoughts Zooming By Musings on the state of animation in in the COVID era.

By Mary Bredin

Shorts

80 Fear of a Deadly Virus The prolific indie director Bill Plympton teams up with writer Danny Leonard for the pandemic-themed new short Demi’s Panic.

By Karen Idelson 82 A Ringed Tale How director Natalie Nourigat’s own childhood inspired her vision for the new Disney short Far From the Tree.

84 86 Impressions of a Lifetime Director Erick Oh comments on some of the images from his poetic and personal short, Namoo.

VFX

88 A Monster Evolves How the teams in London, New York and Toronto worked together to up the visual ante in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

By Trevor Hogg 90 Tech Reviews EmberGen Beta, KeenTools and Cebas’ thinkingParticles 7.0.

By Todd Sheridan Perry

Opportunities

91 Autonomous Animator How to get your animation on streaming services.

By Martin Grebing

A Day in the Life

92 A Day in the Life of ...

We spend some time with Anttu Harlin, co-founder and CEO of Gigglebug Entertainment.

83 Point by Point Honami Yano talks to us about her remarkable Ottawa Grand Prize-winning short A Bite of Bone.

84 Close Encounter How a personal tragedy inspired Joe Mateo to create his beautiful Skydance Animation/Apple Original short Blush.

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Cover: Disney’s Encanto

introduces audiences to a magical Colombian family in November.

AFM Cover: Riki Group’s new movie Teddy Boom is perfect for family audiences.

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ANIMATION MAGAZINE December 2021

Vol. 35, Issue 10, No.315

Everyone’s a Winner, Of Course!

A

s we began the overwhelming process of preparing the 2021 award season kickoff issue, it was easy to think about how much the animation industry has evolved and grown since the first year the Animation Feature Oscar was handed out in 2002.

Yes, it has been 20 years since DreamWorks Animation’s Shrek took home the top prize, bringing a big smile to studio founder Jeffrey Katzenberg’s face.

Back then, only three movies were nominated (Paramount/Nickelodeon’s Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and Pixar’s Monsters, Inc. were the other two contenders of 2001).

Of course, the Academy’s relationship with animation goes back to 1932 when Disney’s Flowers and Trees picked up the prize for Best Animated Short at the fifth edition of the Academy Awards. The studio dominated the shorts category with favorites such as Three Little Pigs, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Old Mill and Ferdinand the Bull until MGM’s 1940 short The Milky Way changed the course and paved the way for the Tom and Jerry toons and Warner Bros.’ Merrie Melodies shorts to get their moments in the limelight.

Let’s not forget that before the Best Animated Feature Oscar was established, the Academy occasionally offered trailblazing titles like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Toy Story special trophies. Yet, it’s still hard to wrap our minds around the fact that throughout Oscar’s long and storied history, only one feature was nominated in the Best Picture category: 1991’s Beauty and the Beast.

But enough of the past. As you all know, this year has been a great period for animated features and shorts. Our savvy observer Michael Mallory looks back at some of 2021’s big toon contenders in our annual features dossier. You will also get to read about the making of some of the month’s top movie releases — including our cover story, the beautiful Encanto, which is billed as Disney’s 60th animated feature. I am also very pleased that we could bring you interviews with the directors behind fantastic international features such as Patrick Imbert’s The Summit of the Gods (Netflix) and Michaela Pavlátová’s My Sunny Maad. I hope you get a chance to experience these movies in the next few months — hopefully on a big screen where you can truly appreciate every artistic detail and beautiful composition.

I should also mention that we are quite thrilled to be able to host the World Animation and VFX Summit live and in person once again at the lovely Garland hotel in N. Hollywood this month (Nov. 7-10). If you are in Los Angeles, we would love to see you and give you a friendly (socially distanced) welcome.

As always, the Summit is a wonderful opportunity to catch up with some of the top movers and shakers in the industry, learn about cool upcoming projects and technologies and meet up with some of the year’s big Oscar and Annie Awards contenders. Thanks to the efforts of the event’s tireless and always enthusiastic director Kim Derevlany, our remarkable founder and publisher Jean Thoren and all the fantastic staff, volunteers and sponsors, our Summit has grown and evolved to one of the key animation events in town. You can read all about the 2021 honorees and the fantastic panels in this issue as well.

We all hope to see you there. Here’s to a wonderful month of November and Thanksgiving holiday for everyone. It hasn’t been an easy year, but we are truly thankful that you have allowed us to bring you the best of our favorite art form every month in our print edition and daily on our website and e-newsletter.

Ramin Zahed Editor in Chief ramin@animationmagazine.net

Info@animationmagazine.net

President and Publisher: Jean Thoren Accounting: Jan Bayouth EDITORIAL

edit@animationmagazine.net

Flowers and Trees was the winner of the first Short Subjects, Cartoons Oscar in 1932.

Editor in Chief: Ramin Zahed Multimedia Editor: Mercedes Milligan Webmaster: Steven Dietrich Asst. Webmaster: Ava Derevlany Tech Reviews Editor: Todd Sheridan Perry Contributors: Mary Bredin, Martin Grebing, Peter Hannan, Trevor Hogg, Karen Idelson, Rich Johnson, Michael Mallory, Tom McLean, Charles Solomon ADVERTISING SALES sales@animationmagazine.net

Sheri Shelton EVENTS Director: Kim Derevlany kim@animationmagazine.net

Shirley Temple presented Walt Disney with a special Oscar for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1939.

CREATIVE

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Creative Director/Production Manager: Susanne Rector CIRCULATION

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Circulation Director: Jan Bayouth TO ADVERTISE: Phone: 818-883-2884 Fax: 818-883-3773 Email: sales@animationmagazine.net Website: www.animationmagazine.net The late director Richard Williams won a Special Achievement Oscar for Who Framed Roger Rabbit in 1989.

Shrek producer Aaron Warner won the first Best Animated Feature Oscar in 2002.

Producer Dana Murray and director Pete Docter accepted the 2021 Best Animated Feature Oscar for Pixar’s Soul this past April.

List Rental Quantum List Marketing (480) 860-6036 ANIMATION MAGAZINE (USPS 015-877/ISSN 1041-617X) Published monthly except for combined issues of June/July September/October, by Animation Magazine 24943 Kit Carson Road Calabasas, CA 91302 Periodicals postage paid at Woodland Hills Post Office CA, And additional mailing offices.

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Frame-By-Frame

December Animation Planner

1

Head to southwestern France for the 30th Les Nuits Magiques animation festival. This year’s program includes an homage to René Laloux, Michel Ocelot’s short films, a sneak peek at Ankama’s Princess Dragon and more for 13 truly magical nights. [lesnuitsmagiques.fr]

2

Disney Junior kicks off the season with Mickey and Minnie Wish Upon a Christmas.

3

Flee

Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s Sundance and Annecy Cristalwinning Flee opens in theaters through NEON today.

Meanwhile, home audiences can enjoy the warmfuzzies with Shaun the Sheep: Aardman’s special The Flight Before Shaun the Sheep: Christmas The Flight Before Christmas on Netflix or have a laugh with the fully-animated Diary of a Diary of a Wimpy Kid Wimpy Kid movie on Disney+.

8

Ghana’s Africa Animation Festival seeks to amplify the voices of animators on the continent and in the global African diaspora with five days of showcasing talent and opening networking opportunities. [africaanimationfestival.com]

10

Apple TV+ debuts its first new, original Peanuts holiday special For Auld Lang

Syne worldA Charlie Brown wide!

Christmas The Academy (1965) opens preliminary voting for the 94th Oscars today.

Members have until Dec. 15 to cast these ballots. [oscars.org]

14

SIGGRAPH Asia 2021 presents its 14th CG conference and exhibition in Tokyo for four days, with a virtual option for those unable to travel. This year’s keynote speakers are Matt Omernick, Co-Founder & CCO of Akili Interactive; and Toru Katsumoto, Exec. Deputy President & CTO, Sony Group. [sa2021.siggraph.org/en] Spider-Man: No Way Home.

21

Oscar Shortlists announced today!

22

Illumination is back on its big-screen game as Sing 2 hits theaters, featuring an all-star cast including Bono, Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton and many more.

Sing 2

Sci-fi fans also get the long awaited return to the Wachowskis’ mind-bending world with The Matrix Resurrections today.

29

A thrilling new Star Wars adventure begins in The Book of Boba Fett on Disney+, starring Temuera Morrison and Ming-Na Wen.

17

Things get sticky when Peter Parker attempts to regain his secret identity with the help of Dr. Strange in Columbia/Marvel’s SpiderMan: No Way Home.

Another genre favorite also returns to Netflix today with The Witcher S2.

To get your company’s events and products listed in this monthly calendar, please e-mail edit@animationmagazine.net. www.animationmagazine.net 8

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Frame-By-Frame

“‘Luca’ is Pixar, Italian style — and one of the studio’s loveliest movies in years.”

Los Angeles Times

C O N S I D E R EVERY MOMENT THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE

B E S T A N I M AT E D F E AT U RE ©2021 DISNEY/ PIXAR

DISNEYSTUDIOSAWARDS.COM

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Stuff We Love The Animation Lover’s 2021 Holiday Gift Guide Our annual ho-ho-haul of notions to delight, inspire and spoil the toon fans and animation artists on your Nice list.

(We’ll leave what to do with the Naughty list up to you…)

Encanto for the Whole Family. Unwrap the creative magic of Disney’s latest feature with The Art of Encanto ($42, chroniclebooks.com). Young readers will be enchanted by the Little Golden Book ($6). Or, gather around the Magical Casa Madrigal playset from Jakk’s Pacific ($80) and create your own fantastical family adventure.

Lovely Luca! Pixar’s sweet summer splash has inspired many bei regali. The Here We Go stainless steel water bottle ($25) makes a great gift for your loved ones and sea creatures everywhere by cutting down on plastic/ We also love the snuggly, sassy 7” Machiavelli plush ($17). [shopdisney.com]

The Art of Maya and the Three. Journey into the lush artistic jungle of the Netflix event series with creator Jorge R. Gutierrez as your guide in this oversize hardcover (foreword by voice star Zoe Saldaña). [Dark Horse Books, $40]

Cartoon Saloon’s Irish Folklore Trilogy.

Magic, fantasy and Celtic mythology come to life in this gorgeous Blu-ray collection of the studio’s Oscarnominated Wolfwalkers, Song of the Sea and The Secret of Kells. [$65, ships Dec. 14, store.gkids.com]

Rick and Morty X Wrangler.

Neon Genesis Evangelion Collector’s Edition. Hideaki Anno’s acclaimed sci-fi saga is collected in a deluxe 11-disc Blu-ray set packed with extras. [$60, shoutfactory.com/ shop]

LAIKA Studios Edition. HD remasters of Coraline, The Boxtrolls, ParaNorman and Kubo and the Two Strings, loaded with exciting new special features. [$23 each, shoutfactory.com/ shop]

This second team-up collection includes gender-neutral pieces rocking never-beforeseen designs. [wrangler.com]

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F O R YO U R C O NS I D E R AT I O N

“TAKES ANIMATION TO NEW HEIGHTS.” FROM AWARD-WINNING DIRECTOR PATRICK IMBERT AND ACADEMY AWARD NOMINATED PRODUCERS OF WOLFWALKERS AND ERNEST & CELESTINE ®

A FILM BY PATRICK IMBERT FROM THE MANGA BY JIRÔ TANIGUCHI AND BAKU YUMEMAKURA

IN SELECT THEATERS NOVEMBER AND ON

NOVEMBER 30

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Frame-By-Frame continued from page10

Felix the Cat X Neil Barrett. Tees, sweatshirts and accessories for the casual sartorialist with a $285 t-shirt budget. [neilbarrett.com]

Wacom Cintiq Pro 16. The latest

Moho Debut 13.5. A quick,

Boss Baby Cameo. Fans of DreamWorks’ hit flicks will love a personalized message from the celebrity app’s first animated member! [$20, cameo. com/bossbaby]

affordable ($60) way for aspiring animators to bring their stories to life and their develop skills before graduating to Moho Pro ($400), used by studios like Cartoon Saloon. [moho.lostmarble.com]

edition delivers its most natural pen-on-screen performance yet, improved ergonomics, 4K resolution, vivid color and nifty accessories to customize your ideal creative experience. [$1,500, wacom.com] (Bargain option: The Wacom One and Intuos now come bundled with Celsys Clip Studio Paint PRO.)

Rock out with this interactive 12” plush, featuring five modes and light-up hair.

[Tomy, $30, amazon.com]

Etat Libre d’Orange - The Ghost in the Shell.

Give the otaku cyberpunk in your life a whiff of luxury with this cyborg-inspired scent! (Available in a $4 sample size for a schmancy stocking stuffer.) [$58-$98, us.etatlibredorange.com]

Mobile Edge ScanFast Bags. With in-person events returning, it’s the perfect time to up your travel game with a TSA compliant laptop bag. The Professional Backpack ($120) is made of durable ballistic nylon, while the streamlined Onyx ($100) boasts a SafetyCell computer protection compartment and faux-croc accents. [mobileedge.com]

Sing 2: RiffRock Ash.

LaPierre Cosmetics Shrek-ish Collection. Embrace your inner ogre icon with eight character-inspired, cruelty-free nail polish shades. [$15, lapierrecosmetics.com]

Inosuke Palm-Size G.E.M. Who wouldn’t want Demon Slayer’s boar-headed hero hanging around? [MegaHouse, $80, funimation.com]

Imaginext MinionBot. Bring The Rise of Gru to life with this action-packed playset (including banana launcher).

[Fisher-Price, $65, target.com]

Pokémon 25th Anniversary Celebrations Elite Trainer Box. Mark a quarter century of monsterbattling with this epic TCG collection, featuring a parade of famous and Legendary Pokémon from the franchise’s history. [$90, amazon.com]

My Neighbor Totoro Ramen Bowl. The subtle leaf pattern and matching chopsticks that stay secure thanks to the clever rim design make this perfect for Ghibli fans of all ages and clumsiness levels. [$19, hottopic.com]

Demon Slayer Complete Box Set. Volumes 1-23 of the sensational manga by Koyoharu Gotouge all in one beautiful package.

[VIZ Media, $200]

Mega Construx Castle Grayskull.

Craft a 3,500-piece puzzle palace fit for the Masters of the Universe, complete with secret doors, working Jawbridge and six micro action figures. [$275, amazon.com]

Want more ideas?

Visit animationmagazine.net, where you can find past installments of Stuff We Love covering our favorite home entertainment, publishing and just plain neat picks from the past year.

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For Your Consideration ©2021 DISNEY ENTERPRISES, INC. DISNEYSTUDIOSAWARDS.COM

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

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VFX Events VFX

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Welcome to the 2021 Edition of Our World Animation Summit!

W

e are absolutely thrilled to be hosting the 2021 edition of our World Animation and VFX Summit live this year, after taking a year off from being together face to face.

It is my opinion that there is no replacement for networking and meeting together to share ideas and future visions.

To realize that objective and stay safe, we have moved the whole event to the lovely park-grounds and tented tennis court of the historic Garland hotel in N. Hollywood, where we normally host the parties. Guests will be asked to wear a mask, and will be required to show proof of vaccinations or a negative COVID test within the past 72 hours.

We are also very excited to welcome eight brilliant and diverse Hall of Fame Award recipients. As you read about our amazing honorees, we hope you will find inspiration in their journeys and joy in their accomplishments. All of them are “Game Changers” who through the realization of their own personal goals, have paved the way and set a high

bar for future generations of animation professionals. Celebrating them and applauding their outstanding contributions should give us all an inside view of how extraordinary and exciting our industry is!

The 2021 Summit will be a timely, optimistic snapshot of our healthy, growing and thriving industry. Over the past year, animation leaders around the world have shown us that they are ready and more than able to navigate change while protecting their talented employees. Many of those top-level leaders will be sharing their astute visions for their companies during this award-winning, four-day event, November 7-10. We hope that you will be able to join us to find your place in the revolution and evolution of our amazing industry.

See you there!

Jean

Jean Thoren Publisher and Founder, World Animation and VFX Summit

Hall of Fame Awards This year’s honorees, who will be presented with their awards at the opening night gala on Sunday, Nov. 7, are: Gaumont Animation: International Studio of the Year. Award presented to U.S. Presi- Prouder and director of Bébé’s Kids. Award presented by Ralph Furquhart, producer, The Proud Family and Da Jammies. dent Nicolas Atlan and Exec VP of Creative Content Terry Kalagian.

Phil Lord & Chris Miller. The innovative producers of Sony Pictures Animation’s criti- Cree Summer. Beloved animation voice actress, best known for her work on Rugrats, Kid cally acclaimed features Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Spider-Man: Into the Spider- Cosmic, Muppet Babies, DC Super Hero Girls, Vampirina, Voltron Legendary Defender, Dawn of Verse and this year’s The Mitchells vs. the Machines. Award presented by Sony Pictures the Croods and many others.

The awards ceremony will be hosted by animation voice actress and Annie Awards reguAnimation President Kristine Belson.

Tom McGrath. The acclaimed director of DreamWorks Animation’s two Boss Baby fea- lar Dina Sherman. tures, three Madagascar features and Megamind will receive the Hall of Fame: Billion Dollar Director Award.

Chris Meledandri. Founder/CEO of Illumination Entertainment and creator of Despicable Me, the world’s most successful animated franchise in cinematic history, which includes Minions, the fourth-highest-grossing animated film.

Other career highlights include being the founding president of 20th Century Fox Animation and producing the Ice Age movies, Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax and The Grinch, The Secret Life of Pets movies, Sing and this year’s Sing 2. He will receive the 2021 Vanguard Award.

Chris Meledandri Jennifer Yuh Nelson Terry Kalagian Nicolas Atlan Chris Nee Chris Nee. Creator of Disney’s Peabody Award-winning series Doc McStuffins, Vampirina and Netflix’s We the People, Ridley Jones and Ada Twist, Scientist. Award presented by animation veteran Jorge R. Gutierrez, creator of Maya and the Three and The Book of Life.

Jennifer Yuh Nelson. Oscar-nominated director of Kung Fu Panda 2 and supervising producer of Netflix’s acclaimed anthology series Love, Death + Robots Volume 2. Award presented by Victoria L. Howard, producer of Love, Death + Robots, Robot Chicken and BoJack Horseman.

Bruce W. Smith. Trailblazing creator of The Proud Family and the upcoming Disney+ series The Proud Family: Louder and Bruce W. Smith Chris Miller Phil Lord Cree Summer Tom McGrath

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For Your Consideration in All Categories Including

VFX Events VFX

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE

“DELIGHTFUL.

PURE LIN-MANUEL MIRANDA JOY. Sharply directed and gorgeously animated, with visually stunning standard 2D animation.”

DEADLINE

“★★★★★

IT FIZZES WITH VIBRANT COLOR AND ENERGY

across multiple animation styles and delivers a climactic emotional punch.”

FLICKERING MYTH

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The Agenda at a Glance

This Year’s Panelists and Speakers

Monday, Nov. 8

A

8:30 Registration & Networking Breakfast 10:00 Opening Keynote. Jorge R. Gutierrez (Maya and the Three) 11:00 Leading the Industry. Kristine Belson (Sony Pictures Animation), Margie Cohn (DreamWorks Animation), Melissa Cobb (Netflix Kids & Family), Ramsey Naito (Nickelodeon/Paramount) 12 PM Superstar Showrunners. Megan Nicole Dong (Centaurworld), John Harvatine IV (Robot Chicken, Crossing Swords, Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.), Steve Loter (The Ghost and Molly McGee), Aliki Theofilopoulos (Doug Unplugs), Teddy Riley (Fairfax) 1:00 Lunch 2:30 Award Season Feature Contenders, Part 1. Flee, Raya and the Last Dragon, Spirit Untamed, Vivo, Wish Dragon 3:20 Feature Contenders, Part 2. The Mitchells vs. the Machines, Encanto, Luca, The Boss Baby: Family Business, Ron’s Gone Wrong 4:30 L.A. Indie Animation Studio Panel. With BUCK, OddBot, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios, Titmouse 5:30 L.A. Studio Party Featuring OddBot’s 15th Anniversary

Tuesday, Nov. 9 9 AM Networking Breakfast 10:00 Guide to Selling Your Toon in 2021. With Kelli Bixler, Gregory Little, Vladimir Nikolaev and Sander Schwartz 11:00 Spotlight on Apple TV+’s New Animation Slate 12 PM Animation Execs’ Recipe for Success. With Beth Cannon (DreamWorks Animation), Emily Hart (Disney TV Animation), Kari Kim (Nickelodeon Animation), Khoby Rowe (FOX) 1:00 Networking Lunch 2:30 Spotlight on Nickelodeon’s Spectacular SpongeBob Multiverse 3:30 Toys, Parks and Toons: A Primer on Updating Popular Brands for New Audiences. With Liz Bartels (LEGO Group), Eric Calderon (Falcon’s Beyond Global), Christopher Keenan (Mattel), Brooke Patterson (Great Wolf Resorts) 4:30 Oscar Contenders Shorts Screening 6:00 Animated Shorts Panel. Blush, Demi’s Panic, Far from the Tree, Namoo, Nona, Robin Robin, Steakhouse, Us Again 7:00 Animated Shorts Party

Wednesday, Nov. 10 9 AM Networking Breakfast 10:00 How to Find the Right Global Partners. With David Michel, Chris Henderson, Dan Clark, Frank Saperstein 11:00 The Business of Show Business. With Hillary Levi, Anna Berthold, Mark Zavadskiy 12 PM Drawing on Diversity and Representation: The Next Steps. With Camille Eden, Jinko Gotoh, Cort Lane, Silvia Olivas, Michelle Wong 1:00 Networking Lunch 2:30 Blending VR Tech and Animation. With Kim Adams, Jonathan Hagard, Shyam Kannapurakkaran, Paul Mezier, Erick Oh 3:30 The Quiet Revolution: Unleashing the Promise of Real Time. With The Third Floor’s Joshua Wassung, Dane Smith, Connor Murphy, Motoki Nishii 4:30 Closing Keynote: A Fireside Chat with Clark Spencer, President, Walt Disney Animation Studio 5:30 Closing Night Party

mong the distinguished animation and VFX professionals appearing on the panels this year are: Kim Adams, Co-founder, Adventure Lab Hillary Levi, Literary Manager, The Gotham Group Chris Applehans, Director, Wish Dragon Gregory Little, Senior VP, Content, Mainframe Studio Liz Bartels, Manager Global Content Planning, LEGO Steve Loter, Exec Producer, The Ghost and Molly McGee Group Joe Mateo, Director, Blush Kristine Belson, President, Sony Pictures Animation Tom McGrath, Director, The Boss Baby: Family Business Anna Berthold, Agent, UTA Paul Mezier, Exec Producer, Novelab Kelli Bixler, Owner, Bix Pix David Michel, Founder/President, Cottonwood Media Elaine Bogan, Director, Spirit Untamed Connor Murphy, Virtual Production Manager, The Špela Čadež, Director, Steakhouse Third Floor Eric Calderon, Exec VP, Falcon’s Beyond Global Ramsey Naito, President, Nickelodeon/Paramount Beth Cannon, VP TV, DreamWorks Animation Animation Enrico Casarosa, Director, Luca Vladimir Nikolaev, Co-Founder, Wizart Marc Ceccarelli, Co-Exec Producer, The Patrick Star Motoki Nishii, Environmental Art Director, The Third Show Floor Dan Clark, Writer/Producer/Director, Dan Clark Com- Erick Oh, Director, Namoo Dan Ojari, Director, Robin Robin pany Silvia Olivas, Writer/Exec Producer, Maya and the Three Melissa Cobb, VP of Kids and Family, Netflix Brooke Patterson, Senior VP - Brand Experiences, Margie Cohn, President, DreamWorks Animation Great Wolf Resorts Aphton Corbin, Director, Twenty Something Mikey Please, Director, Robin Robin Kirk DeMicco, Director, Vivo John Derevlany, Writer/Producer, Squish, The Muscle- Bill Plympton, Director, Demi’s Panic Jonas Poher Rasmussen, Director, Flee teers Megan Nicole Dong, Creator & Exec Producer, Cen- Mike Rianda, Writer/Director, The Mitchells vs. the Mataurworld chines Camille Eden, VP, Animation Recruitment, Nickelode- Teddy Riley, Exec Producer/Co-Creator, Fairfax Octavio Rodriguez, Co-Director, Ron’s Gone Wrong on Michael Favelle, CEO/Founder, Odin’s Eye Entertain- Khoby Rowe, Exec Director Animation, Fox Entertainment ment Kelley Gardner, VP of Current Series Animation, Nick- Sander Schwartz, Exec Producer, Skylander Academy, Alien Xmas elodeon Dane Smith, VP, The Third Floor Louis Gonzales, Director, Nona Clark Spencer, President, Walt Disney Animation StuJinko Gotoh, Producer, Klaus, Escape from Hat Jorge R. Gutierrez, Director/Creator, Maya and the dios Three Aliki Theofilopoulos, Exec Producer, Doug Unplugs Jonathan Hagard, VR Director, Replacements Troy Underwood, Content Exec and Producer Chris Hamilton, President/Creative Director, Oddbot Kevin Walker, Exec Creative Director, BUCK Studio Vincent Waller, Co-Exec Producer, The Patrick Star Emily Hart, Senior VP of Development, Disney TV Ani- Show Josh Wassung, Founder, The Third Floor mation John Harvatine IV, Co-Owner, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Michelle Wong, Producer, Vivo Mark Zavadskiy, CEO, Riki Group Chris Henderson, Founder, AstroNomical Jasmine Johnson, Head of Studio, Stoopid Buddy Stoodios Health and Safety Policy: To ensure the safety of Ben Kalina, COO, Titmouse staff and guests, the World Animation and VFX Shyam Kannapurakkaran, VR Production Tech Artist, Summit will require proof of approved vaccine Stargate Studios administered at least two weeks prior to the Christopher Keenan, Senior VP, Mattel Inc. Summit and a negative COVID test within 72 Brooke Keesling, Head of Animation Talent Develop- hours of attending the Summit. The event will also require a valid ID. Temperature checks will ment, Bento Box Heather Kenyon, Head of Production & Development be conducted on all attendees upon arrival and masks are required to be worn at all times in - Citizen Kids, Citizen Skull Kari Kim, VP of Animation Development, Nickelodeon accordance with L.A. County requirements.

Cort Lane, Exec Producer, My Little Pony: A New GenLearn more and purchase tickets at eration animationmagazine.net/summit.

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The creative team behind Disney’s holiday feature Encanto shares the joys and challenges of creating an animated musical set in Colombia.

By Ramin Zahed t’s only fitting that Walt Disney Animation Studios 60th feature, Encanto, is about the ties that bind a large family. The fact that the family is Colombian and the movie is steeped in the music and culture of the Latin American country is another example of how the studio is striving to expand its horizons beyond the European fairy tales it was best known for in the 20th century.

The charming new movie, which is directed by studio veterans Byron Howard and Jared Bush (Zootopia) and codirected by animation newcomer Charise Castro Smith, who also wrote the script with Bush and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Set in a small town in Colombia, Encanto is a musical featuring songs penned by the talented and ubiquitous Miranda, whose animation credits alone include Disney’s Moana and Sony Pictures Animation’s Vivo. The storyline centers on the fantastic adventures of the Madrigal family, all of whom have a special magical power — with the exception of Mirabel (voiced by Stephanie Beatriz), who is the real heroine of the movie.

Howard and Bush had been wanting to follow up their

True Colors: The creative team behind Encanto worked with a team of Colombian advisors to ensure the film’s authentic cultural content.

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‘The guiding principle we tried to use as our inspiration was that we were going to focus on very human-born magic. For example, that would mean that someone would have an emotion that was so big that it creates a room of flowers.’

Pose art for Isabela Madrigal.

— Screenwriter and co-director Charise Castro Smith

Oscar-winning 2016 feature Zootopia with something entirely different. “We wanted to do a musical,” says Howard.

“We’re both life-long musicians! Jared had just come off Moana and had a great experience working with Lin-Manuel, and I had enjoyed directing Tangled, so the three of us started talking about working together.”

Howard, who also directed Disney’s Bolt and executive produced Frozen II, says in the beginning, they weren’t quite sure about the setting for their big family movie. “We knew we wanted the film to be in Latin America, but then everything kept pointing us back to Colombia for so many reasons,” he recalls. “The country is a crossroads of so many different things - cultures, music, ethnicities; these families are such a perfect mix. We visited Bogotá, Cartagena and small towns like Barichara, Salento and Palenque and stunning natural landmarks like the Cocora Valley, and spent some time with Colombian families. We we came back so energized due to that fact that they were trusting us to represent the country and their culture.”

Magical Realism for All Ages

During their trip, they also learned about secret forests and areas of heightened spirituality — places of magic that some call ‘encantos.’ “These are all over Latin America, usually in areas of natural wonder,” notes Howard. “Our friends in Colombia told us that magic happens in these places and always has.

But not European magic, not wizards and wands, but magic tied to emotion and part of a tradition called magical realism.”

Howard and Bush admit that they knew they needed a partner to tell this story. “Shortly after our research trip, we were so lucky to find the amazing Charise Castro Smith,” says Bush.

“Our team read literally hundreds of scripts and we met with 20 writers, and then we read Charise’s work. And as soon as we saw it, both Byron and I knew that she was the one!”

Castro Smith, an acclaimed playwright who has also written for shows such as Sweetbitter, The Exorcist and The Haunting of Hill House, says she was thrilled to “have been in the trenches with Byron and Jared and the whole incredible team.”

She notes, “When we infused magical realism into our story of this family and thought about those encantos, everything

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La Casa Magica: Lorelay Bové’s beautiful concept ar t highlights the fantastic nature of the Madrigal house.

‘When we told our friends from Colombia that we wanted to make a movie inspired by their country, they said, “Good luck,” because it’s so diverse, and the people and cultures are so beautifully mixed.’

— Director Byron Howard

came alive, because we realized that if the family in our story lived in one of these magical encantos, maybe the children born there would be kind of special. But special in a way that is a nod to family dynamics that we can all relate to.”

The filmmakers were keen to bring in elements of literary magical realism, which was made famous by Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez. But they had to strike a delicate balance between keeping the tone right for family audiences.

As Castro Smith explains, “Magical realism can be dark in literature and it incorporates adult themes. The guiding principle we tried to use as our inspiration was that we were going to focus on very human-born magic. For example, that would mean that someone would have an emotion that was so big that it creates a room of flowers. We thought about the roles of these family members as their special super powers. A good example is the middle daughter, Luisa Madrigal, who is the rock of the family — and that’s why she literally has superhuman strength. We were thinking about human, grounded elements of this family and let them grow into magical proportions.”

The Madrigals’ remarkable house is also one of the fantastic elements of the movie. Bush compares the casa in Encanto to the ocean in his previous movie, Moana. “It’s a bit like that, but our house is a little bit more opinionated

and flawed like a family,” he explains. “It’s a house that plays favorites, a house that messes with people. The casa Madrigal is alive with magic and has its own unique personality.”

The directors played around with the idea of the physical house as a literal representation of the family and their emotional connections. “If the family’s happy, the house is healthy,” says Howard. “If the family’s being playful, the house may be playful. But if the family is going through struggles, the house will crack.”

Dazzling Animation

Among the many impressive qualities of Encanto is its meticulous animation, which hits new heights in its song and dance numbers featuring a large number of characters.

As Bush points out, “Get ready for some spectacular technical animation. I have never ever seen the amount of animated Colombian cloth and fabric and hair textures all moving with the choreography with dozens and dozens of characters all at the same time. I think the first time we saw one of our choreographed musical sequences come to life with all those elements in it, we were all amazed. I truly think when people see it, they are not going to believe their eyes.”

As the film’s producer (and Disney Animation’s president since 2019) Clark Spencer, whose many credits include Winnie

Building an Enchanted Casita

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he film’s associate production designer Lorelay Bové (visual development artist on Zootopia, Big Hero 6, Wreck-It Ralph and The Princess and the Frog) discusses the design of the Madrigals’ home and color palettes: “The house of the family Madrigal is inspired by traditional homes in Colombia. Earlier on, we talked to Colombian architects and they gave us great information about the construction of these houses.

We learned that the design of the casitas in the coffee region have an indoor-outdoor feel. So, we really wanted to get that in our casita as well as the courtyard, which has a beautiful view to all the magical doors in our house.

Each family member has a uniquely designed room. So, for example, Antonio’s room which is inspired by the rainforest in the Pacific coast of Colombia. We learned about the indigenous plants of the region from our consultant botanist because we really wanted to reflect the immense biodiversity of the region.

The design of the house’s kitchen reflects many typical Latin American kitchens. We worked very closely with our consultants who really helped us to make it feel distinctly Columbian. We also wanted to make sure that the color palette had a bright and very warm and welcome feel with lots of plants and textures. Visually, our goal was to organize the family members through a distant color palette so that the audience would be able to easily understand who is who.” ◆

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AN ANIMATED MUSICAL SHORT FILM FROM THE ACADEMY AWARD® WINNING CREATORS OF WALLACE & GROMIT, CHICKEN RUN, AND CREATURE COMFORTS

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TALE “A PICTURE-PERFECT TALE.

An ambitious, incredibly beautiful, technical triumph, and a moving story of celebrating our individual strengths and differences.”

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Cast of Characters: An illustrated family tree (right) for the Madrigals.

the Pooh, Wreck-It Ralph, Zootopia and Ralph Breaks the Internet, explains, “What’s so impressive is that we’re following 13 characters with 13 different designs, that have 13 different hairstyles and clothing designs and textures. There’s a reason why oftentimes in animation you might find stories that are buddy stories, where at some point in time two or three characters maybe go off on a journey themselves: Because it’s easier and more contained. But in this case, we had to track 13 characters on screen. You can’t just have them completely disappear. So, it was critical that we had to achieve this level of complexity that we’d never done before.”

Bush also mentions that it has become a tradition to push the envelope with each movie at the studio. “You’re expected to try something that has never been done before with every single feature. So, with Encanto, we had about 800 people working very hard from their homes due to the pandemic — and that was a challenge that we had not expected. So, here we were working on a movie about family and a home and creating it with our own families from our own homes! That was unexpected and fantastic.”

For Castro Smith, the movie was an opportunity to examine her own family’s complicated history as well. “As we were thinking about this movie and learning about the elements of Colombian history and the notion of displacement, it was interesting for me to think about my own family’s history and about my grandparents,” she notes. “My mom emigrated from Cuba, right after the Cuban revolution, so thinking about that history of displacement and immigrant status in my own family really played a big part in this movie. There’s a big backstory about the family’s abuelos which made me reexamine the way I grew up thinking of them as these heroes who had done this incredible thing and started their lives all over again. But, then, the more time I spent working on this movie, it made me think about how hard the struggle must have been for them. It really humanized them for me in a beautiful way.”

Bush says he is especially proud of how the main character Mirabel, the daughter with no special magical abilities, turned out in the movie. “Here we have a character that we haven’t seen before,” he says. “This is not a buddy movie, quest or journey movie, and because of that, Mirabel had to be compelling and funny and heartfelt and empathic. Actress Stephanie Beatriz brought so much to this character.

Because Mirabel interacts with so many different characters in her family, she herself has to be compelling as a character to watch for 90 minutes. I am super proud of the journey that she goes on.”

Familiar Family Dynamics The filmmakers realize that 90 minutes is a very short amount of time to represent the history, culture and wonders of Colombia. “We did everything we could to keep learning and adding to the movie,” says Howard. “We wanted to feature elements that Colombians would appreciate, but also feel universal to anyone who has grown up in a family. I think ev-

‘Encanto tells a story about how the people who are closest to us, especially family members, don’t always see us — or fully understand us. And likewise, we don’t show people we love our whole selves for many reasons.’

— Screenwriter and director Jared Bush

eryone can find themselves reflected in the Madrigals. I think audiences will have fun watching it, and I hope they’ll talk about it after they see it and try to figure out which character reminds them of someone in their own family!”

Bush chimes in, “We knew that we wanted to tell a story about a complex, extended family — and that is a common, worldwide theme. Families are definitely important in Latin America and Colombian culture. We all have things that we need to learn about our families and, at times, I think everyone

around the world has challenges with their families. So, I think everyone will find a little bit of their own family in this film.”

Castro Smith also puts in some final words about LinManuel Miranda’s music in the film. “I know people will take away the songs from this movie, too,” she says. “They are so rich, fun and catchy. I think the songs will stay in people’s heads for a long time!” ◆ Disney will release Encanto in theaters on November 24.

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The Beauty and the Metaverse Acclaimed Japanese auteur Mamoru Hosoda discusses the genesis and inspirations for his latest feature Belle.

By Charles Solomon

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onsidered to be his most ambitious and opulent film to date, Belle (Ryū to Sobakasu no Hime — “The Dragon and the Freckled Princess”) confirms Japanese helmer Mamoru Hosoda’s place among the most talented directors working in animation today.

Building on his previous films, Hosoda once again demonstrates his exceptional talent for effectively combining drawn and CG animation, and for blending fantasy worlds and everyday reality into a seamless narrative. “Belle is the movie I have always wanted to create,” Hosoda said in a recent interview. “I was only able to make this film a reality because of my past work.”

As the title suggests, Belle is a re-interpretation of the 18th century French fairy tale Beauty and the Beast. “I researched many different interpretations of Beauty and the Beast,

but the Disney and Cocteau versions are the pillars for me,” Hosoda explained. “This story has been interpreted and reinterpreted so many times throughout the years: That tells me there’s some very human truth that Beauty and the Beast presents. But it needs to be transformed and updated to fit the needs of modern society.”

Building a Modern Heroine Hosoda believes the Disney artists’ decision to make Belle a contemporary young woman represented a major shift that broke the template for heroines. “It felt very new: not doing what is expected in an animated movie wowed me. When you think of female leads in animated films, you always go to the fairy tale tropes,” he continues. “Similarly, in Belle we’re trying to take previous expressions and overcome them. We’re not building

a character, we’re building a person — someone who reflects the reality of the society in which we live. That’s what gives new projects meaning for me.”

But the heroine of Hosoda’s story is neither beautiful nor sought-after. Suzu Naito is a withdrawn, lonely high school student living in a small, fading town in rural Shikoku. Years ago, her mother drowned rescuing a girl, “a kid whose name she didn’t even know,” from

the nearby river. Traumatized by her mother’s death, Suzu cannot express her musical talent in front of her friends (or anyone else).

Suzu’s secret alter ego/avatar Belle is the reigning diva of the fictitious cyberworld of U. Belle’s singing delights millions of fans, while her elaborate production numbers dazzle them — and the film’s audience. Her long pink hair streaming behind her, Belle first appears in a dress made of living flow-

‘This story has been interpreted and reinterpreted so many times throughout the years: That tells me there’s some very human truth that Beauty and the Beast presents. But it needs to be transformed and updated to fit the needs of modern society.’

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— Director Mamoru Hosoda

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ers, perched on the rostrum of a humpback whale fitted with banks of speakers — an entrance not even Lady Gaga can match.

To realize his vision, Hosoda and producer Yuichiro Saito assembled an international team of artists. Tomm Moore and the artists at Cartoon Saloon in Ireland designed the fantasies The Dragon’s servants used to confuse Belle when she arrives at his castle.

London-based architect Eric Wong created the look of U, while South Korean artist Jin Kim, who worked on Frozen, Moana and Over the Moon, designed the CG avatar of Belle.

Kim sums up the feelings of the film’s artists when he says, “I’m a huge fan of Hosoda’s movies; he understands teenage emotions and portrays them so perfectly. When I read the script, I was struck by how fresh and different his approach was.”

Like Hosoda’s Digimon Adventure: Our War Game! (2000) and Summer Wars (2009), much of the action in Belle takes place in a cyber world. But the electronic realms in these earlier films felt safe and welcoming. In Summer Wars, OZ is a fantasyland of bright colors and rounded forms that seems cozy, inviting and naive. In contrast, the intricately complex U is rectilinear, vast and impersonal, like the view from the top of a skyscraper in an unfamiliar city. An oversized crescent moon dominates the perpetually twilit megapolis.

As Wong recalls, “Hosoda said he really wanted the city to have an evening feel. As I slowly developed U, it became this linear city that continued to infinity. You’d zoom out and get this perfect horizon line where the equator would sit as you peer through this infinite city.”

CG animator/director Ryo Horibe adds, “Belle expresses how you can feel very lonely within these massive metropolitan visuals. A few times, Hosoda said, ‘I want it

Eye of the Beholder: Belle was designed by acclaimed artist Jin Kim, best known for his work on Disney’s Frozen and Moana.

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A Hosoda Filmography 2000 Digimon: The Movie (Toei) 2005 One Piece: Baron Omatsuri and the Secret Island (Toei) 2006 The Girl Who Leapt through Time (Madhouse) 2009 Summer Wars (Madhouse) 2012 Wolf Children (Studio Chizu) 2015 The Boy and the Beast (Studio Chizu) 2018 Mirai (Studio Chizu) 2021 Belle (Studio Chizu)

to feel like the whole screen is being engulfed by these buildings.’”

Hosoda created this colder realm to reflect the way people have weaponized the internet, turning it into a battleground for culture wars, disinformation campaigns and anonymous attacks. “When Summer Wars was released, there were a lot of comparisons to Digimon: ‘We’re entering this cyber world — aww, it’s the same film,’” Hosoda comments. “They’re completely different environments and different movies. When the internet really began exploding in the 2000s, it seemed like a place of hope, where the younger generation would drive the path forward.”

“Over the last 20 years, we’ve gotten

more tools and social media,” the director continues. “A lot of people use the internet to harm others under a veil of anonymity.

But I believe there will be new ways of using the internet for better causes. I want to push that message: in spite of everything, kids will pave a path into this new world.

That idea led to Belle. People use the internet in different ways in the film, but the underlying theme is hope.”

When Belle performs in U, she encounters the fearsome creature known as The Dragon.

Beneath his frightening appearance, she senses an underlying sorrow. But The Dragon is not the handsome prince struggling to escape an evil spell from the traditional story.

The glowering monster is the avatar of Kei,

an abused boy who struggles to protect his younger brother from their brutal father.

“If you don’t include these themes in your movies, it’s the equivalent of averting your eyes from a problem,” Hosoda says seriously. “I have two kids, and it baffles me how there can possibly be any violence in their environment.

Back in the day, it was normal to smack your kids if they misbehaved. Now we agree that’s a bad thing, but that doesn’t mean the problem has disappeared. I feel creators have almost an obligation, whether in music, novels, whatever to push these messages forward. Maybe the theme is a little shocking, but is it shocking to depict reality in an animated film? We can’t ignore what’s going on.”

Voice of an Angel The Disney artists who worked on the studio’s 1991 Oscar-nominated version of the tale believed that the lesson of Beauty and the Beast was “don’t judge a book by its cover.” Belle had to learn to look beyond Beast’s hideous form to see the gentle heart it concealed. But as she and her friends fight to rescue Kei, Suzu learns that maxim applies not only to the baleful Dragon, but to herself as well. Without Belle’s glamorous trappings, Suzu sings with a purity that helps to heal both Kei’s injuries and her

own sorrowing heart. Her glittering avatar was as much a mask as Kei’s monster. As Suzu, she touches her listeners more deeply.

Despite pandemic-related restrictions on audience sizes in Japan, Belle — which was produced by Hosoda and Saito’s Studio Chizu in collaboration with Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon — quickly became Hosoda’s most successful film to date. In the first six days of its run, it was seen by more than 923,000 people in 416 theaters, earning ¥1,312,562,000 (about $12 million). At the film’s premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, it received a 14-minute standing ovation.

“I was not expecting to receive such warm applause from the first international audience to watch the film. Their reaction was a huge relief,” Hosoda concludes. “I realize Belle is a rather unique film in Cannes’ line-up of movies, but the fact that I was able to share this picture in a theater full of film lovers is very encouraging and empowering. I could not be happier with this film.” ◆ GKIDS will release Belle in U.S. theaters on January 14.

Charles Solomon’s book The Man Who Leapt through Film: The Art of Mamoru Hosoda will be published next year by Abrams.

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Peak Performance Writer-director Patrick Imbert scales the heights with his stunning animated feature The Summit of the Gods.

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reacherous and historic alpinism has fascinated both documentary filmmakers and fiction directors for decades. But perhaps, one of the most effective and nail-biting depictions of the sport of mountaineering is the new FrenchLuxembourg animated feature The Summit of the Gods. The exquisitely designed and crafted project, which is directed and cowritten by Patrick Imbert (The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales) debuted at the Cannes Festival in June and will premiere on Netflix this month.

Based on the acclaimed manga by Jirô Taniguchi, the film centers on the story of Habu Jôji, an outcast mountaineer with a tragic past, and Fukamachi Makoto, a journalist bent on discovering the truth about George Mallory’s historic 1924 Everest climb. (The manga was also the basis of a popular 2016 live-action movie directed by Hideyuki Hirayama.) In addition to Imbert, the feature has a truly impressive pedigree: It was co-written and produced by Jean-Charles Ostoréro, produced by Didier Brunner (The Triplets of Belleville), Damien Brunner (Wolfwalkers) and Stéphan Roelants (The Breadwinner).

The project first came to Imbert’s attention as a proposal from the film’s producers.

“At the time, I was working on The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales at Folivari studio and I was asked to do some preparatory drawings for the financing,” he tells us via email.

“They liked it, and as chance would have it, I was given gradually more and more responsibilities.”

No Drones Required The director says he used the animation medium to express the story in the best way possible. “I don’t know if animation lends itself to these kinds of images, but it is my means of expression, and I use it as such,” says Imbert. “For example, images in live features and documentaries are extremely precise, like breathtaking views from helicopters or drones that cannot be achieved in 2D animation. So, I did not want to put myself on the same level — but the goal was to play with the color, the light, the ‘false depth’ of field and, in general, we tried to be more suggestive than descriptive for the natural world.”

“Taniguchi’s manga gives a lot of information, but nevertheless, it’s not a storyboard,” he points out. “We did a lot of research on Everest, and to be as accurate as possible, we asked mountaineers. It was necessary to make the questioning of Habu and Fukamachi during the climb understandable. At the end of the day, it’s close to the artistic process. All other things being said, when I am asked why I draw, I can only answer, ‘Because that’s what I love.’ And like for our two heroes, there is also a big feeling of loneliness when creating.”

The helmer had to divert from Tanigu-

chi’s original designs because of the illustrations’ excruciating amount of detail. “It was impossible to reproduce in animation, given the number of drawings to be made, but by drawing a lighter line, the animators were able to focus on the faces, their expressions,” he explains. “Keeping a realistic line and choosing 2D required great precision; for example, on the positioning of the eyes. An eye that is slightly too low creates a feeling of discomfort for the viewer.”

He elaborates, “Taniguchi was very good at composition, but I used other frames.

Without real depth like in 3D, we used everything at our disposal in 2D to recreate the feeling of immersion, like backlighting or rich compositions. We tried lots of ideas, and if it didn’t work, we would start over.”

Imbert says the studio relied on modern, yet simple animation tools to create the clean, 2D visuals. “We used Toon Boom Storyboard and Animate to storyboard, then Toon Boom Har-

‘All other things being said, when I am asked why I draw, I can only answer, “Because that’s what I love.” And like for our two heroes, there is also a big feeling of loneliness when creating.’

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— Director Patrick Imbert

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Didier Brunner

Scaling the Heights: The breathtaking adaptation of the manga by artist Jirô Taniguchi and writer Baku Yumemakura follows a young Japanese photojournalist who finds a camera that could change the history of mountaineering.

mony for animation, Photoshop for the sets and, finally, After Effects for compositing,” he notes. “The production was divided between several studios in France and Luxembourg, but the main studio was in Paris (Folivari).”

The artistic team was also heavily influenced by documentaries such as The Dawn Wall, as well as Japanese auteurs like Satoshi Kon, Hayao Miyazaki, Katsushika Hokusai, Isao Takahata and Yasujirō Ozu. Imbert also gives a lot of credit to the film’s music by Amine Bouhafa (The Man Who Sold His Skin) for helping him reach his goal. “I have to point out that the soundtrack and the music helped us greatly. Because of the distance provided by the animation, we can push those elements a little further than in live action, without it seeming exaggerated.”

For Imbert, one of the intriguing aspects of the job was how different it was from his previous movie, the Annie-nominated

‘The manga offered us many tracks where we could detail the human commitment to conquerthe untouchable. We thought a lot about the limits between the reason and the passion of the two heroes. Habu has an aspect of Captain Ahab in Moby Dick. Everest motivates him individually, but is socially destructive. Habu is the silent type who cannot share with others. Our desire was to lead the film towards a philosophical tension through a mental and interior story.’

— Producer Didier Brunner

The Big Bad Fox and Other Tales, a charming collection of tales set in the animal kingdom based on the comics by Benjamin Renner, which received the César Award for Best Animated Feature in 2018. “I find that making animated films is always a big challenge,” he notes. “But the most interesting aspect was to make a film that was more adult-oriented than the ones we usually do and to be able to bring my own personal

style and perspective to it.”

“Working on The Big Bad Fox taught me to collaborate with the great author and codirector Benjamin Renner,” he offers. “He is a great director and he always asks himself the right questions. It’s his way of thinking that influenced me. I was inspired by how he managed to solve problems and he also connects with the public. In the end, the two films are very different, but the steps you

take to achieve the final results are similar.”

When asked about his favorite auteurs and cinematic heroes, Imbert offers a wide range of names. “I have many favorites: It ranges from Truffaut and Kubrick to Claude Sautet, Jacques Audiard and Scorsese,” he reveals. “But it’s just the great masters. For example, I was very impressed by Jonah Hill’s 2018 movie Mid90s. In animation, [my idols] are Satoshi Kon, Hiroyuki Okiura and, above all, Isao Takahata.”

A Rich Period When it comes to the general state of animation today, the director claims he doesn’t know enough about the business side, but from an artistic point of view, he believes we are going through a renaissance of sorts. He says, “I have the impression that we are in a very positive period insofar as many different talents can express themselves in their own way, whether it’s a big 3D movie with a big budget or a super arty, independent short,” he notes.

The Summit of the Gods, which was released theatrically in France in late September, will get a brief theatrical run this month in the U.S. as well. Imbert says he’s proud of the fact the film appeals to a wide audience. “I am pleased that the film can speak to anyone — even if you don’t read comics, even if you don’t know anything about mountaineering or animation,” he notes. “Following one screening, someone said, ‘After a while I forgot it was a cartoon!’

In fact, it’s a movie above all else. But also, when I see audiences cry at the end of a screening, I tell myself that the emotions work.”

Netflix will release The Summit of the Gods theatrically in the U.S. on November 24 and the U.K. on Nov. 26; streaming on Nov. 30.

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Out of Afghanistan Oscar-nominated Czech director Michaela Pavlátová discusses her insightful new animated feature, My Sunny Maad.

By Rich Johnson

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nimation aficionados will recognize Czech director Michaela Pavlátová as the acclaimed director of shorts such as Words, Words, Words (1991), Repete (1995), Forever and Ever (1998), Carnival of Animals (2006) and the Oscarnominated, Annecy Prize-winning Tram (2012). This year, her first animated feature My Sunny Maad premiered at Annecy in June. The film, which is an adaptation of journalist and humanitarian worker Petra Prochazkova’s novel, Frišta, centers on a young Czech woman who experiences life in post-Taliban Afghanistan after she marries an Afghan man. Pavlátová, who is also the head of the animation department at the prestigious Prague Academy of Performing Arts’ Film and TV School (FAMU), was kind enough to speak to us about her acclaimed new movie.

Animag: What made you decide to tackle such a challenging subject with animation?

Michaela Pavlátová: Although I have made many short animated films and two live-action features, in my heart, I am a director of animation. I’ve found it isn’t easy for me to write features and also knew I wanted to spend the next couple of years of my life working with emotionally strong female creators. Therefore, it was important to find a book or script that wasn’t primarily for animation. I love animation — it is my life, my passion — but I feel we are in a bubble or circle and I

wanted to prove that as a medium it can talk to a wider audience. It is just a question of time for audiences to forget they are watching a ‘cartoon’ and that they are simply watching a film.

I also felt that, very often, we can find beautifully animated films but the stories are not as well developed as in live action; that the stories are not so rich. I am not talking about Pixar and other bigger studios — they usually have well-working scripts — but in art films, the story seems to come second. I wanted to concentrate everything on the story.

What attracted you to Petra Prochazkova’s novel?

I bought the book by accident … and the title seemed familiar. Reading what was based on Petra’s observations, I immediately fell in love with the main character, Herra. She is a woman I felt very close to as we shared similar experiences. I soon realized why the book was so familiar: My producers at Negativ Film Productions already had the rights for the adaptation; originally in early development as a live-action by two male directors, but they never found the financing. I called Negativ and told them, “I must be the director, it’s about women … let me do it.”

I asked myself often, why I was making the film as a foreigner? It is one thing to be objective and not properly understand a country, but through Herra, I was also the outsider. She became a friend and a

living person for me. But, I felt that if I became Herra and appeared in a place where you are not normally accepted it gave me the right perspective and approach. This wasn’t just the story of her love for the country — how her husband, Nazir, changes along with the relationship — but also a window into how the habits of the family change. The intimacies of life, where you see how many things are different and yet how many things are the same. Another important factor for me was the humor. Petra’s book is more of an observation — the dramatic element hidden underneath — but the humor is how she deals with the painful and horrible situations.

Do you feel like your experience in live action has informed your animation?

A little. Primarily, I trust the acting of animation to convey the drama — the minimalistic gestures.

This is what was so moving. Your direction is so subtle; the sound of them breathing; Maad’s breath of anxiety one moment, the next a contented sigh. It’s rare you experience this in live action, let alone animation.

Yes, exactly. In my short films, I am always focused on relations and existing things.

I love to animate emotion and the inner workings of my characters. You don’t have to animate the big movements.

So, was your design of the film determined by an economic approach or did it also come from your personal style?

I try and see individually for each project. I don’t have the same obvious style like Bill Plympton’s, for example. I always want to make each film different for my own amusement. They are different stories, so I look for the best tools to tell each one.

I couldn’t be as sketchy and experimental as in my shorts but when they are slower, there is more time for emotion.

Which animation tools and techniques were used for this movie?

First and foremost, this is a film that uses the tool of animation. I’m very much a 2D person even though I admire other forms, therefore, I knew I wanted to make the film simplistically and I tried to continue with my sketchy style to define the characters. Every second counts, so it is much easier to work digitally drawing on my Wacom. Maad was produced in Toon Boom’s software, Harmony, and the backgrounds in Adobe Photoshop with postproduction completed in After Effects.

Which companies were responsible for the animation?

We chose Alkay Animation in Prague because they used many respected and experienced animators from an older state studio, Krátký Film. After securing finance with France and co-producers, Sacrebleu Productions, Gao Shan Pictures worked on

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Features West Meets East: My Sunny Maad centers on a Czech woman who falls in love with an Afghan man and experiences the challenges of life in post-Taliban Afghanistan.

Michaela Pavlátová

the rest of the animation. I designed the film not realizing how much work was involved.

I felt it was a mistake as I had my hands on everything; sending them drawings; corrections on roughs and key drawings. This isn’t something I would do on future films and was mainly down to experience and all of us all learning together.

difficult to translate on screen; many other sequences were prepared but they interrupted the flow of the story. When you have such a dramatic film, the humor is limited.

How long did the film take to produce from start to finish?

Together with the work on the adaptation of the book, it took about seven years.

Based on the recent developments in Afghanistan, what are your thoughts on the timely subject matter of your film?

Historically, Afghanistan has been heavily tried. People in Afghanistan have been living under rigid political regimes and only occasionally and for a short time could breathe freely. That was the moment we started working on our film. Our story is intentionally intimate and at the same time a universal picture of one family and the complicated relationships within it, but also a view of the characters, who are loving, compassionate and tend to emancipate themselves. I wanted to show that Afghans, at their deepest core, experience the same emotions and intimate dramas as people anywhere in the world. Unlike us, however, they cannot be themselves freely and freely fulfill their destiny.

The situation in Afghanistan has now become more complicated and dramatic, where again and again there seems to be

no hope for the future. I myself am experiencing it with greater intensity and deep sadness as we have friends, actors and co-workers in Kabul. They are often in my thoughts.

How does My Sunny Maad fit with the rest of your work?

I think that this is for other people to judge.

It makes more sense that one piece has many colors. I tried to push more humor because it existed in the book, but it was more

Were there any particular influences? The docu-style and drama of Waltz with Bashir and The Breadwinner come to mind.

Certainly these two, but also Persepolis [2009], which was more stylized but, again, it had a sense of humor. These examples opened the world to a new state of animation because they were in the Cannes competition, reminding audiences that animation is not just for children. All my life I have been fighting with this and it is our goal at FAMU to open it up to wider audiences. These examples gave me the self-confidence to say, “I can do that.” At the festivals you get a feel for what is going on politically and in the arts; it informs you and then you start your new thing.

People often have the attitude of, “Animation isn’t for me.” But I have witnessed journalists in screenings turned on after five minutes, completely absorbed. I believe that each animated film has the power to convince people that it can be just as good as live action; that it is only a tool and technique. My Sunny Maad is hopefully one other step to bring an audience closer to realizing they don’t have to divide film, whether animated or not. ◆ For more information, visit totem-films. com/films/my-sunny-maad or sacrebleuprod.com/en/feature-films/ catalogue/228/my-sunny-maad.

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Animating with Anderson Director Gwenn Germain discusses the charming animated sequence in The French Dispatch.

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est known for his meticulously designed and art directed features, director Wes Anderson has managed to have successful parallel careers in both the live-action and animated worlds.

The talented helmer of beloved stopmotion movies Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs returns to the big screen again this fall with a live-action ditty titled The French Dispatch.

The movie, which stars Benicio del Toro, Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Léa Seydoux, Frances McDormand, Timothée Chalamet, Lyna Khoudri, Jeffrey Wright, Mathieu Amalric, Bill Murray and Owen Wilson, brings to life a collection of stories published in a literary

caption

magazine based in the fictitious French city of Ennuisur-Blasé. Fortunately, the movie also includes a brief animated vignette that fits beautifully with the live-action components.

These animated segments are directed by Gwenn Germain, a talented artist who made a big splash in 2015 with his Creapole student short Celles et Ceux des Cimes et Cieux (Girls and Guys from Summits and Skies) — a memorable homage to Hayao Miyazaki, Syd Mead and Moebius.

Germain, who also worked on the 2D sequences in Isle of Dogs and did some concept work for the VR experience Doctor Who: The Runaway (2015), began work on The French Dispatch in the summer of 2019. “The whole process of animation took about seven months,” he tells us. “Two months of pre-production work and five months of full production. All throughout the movie there are many short comicstyle static sequences that tell the story. So, it made sense to have an animated sequence, as if we were inside the comic.”

The Unmistakable French Touch

Poster illustration by Javi Aznarez

Germain says the animation was produced in Angoulême, which is where the live-action shoot also took place.

“The animation team comprised a maximum of 15 people,” he notes.

‘Wes [Anderson] has precise storyboards: he draws the backgrounds, and the actors are directed just like animated characters! … He has a big preproduction stage, and there is no room for improvisation during the shooting.’

— Animation director Gwenn Germain

“We used a variety of software: TVPaint for animation, Fusion for compositing and Blender for a 3D object (the car) — these days in 2D animation, when there is an object that has to remain consistent, we use 3D software.”

The animation director says the main inspirations for the piece were two classic Belgian comics, Tintin and Blake & Mortimer. “The animated sequence had to have a singular look, but with light references to these popular comics,” he notes. “But the challenge was to adapt and mix the two different references. We also had to produce simple visuals which were dense at the same time.”

Finding the right balance between those different elements was not always easy. “We have a lot of details in the backgrounds, which is not usual in these comics,” he notes. “And of course, another challenge was to adapt all the characters (meaning all the actors) into drawings. It’s always complicated because everyone has a different perception of people. I also had a personal challenge: Wes wanted to talk to only one person, and that was me. All the constraints (studio and production) had to pass by me, and that was complex!”

The scene’s terrific sense of humor was a huge draw for the helmer. “There is almost an absurd side in this sequence that I found quite funny, even

though the topic of this scene in the movie is not especially fun,” he notes.

“Also, I loved the whole work of research and development to find this European/Belgian comic aesthetic.”

Of course, working with someone like Anderson is a very special experience.

“He is quite impressive, because his instinct always takes on a logic. It always happens to work so well at the end!”

Germain explains. “All of his choices are guided by his instinct. He can truly express himself. Everything is surprising and unexpected. You don’t necessarily get the idea at first, but once it’s done, you’re impressed!”

According to Germain, what sets Anderson apart from other live-action directors is the fact that he constructs his scenes the way animation helmers work in their medium. He notes, “He has precise storyboards: he draws the backgrounds, and the actors are directed just like animated characters!

And this is why his stop-motion movies work so well. In animation, you also need a lot of preparation before you switch to production. You cannot shoot again and again. Wes also does that.

He has a big preproduction stage, and there is no room for improvisation during the shooting.” ◆ The French Dispatch is currently playing in select theaters around the world.

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Making More Magic Russian studio Wizart Animation to showcase The Warrior Princess at AFM.

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ussian animation powerhouse Wizart will be spotlighting its 2022 family movie The Warrior Princess at the 2021 American Film Market (Nov. 1-5). The studio recently revealed a new poster for the romantic comedy adventure. We had the chance to catch up with the feature’s producer Vladimir Nikolaev, whose credits also include the the studio’s four Snow Queen features, Sheep and Wolves movies and this year’s Secret Magic Control Agency, to find out more details about the much-anticipated title: Animag: Can you tell us a little about The Warrior Princess and what makes it stand out in the competitive animation landscape?

Vladimir Nikolaev: The movie is universal and globally relatable, it speaks to people of all ages, from all places. This is the real magic of fairy tales: not only do they offer us a brief escape from reality, but they have the power to offer morals and lessons for both kids and their parents. From the very beginning, the viewers will be fascinated by the real fantasy world of fairy tales which lives on its own rules. Our warrior princess Mila lives in this magic world and has a very strong will that helps her fight any circumstance. After she’s kidnapped by the evil sorcerer, she faces her captors with daring challenges while plotting her escape. She’s independently minded and does not need

to be rescued by her brave and handsome prince. Her fiancé Ronan is also witty, strong in his spirit and very patient, he has to fight the opponents for Mila’s heart and win the race in different funny ways. The adventure he is set for while rescuing Mila is also full of unexpected twists and trials.

What were the biggest challenges for you as you set out to produce this feature?

Wizart’s team has worked hard to continually raise the quality bar of our animated features, and releasing our Secret Magic Control Agency on Netflix this March was a testament to everyone’s efforts. The film became the first Russian animated feature to be streamed on the platform. It hit #1 in Netflix’s chart of most-watched films in 25 countries, entering the top 10 in 80 countries altogether (including the U.S.). After this successful release, our biggest challenge was to create a new, amusing animated world of even higher quality and make it not only appealing to children but make the adults enjoy it, too — create new fabulous locations, bring the charming characters to the story and make it universal. The story was inspired by folklore, epics and popular stories that have been passed down for many years and are familiar to many generations. This is a local story for a global audience, and we are ready to bring this fascinating universe to the animation world.

Which tools do you use to create the beautiful CG animation?

In Secret Magic Control Agency we moved to the standalone 3D editor that we showed at The Pipeline Conference this year. It is called Wizart DCC Platform, and it is the backbone for our new 3D tools at the studio. It solved the problem of assembling complex shots from multiple departments. It sounds basic, but it added great value to our team because it is directly pursuing the modern trend to allow one artist to make more than one shot at a time. Unlike most of the 3D apps, you can load multiple shots in one session. But this tool is even better with extensions.

For example, one of the extensions we developed is Wgen, our internal hair generation system. Thanks to USD, this integration allows our lookdev departments to work in the context of other departments’ work. In The Warrior Princess, we have a character named Chernomor, and the story requires a very complex hair design for him.

He can have very different hair setups for each shot, including changes to hair length, shape, etc. Without our in-house toolset, this kind of task undoubtedly would be a cross-department synchronization nightmare and triple work for the artists for the one-off shots.

Is Wizart bringing other projects to AFM this year?

We are also finishing the work on the fifth installment of The Snow Queen franchise, which was globally successful and has fans around the world, [and] will also present Vladimir Nikolaev it during AFM. Our first Snow Queen movie was released in 2012 and, of course, since then the characters have changed visually. In The Snow Queen and The Princess we’ve done some redesigning as the quality of our animation has entered a new level and the trends have changed, but the thing that lasts is that it will bring a lot of magic, humor and adventure for everyone, keeping dramatic elements and introducing new charismatic characters.

This year we are also taking part in The World Animation & VFX Summit, which will be held shortly after AFM on November 7-10 in Los Angeles. We are very glad that the animation industry is getting back on track and such professional events are coming back to our lives. We have been missing them a lot as this face-to-face communication is really vital and moves the industry forward. ◆ For more info, visit www.wizartanimation.com.

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Bridging Brazil’s Past and Future São Paulo-based Pinguim Content transitions from the small screen to movies with two ambitious new projects.

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hen Brazilian animation veterans Kiko Mistrorigo and Celia Catunda founded their prolific studio TV PinGuim back in 1989, their goal was to create educational shorts for some of Brazil’s top channels. Now, more than 30 years, numerous productions and several successful animated shows such as Fishtronaut and Earth to Luna! later, the studio is making a smooth transition to the feature space — rebranded as Pinguim Content.

“We started the company with the goal of creating and producing animated TV shows Also, animated shows were the popular media at that time, so we knew this was the best way to get closer to our audience, especially in Brazil,” explains Mistrorigo. “But at some point, we started feeling the need to create longer and more complex stories.

So, the first film we did (which was released in 2018), was actually based on our very well-known TV show Fishtronaut. It was a great experience and we realized how rewarding it was to work on a film, compared to a series. On a feature film you can take more care of the details and work much calmer, scene by scene. So we decided to

‘We believe in animation as a vehicle for positive messages that contribute to the common good. We love to work in a medium where creativity is the boss and where the collaboration of every member of the team is important.’

— Celia Catunda, Partner & Creative Director, Pinguim Content

keep producing feature films, but we wanted to go in different directions, not just on films that were spinoff of our series.”

One of the studio’s feature ventures is Tarsilinha, which is based on the colorful work of Brazilian artist Tarsila do Amaral.

“She is the best-known painter of the modernist movement in Brazil,” says Catunda.

“It also caught our attention that kids are passionate about her work as well. Our idea was to create a film where the audience would feel themselves inside her fantastic world. We started the production 10 years ago, but it took us a long time finding financing for the production, so we had many interruptions. Although it was hard, every time we got back to the production, we found a renewed vision for it.”

Multicultural Magic Catunda and Mistrorigo love the fact that their movie features many magical Brazilian characters that are inspired by legends and stories passed down by their country’s indigenous population, early African inhabitants and Portuguese ancestors. “This unique combination is a strong presence in Brazilian identity and an intrinsic part of the film,” they point out. “Abaporu, the being in this film which swallows Tarsilinha and her friends, literally means ‘man eater’ in the Tupi-Guarani language and came to symbolize the Brazilian Anthropophagic [artistic] movement. Abaporu represented the idea of devouring the different cultures that make up our country and producing something new, unique and authentic.”

They also mention that the film deals with memory and how each and every idea, thought or moment is registered in common history. “When that story is erased, so is the identity of that individual,” says Catunda. “In the same way, the identity of an entire people can be erased, if their cultural memory isn’t preserved. And this was one of the primary points of discussion among Brazilian modernists in the 1920s, who felt that their country needed to embrace its culture and values, and not continue attempting to reproduce European culture.”

The studio is also busy working on Nihonjin, an adaptation of an acclaimed novel

by Brazilian author Oscar Nakasato about a 10-year-old Japanese-Brazilian boy who learns about the life and history of his Japanese immigrant grandfather. “Like thousands of Japanese immigrants, Hideo came to Brazil in hopes of becoming wealthy and returning to Japan,” says Mistrorigo. “The film shows us a conflict that is very present in all families that immigrated to another country, where the elders are stuck in their original culture while the younger ones want to belong to the local society and

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Ties to the Past: Pinguim’s new movie Nihonjin tells the story of a young boy who learns about his Japanese grandfather’s immigration to Brazil.

Celia Catunda

Kiko Mistrorigo

reject their family’s origins.

At the end of the day, it is the young descendants — the children— who have the capacity to be the bridge between cultures.”

The duo says the film’s intense images and special art direction will allow audiences to travel between the past

and present of the family of Japanese immigrants to Brazil. “The animation will be 2D, with brush strokes and textures reminiscent of Japanese culture,” notes Catunda. “The backgrounds are inspired by the work of Japanese-American artist Oscar Oiwa. It will be a film to be contemplated and enjoyed in its smallest details, which will make children and adults thrill with the beautiful images and with a strong story identified by all immigrant families and their descendants.”

The studio will use Toon Boom and Maya to create a special look that brings the texture of the paintings to the animation in a 3D environment. According to the producers, about 120 people are expected to work on the ambitious project.

The Pinguim Content principals admit that the past two years have been quite

challenging for their team. “It has been a hard time for all, but after a year and a half working from home, we can say that technology has done a good job!” says Mistrorigo. “It’s great that we could continue working. We miss the presence of everybody, especially during our creative meetings and we are planning to start a hybrid way of working as soon as we can.”

“Our challenge is to keep creating new and fun characters and stories,” says Catunda. “We want to keep the studio busy with a mix of series and films. We are working hard on our animated feature Nihonjin and finishing the seventh season of Earth to Luna!.

We also plan to start production soon on The Boo Inn, a new series we’re developing with Discovery Kids and Little Airplane Productions.”

As the dynamic duo continues to work on their TV shows and movies, they hope to continue meeting with new collaborators, producers and creators who share their passion to bring entertainment, music and knowledge to children all over the world.

“We believe in animation as a vehicle for positive messages that contribute to the common good,” concludes Catunda. “We love to work in a medium where creativity is the boss and where the collaboration of every member of the team is important.” ◆ For more info, visit pinguimcontent.com.

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Playful Life Lessons

Riki Group’s new original movie Teddy Boom is a family comedy about a very special stuffed animal.

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ussia’s animation power player Riki Group is widely known around the world for creating popular franchises such as The Fixies and Kikoriki. This year, the innovative studio is unveiling a charming new animated feature titled Teddy Boom in Russia and at the American Film Market event in November. The movie follows the adventures of a self-assured thief who steals a unique relic and hides it inside a teddy bear. However, he learns a big lesson about what’s important in life when the magical stuffed animal comes to life.

The film’s exec producer Elena Chirkova tells Animation Magazine that the studio wanted to work with an original story and not follow the traditional, well-worn path of adapting a familiar plot or a classic fairy tale. “This is an original story, which is told with both children and adults in mind,” she notes. “We are positioning the project as an animated family movie, which follows the adventures of toys that come to life — in the best traditions of movies like Toy Story and Night at the Museum. What sets it apart is that our main characters are people and they solve their human problems, while their conflicts and toys are intended to help them change. The movie features many toys and they play an important role, but first and foremost, this is a story about people.”

According to Chirkova, who was on the team that delivered Kikoriki: Deja Vu and makes her producing debut this year with Teddy Boom and Finnick, the studio planned to produce the feature as a CG-driven live-action movie.

But the creative team decided to return to a fully-animated movie after a few months of development. “Animation allowed us to revive and breathe life into toys in the literal sense of the word, which every child dreams of,” she notes. “Our main task was to show the story of the re-education of the so-called negative character and help him remember his forgotten childhood qualities and values. The story

Bear Hugs from Russia: Riki Group is bringing the charming new family comedy Teddy Boom to the American Film Market.

‘We see great potential for this movie all over the world, since the story, plot and characters are so vital and universal. Toys and animation speak a unique and universal language that connects children and families all over the world.’

— Exec producer Elena Chirkova

aims to remind us that each one of us has both good and bad. Sometimes, when there are close people nearby who love you and are ready to sacrifice everything for your peace and safety, you can change. Our protagonist is able to find the light and goodness in himself, thanks to the rare treasure hunted by thieves.”

Stylish Mischief Chirkova points out that as the filmmakers began to focus on the story of a man who learns to evolve and become a better person, the movie became more mature and psychological.

“The protagonist in the original version was more dramatic and had more difficulties,” she notes. “We didn’t want the viewer to experience difficulties of perception. So we removed about 15 minutes in order to make the film more accessible and brighter, more understandable for the whole family. We removed everything that

could make the story heavy.

Our Boom Bear is a character who has the qualities of an average three- to four-year-old child: He loves to play around and be naughty at times, and he causes a lot of trouble for the main character Max, but he is by no means his opponent or a villain.”

The movie also allowed the Riki Group to test its skill by creating animated human characters for the first time. “The project’s stylization work was a challenge for our production and character designers,” she explains. “It was a difficult task because the character could look fantastic in sketch form, but did not work in 3D. It makes no sense to create a super-realistic character; we searched for an exaggeration acceptable in animation [while] trying to keep them attractive so that the viewer can empathize with them.”

The producers relied on a motion-capture

mockup in the beginning stages of the animation. “This, of course, accelerated the process in the beginning and the animators themselves had to work in the costumes,” Chirkova recalls.

“But by the end we abandoned the mockup. The film was completed in the traditional way. The animators were looking for new approaches to working with human characters, developed their own animation style in relation to the characters in this project. We wanted to make it a unique, modern and stylish teddy bear.

That’s why we had over 60 sketches of the color scheme. In the film, you will see the option that was selected over all the previous iterations!”

Fans of previous Riki Group shows should pay special attention to the details of the movie since the creators have cleverly placed fun Easter eggs referring to the studio’s famous creations. “Teddy Boom is created by the team who worked on Kikoriki,” says Chirkova. “So we hope audiences — many of whom grew up with the series — will discover all the fun, hidden details that are included in the movie!”

Over 300 people worked on the movie at the studio. “We use some of the most advanced technologies in the animation industry to produce state-of-the-art CG animation,” says Chirkova. “We are one of the first in the Russian Federation to introduce new animation technologies that appear in the world. The events take place in the toy store, and we note the high potential for licensing, which can be already confirmed with agreements on the domestic market. We see great potential for this movie all over the world, since the story, plot and characters are so vital and universal. Toys and animation speak a unique and universal language that connects children and families all over the world.”◆ Teddy Boom will be released theatrically in Russia in November. For more info, visit en.riki.team.

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22 Movies to Track in 2022 Here is an early look at some of the promising animated releases that we hope to see in theaters and/or on the streamers next year. Obviously, all release dates are subject to change because of the unpredictability of theatrical openings these days. Let the anticipation begin!

Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Adventure set photo

Lightyear

Ladybug & Cat Noir: Awakening

Rumble

Pinocchio Minions: The Rise of Gru

Luck

Spellbound

Under the Boardwalk concept art The Amazing Maurice

Turning Red

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The Amazing Maurice. Directed by Toby Genkel and co-directed by Florian Westermann, this adaptation of Terry Pratchett’s fantasy features a stellar British voice cast, including Hugh Laurie, Emilia Clarke, David Thewlis, Gemma Arterton, David Tennant and Hugh Bonneville. Terry Rossio (Shrek) wrote the script which follows a streetwise ginger cat who comes up with the perfect money-making scam involving strangely educated, talking rats.

Sky Cinema/Cantilever/Ulysses Filmproduktion/Studio Rakete/Red Star

My Father’s Dragon. Directed by Cartoon Saloon’s Nora Twomey (The Breadwinner), this 2D adaptation of the celebrated 1948 novel by Ruth Stiles Gannett centers on a young boy named Elmer Elevator who runs away to Wild Island to rescue a baby dragon. Pixar alum Meg LeFauve (Inside Out, The Good Dinosaur) is the screenwriter. Tomm Moore, Bonnie Curtis and Julie Lynn are listed as producers. Netflix/Cartoon Saloon

Life, A Scanner Darkly) returns to the world of rotoscopy with this hybrid sci-fi feature that takes place during the 1969 Apollo 11 moon landing and will explore the fantasies of children on Earth about space exploration. With Glen Powell, Jack Black, Zachary Levi and Josh Wiggins. Netflix/Minnow Mountain/Submarine

Pinocchio. Fantasy maestro Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water, Tales of Arcadia) is helming this stop-motion adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel with Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox) from a script by del Toro and Patrick McHale (Over the Garden Wall, Adventure Time), with character designs by Gris Grimly. Starring Tilda Swinton, Cate Blanchett, Ewan McGregor, Finn Wolfhard, Christoph Waltz and Ron Perlman. Netflix/The Jim Henson Co./ShadowMachine

The Bad Guys. Directed by Pierre Perifel, this CG-animated adaptation of Aaron Blabey’s

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish. The beloved and heroic feline (Antonio Banderas) is

The Bob’s Burgers Movie. Loren Bouchard’s popular FOX series will finally get its big-

Rumble. Directed by Hamish Grieve (head of story on Rise of the Guardians), this repeatedly delayed title is set in a world where monster wrestling is a global sport and follows teen Winnie as she seeks to follow in her dad’s footsteps by coaching a lovable monster.

Matt Lieberman (Scoob! The Addams Family) wrote the script. Will Arnett, Ben Schwartz, Geraldine Viswanathan, Terry Crews and Becky Lynch are part of the voice cast. Paramount/ Reel FX; Feb. 18

Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Adventure. Acclaimed director Richard Linklater (Waking

book centers on several reformed yet misunderstood villains (Mr. Wolf, Mr. Piranha, Mr. Snake, Mr. Shark and Ms. Tarantula) who decide to live their lives as forces of good. Voice cast includes Sam Rockwell, Awkwafina, Anthony Ramos, Marc Maron, Craig Robinson, Alex Borstein and Zazie Beetz. DreamWorks/Universal; April 22

screen animated musical comedy treatment. Bouchard is directing and the original series cast (H. Jon Benjamin, Dan Mintz, Eugene Mirman, Larry Murphy, John Roberts and Kristen Schaal) will reprise their roles in the first 2D-animated release from the Disney family of studios since 2011’s Winnie the Pooh. 20th Century/Bento Box; May 27

DC League of Super-Pets. Superman’s dog Krypto joins forces with Batman’s dog Ace the

Bat-Hound, Wonder Woman’s kangaroo Jumpa, Green Lantern’s squirrel B’dg and The Flash’s turtle McSnurtle to save the Justice League from evil kidnappers in this CG-animated comedy. Written and directed by Jared Stern and co-directed by Sam Levine. The amazing voice cast includes Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Kate McKinnon, John Krasinski, Vanessa Bayer, Natasha Lyonne, Diego Luna and Keanu Reeves. Warner Animation Group/DC Ent.; May 20

Ice Age: Adventures of Buck Wild. The fearless one-eyed weasel Buck teams up with

the mischievous possum brothers Crash and Eddie as they head off to a new adventure in Buck’s home, The Dinosaur World. Directed by John C. Donkin and penned by Ray DeLaurentis and William Schifrin. 20th Century

Ladybug & Cat Noir: Awakening. This feature version of the popular animated series

centers on the origins of the main characters, their lives in Paris and the mysterious villain Hawkmoth. Written and directed by Jeremy Zag. ZAG/ON Kids & Family/Fantawild

Lightyear. This eagerly anticipated spinoff of the Toy Story franchise centers on the origins

of Buzz Lightyear (voiced by Chris Evans) and the early days of the test pilot who inspired the toy. Directed by Angus MacLane (who co-directed Finding Dory and has worked on every Pixar movie since A Bug’s Life) and produced by Galyn Susman. Disney/Pixar; June 17

Luck. Directed by Peggy Holmes (The Little Mermaid: Ariel’s Beginning, Secret of the Wings,

The Pirate Fairy), Skydance Animation’s first feature follows the adventures of an unlucky girl who stumbles upon the mysterious world of good and bad luck and teams up with magical creatures to uncover a force more powerful than fortune itself. With Jane Fonda and Whoopie Goldberg. Apple Original Films/Skydance Animation; Feb. 18

Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile. This hybrid adaptation of Bernard Waber’s 1960s children’s classic

is directed and produced by Will Speck and Josh Gordon (Distant, Hit-Monkey) with a script

by Will Davies (How to Train Your Dragon) and original songs by Benji Pasek and Justin Pal (La La Land). The story centers on a city-dwelling crocodile who lives in an old Victorian mansion with the Primm family. With Javier Barden, Constance Wu and Winslow Fegley.

Columbia/Sony; Nov. 18

Minions: The Rise of Gru. Originally planned for 2020, this prequel centers on the origins of the evil mastermind Gru (Steve Carell) and is directed by Kyla Balda and co-directors Brad Ableson and Jonathan del Val. With the voices of Jean-Claude Van Damme, Taraji P. Henson, Danny Trejo, Lucy Lawless, Michelle Yeoh and Russell Brand. Universal/Illumination; July 1

back in this new adventure which finds him reunited with Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek) as he sets out on an epic journey to find the mystical Last Wish to get one more life. Pic is directed by Joel Crawford (The Croods: A New Age) and produced by Mark Swift (Megamind, Madagascar 2 & 3, Captain Underpants). DreamWorks/Universal

The Sea Beast. Oscar-winning director Chris Williams (Big Hero 6, Moana, Bolt) wrote and

helms this family feature about a legendary sea monster hunter whose life is turned upside down when a young girl stows away on his ship and befriends the most dangerous beast of them all. Netflix

Searcher Clade. Disney’s 61st animated feature is directed by Oscar winner Don Hall (Winnie the Pooh, Big Hero 6, Raya and the Last Dragon) and penned by Qui Nguyen (Raya and the Last Dragon). Produced by Roy Conli (Tangled, Big Hero 6). Disney; Fall 2022 Spellbound. A teenager named Elian comes of age using her magical powers to defend

her family when the opposing forces of light and darkness threaten to divide her kingdom.

Directed by Vicky Jenson (Shrek, Shark Tale), with a script by Lauren Hynek & Elizabeth Martin (Mulan) and Linda Woolverton (Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King). Features songs by multi-Oscar-winner Alan Menken (the Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast) and Glenn Slater (Tangled). Apple Original Films/Skydance Animation; Nov. 11

Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2 (Working Title). Miles Morales (Shameik Moore) and Gwen Stacy (Halee Steinfeld) continue to experience the ever-expanding world of the Spider-Verse with new global heroes and a mysterious villain. With the voices of Jake Johnson and Issa Rae. Directed by Joaquim Dos Santos, Kemp Powers and Justin K. Thompson and penned by David Callahan and producers Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Sony Pictures Animation/Marvel Ent.; Oct. 7 Turning Red. Written and directed by Domee Shi, who won an Oscar for her short Bao, this comedy-fantasy is about a 13-year-old girl who turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited. With the voices of Sandra Oh and Rosalie Chiang. Produced by Lindsey Collins. Disney/Pixar; March 11 Wendell and Wild. This imaginative stop-motion movie centers on two demon brothers (Jordan Peele and Keegan-Michael Key) who face off against a nun and a couple of goth teens. Directed by stop-motion master Henry Selick (Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas), written by Peele, Key, Selick and Clay McLeod Chapman, produced by Selick, Peele and Ellen Goldsmith-Vein. Netflix/Monkeypaw/Gotham Group Under the Boardwalk. This musical comedy follows the hermit crabs who live under

the boardwalk at the Jersey Shore. When land crab Armen falls in love with Ramona, a sea crab tourist, tensions between their friends and families rise. David Soren (Turbo, Captain Underpants) directs this family movie, written by Lorene Scafaria (Hustlers) and produced by David Dobkin (Wedding Crashers). With production design by Shannon Jefferies and Chris Zibach. Paramount Animation/DNEG; July 22 ◆

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Peter Hannan is best known as the brilliant, Annie-nominated creator, exec producer and showrunner of the classic Nickelodeon show CatDog, for which he also wrote and sang the theme song. He is currently the exec producer and writer of the acclaimed PBS show Let’s Go Luna! www.animationmagazine.net 44

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New Season November 12

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BEST PICTURE Produced By

Chris Meledandri p.g.a.

Janet Healy p.g.a.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Produced By

Chris Meledandri p.g.a.

Janet Healy p.g.a.

Directed By

Garth Jennings

BEST DIRECTOR

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST COSTUME DESIGN

Written By

Kate Mulleavy Laura Mulleavy

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

BEST SOUND

Garth Jennings

Art Director

Olivier Adam Character Designer

Eric Guillon

BEST FILM EDITING

Supervising Sound Editor

Dennis Leonard Sound Designer

Josh Gold

Re-Recording Mixers

Gary A. Rizzo CAS Juan Peralta

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Computer Graphics Supervisors

Laurent de la Chapelle Boris Jacq Effects Supervisors

Eric Carme Milo Riccarand

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE Joby Talbot

Garth Jennings Gregory Perler ACE www.animationmagazine.net 46

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The Big Award Season Contenders Your guide to the wide list of 2021 animated movies that will be vying for the Oscars, the Annies and other year-end prizes!

By Michael Mallory

W

hatever else 2021 turns out to be or not to be, it has been a great year for feature animation! This year’s slate is almost an embarrassment of riches, with so many films that are destined not to make the Oscar nominations cut, because there can only be five, but still registering as genuinely

worthy examples of animated filmmaking. And this is despite a year in which production, distribution and exhibition of movies has been the most logistically challenging of any era in modern history. Still, there can only be five, therefore…

BEST BETS Belle (a.k.a. Belle: The Dragon and

the Freckled Princess) Director: Mamoru Hosoda Released by: GKIDS Production Studio: Studio Chizu Voice Cast: Kaho Nakamura, Takeru Satoh, Kōji Yakusho Synopsis: A teenager divides her time between the real world and a virtual world called “U” in which she is a pop music icon.

Release Date: July 15 (Cannes), July 16 (Japan), October 23 (L.A.) Director Talk: “My daughter is five years old. I thought a lot about her future while making this film … I

imagined what it would be like when my daughter and her generation, who were born with the internet, are grown up.” — Mamoru Hosoda The Word: “Though constructed around teenage neurosis, which can get pretty grim at times, Belle is an immersive experience for anyone willing to give anime a try.” — Deborah Young, The Hollywood Reporter Nomination Chances: Possible, given Hosada’s name recognition among Academy voters and his previous work (Mirai, Summer Wars, The Girl Who Leapt through Time). The social media plotline may be a bit convoluted, but the animation is simply stunning. Also, GKIDS has an amazing track record when it comes to the Oscar and Annie races.

Encanto

Directors: Byron Howard, Jared Bush Released by: Walt Disney Pictures Production Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios Voice Cast: Stephanie Beatriz, Wilmer Valderrama, Angie Cepeda Synopsis: A young woman, the only one in her family who does not possess a super-power, must find her natural strength when the magic of her enchanted Colombian village is threatened.

Release Date: November 24 Director Talk: “The dancing is so much a part of the Colombian culture that inspired this movie. We’ve leaned into choreography in this like never before. It’s amazing what the animators accomplished with Jamal Sims, our choreographer, and [dancer] Kai Martinez.” — Byron Howard Nomination Chances: Outwardly good, though it’s a very crowded year both for Disney releases and for cultural animated films, which means something has to get squeezed out. The holiday release timing, Lin-Manuel Miranda’s songs and the beautiful Colombian setting gives this colorful musical a huge advantage.

Flee

Director: Jonas Poher Rasmussen Released by: NEON (U.S.) Production Studios: Final Cut for Real, Sun Creature, Vivement Lundi!, Mostfilm, Mer Film, VICE Studios, Left Handed Films Voice Cast: Riz Ahmed, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (English version) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% Synopsis: An Afghani refugee in Denmark discloses a 20-year-old secret upon the eve of his marriage to another man, which will either ruin or save his life.

Release Date: January 28 (Sundance), December 3 (U.S.) Director Talk: “I didn’t intend to do a refugee story; I

wanted to do a story about my friend. That’s where it came from: our friendship.” — Jonas Poher Rasmussen The Word: “Beautifully animated to protect the identity of the main subject, Rasmussen’s film examines the lengths we will go to in order to survive and protect those we love.” — Josh Flanders, Chicago Reader Nomination Chances: In an ideal world, this groundbreaking, multinational animated documentary would be a shoo-in … but visibility (and competition) might complicate its chances. The timely message about the political and social turmoil in Afghanistan and the plight of LGBTQ+ people and refugees makes this film the perfect contender for 2021. In addition to the animation race, it also has a very strong chance of showing up in the Best Documentary Feature category.

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Luca

Director: Enrico Casarosa Released by: Walt Disney Pictures Production Studio: Pixar Animation Studios Voice Cast: Jacob Tremblay, Jack Dylan Grazer, Maya Rudolph Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91% Synopsis: Two adventurous young sea monsters dare to taste the world above ground, while struggling to hide their true selves.

Release Date: June 18 (Disney+) Director Talk: “We were always very aware of, ‘How much of a roller coaster ride do we want to do?’ I have always been interested in lyricism and a little bit slower pace, so it was also trying to do something a little different with an introvert at the heart.” — Enrico Casarosa The Word: “It’s full of energy and the diligence of those researchers has paid off in its settings which are seductive — and even more important — believable.” — Sandra Hall, Sydney Morning Herald Nomination Chances: Excellent; it’s totally awash with essential Pixarness, meaning this is one of the ones to beat this year. The beautiful Italian backdrops, which were inspired by Casarosa’s own childhood village, and the message of diversity, acceptance and belonging are truly resonant.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

Director: Mike Rianda; co-director Jeff Rowe Released by: Netflix Production Studio: Sony Pictures Animation Voice Cast: Abbi Jacobson, Danny McBride, Maya Rudolph, Olivia Colman Rotten Tomatoes Score: 98% Synopsis: A dysfunctional family road trip ends up a struggle to save the world from a robot insurgence.

Release Date: April 23 (limited); April 30 (Netflix) Director Talk: “I think in a way you can tell deeper and more visceral stories about humans through animation by allowing the audience to feel what it’s like to be in those experiences and not just see them.” — Mike

Rianda The Word: “This is the perfect movie for the whole family, which is an all-too-rare thing to find.” — Robert Levin, Newsday Nomination Chances: Excellent; audience popularity plus critical raves, plus some unobtrusive envelope pushing in terms of what’s acceptable for a family film, add up to a solid candidate. Sony Pictures Animation is riding high after the huge success of Spider-Verse and continues to take chances in terms of mixing 2D and CG animation and featuring an LGBTQ+ young heroine without making a big fuss about it. Let’s not forget that the movie was really, really funny.

Raya and the Last Dragon

Directors: Don Hall, Carlos López Estrada Released by: Walt Disney Pictures Production Studio: Walt Disney Animation Studios Voice Cast: Kelly Marie Tran, Awkwafina, Daniel Dae Kim, Sandra Oh, Benedict Wong Rotten Tomatoes Score: 94% Synopsis: A return attack by deadly creatures called Druun forces a young human warrior to locate the last protective dragon and learn to trust it, in order to save her world again.

Release Date: March 5 Director Talk: “Food became a symbol of trust and a symbol of togetherness, and it’s very important in Southeast Asia … so we wanted to tell our story through food as well as the character’s journey.” — Carlos López Estrada The Word: “There is an incandescence and a buoyancy to the animation that elevates the formula.” — Simran Hans, Observer Nomination Chances: Beautiful CG animation, a great Southeast Asian heroine and cultural authenticity give the feature a big boost in the race — even though Disney is competing with itself in this category.

Sing 2

Director: Garth Jennings Released by: Universal Pictures Production Studio: Illumination Entertainment Voice Cast: Matthew McConaughey, Reese Witherspoon, Scarlett Johansson, Taron Egerton, Bono Synopsis: Buster Moon and his zoo-vocalists from Sing (2016) return to try and bluff their way into a competition reality TV show by promising the appearance of a legendary,

but now reclusive, rock star.

Release Date: December 22 Nomination Chances: While it will undoubtedly find its audience, this sequel has a tough race ahead, since the first Sing outing didn’t score a nomination either. However, Garth Jennings has a way with musical numbers (having directed many award-winning music videos in the past), and audiences loved the original Sing, giving it an “A” Cinemascore and $634.1 million at the box office worldwide.

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The Summit of the Gods

Director: Patrick Imbert Released by: Netflix Production Studios: Folivari, Mélusine Productions Voice Cast: Lazare Herson-Macarel, Eric Herson-Macarel Synopsis: Adapted from Jiro Tanaguchi’s manga, a Japanese reporter and a mysterious mountaineer use the recovered camera of legendary Mt. Everest climber George Mallory to trace his steps.

Release Date: November 24 (limited U.S. & U.K.), November 30 (worldwide on Netflix) Director Talk: “It’s the universal dimension of why we do something obsessively that interested me. I’m a cartoon-

ist. I just draw, because that’s the way it is. In fact, I can’t live without drawing. And so I drew this parallel with mountaineering.” — Patrick Imbert The Word: “The quality of the animation is exceptionally high, but the appeal of the picture might be somewhat niche – the sober tone and measured pacing might not connect with younger audiences; the subject matter, the doggedly obsessive world of climbing, is also quite remote.” — Wendy Ibert, Screen Daily Nomination Chances: The dramatic scale, nail-biting tension, beautiful visuals and the pedigree of the director and producer of the feature should make its ascent to the top an easy goal to achieve.

Vivo

Director: Kirk DeMicco Released by: Netflix Production Studio: Sony Pictures Animation Voice Cast: Lin-Manuel Miranda, Zoe Saldana, Juan de Marcos González, Gloria Estefan, Brian Tyree Henry, NIcole Byer Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87% Synopsis: A musician and his pet kinkajou make beautiful music together, even after the musician’s death — a tragedy that forces the honey bear to carry a message from his friend to the man’s long-lost love.

Release Date: July 30 (limited); August 6 (Netflix) Director Talk: “We wanted Vivo to have all of those strong, beautiful qualities; but, at the same time, it’s a comedy. We wanted to put him up a tree and throw rocks at him.” — Kirk DeMicco The Word: “A warm, colorful, family-friendly tribute to all things Cuban.” — Nicholas Barber, BBC.com Nomination Chances: Decent; as with last year’s Soul and 2017’s Coco, Vivo’s musical element might allow it to break through the large crowd of worthies. It’s one of two Lin-Manuel Miranda animated movies in the race this year — not to mention the prolific musician’s live-action contender In the Heights! It has strong competition from Sony’s other contender, The Mitchells vs. the Machines.

OTHER STUDIO CONTENDERS The Boss Baby: Family Business

Director: Tom McGrath Released by: Universal Pictures Production Studio: DreamWorks Animation Voice Cast: Alec Baldwin, James Marsden, Amy Sedaris Rotten Tomatoes Score: 48% Synopsis: Original Boss Baby Ted and his older brother Tim have grown up and apart, and only the appearance of a new Boss Baby can reunite the family and launch a new business.

Release Date: July 2 Director Talk: “Characters that get along aren’t very interesting characters. [The Boss Baby: Family Business] went to the truth of what it can be like with our brothers and sisters in a family. It’s fun to take that truth and caricature it.” — Tom McGrath

The Word: “The complicated, fast-and-furious narrative of Boss Baby: Family Business requires the rapt attention of child and adult viewer alike to even vaguely understand what the heck is going on.” — Steve Davis, Austin Chronicle Nomination Chances: 2017’s The Boss Baby surprised some by nabbing a nom, so don’t dismiss this sequel, even with Alec Baldwin having outgrown his diapers. Beautiful art direction, a great turn by Amy Sedaris as the new Boss Baby and a genuinely touching musical sequence featuring Cat Stevens’ famous “If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out” are reasons audiences joined the family in theaters and on Peacock this summer.

Ron’s Gone Wrong

Directors: J.P. Vine, Sarah Smith; co-director Octavio E. Rodriguez Released by: 20th Century Studios Production Studios: 20th Century Animation, Locksmith Animation Voice Cast: Zach Galifianakis, Jack Dylan Grazer, Olivia Colman Rotten Tomatoes Score: 80% Synopsis: An awkward boy in the near future forges a friendship with his equally maladroit B-Bot. Release Date: October 22 (U.S.) Director Talk: “It couldn’t be timelier to be telling the story of the joys of ‘analog,’ real world friendship in a world dominated by online relationships.” — Sarah Smith The Word: “What the animated feature lacks in daring imagination, it makes up for with endearing good humor, thoughtful cultural critique and one heck of a cute robot.” — Angie Han, Hollywood Reporter Nomination Chances: So-so; while this story of a boy and his bot has all the standard requisite ingredients, breaking through the competition will still be an uphill battle for this first major animated feature from U.K.’s Locksmith Animation. www.animationmagazine.net 50

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Spirit Untamed

Director: Elaine Bogan; co-director Ennio Torresan Released by: Universal Pictures Production Studios: DreamWorks Animation, Dentsu Voice Cast: Isabela Merced, Marsai Martin, Mckenna Grace, Julianne Moore, Jake Gyllenhaal Rotten Tomatoes Score: 49% Synopsis: A young girl’s life is changed upon encountering a wild mustang named Spirit, whom she endeavors to protect from capture by a horse wrangler.

Release Date: June 4 Director Talk: “Our goal was to have every single person in that audience be able to really deeply relate and connect to at least one character in this film.” — Elaine Bogan The Word: “It’ll pass the time easily enough for young viewers, but everyone else will wish they were spirited away on a more sophisticated adventure.” — Ben Travis, Empire Magazine Nomination Chances: In such a crowded, competitive year, a dark horse recognition is the only way in. A special kudos to the studio for having women at the helm of this entertaining family movie featuring strong, memorable female leads.

Wish Dragon

Director: Chris Appelhans Released by: Sony Pictures Releasing (China), Netflix Production Studios: Sony Pictures Animation, Beijing Sparkle Roll, Tencent Pictures, Base FX, Flagship Ent. Group, Boss Collaboration, Cultural Investment Holdings Voice Cast: Jimmy Wong, John Cho, Constance Wu Rotten Tomatoes Score: 65% Synopsis: A wish-fulfilling dragon accompanies a college student through Shanghai as he searches for a childhood friend, but finds life lessons along the way.

Release Date: January 15 (China), June 11 (interna-

tional) Director Talk: “I felt like if I worked with a Chinese studio and a Chinese crew and Chinese talent all around that we would essentially kind of meet in some common ground, which is a new thing that we get to make these films and make art across cultural boundaries now.” -Chris Appelhans The Word: “Wish Dragon is a transporting experience, but it’s far from a whole new world.” — Natalia Winkleman, New York Times Nomination Chances: This take on Aladdin’s shot at landing an Oscar nom may be wishful thinking.

YOU NEVER KNOW! The Addams Family 2

Directors: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon Released by: United Artists (U.S.) Production Studios: MGM, BRON Creative, Cinesite Voice Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chlöe Grace Moretz Rotten Tomatoes Score: 23% Synopsis: The creepy Addams clan goes on a road trip to bring the family closer together, while a family-shattering secret involving teen Wednesday is uncovered.

Release Date: October 1 Director Talk: “Audiences really like watching the Addamses getting into different scenarios and conversations with what we call ‘normies’ — normal people — so we thought it would be fun to put them out on the road and have them get into situations with people from all over the country.” — Conrad Vernon The Word: “The Addams Family 2 allowed me a couple of nostalgic chuckles, while the kids were entertained by the antics.”

-Aparita Bhandari, Globe and Mail Nomination Chances: Franchise appeal aside, this sequel would face an uphill battle in any Oscar race, let alone a fiercelycompetitive one … but ookier things have happened.

Cryptozoo

Director: Dash Shaw Released by: Magnolia Pictures Production Studios: Fit Via Fi, Electro Chinoland, Washington Square Films, Low Spark Films, Cinereach Voice Cast: Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Emily Davis, Grace Zabriskie Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69% Synopsis: 1960s cryptozookeepers are torn as to whether they should display the fantastical creatures they have caught or keep them under wraps.

Release Date: August 20

Director Talk: “Winsor McCay’s 1914 animated short Gertie the Dinosaur takes the obvious ‘we cannot photograph actual dinosaurs’ and recreates dinosaurs through the power of drawing. I eventually saw his unfinished centaur film soon after, and that’s how Cryptozoo was born.” — Dash Shaw The Word: “Its ugliness I find to be deliberate, and there are beautiful moments ... [Cryptozoo] is a tiny bit of a mess, but I admired a lot of it.” — Amy Nicholson, Film Week Nomination Chances: Wide open; if ever personal taste came to bear in judging an animated film, it will be for this wildly imaginative, eccentric festival favorite.

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Felix and the Hidden Treasure (a.k.a.

Felix and the Treasure of Morgäa) Director: Nicola Lemay Released by: Maison 4:3 (Canada), Viva Pictures (U.S.), Attraction Distribution (worldwide) Production Studios: 10e Ave Productions Voice Cast: Karine Vanasse; Gabriel Lessard, Guy Nadon (French); Daniel Brochu, Vlasta Vrana (English) Synopsis: Left behind by an R&R-seeking mom, 12-yearold Felix uses the time to search for his missing treasurehunting father, landing on an island ruled by the nefarious Morgäa.

Release Date: June 25 (U.S.)

Director Talk: “I did initially conceive the project as a graphic novel since financing a feature is such a herculean task … A Montreal publisher showed interest in my three-page book sample. But the call for an animated feature film was just too strong.” — Nicola Lemay The Word: “Felix and the Treasure of Morgäa also visualizes the adventure quite handsomely ... The CGI also holds up to some Hollywood productions — something local audiences will treasure while seeing a landscape that’s unmistakably Quebecois.” -Pat Mullen, That Shelf Nomination Chances: A lack of wide visibility in the U.S. for this French-Canadian film will certainly not help its chances.

Back to the Outback

Directors: Clare Knight, Harry Cripps Released by: Netflix Production Studios: Netflix Animation, ReelFX, Weed Road Pictures Voice Cast: Isla Fisher, Tim Minchin, Guy Pearce, Eric Bana Synopsis: Tired of being on display, a group of reptiles and arachnids in an Australian zoo escape to make their way to the Outback accompanied by an obnoxious koala, and chased by a determined zookeeper.

Release Date: December 2021 Nomination Chances: The jury is out right now.

Lamya’s Poem

Director: Alex Kronemer Released by: WestEnd Films Production Studios: Unity Productions, PiP Animation Services Voice Cast: Millie Davis, Mena Massoud Synopsis: A young refugee from the Syrian civil war escapes reality through reading the work of 13th century poet Rumi.

Release Date: June 14 (Annecy) Director Talk: “Rumi’s poetry is often associated with themes of love, which seem very remote from the experiences of these refugees. But upon deeper examination, we learned

that it wasn’t as strange as it might appear at first glance.” — Alex Kronemer The Word: “Lamya’s Poem is best suited for streaming distribution since the documentarian Kronemer only shows a trying ability to accomplish theatrical flair. Still, a parent viewing the film with children can surrender to its spell and ambition, and forgive its lags.” — Caroline Cao, Vague Visages Nomination Chances: While there has been some critical carping about this Canadian film’s animation production, the seriousness of its theme and message for younger audiences could attract voter attention. However, no U.S. release date was announced at presstime.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Director: Dean Fleischer-Camp Production Studios: Chiodo Brothers Productions, Cinereach Voice Cast: Jenny Slate, Isabella Rosellini Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% Synopsis: Based on the popular series of shorts, this mockumentary chronicles the adventures and travails of a tiny mollusk who is the victim of a broken home.

Release Date: September 3 (Telluride Film Festival) Director Talk: “This is a movie I want as many people as possible to see. A mainstream distributor might look at it and think it’s too niche or just for kids. But I feel like the character has resonated with people at every possible age.” — Dean Fleischer-Camp The Word: “Marcel the Shell seamlessly marries big ideas with charm and humor (and inventive stop-motion work to boot).” — Kate Erbland, IndieWire Nomination Chances: One of the things that would keep tiny Marcel out of the top tier is lack of visibility and a release date.

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Y O U R

Awards Season

C O N S I D E R A T I O N

AN ANIMATED MUSICAL SHORT FILM FROM THE ACADEMY AWARD® WINNING CREATORS OF WALLACE & GROMIT, CHICKEN RUN, AND CREATURE COMFORTS

“★★★★★

Gorgeous animation. Lovingly made by Aardman and hugely entertaining.’’

FLICKERING MYTH

TALE “A PICTURE-PERFECT TALE.

An ambitious, incredibly beautiful, technical triumph, and a moving story of celebrating our individual strengths and differences.”

MASHABLE

NOVEMBER 24

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OTHER INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIONS Ainbo

Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

Directors: José Zelada, Richard Claus Released by: Cinema Management Group Production Studios: Tunche Films, Katuni Animation Voice Cast: Lola Raie, Naomi Serrano, Dino Andrade Synopsis: A young Amazonian and her spirit guides try to save the rainforest.

Release Date: August 27 (U.K.) The Word: “So much here feels blandly generic, with frantic antics and quirky sidekick characters that kids have seen in a dozen movies before. Just as disappointingly, its plucky heroine Ainbo looks a bit plasticky.” — Cath Clarke, The Guardian Nomination Chances: A very long shot with no U.S. release scheduled, but don’t discount the power of message.

Directors: Hideaki Anno, Kazuya Tsurumaki, Katsuichi Nakayama, Mahiro Maeda Released by: Amazon Prime Video Production Studios: Studio Khara Voice Cast: Megumi Ogata, Megumi Hayashibara, Yūko Miyamura (Japanese); Spike Spencer, Amanda Winn-Lee, Tiffany Grant (English) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% Synopsis: Conclusion of the ongoing (25 year) post-apocalyptic series about the battle between the Nerv forces and the antagonistic Angels.

Release Date: August 23 (U.S.) The Word: “Thrice Upon a Time can at times be narratively baffling, with events playing out as much within [protagonist] Shinji’s subconscious as reality, and as with the other films in the Rebuild of

Evangelion series, for every visual upgrade afforded by newer animation technology there’s at least one instance of garish CGI that looks far inferior to the old TV cel work.” — Jake Cole, Slant Nomination Chances: If you don’t know what’s going on here, you won’t know what’s going on here; rating it Fanboy — 10, Academy voters — 3.

Josee, the Tiger and the Fish

Director: Kôtarô Tamura Production Studio: Bones Released by: Funimation Voice Cast: Kaya Kiyohara, Taishi Nakagawa Release Date: Dec. 2020 (Japan); July 2021 (U.S.) The Word: The film was nominated for a Cristal at Annecy and a Japan Academy Film Prize.

Poupelle of Chimney Town

Director: Yusuke Hiorta Production Studio: Studio 4°C Released by: Eleven Arts Voice Cast: Masakata Kubota, Mana Ashida; Tony Hale, Stephen Root, Misty Lee, Hasan Minhaj Release Date: Dec. 2020 (Japan), Dec. 2021 (U.S.) The Word: The film was nominated for a Japan Academy Film Prize.

Sailor Moon Eternal (a.k.a.

Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon Eternal The Movie)

Director: Chiaki Kon Released by: Netflix (international) Production Studios: Toei Animation, Studio Deen Voice Cast: Stephanie Sheh, Kate Higgins, Cristina Vee (English) Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100% Synopsis: A solar eclipse brings a dark power over the earth which must be combated by the Sailor Guardians.

Release Date: June 3 The Word: “White there are definitely some questionable storylines … Sailor Moon Eternal is a strong entry into the anime collection of this universe. Any Sailor Moon fan is sure to love Sailor Moon Eternal.” — Therese Lascon, The Beat Nomination Chances: The Academy voting membership is far broader than the Sailor Moon fan club; unless that changes, don’t expect a nom.

Where Is Anne Frank?

Director: Ari Folman

Production Studios: Bridgit Folman Film Gang, Walking The Dog, Samsa Film, Submarine Film, Le Pacte Voice Cast: Emily Carey, Ruby Stokes Rotten Tomatoes Score: 68% Synopsis: Anne Frank’s imaginary diary pen-pal Kitty becomes corporeal and embarks on a search for her friend in tomorrow’s Amsterdam, while simultaneously encountering the current global political challenges.

Release Date: July 9 (Cannes Film Festival) The Word: “Another daring and provocative use of animation with the power to haunt those who see it.” — Steve Pond, TheWrap Nomination Chances: Given its low visibility in America and lack of U.S. release as yet, chances are not great in the Animated Feature category; it might have a better shot if put up for Best International Feature Film.

WHAT ABOUT THE HYBRIDS? Since its inception in 2001, the Best Animated Feature category has not recognized animation/live-action mixes — and things are unlikely to change this year, despite their box-office dominance. Still, some 2021 hybrids could attract Oscar attention in other categories.

Clifford the Big Red Dog

Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway

Space Jam: A New Legacy

Tom & Jerry

Director: Walt Becker Released by: Paramount Pictures Production Studio: Scholastic Entertainment, New Republic Pictures, The Kerner Entertainment Co. Live-Action Cast: Darby Camp, Jack Whitehall Voice Cast: David Alan Grier Synopsis: A young girl and her gigantic dog go on the lam in New York, fleeing from representatives of a genetics company wanting to know the secret of Clifford’s super size.

Release Date: November 10 (U.S.)

Director: Will Gluck Released by: Sony Pictures Releasing Production Studios: Columbia Pictures, Animal Logic Live-Action Cast: Rose Byrne, Domhnall Gleason, David Oyewolo Voice Cast: James Corden, Margot Robbie, Colin Moody Rotten Tomatoes Score: 66% Synopsis: When books about Peter portray him as a bad little bunny begin to appear, he runs away from the garden and stumbles into dangers and adventures in the big city.

Release Date: June 11

Director: Malcolm D. Lee Released by: Warner Bros. Pictures Production Studios: Warner Animation Group Live Action Cast: LeBron James, Don Cheadle Voice Cast: Jeff Bergman, Eric Bauza, Zendaya Rotten Tomatoes Score: 26% Synopsis: NBA superstar LeBron James is sucked into the Warner Bros. computer server trying to rescue his son and forced to play-off against a team of monsters with the Looney Tunes.

Release Date: July 16

Director: Tim Story Released by: Warner Bros. Pictures Production Studios: Warner Animation Group Live Action Cast: Chlöe Grace Moretz, Michael Peña, Colin Jost Voice Cast: Bobby Cannavale, Nicky Jam Rotten Tomatoes Score: 31% ynopsis: Tom and Jerry take over a posh Manhattan hotel during a posh celebrity wedding, wrecking everything but their reputation.

Release Date: February 26 (U.S.)

Top-Grossing Animated Films of 2021 Global box office to the nearest million dollars: Raya and the Last Dragon

$130 million

The Boss Baby: Family Business

$128 million

PAW Patrol: The Movie

$127 million

Detective Conan: The Scarlet Bullet

$ 96 million

Evangelion 3.0+1.0 Thrice Upon a Time

$ 92 million

Boonie Bears: The Wild Life

$ 78 million

White Snake 2 (Green Snake)

$ 89 million

The Addams Family 2

$ 75 million

Belle

$ 58 million

Nezha Reborn

$ 56 million

Some Titles without a U.S. Release Date (at press time) Archipel (Archipelago) (Dir. Félix Dufour-Laperrière) Blood of the Family Tree (Dir. Christine Panushka) Bob Spit: We Do Not Like People (Dir. Cesar Cabral) La Traversée (The Crossing) (Dir. Florence Mialhe) The Deer King (Dir. Masashi Ando) Fortune Favors Lady Nikuko (Dir. Ayumu Watanabe) Josep (Dir. Aurel) Pompo the Cinephile (Dir. Takayuki Hirao) Nahuel and the Magic Book (Dir. Germán Acuña) Mount Fuji Seen from a Moving Train (Dir. Pierre Hébert)

The Deer King

[Box Office Mojo/Entgroup, 10/26/21]

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Short Films on the Long Road Our annual attempt to capture a snapshot of all the amazing animated short films that have won Academy Awards-qualifying festival honors this year — the ultimate Must-Watch List for 2021!

Affairs of the Art

United Kingdom, Canada Directed by: Joanna Quinn Produced by: Les Mills, Michael Fukushima Qualifying Win: Aspen Shortsfest Best Comedy Synopsis: Beryl’s back in Affairs of the Art, which showcases one family’s eccentric yet endearing obsessions with everything from drawing to screw threads and pet taxidermy.

And Then the Bear

France Directed by: Agnès Patron Produced by: Sacrebleu Productions; Ron Dyens Qualifying Win: Anim’est Trophy Synopsis: That very night, houses will burn. Men and women will tremble. Hordes of children will come together and howl as they dance alone on the ashes like wild bears. It only takes one shout to wake them all from their slumber!

Any Instant Whatever

United Kingdom Directed by: Michelle Brand Qualifying Win: Raindance Film Festival Best Animation Short Synopsis: A man in a room, in a film – it is the becoming of something and simultaneously becoming in itself. Nothing is as solid as we believe...

The film explores our perception of time, bodies and objects, and our inability to comprehend the full motion of things.

Avarya

Turkey Directed by: Gokalp Gonen Qualifying Win: Izmir Int’l Short Film Festival Best National Short Animation Synopsis: Embarked on a spaceship in the hope of finding a new habitable planet, a human is trapped in his own ship after the robot overseer finds every single candidate planet unsuitable.

Angakusajaujuq – The Shaman’s Ap- Bad Mood prentice Canada Directed by: Zacharias Kunuk Produced by: Kingulliit Prod., Taqqut Prod.

Qualifying Win: Toronto Int’l Film Festival IMDbPRO Short Cuts Award for Best Canadian Film Synopsis: A young shaman must face her first test-a trip underground to visit Kannaaluk, The One Below, who holds the answers to why a community member has become ill.

Italy Directed by: Loris Giuseppe Nese Produced by: Chiara Marotta Qualifying Win: Krakow Film Festival Silver Dragon Animation Synopsis: There are districts full of bad moods. A mother cares for seniors in their homes, where the ticking clock counts down the working day, between the frightening sounds of the heavy breathing that increase the fear of emptiness...

Anne

Barking Orders

Italy Directed by: Stefano Malchiodi, Domenico Croce Produced by: 10D Film, Anemone Film Qualifying Win: David Di Donatello Award for Best Short Film Synopsis: James wakes up in the night with nightmares.

Memories of the war, of the dead, of the many battles fought in the Pacific during the Second World War. James has the same dreams every night and wakes up every night… in his cot. James is six years old and was born in ‘96. Yet those memories are hers.

U.S.A. Directed by: Alexander Tullo Produced by: Ringling College of Art & Design Qualifying Win: Student Academy Award for Animation (Domestic) - Silver Synopsis: In this CG animated comedy, the Queen’s corgi takes the crown, and goes mad with the newfound power in his paws.

Bestia

Chile Directed by: Hugo Covarrubias Produced by: Clover 3, Tevo Diaz Qualifying Win: Chilemonos Int’l Animation Festival Best Latin American Short Synopsis: Inspired by real events, Bestia enters the life of a secret police agent in the military dictatorship in Chile. The relationship with her dog, her body, her fears and frustrations, reveal a macabre fracture in her mind and a country.

Blue & Malone: Impossible Cases

Spain Directed by: Abraham López Guerrero Produced by: ESDIP Animation Studio (Emilio Luján & Manuel Carbajo), The Impossible Journey Film (Gerardo Álvarez), Wise Blue Studios (Nathalie Martinez & Maxi Valero), Salon Indien Films (Pablo de la Chica) Qualifying Win: Goya Award for Best Animated Short Film Synopsis: A sequel to 2014’s Imaginary Detectives. When now grown-up Berta, working as a journalist, goes back to visit the theater where her childhood tragedy occurred, her longforgotten imaginary friends Morando Malone and Big Blue Cat are waiting to help her rediscover her youthful inspiration and joy with the help of a magic “desadultizer.”

BoxBallet

Russia Directed by: Anton Dyakov Produced by: Aleksandr Boyarskiy, Sergey Selyanov Qualifying Win: In the Palace Best Animation Film Synopsis: A delicate ballerina named Olya meets the rough, surly boxer Evgeny. The contrast between their worlds and their philosophies is so sharp that even the possibility of these two characters crossing paths seems incredible. Can they overcome all external influences and allow their fragile, loving souls to step out into the open?

The Chimney Swift

Germany Directed by: Frédéric Schuld Produced by: Fabian & Fred Qualifying Win: Deadcenter Film Festival Best Short Animation Synopsis: Somewhere in 19th century Europe: A child has to climb up a chimney, a bird sails down into it and builds a nest, there is no going back for both.

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Crowded

Netherlands Directed by: Nathania Rubin Qualifying Win: Seattle Int’l Film Festival Best Short Film - Animation at the Synopsis: The “erase and redraw” method of pencil animation gives a dreamlike memory to the fragmented story of a girl in her bedroom, the lover she invites in, and the repercussions of their encounter.

Crunch

U.S.A. Directed by: Liukaidi Peng Qualifying Win: Nashville Film Festival Best Animated Short Synopsis: The story starts with the morning of a little, short guy named Bob who just starts working in the space agency. When watching the spaceship launching, Bob is hit by a bolt of mysterious lightning and starts to grow bigger. But there seems no way to stop…

A Devil in a Pocket

France Directed by: Antoine Bonnet & Mathilde Loubes Produced by: Gobelins, l’Ecole de l’Image Qualifying Win: Atlanta Film Festival Jury Award for Best Animated Short Synopsis: After witnessing a crime, a group of children is forced to keep it a secret. Auguste, the youngest, finds the burden too heavy and decides to break the silence. To punish his behavior, the rest of the children get rid of him.

Easter Eggs

Belgium, France, Netherlands Directed by: Nicolas Keppens Produced by: Animal Tank, Brecht Van Elslande; KaChing Cartoons, Joost Van Den Bosch; Miyu Productions, Emmanuel-Alain Raynal, Pierre Baussaron Qualifying Win: Annecy Int’l Animation Film Festival Jury Award for Short Film Synopsis: The Chinese restaurant is empty. The exotic birds’ cage sits wide open. Two friends, Jason and Kevin, see this as an opportunity to catch and sell them for a lot of money.

The Expected

Sweden Directed by: Carolina Sandvik Qualifying Win: Odense Int’l Film Festival Animation Grand Prix Synopsis: Routines, an eerie life in the mundane everyday, and body horror. A bathtub has never seemed more enticing and repulsive at the same damn time.

Farce

Norway Directed by: Robin Jensen Produced by: Lise Fearnley, Tonje Skar Reiersen Qualifying Win: Animated Encounters Grand Prix Synopsis: A Sami man ends up in greedy and decadent claws as he tries to save both his reindeer herd and the woman he desires. An awful fable about fatal passion.

Flowing Home

France Directed by: Sandra Desmazieres Produced by: Dora Benousilio, Julie Roy Qualifying Win: LA Shorts Fest Best Animation Synopsis: FThe story of two sisters separated after the Vietnam war. Thao, the youngest, is 15. She’ll flee Vietnam by boat to a refugee camp on the island of Pualu Bidong, Malaysia. Sao Maï is 17. She will stay in Vietnam with her parents. In her loneliness, she lives with the ghosts of the past. An epistolary relationship will feed their lives for over 15 years and will be the story of their journey until their reunion.

The Fourfold

Canada Directed by: Alisi Telengut Qualifying Win: Aspen Shortsfest Best Short Short Synopsis: Based on the ancient animistic beliefs and shamanic rituals in Mongolia and Siberia, an exploration of the indigenous worldview and wisdom. Against the backdrop of the modern existential crisis and the humaninduced rapid environmental change, there is a necessity to reclaim the ideas of animism for planetary health and nonhuman materialities.

Friend of a Friend

France Director: Zachary Zezima Produced By: Ron Dyens Qualifying Win: Go Short Int’l Short FIlm Festival Best European Short Animation Film Synopsis: A young man is sexually assaulted and subdues, punishes, then befriends his own attacker while confronting his past and the ambiguities of sexuality. Part fiction, part non-fiction, part autobiography and part dream, Friend of a Friend attempts to broaden the conversation around abuse and its motivations and implications, as well as the survivor vs. assailant dynamic and results of ostracization.

Gon, Little Fox

Japan Directed by: Takeshi Yashiro Produced by: TECARAT Qualifying Win: Rhode Island Int’l Film Festival Best Animated Short Synopsis: When Gon, a playful orphaned fox, finds that young Hyoju has lost his mother, he tries to comfort him and make amends for his own earlier mischiefs by secretly bringing small gifts to the boy every day. But Hyoju doesn’t realize who is behind the anonymous gifts, and the two are headed for a heartbreaking climax.

Gravedad

Germany Directed by: Matisse Gonzalez Produced by: Matisse Gonzalez, Toufik Abdedaim Qualifying Win: Melbourne Int’l Film Festival Best Animation Short Film Synopsis: Gravity changes constantly. Some days are light and some days are heavy. Everyone here has to find something to grab on to, except for Rosa.

The Hangman at Home

Denmark, France, Canada Directed by: Michelle Kranot & Uri Kranot Produced by: Late Love Production, Lana Tankosa Nikolic; NFB, Marc Bertrand and Julie Roy;, Miyu Prod., Emmanuel-Alain Raynal and Pierre Baussaron; Floréal Films, Katayoun Dibamehr and Avi Ama Qualifying Win: Krakow Film Festival Golden Dragon (International Short Film) Synopsis: Inspired by the 1922 Carl Sandburg poem of the same title, The Hangman at Home is an animated film exploring themes surrounding acknowledgement and the awkward intimacy of humanness. Told in five interwoven stories; each situation presents a person, or persons in a delicate moment: fragile, playful, terrified, contemplated, confused, curious…

Have a Nice Dog!

Germany, Syria Directed by: Jalal Maghout Produced by: Karsten Matern Qualifying Win: Uppsala Int’l Short Film Festival Grand Prix - International Synopsis: Trapped in Damascus, surrounded by war, a lonely man becomes increasingly lost in his fantasies of fleeing and the inner dialogues with his dog.

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A Head Shorter

U.S.A. Directed by: Sasha Sivan Bortnik Produced by: Soul Proprietor Studios Qualifying Win: Bendfilm Best Animated Short Synopsis: Narrated by Naftali Deutsch, A Head Shorter begins in the spring of 1944 when Naftali and his entire family are forced to leave their home in Kimyat, a village in the Carpatho-Ukraine region, and sent to Auschwitz. The film takes us through Naftali’s journey as a 12-year-old boy in the Holocaust and how he survived multiple concentration camps.

Heart of Gold

France Directed by: Simon Filliot Produced by: JPL Films Qualifying Win: Chilemonos Int’l Animation Festival Best Int’l Animation Short Synopsis: For her son, a poor young mother is forced to sell her organs to a sick old woman. Flesh, for gold. Little by little, necessity gives way to the lure of gain. By selling her body, it is her whole identity that she alienates.

Homebird

United Kingdom Directed by: Ewa Smyk Produced by: National Film and Television School Qualifying Win: Heartland Film Festival Grand Prize for Animated Short Film Synopsis: Struggling to make it in a big city, a young artist finds herself retreating into the rose-tinted memories of the village she left behind.

Hot Flash

Canada Directed by: Thea Hollatz Produced by: Wilding Pictures, Tinman Creative Studios; Kristy Neville, Matt Code, Morghan Fortier & Brett Jubinville Qualifying Win: Canadian Screen Award for Best Animated Short Synopsis: Ace is having a hot flash, and she’s about to go live on local television. How does she keep her cool when one type of flash leads to another?

I’m Here

Poland Directed by: Julia Orlik Produced by: Agata Golanska Qualifying Win: DOK Leipzig Golden Dove - International Competition for Short Animated Film Synopsis: She is the center of attention, but exhausted by life. An old woman in her final days, bedridden and too weak to speak to her husband and daughter. Her selfhood fades away while in the care of her relatives, who have problems of their own. But Julia Orlik brings the woman back into the foreground with her minimalist concept and touching puppet design.

Migrants

France Directed by: Hugo Caby, Antoine Dupriez, Aubin Kubiak, Lucas Lermytte & Zoé Devise Produced by: Pôle 3D Qualifying Win: SIGGRAPH Computer Animation Festival Best in Show Synopsis: Two polar bears are driven into exile due to global warming. They will encounter brown bears along their journey, with whom they will try to cohabitate.

My Generation

It’s All the Salt’s Fault

Colombia Directed by: María Cristina Pérez González Produced by: Mauricio Cuervo Rincón Qualifying Win: BogoShorts Best Animation Short Film National Competition Synopsis: The youngest daughter of a family of sloths reconstructs their story. Behind the normality of everyday life, the wild spirit appears in life’s daily details and turns them into indomitable memories.

France Directed by: Ludovic Houplain Produced by: Ludovic Houplain, Mirwaïs Ahmadzaï Qualifying Win: Cleveland Int’l Film Festival Best Animated Short Synopsis: Disney’s big boss, Bob Iger, said, “Hitler would have loved social media.” He would have felt at ease in our time of soft totalitarianism (less and less soft actually). What if we put down our smartphones and opened our eyes wide shut? It is ironic that it should be an animated film which reveals the truth of a lobotomized society with the need for intensive care.

Louis’s Shoes

The Natural Death of a Mouse

France Directed by: Théo Jamin, Jean-Géraud Blanc, Ka Yu Leung & Marion Philippe Produced by: MoPA Qualifying Win: Student Academy Award for Animation (International) - Gold Synopsis: Louis is an eight-and-a-half-year-old autistic kid.

He loves his blue sneakers, he is starting at a new school, and he is about to introduce himself.

Matilda and the Spare Head

Lithuania Directed by: Ignas Meilūnas Produced by: Marija Razgutė Qualifying Win: New York Int’l Children’s Film Festival Best Animated Short Synopsis: Matilda wants to be the smartest person in the world. When she can’t fit any more in her head, she figures two heads are better than one.

Memento Mori

Ireland Directed by: Paul O’Flanagan Produced by: Louise Ní Chonchúir Qualifying Win: Galway Film Fleadh James Horgan Award for Best Animation Short Synopsis: Post-mortem photographer Mr.Huxley tends to his latest subject: a mysterious young woman — whose presence conjures Huxley’s personal demons, compelling him to confront his narcissistic life.

Germany Directed by: Katharina Huber Produced by: Casalprim & Huber Produktion Qualifying Win: Vienna Shorts Festival Animation Avantgarde Synopsis: Some days she imagines that by her sheer will she can make body parts fall off of people who seem vicious to her. And some other days everyone around her looks beautiful. And when she was little, she wished that flowers would grow out of her footprints.

Navozande, The Musician

France Directed by: Reza Riahi Produced by: Eleanor Coleman, Stéphanie Carreras, Philippe Pujo.

Qualifying Win: Best Animated Short Award at Tribeca Film Festival Synopsis: At the time of the attack of the Mongols, a young musician and the love of his life are separated from each other. Fifty years later, the musician is summoned to perform at the castle of the Mongols where his beloved is being held.

Night Bus

Taiwan Directed by: Joe Hsieh Qualifying Win: Animafest Zagreb Grand Prix - Short Film Synopsis: Under a moonlit sky, a bus speeds along the coast when a panicky scream shatters the silence – a necklace is stolen. The cry is followed by a fatal accident, and a series of intriguing turns of events through love, hatred and vengeance.

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O Black Hole!

United Kingdom Directed by: Renee Zhan Produced by: National Film and Television School, Jesse Romain Qualifying Win: Aspen Shortsfest Best Animation Synopsis: An immovable woman meets an unstoppable girl in this musical quest to discover the meaning of transience and letting go.

Our Perpetual Now

Mexico, U.K. Directed by: Jorge Aguilar Rojo Produced by: Lanzando Lazaros; Vera Ruiz Qualifying Win: Morelia Int’l Film Festival - Ojo for Mexican Animated Short Film Synopsis: A brief description of the film. You can use an official synopsis as found on the director’s website or festival’s description page.

The Owl and the Pussycat

United Kingdom Directed by: Mole Hill Produced by: Laura Duncalf Qualifying Win: BAFTA for British Short Animation Synopsis: The Owl and the Pussycat set sail with their few precious possessions on a journey in which they learn nothing and lose everything except each other.

Peel

Switzerland Directed by: Samuel Patthey & Silvain Monney Produced by: Mark Olexa, Francesca Scalisi Qualifying Win: Annecy Int’l Animation Film Festival Cristal for Short Film; Guanajuato Int’l Film Festival Best Animated Short Film Synopsis: Time seems to have stopped around the retirement villa when suddenly a silhouette passes. Inside the building, we discover weakened bodies, auxiliary nurses and a black cat as the minutes go by, slowly, repetitively.

Precious

France Directed by: Paul Mas Produced by: Je Suis Bien Content Qualifying Win: Stuttgart Int’l Festival of Animated Film Grand Prix, Tallinn Black Nights - PÖFF Best Short Animation Synopsis: Julie doesn’t manage to fit in at her school. The arrival of Émile, an autistic child, will change all that.

of the film. You can use an official synopsis as found on the director’s website or festival’s description page.

Pearl Diver

Norway Directed by: Margrethe Danielsen Produced by: Volda University College Qualifying Win: Animayo Grand Jury Award Synopsis: Three couples are drifting apart. A hedgehog falls for a balloon, but struggles to keep up his grooming routine. There is a coldness between an arctic couple when a polar bear finally gets away from a needy penguin, and two oysters are longing to meet on the bottom of the North Sea.

The Shawl

Red Rover

Slumber with Snakes

United Kingdom Directed by: Astrid Goldsmith Produced by: Hank Starrs Qualifying Win: Sitges Int’l Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia Best Animated Short Film Synopsis: When a robotic rover starts drilling for signs of life on Mars, the race is on for one tiny rock-beast to save her native community from the invader from Earth.

Return to the Peach Blossom Wonderland

China Directed by: Yue Hang, Yuchao Luo, Haomin Peng Produced by: Volda University College Qualifying Win: Slamdance Film Festival Grand Jury Award for Animation Short Synopsis: In an ancient Chinese fable, The Peach Blossom Spring, a utopian world the author claims to encounter is described as having “neatly arranged residences.” Just like what we can see in a modernized China.

Roborovski

Australia Directed by: Tilda CobhamHervey & Dev Patel Produced by: Jomon Tomas, Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Dev Patel Qualifying Win: Flickerfest Yoram Gross Award - Best

Australian Animation Short Film Synopsis: Roborovski follows an eponymous thimble sized hamster, who spends his days in Marvin’s Pet Shop, hoping to find a family.

However, when he is constantly overlooked by the people and animals around him, his seething resentment and intense jealousy soon takes hold and the murderous side of little Roborovski is released.

In the Shadow of the Pines

Canada Directed by: Anne Koizumi Produced by: Anne Koizumi, Sahar Yousefi Qualifying Win: San Francisco Int’l Film Festival Golden Gate Award - Animated Short Synopsis: A brief description

U.S.A. Directed by: Sara Kiener Produced by: Kislevitz Films, Inc., Zachary Luke Kislevitz Qualifying Win: Florida Film Festival Best Animated Short Synopsis: After years of long distance, a pair of big and beautiful boyfriends celebrate their reunion at a Stevie Nicks concert, where they share a brush with magic.

U.S.A. Directed by: Teagan Barrone Produced by: Cleveland Institute of Art Qualifying Win: Student Academy Award for Animation (Domestic) - Bronze Synopsis: In 1921, an 11-year-old African-American boy is separated from his friend while being chased by a fuming racist mob. Finding a cave, he is no longer in danger from the mob, but from the rattlesnakes looming in the dark.

Based on a true story.

Step into the River

China, France Directed by: Weijia Ma Produced by: Damien Megherbi, Justin Pechberty Qualifying Win: Palm Springs Int’l ShortFest Best Animated Short Synopsis: Routines, an eerie life in the mundane everyday, and body horror. A bathtub has never seemed more enticing and repulsive at the same damn time.

The Source of the Mountains

France Directed by: Adrien Communier, Camille Di Dio, Benjamin Francois, Pierre Gorichon, Briag Mallat & Marianne Moisy Qualifying Win: Riverrun Int’l Film Festival Best Animated Short Synopsis: The Paccha-Picchus are festive little creatures. They live a carefree daily life in sync with the mountains. When the mountains come, their oasis rises and they are lifted up into a winter climate. But one day, the mountains stop coming and the restless Kinko decides to go looking for them.

Souvenir Souvenir

Award - Animation

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France Directed by: Bastien Dubois Produced by: BLAST Prod., Pictanovo, Arte France; exec producer Amiel Tenenbaum Qualifying Win: ANIMATOR - The Golden Pegasus, Sundance Film Festival Jury

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TOC Awards Season Synopsis: “For 10 years, I pretended I wanted to get my grandfather to share his memories of the Algerian War. Today, I’m not sure I want to hear what he has to say, or whether I want to make this film at all.”

Tie

Portugal, France Directed by: Alexandra Ramires Produced by: Bando à Parte Qualifying Win: Chicago Int’l Film Festival Gold Hugo for Animated Short Film Synopsis: Two characters search for missing pieces of themselves in a gloomy, surreal landscape.

U.S.A. Directed by: Sujin Kim Produced by: California Institute of the Arts Qualifying Win: Student Academy Award for Animation (Domestic) - Gold Synopsis: Four late Korean victims of the Imperial Japanese military’s “Comfort Women” sex trafficking scheme in WWII give oral testimimonies of their harrowing personal experiences in this experimental CG-animated documentary.

To the Dusty Sea

France Directed by: Héloïse Ferlay Produced by: Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Arts

Décoratifs (ENSAD) Qualifying Win: Austin Film Festival Jury Award for Animated Short, St. Louis Int’l Film Festival Best Animated Short Synopsis: Left alone in the deepest of the summer, Malo and Zoe are trying their best to catch their mother’s elusive eye.

Umbilical

U.S.A., China Directed by: Danski Tang Qualifying Win: New Orleans Film Festival Helen Hill

Award for Animation Synopsis: An animated documentary exploring how my mother’s abusive relationship with my father shaped my own experiences in a boarding school as a child in China.

In addition to the shorts that have picked up awards at festivals to date, the following titles have also generated strong buzz and have a good chance of landing on the year-end awards’ short list:

Blush

Demi’s Panic

Wednesday with Goddard

United Kingdom Directed by: Nicolas Menard Produced by: Charlotte Bavasso, Christo-

Tiger and Ox

South Korea Directed by: Seunghee Kim Qualifying Win: AFI Fest Grand Jury Award Animation Synopsis: In Korean patriarchal society, what does divorce mean to women? Is a fatherless family a failure? In order to find the answer to these questions, a single mother and her daughter start a conversation.

Their Future Is Bright!

Unforgotten

pher O’Reilly Qualifying Win: SXSW Film Festival Jury Award for Animated Short Synopsis: A personal quest for spiritual enlightenment leads to romance and despair.

The White Whale

Iran Directed by: Amirhossein (Amir) Mehran Qualifying Win: Warsaw Int’l Film Festival

Best Animated Short Synopsis: A long time ago, a young man lost his close friends in an air attack during the war.

After 30 years he is looking for their remains in a big river. A white whale is the only sign he has.

— Compiled by Paige Lyman

Directed by: Bill Plympton Produced by: Danny Leonard Synopsis: A young New Yorker’s prophetic dreams become too real when an invisible danger causes catastrophic loss in this short inspired by the COVID pandemic.

Far from the Tree

Directed by: Natalie Nourigat Produced by: Walt Disney Animation Studios; Ruth Strother Synopsis: A young raccoon learns that while there’s reason to be fearful in the natural world, it’s still possible to live with an open heart.

Namoo

Nona

Robin Robin

Yo

Spain Directed by: Begoña Arostegui Produced by: Fernando Franco Qualifying Win: Alcine - Ciudad de Alcalá Award Synopsis: For our hero, every day looks the same.

Or maybe they are too much alike: the same routines repeated over and over again. One day, a simple board that says “Park” will make everything shake.

Directed by: Joe Matteo Produced by: Skydance Animation, Apple Original Films; Heather Schmidt Feng Yanu Synopsis: A stranded horticulturalist-astronaut experiences love and loss on a small planet in this emotionally charged short.

Directed by: Erick Oh Produced by: Baobab Studios; Maureen Fan, exec producer John Cho Synopsis: Inspired by the passing of the director’s grandfather, this narrative poem charts the beautiful and heartbreaking moments of a man’s life.

Directed by: Louis Gonzales Produced by: Pixar SparksShorts; Courtney Casper Kent Synopsis: A grandmother has to take care of her energetic granddaughter while keeping an eye on her favorite wrestling show on TV!

Directed by: Daniel Ojari & Michael Please Produced by: Aardman Animations, Netflix Animation; Helen Argo Synopsis: A bird, who is raised by a loving family of mice, embarks on a brilliant heist to prove that she can be as good a mouse despite her physical differences.

Twenty Something

Directed by: Aphton Corbin Produced by: Pixar SparksShorts; Erik Langley Synopsis: An insecure 21-year old has to face the challenges of being a grown-up when her older sister takes her to her first nightclub .

Us Again

Directed by: Zach Parrish Produced by: Walt Disney Animation Studios; Bradford Simonsen Synopsis: A magical rainfall and irresistible rhythm transform an elderly dancing couple into their younger selves. ◆

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The 2021 Animated Oscar Crossword

By Myles Mellor

Across 1

10 11 12 13

15 16 17 19 21 22 26 29 30 31 32 35 37 39 42 44 45 46

47

48

Sci-fi comedy directed by Jean-Philippe Vine and Sarah Smith, 3 words Old vinyl record ____ Narita, starring in Spirit Untamed Star Wars Jedi Coming of age fantasy film written by Jesse Andrews and Mike Jones, produced

by Pixar Suzu’s name in the fantasy world of “U” Flik was one in A Bug’s Life Setting for Winnie the Pooh Macbeth, for one Approval word Popular children’s animated TV series, 2 words ___ Jong Animated documentary that was a huge hit at the 2021 Sundance Festival Addition to a letter Sequel to an animated musical comedy, directed by Garth Jennings, 2 words Computer animated supernatural black comedy road film (sequel), The ____ Family 2 St. John and Scott, for example Mark of courage for law enforcement personnel Computer-animated sci-fi comedy film, The ____ vs. The Machines Ballroom favorite Ars longa, ___ brevis Puppeted alien from 1982 The Shrinking of Treehorn could be the first animated film ever directed by ___ Howard Animated film based on a manga series which will be distributed on Netflix, Summit of the ____ Australian opera house city

Down 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 14 18 19

20 22

Heroine in a fantasy action-adventure film Edward’s nickname Barcelona’s home The ___ and the Pussycat Stephanie Beatriz stars in this animated musical fantasy film by Disney Christmas tree decor Science Guy Bill Goal to a Latino commentator ___ Is Anne Frank? animated film starring Emily Carey “Do go on ...”

Lights and amps are part of a roadie’s ____ Live-action computer animated slapstick comedy which might be called “a cat and mouse game” - 3 words Refusal word The magic dragon in the Peter, Paul and Mary song

23 Very small 24 Looked like 25 Series about stranded survivors 27 ___ Transylvania: animated media franchise produced by Sony Pictures Animation 28 Animated comedy film sequel starring Alec Baldwin, James Marsden and Amy Sedaris, ___ ____ 2, 2 words

33 Part of a ventilation system 34 Adds seasoning 36 Sony animated musical comedy drama film set in Cuba 38 Doctor of Science, for short 40 Wizard of Oz “man” 41 Witch 43 Spider___

Myles Mellor is one of the top crossword writers in the world. Published in over 600 magazines, newspapers and web outlets. Over 15,000 crosswords published worldwide. Supplying theme crosswords, diamond crosswords, syndicated puzzles, cryptograms, diagramless crosswords, word search, sudokus, anagrams and word games. Published on mobile devices and e-readers. www.themecrosswords.com. Subscribe to Myles’ crosswords at www.ilovecrosswords.com.

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Clockwise: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Skyfall, The Addams Family, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Game of Thrones

Celebrating Three Decades of Iconic Images Cinesite toasts 30 years of amazing VFX work while strengthening its animation feature division.

E

ven if you are a casual observer of the animation and VFX landscape, chances are you have admired the work of Cinesite over the past three decades. The studio, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, has been responsible for creating some of the most iconic images in the world of film, TV and gaming — in Space Jam, Band of Brothers, World War Z and the Marvel, Pirates of the Caribbean, Harry Potter, X-Men and James Bond franchises, to name a few.

“Cinesite’s 30th is a remarkable achievement for an independent studio,” says CCO Dave Rosenbaum. “We want to showcase the landmark moments and inspirational people who got us to where we are, to inspire the next generation of storytellers to push the boundaries of visual effects and animation. We’re standing on the shoulders of giants who contributed to some of the biggest blockbusters in history, not to mention all the awards those crews have been nominated for or won. Celebrating 30 years builds a camaraderie throughout the group with shared company pride and spreads ex-

ternally attracting more top talent, bigger partnerships and bolder projects.”

A New Focus on Animated Ventures Rosenbaum points out that the studio launched a feature animation division in Montreal in 2016 and acquired Nitrogen Studios in Vancouver the following year.

“In the time since, we’ve delivered an astounding 10 feature CG films,” he points out. “Our first four were low budget per the client, 3QU Media: Charming, Gnome Alone, Dog Gone Trouble and Fearless. Then when Toronto’s Arc Productions closed, we took over The Star for Sony. They needed it by Christmas that year [2017], so we had to deliver in a record nine months, which we successfully did. And that was all just in our first two years of trying to ramp up the studio! More recently, we’ve delivered Extinct for China Lion, Addams Family 1 & 2 for MGM, and have a multi-picture deal with Aniventure.”

The studio just wrapped production on Blazing Samurai directed by Rob Minkoff

(The Lion King) and starring Mel Brooks, Ricky Gervais and Samuel L Jackson. Currently in production is Pulitzer Prize-winner Berkeley Breathed’s Hitpig, starring Peter Dinklage as the title character. The studio recently announced it was in production on the six-part animated series Iwájú for Disney Animation and Kugali, which Rosenbaum describes as “a monumental project in every way.”

Audiences will definitely have plenty of reasons to anticipate the studio’s pictures in the coming years: “Riverdance appealed to us because it’s so unique and entertaining,” says the CCO, who also directed the movie alongside Eamonn Butler. “It’s a musical but without lyrics. It relies on physical performance and speaks through interpretation, evocative energy and the music itself. It’s thunderous, disciplined and visceral — all the things we love in cinema. It features the voices of Pierce Brosnan, Lilly Singh, Aisling Bea and Brendan Gleeson. Bill Whelan, who won the Grammy for the stage show, composed the score.” The movie premiered as a Sky Original in the U.K. & Ireland in May.

“I think the same two words would get anyone excited about Blazing Samurai … Mel Brooks!” he adds. “Based on the seminal film Blazing Saddles and directed by Lion King legend Rob Minkoff, the film tackles the long-standing prejudices of cats and dogs with action-packed slapstick hilarity. The film stars Michael Cera, Samuel L Jackson, Ricky Gervais, George Takei, Djimon Honsou, Michelle Yeoh and the legend himself, Mel Brooks.”

Another big studio highlight is Hitpig. “Remember reading comics in a real newspaper?” asks Rosenbaum. “I remember fondly Bloom County and Opus from Pulitzer Prize winner Berkeley Breathed. When Berkeley pitched me Hitpig, I knew immediately we needed to bring his wild imagination into our studio. Berkeley is not only writing and executive producing the film, we also hired him to be the character designer and work closely with our art department. We don’t just option pitches, we create long-term partnerships with filmmakers; we want them as much as we want the project. Hitpig is a film unlike any other

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Iwájú

Hitpig

Riverdance: The Animated Adventure

‘In our case, these budget expectations are built up from the ground, involve all the key leads and creatives who use our budget caps as a goal, then strategize their creative outcomes from there.’

— Chief Creative Officer Dave Rosenbaum

and is directed by Cinzia Angelini [director of Mila, an award-winning short that Cinesite and Aniventure also produced this year] and David Feiss [creator of Cow & Chicken].

Peter Dinklage voices our title character and is surrounded by the voices of Lilly Singh, Rainn Wilson, Hannah Gadsby, Charlie Adler and RuPaul.”

When asked about Cinesite’s strongest assets, Rosenbaum responds, “People, people, people. Our artists, our crews, our executives all love what they do — and when you love what you do, you put everything into it, and your partners and audiences feel it. We don’t have ivory towers filled with mysterious suits. Everyone rolls up their sleeves and takes on multiple tasks because to be given the opportunity to share stories and art with the world, is a privilege.

On our busiest days, about 1,500 people work within the Cinesite Group (which includes Image Engine and Trixter) with offices in Vancouver, Montreal, London, Berlin and Munich. And we’re still growing!”

One of the unique aspects of Cinesite is how its two different animation and VFX entities work and complement each other.

“A company that has been creating awardwinning visual effects for 30 years works quite naturally alongside a new animation powerhouse,” says Rosenbaum. “The crossover between technology and talent has become more entwined over the years and both are becoming even stronger as the art forms and skillsets merge. In the early 1990s, Cinesite made history with the first digital processing of a feature film, an animated one no less: Disney’s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. After that, Cinesite took 18,000 special effects elements for the first Space Jam, and with never-beforeused techniques put Michael Jordan in an animated world full of Looney Tunes characters. So, you could say, Cinesite has been pushing VFX and animation to work together since the very beginning!”

So, how does the animation side plan to stay competitive and ahead of the curve?

“When we were starting this animation business five years ago, our conversations focused on this exact point,” says the savvy CCO. “The marketplace was already getting crowded and production costs at other studios were quickly rising. Even though overall box-office business was robust, box office for individual films was declining because audiences had more choices but the same finite amount of money. Time and COVID have only exacerbated this. We were, and still are, looking at how we can leverage the latest technologies and best talent to deliver compelling stories within new economic demands.”

Setting a High Bar “It’s no new secret that story and talent are key, nor is it a secret that artists need time and resources to explore and create,” Rosenbaum adds. “As experienced filmmakers, we knew the dangers of rushing schedules and pushing budgets too low. We needed to set a quality bar audiences ex-

Blazing Samurai

pect from high-end animated features, but at a controlled budget level that mitigated as much commercial risk as possible.”

“Many established studios are facing this prospect now,” he continues. “But dramatically reducing their budget levels is more challenging, because they have been designed around higher expectations where any attempt to try and reduce budgets would run the risk of compromising and impairing the quality of the finished content.

In our case, these budget expectations are built up from the ground, involve all the key leads and creatives who use our budget caps as a goal, then strategize their creative outcomes from there.”

Looking back at the challenges of the past year and the changing dynamics of streaming vs. theatrical releases, Rosenbaum says, “The entire entertainment industry was challenged in a way that our collective creative minds failed to imagine. (Except for Bill Gates, of course, who saw it coming. He’s on my Google alerts now, I’ll never miss another word.) But great challenges stimulate creativity and force us to problem solve differently in search of better outcomes. The animation community is becoming stronger because talent and distribution is becoming democratized. New voices are being given new platforms and consequently audiences are being given more choices. There wasn’t a ton of good news in 2021, but maybe that’s a silver lining!”

As he points out, “It was a physically and emotionally heavy year and a half for the planet. But we are fortunate enough to work on and provide something that allows people to find a little joy and escape the real world for a couple hours!” ◆ To learn more, visit cinesite.com.

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Kids in L.A.’s Hipster Hood The creators of Amazon’s new series Fairfax pay homage to a new generation of middle school buddies.

By Tom McLean

G

rowing up has always been hard to do. But getting through middle school amid the contradictory strangeness of Los Angeles’ ‘hypebeast’ culture in the social media-saturated 21st century is more than difficult: It’s comic gold that can only be properly conveyed through adult-oriented animation.

That’s the idea behind Fairfax, which debuted its eight-episode first season last month on Amazon Prime Video and is created and executive produced by longtime friends and L.A. natives Matthew Hausfater, Aaron Buchsbaum and Teddy Riley. They’re joined as executive producers on the project by Peter A. Knight, Jon Zimelis and Jason U. Nadler, of the development and production company Serious Business, and Chris Prynoski, Ben Kalina and Antonio Cannobio for Titmouse, which animated the series. The show features character designs from the artist Somehoodlum, who is a consulting producer along with digital popculture brand Pizzaslime.

Fairfax stars the voices of Skyler Gisondo, Kiersey Clemons, Peter S. Kim and Jaboukie Young-White as a quartet of middle school students who seek contentment and clout along L.A.’s famed Fairfax Avenue and its fashionobsessed hypebeast culture.

Fast, Funny and Fearless The show has a rapid-fire pace and sense of humor that spares no one, all balanced with a sense of heart — and Buchsbaum says they shoot for a 50-50 mix. “We always find that when we weave heart into our stories, and we really make them emotional and give the audience opportunity to connect to our characters on that heart level, that we earn our satire,” he says. “We earn our jokes, we earn the opportunity to be relentless with some situations.”

Buchsbaum, Hausfater and Riley all grew up in Los Angeles, with the latter two having been friends since childhood. Riley and Buchsbaum

connected at USC, and when Hausfater reconnected with Riley the trio hit it off.

“Matt essentially approached the two of us and was like: ‘Yo! We should do an animated show on Fairfax!’” Riley says. ”And right away we knew exactly what it was and was just kind of perfect because it really was a show about our friend groups growing up. It always felt like this cultural melting pot,” adds Riley. ”You’ve got everybody from Orthodox Jews all the way to rappers and everybody in between — and all the hypebeast stuff — and it just felt like a world to us in the same way that South Park or Springfield [The Simpsons] felt like a world.”

“We just wanted to tell off-the-wall stories and be able to pay homage to our favorite genres, whether that’s Die Hard or Apocalypse Now. We wanted to be able to go to crazy places and not spend a billion dollars to do it,” says Hausfater. ”Also, seeing animated kids chasing after this stuff just felt funnier than the live-action version of it,” adds Riley. “The thing we loved about 13-year olds is that when you’re that age, everything is life or death. Your best friend, you’d take a bullet for; your worst enemy, you’d push in front of a bus … It led to funnier stories because they could take something like a tshirt as seriously as you would take a storyline from a mobster show.”

Incorporating the heart of Fairfax culture into the show also was an important element. Visually, the art of Somehoodlum captured the feel the creators were going for.

“They’re already in this world, and they have a great style,” says Hausfater.

The merchandise angle also made Amazon an obvious place to pitch the show. “We knew that there was an extra joke to make with the merchandising component to the show,” Riley says. “There was something that, obviously, only Amazon could do to help us execute that, that the other streamers aren’t

‘The thing we loved about 13-year olds is that when you’re that age, everything is life or death. Your best friend, you’d take a bullet for; your worst enemy, you’d push in front of a bus!’

— Co-creator/exec producer Teddy Riley

able to, and it really was a perfect match.”

The e-tailer began rolling out limited edition items from the in-show streetwear brand, Latrine, ahead of the series premiere.

Bringing on Zimelis and Nader from Serious Business, the pitch landed so well with Amazon execs they got a call back within an hour, Hausfater says. The trio brought in a team of writers to add some new perspectives to the scripts, and got a crash course in animation working with L.A.-based Titmouse.

“Everybody at Titmouse, top down, was so generous in their teaching us about the process,” says Riley. “Seeing how much work goes into making a 24-minute comedy really blew us away, and we truly just have endless appreciation for the painstaking attention to detail that artists and animators have.”

With COVID-19, the crew worked remotely

through all eight episodes of season one, as well as season two, for which production is expected to be completed by early November.

As the show begins its streaming life, the creators see Fairfax as a portrayal of a generation that has not yet had its TV moment.

“We celebrate them as much as we want to satirize them,” says Buchsbaum. ”We always say we think this is a generation that is most definitely going to save the world — if they don’t die from eating Tide pods first. We really think they are fantastic.” ”They’re the most inclusive generation, but they also are the only generation that thinks it’s a good idea to get face tattoos,” adds Hausfater. ◆ The first season of Fairfax is currently streaming on Amazon Prime Video.

Influencers’ Index: Fairfax’s creators see their show as a love letter to kids today — ”a generation that will save the world from global warming — if they don’t die from eating Tide Pods first!”

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Josh Gordon and Will Speck

Simian Sniper Lessons Will Speck & Josh Gordon mix nuanced humor and menacing noir in their new Hulu show Marvel’s Hit-Monkey.

W

ill Speck and Josh Gordon went ape for Hit-Monkey when they first came upon Daniel Way and Dalibor Talajic’s original comic-book series about 10 years ago. “We were struck by its original story and how rich and deep the material was,” says Gordon, who’s best known for directing live-action comedies such as Office Christmas Party and Blades of Glory and the impactful Gecko and Cavemen commercials for Geico with Speck.

“We loved these strange Marvel one-shots and thought it would be a great premise for a limited run series. This was before Guardians of the Galaxy came out and we were wondering if Marvel was ever going to make a movie around a character who grunts, doesn’t speak and you simply have to interpret how he’s feeling.”

“When we first started to pitch the comic book, they’d tell us that we’re the fifth directors who have fallen in love with the property,” says Gordon. “Then, three years ago, we pitched it to Jeph Loeb at Marvel and they flipped for it. Adapting it as an adult animated show gave us the ultimate freedom to produce the show that we wanted to see.”

The new animated Hulu series centers on a Japanese snow monkey (voiced by Fred Tatasciore), who is trained by Bryce, an American assassin’s ghost (Jason Sudei-

kis), after his tribe is murdered in the Alps.

Hit-Monkey also features George Takei and Olivia Munn as kindly politician Shinji Yokohama and his ambitious niece. Ally Maki and Nobi Nakanishi round up the cast as a pair of well-intentioned cops.

Speck and Gordon, who have been good friends since they met as students at NYU, are quite pleased that the show’s animation is handled by Atlanta-based Floyd County Productions, the studio best known for their work on Archer. Speck notes, “We loved the sarcasm and humor with which they animate that show, because we also wanted something different and adult oriented.

They partnered with Toonz (India), Snipple (Philippines) and Mighty (Mexico) to produce the animation, and we love what they were able to achieve.”

The showrunners were aiming for a rich, cinematic overall mood for the show.

“Much of the show has comedic elements led by Jason Sudeikis’ character, but it also delves into darker, more melancholy tones,” explains Gordon. “Episode eight, especially, delves into the effects of violence in the lives of a broken-down American assassin.

It’s ultimately a revenge saga, but it also underlines the uselessness of revenge, because it never brings back the people you have lost. It turns you into the very monster

‘We love Jason [Sudeikis]’s Bryce character and his sarcasm. He is by far the worst possible tour guide and mentor our monkey can have.’

— Co-creator Josh Gordon

that you are chasing. I’m proud to say that the animation goes there.”

Both Speck and Gordon love the show’s complex monkey character. “He is not just this crazy violent character, but he has this vulnerable soul,” says Speck. “We think the best characters are those that you care about and have vulnerability in spades. You are always rooting for him and you want him to get his revenge, while you’re horrified by the world of humans. We also love Jason’s Bryce character and his sarcasm. He is by far the worst possible tour guide and mentor our monkey can have. He has wasted his own life, but now he has to teach Monkey how to navigate the world. It was a lot of fun watching Jason Sudeikis recording the voice, because he said the character was on the complete opposite side of the spectrum from his Ted Lasso persona.”

The co-creators mention that they love the more complex adult worlds that modern animation can bring to screens both large and small. “We grew up on Adult

Swim and we’re obsessed with Ricky and Morty; we love Akira — films and TV shows that really delve into very complex, morally complicated stories. By telling them in animation, you are building up the world and not ‘kiddifying’ them. We love that animation can go to these dark and interesting places. Bryce is not a good human being, but he slowly realizes that his entire life he has been a pretty terrible person. This is his one last chance to redeem himself.”

Gordon adds, “The show really feels like a movie, spread out in 10 episodes. I hope the audience will be entertained. Ultimately, we wanted to make a fun, adult, moody escapist show. It deals with the curse of violence, but you also get comedy and entertaining storylines. It goes back to a great line in the show which says, ‘If you pick up a gun in anger, you’re cursed never to put it down again.’” ◆ Marvel’s Hit-Monkey premieres on Hulu on November 17.

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Space: The Pawsome Frontier First-time show creator Jeremiah Cortez shares how he pitched his show to Netflix and realized his animation dream.

I

f you’re a dog fan or enjoy clever, animated shows about space adventures, then you must mark your calendars for the debut of the delightful new 10 x 19-minute series Dogs in Space in November. Created by newcomer Jeremiah Cortez, the show follows a group of genetically enhanced pooches that have been sent to space to find a new home for humanity!

The idea for the show started as a little comic in a sketchbook Cortez kept during his senior year of college at Laguna College of Art and Design. “It was just a small crew of four dogs having a space adventure,” he recalls. “It was the constant request from my peers and coworkers for more panels to the story that kept me working on it.”

For two years, Cortez worked on creating the pitch bible, character designs, concept art, animatics and even the theme song (which is now the official theme song of the show).”A lot of my inspiration came from sitcoms like Frasier, 30 Rock and Parks and Rec,” he says. “Sitcoms heavily influenced the show along with

the sci-fi element, which was influenced primarily by Star Trek: The Next Generation. Adventure Time is also a huge inspiration, because it did something that I thought had never been done before: They played with the viewers and their expectations.”

Landing the Meeting Soon after Cortez finished his pitch material, his friend Raymond Giron (who also wrote the show’s theme song and is now a composer on the show) introduced him to a Netflix executive, and he scored an in-person pitch meeting at the streamer.

“Until we got the greenlight, I was working very hard to make sure the show was everything I pitched to Netflix, but I didn’t allow myself to get too excited,” recalls the creator.

“Even after greenlight, I was still very careful not to get too excited, for some reason. I still feel like I’m holding back some of that excitement. I truly don’t think I’ll allow myself to fully feel the excitement until season one is officially out for the world to see!”

‘Even after watching every episode well over 70 times, in one form or another, it still amazes me how beautifully the crew made this insane idea work. I am truly grateful for this team.’

— Creator & exec producer Jeremiah Cortez

Dogs in Space, which is also exec produced by animation veteran Adam Henry (She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Random! Cartoons) features the voices of Haley Joel Osment, Sarah Chalke, Kimiko Glenn, Chris Parnell, Debra Wilson, William Jackson Harper and David López, among others. The show’s animation is produced by Atomic Cartoons.

“Most of pre-production was done in L.A., and production and post-production was a combination of both studios,” says Cortez.

“The art department and editing were done here in L.A. Storyboards were done by two teams in L.A. and one team in Canada.”

Cortez says he tried to include as many reallife canine references in the project as possible. “Some of my dogs made it into the show, along with so many of the crew and cast,” he tells us. “It was always part of the plan that if the show ever got picked up I wanted to give something back to the people that worked on the show. So, we tried to feature as many dogs from the people who worked on the series with us — from the people at Netflix, the storyboard teams, the art department, writers, production, all the way to the voice actors. I’m very proud that we even got in some dogs that passed during production that can now live on forever in this adventure across the galaxy. I hope I did right by everyone on this show.”

The talented creator says he couldn’t be more proud of the show he and his team have created. “The timing, the jokes, the col-

ors, the action, the deep feels — I think it’s all stunning. And, even after watching every episode well over 70 times in one form or another, it still amazes me how beautifully the crew made this insane idea work. I am truly grateful for this team.”

For Cortez, the biggest lesson learned was to trust his team and allow them to contribute to the show. “I’m one person with a limit to what I can come up with, so why not let everyone that has an idea be able to pitch something and see if there’s a place for it in the show?” he asks. “So many amazing and funny ideas have made it into the show that I would never have thought of and artwork that I could never be able to produce on my own.”

He also has a few helpful suggestions for all future show creators: “I would say to do your research. Don’t wait for anyone to give you permission to do so. And definitely don’t allow others to tell you there’s only one way to do things or a certain path you have to take.

You do the work, you put yourself out there and you keep on going, no matter how many setbacks come your way. When I was ready to pitch this show I went in with the mentality that if everyone passes on this idea, I will animate and post it myself and maybe someone will pick it up from there. If you believe you have something worth creating, create it!” ◆ Dogs in Space premieres on Netflix on November 18.

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An Unforgettable Ride Talented Taiwanese director Joe Hsieh shares a few key details about the making of his award-winning short Night Bus.

T

aiwanese animator-director Joe Hsieh’s Night Bus has been one of the year’s most quirky and acclaimed projects at festivals around the world. The mysterious short, which centers on the strange events unfolding on a commuter bus on a coastal highway, is the kind of artistic, idiosyncratic venture which leaves quite a lasting impression on the viewer. It has received an impressive slew of awards worldwide, including the top prize at Zagreb’s prestigious Animafest.

“I like observing people and have always felt that humans are highly ‘complex,’ oftentimes thoughts and behaviors are inconsistent or even contradictory,” says the talented director in a recent email interview.

“In Night Bus, I challenged myself to create a suspenseful story where each [person]’s hidden secrets drove the main characters’ erratic behavior. To enrich the plot, I added a little monkey who created havoc to avenge the tragic death of his loving mother.”

Under the Moonlight The inspiration for the short came to Hsieh one night as he was traveling cross country in Taiwan. “While driving along the coastline at night under a moon-lit sky, I was captured by the beauty of the shore — the structured reefs dotted with palm trees, the sights and sounds of waves splashing and glistening under the moon light — and it got me thinking that this beautiful setting will actually provide a perfect setting for a suspenseful film.”

Work on Night Bus actually began in 2015, but midway through, Hsieh’s main focus shifted to working as animation director on director Yon Fan’s acclaimed feature No. 7 Cherry Lane. “While working on No. 7 Cherry Lane, I learned many styling and story-telling techniques that made me see the many inadequacies and flaws of the origi-

nal draft of Night Bus. So, then I revamped the entire story structure and created new ways for the characters to act and interact.

That’s why all in all, it took me about five years to complete Night Bus.” According to the director, Night Bus had a rather limited budget. “There were only six artists working on creating background scenes and characters, and I did the rest, ranging from character movements to film editing and everything in between. The characters and background scenes are all hand-drawn pencil-on-paper and scanned into a computer for coloring and edits. Cutout techniques are used on the characters, frame-by-frame, to enrich body movements and facial expressions. To heighten suspense, enhanced light contrast and texture are used in creating the scenes.”

What was particularly challenging for Hsieh was finding ways to create the chemistry between the seven characters. “While live actors in films can act to create that chemistry, an animated short will have to rely solely on the creator’s imagination and storytelling to weave out a story, and to realize a film that will keep the audience at the edge of their seats and longing to see the ending.”

The young filmmaker says the process allowed him to find creative ways to explore the art of storytelling. “That is what I love the most — using storytelling to keep the audience in suspense until the very last minute, and having them feel surprised yet fulfilled at the film’s conclusion. That’s why I experimented with many different ways to edit Night Bus with the ultimate aim to tell a wonderful story to the audience.”

When asked about his biggest influences, the director mentions the late animation master Kihachiro Kawamoto’s 1976 short Dojoji Temple. “The strong emotions of the characters depicted in this film influenced all my films, prompting me to use strong

Monkeys and Mayhem: Joe Hsieh’s Night Bus won the Public Prize at this year’s Ottawa Int’l Animation Festival.

‘I challenged myself to create a suspenseful story where each [person]’s hidden secrets drove the main characters’ erratic behavior. To enrich the plot, I added a little monkey who created havoc to avenge the tragic death of his loving mother.’

— Director Joe Hsieh

emotions in my characters to enrich the plot,” he notes. “In addition, I was most impressed with the artistic use of uniquely Asian aesthetics throughout the film, and it is the styling cue which I learned to utilize as well.”

As the short captures the imagination of festival-goers around the world, Hsieh says he is quite touched when Night Bus receives the audience awards at events on different continents. “In many ways, I create films for the audience and having them across cultures to love and affirm your film is truly something I will not forget,” he admits.

“In almost all Q&A sessions, the audience would mention that they especially love the adorable-turned-mad-and-vengeful little monkey. It’s actually a character that

I am very proud of.”

“I think a short film does not have a preset framework or structure that it needs to follow,” he adds. “With much less (or no) box-office pressure, short film creators have almost full artistic freedom. This is especially true for animation where the only limitation is the creators’ own imagination.”

Hsieh leaves us with these important words of wisdom: “The road to creating animation can be lonely and challenging,” he cautions. “However, the second you see your film coming to life, you will be so moved and touched that you feel that all of the sacrifices and hard work have been worthwhile. Remember to keep creating and insist on your creation because every frame belongs to you!” ◆

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UNIVERSAL PICTURES PROUDLY CONGRATULATES OUR FRIEND & COLLEAGUE

CHRIS MELEDANDRI ON RECEIVING ANIMATION MAGAZINE’S

HALL OF FAME VANGUARD AWARD

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A Bird’s Eye View of Christmas Directors Dan Ojari and Mikey Please on the magic of needle felt and the joys of making Aardman’s new special Robin Robin.

By Ramin Zahed

F

ans of Aardman Animations’ charming stop-motion gems will get an early holiday gift this month when Netflix premieres the studio’s new special Robin Robin. Created and directed by Dan Ojari and Mikey Please, the half-hour short centers on a robin who sets out to prove herself to her adopted family of burglar mice by stealing a Christmas star from the humans’ home. Produced by Aardman’s executive creative director Sarah Cox, the musical special features the voices of Bronte Carmichael as Robin, Richard E. Grant as Magpie, Gillian Anderson as Cat and Adeel Akhtar as Dad Mouse.

Ojari and Please, who formed Parabella Studios after graduating from London’s Royal College of Art and directing the award-winning shorts Slow Derek and The Eagleman Stag, respectively, pitched the idea to Cox at the 2018 edition of the Annecy Festival in France. “We pitched the idea to Sarah in a cramped corner of the Annecy Festival canteen and sang her the Magpie song. So, it took us about two and a half years to make it — that’s remarkably

quick in animation,” says Ojari.

He adds, “I was thinking about what would be the dream project for Mikey and me, and I thought a Christmas special would be ideal since I love that sense of tradition where families gather once a year around and watch an animated show. We’ve also always wanted to make a musical and it’s been really fun to use the lyrics to tell the story and add this element of oddness to the film. The music is as nuanced as the animation, which can go from loud and playful to being subtle and dramatic.”

Formidable Felt One of the several aspects that sets this special apart from previous Aardman projects is that it uses needle felt instead of the usual plasticine puppets or CG animation, which the studio is best known for. As Ojari explains, “The idea of using needle felt for characters in a Christmas story always excited us, and Robin Robin was the perfect opportunity to try that out. We made our own tree with felt decorations of a mouse and a robin and took them into the first

‘Needle felt is really tactile … It’s luminous and has a way of absorbing and reflecting light and works beautifully for stop-motion animation. It was a challenge for the Aardman puppet makers, but they were really excited by the level of expression we could get from the puppets.’

— Director Mikey Please

meetings. There is a real Christmas-y feel to them and you feel like you can squeeze and cuddle these puppets” “Needle felt is really tactile,” says Please.

“It’s luminous and has a way of absorbing and reflecting light and works beautifully for stop-motion animation. You can get the lights on characters which really shows off their imperfections. It was a challenge for the Aardman puppet makers, but they were really excited by it and the amazing level of expression we could get from the puppets.”

Ojari says one of the big inspirations for him and the team was the 1982 Channel 4 adaptation of Raymond Briggs’ The Snowman (directed by Dianne Jackson and produced by John Coates). “There is such

a great tradition of watching animated specials about the holiday with the whole family. The team and I kept watching The Snowman over and over again for inspiration. We grew up with these specials as well as the Wallace & Gromit shorts. In more recent years, we’ve been treated to animated shows like The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom. They are these beautifully crafted films that are like little presents to the world. We think it would be amazing for Robin Robin to be watched next year as well as this year in the same way.”

When asked about the most challenging aspects of the special, both directors admit that every scene had its share of difficult moments. “Every shot was hard,” says

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A Hand-Made Holiday: The Aardman team took advantage of the special luminous qualities of felt puppets in their charming musical special Robin Robin.

Dan Ojari and Mikey Please

Please. “Our animator Suzy Parr worked on some scenes involving the most intricate choreography for Robin and the mice.

Robin’s song had lots of moments when she had to trample through the rubbish, and sometimes it took up to two weeks to block those scenes. Even the smallest moments have so many different layers, and the postproduction on those scenes were incredibly difficult as well. In a way, the filming of the scene is just one layer of the cake. The introduction of Magpie’s house was very difficult, too. We agonized over the details of that scene. Sometimes we had three or four

people working for weeks on how a scene works or figuring out a character arc. It’s about figuring out that Rubik’s Cube of putting the pieces of a story together. The agonizing part happens when you lay out the foundations. We had a team of about 167 working on the film, and it was all shot at Aardman’s Bristol studio, mostly during the pandemic.”

Please says one of the biggest lessons they learned from the project was how to deliver a musical. “We hadn’t made a musical before, so figuring out how the musical themes worked over the course of the film

and that they needed to have a shape and structure was a big learning curve,” he says.

“It was a fun challenge finding where the mirrored moments were, and the places where themes combined to make new melodies that told a story in and of themselves.

So, learning to use music to tell a story was tricky, but ultimately a huge asset.”

Looking back at these past few years, the directing duo say they are quite thrilled with every last element of the production. “That we got to make a stop-motion musical with Aardman for Netflix is, on its own, something to be pretty thrilled about,” Please

comments. “But if we were backed into a corner and had to commit to a single component to celebrate, perhaps it would be the story we were able to tell in the relatively short amount of time. And that’s down to every team working to their fullest potential.

The composers working with the story team, our co-writer Sam Morrison, our editor Chris Morrell, the incredible animators who are able to say so much with so little.”

In a way, everything has come full cycle, including the filmmaker’s love for Christmas specials and everything Aardman. “We have always considered Aardman to be up there at the top of our industry,” concludes Please. “Thanks to Aardman, both Dan and I grew up with stop-motion films, and it’s been a surreal experience working with the very people that inspired us!” ◆ Robin Robin will premiere on Netflix on November 24.

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Animated Musings

By Mary Bredin

Some Thoughts Zooming By

Jane Jetson puts on a fresh, new face.

I

n recent years, I have helped develop two preschool shows that have mindfulness moments and themes: Tiny Island and True and Rainbow Kingdom. There are many other shows that cover similar grounds, but how often do we actually take a breath and practice what we preach?

Developing these shows often includes much discussion about what is “good” for a preschool audience. We talk about “what skills do children need in these troubling times?” — grit, gratitude, empathy, listening … The list goes on. How can we cover all these skills?! How do we reflect a pause in a show that has to keep children’s attention? How do we reflect the art of listening in a fun, engaging way?

Let’s take a deep breath. One option: the classic Dora method with the helpful “what do you think?” question. But, as COVID rolled in, I was pushed to really pay attention to all these qualities. Has it done the same for you? I really do try and find mindfulness and gratitude in my day. I journal. I breathe deeply. I drink water. And now I am starting to say “thank you” to video conferencing.

Let’s call it “Zoom.” What a fun, preschool word. Remember the PBS Kids show Zoom, which first premiered in 1972 and then made a comeback in 1999? There are several of these wonderful onomatopoeias in tech-verse (I made that up). What about “Google?” Sounds like “giggle.” “Yahoo” — used to be a child’s cry of excitement! “Ice cream! Yahoo!” Do tech-verse do better when they are childhood friendly? Now we are developing vocabulary for children’s shows while marketing titans are doing the same thing. But that’s another story. Lateral thinking will get me nowhere.

I have worked with a Zoom-like service since about 2004, when I lived in London and could speak to colleagues in other countries online, it meant less time away from my little boy. I was happy for the convenience but just assumed it was like a telephone — just the new, improved version: the old Jetsons screen calls were now a reality. It was a tool. Even though I still marvel at how The Jetsons, a Hanna-Barbera show from 1962, could have got it so right.

A moment of serenity on True and the Rainbow Kingdom.

Popular PBS show Zoom!

Mary and her colleagues during a recent OIAFl Zoom panel.

(I am feeling Jane Jeston’s “morning mask” right now!) Which brings me to another tangent: do kids’ shows create the future?

The pandemic has made us all see into each other’s lives and homes and families.

So many traditional boundaries have been crossed — encapsulated in that video of the BBC News interviewee watching his child run into his home office, and his partner run in after! But still, I did not feel grateful for these insights. It is curious, but my imagination had always been pretty vivid about people “outside” the office. It was almost a little let down to know the reality was regular. But my dreams of characters still “went

there.” Even when Zoom told me otherwise, I continued to write soap operas in my mind.

Global Connections My Zoom gratitude did not really begin until I was mentoring a group of amazing people through Women in Animation. We got together once a week online, mostly from all over North America. We also had an artist, Maha (@poichanchan) join us from Pakistan — she was busy trying to get her animation project made. She got up at 3:30 a.m. to join the call; we could all see the darkness at her home. She was trying not to make too much noise, so she wouldn’t wake her parents. I

‘Developing these shows often includes much discussion about what is “good” for a preschool audience. We talk about “what skills do children need in these troubling times?” — grit, gratitude, empathy, listening … The list goes on. How can we cover all these skills?’

can now see the word “transformative.” She could be part of our lives from her part of the world. We all got to meet Maha because of Zoom. Without the technology, we would not have known that she was trying to learn and connect from Karachi.

We also had Patricia in our group, another artist who lives in Nicaragua. Her project is a book that she is writing with some friends. Her WiFi was not always the greatest, but she joined sometimes with her video off. I miss connecting with people at the office, but honestly connecting with this group and with Patricia and Maha felt like an opportunity to connect with the world.

Humans of the Planet.

Then, I had a Zoom pitch through an online conference with a couple from Lebanon.

These artists were working and doing gorgeous work for commercials, but they had a fun and silly idea for a children’s detective show. It was wonderful and universal. It was my privilege to hear them pitch. I probably can not imagine what daily struggles they go through to be up at 10:30 at night to pitch me a story. How very grateful I am to be in a Zoom call with them.

Zoom has allowed me to hear so many new stories and connect from my home in Toronto to this world — in a way the markets do not, as only the privileged can pay the fees, flights, etc. The mindfulness I learn every day from these Zoom calls is astounding. I do not always get it right, but I take a deep breath and try again. Do you have that feeling, too? I hope it does become part of the new normal.

I hope we can create this same feeling in a show for children today. Let’s try. ◆ Mary Bredin is an acclaimed kids & family content veteran and currently Creative Development Producer at TeamTO, where she developed Jade Armor (launching on HBO Max in 2022). Bredin has worked at Guru Studio, Disney, Nelvana, Viasat and Canal+ over the past two decades. She developed and was an EP on Justin Time and True and the Rainbow Kingdom, and is one of the co-creators of Pikwik Pack for Disney Junior.

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For Your Consideration

Best Animated Short

december 21 79PI XAR

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Shorts

Fear of a Deadly Virus The prolific indie director Bill Plympton teams up with writer Danny Leonard for the pandemic-themed new short Demi’s Panic.

By Karen Idelson

A

t the start of the pandemic, Danny Leonard and Lorena Hernández Leonard watched their daughter suddenly become ill with a cough — the kind of cough that made everyone pull away from you at the time.

When they took her to the pediatrician, the doctor was wearing what amounted to a hazmat suit. In April, 2020, COVID tests were in such short supply that their daughter didn’t receive one and they had to take her home not knowing whether she had the virus or whether the rest of the family could catch it from her.

This trying experience became the inspiration for the lauded short film Demi’s Panic, which features animation by the legendary indie director Bill Plympton. The powerful short tells the story of a Latina woman in New York City who is overcome by fear as coronavirus spreads around her.

“I had experienced anxiety and worry in my life, but never clinical anxiety,” says Danny Leonard, writer and producer of the short. “And I had the dubious distinction of experiencing it for the first time in my life [during the pandemic] and then realizing it’s very physical. It’s not just mental. Bill’s idea was to make that [visible] through Demi’s figure and the colors

that you see. So, as you know, he uses colored pencils to show how the anxiety manifests.”

A Timely Topic Plympton became involved in the project after Danny Leonard wrote the script over several months. A mutual friend suggested that Plympton look at the script to give feedback.

Then, a surprising thing happened.

“He sent me the script and it was something like 10 pages long,” says Plympton. “And it was really wonderful because not only was it a great story but it had really beautiful imagery in it. I loved the imagery a lot and, of course, it’s a very important topic right now. Then I did a storyboard and added even more of the manic visuals then he had in the script, but he liked it and he said that it worked well. So, I started designing the characters and I think there were something like 80 layouts. Once those were approved, we started the animation and it was a really fun project because the visuals were so interesting and the story was so engaging.”

“Frankly, I was right in the middle of it because at that point New York City was shutting down,” adds Plympton. “It was very difficult. I had to close my studio and I couldn’t let people come back into my studio for over a year. It

just felt urgent and prescient.”

So far, the short, which was funded in part by a Kickstarter campaign, has been an official selection at HollyShorts, Woodstock Film Festival and the World Festival of Animated Film in Varna, Bulgaria, with an upcoming screening at Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia in Tokyo, Japan in late October. Plympton will also be participating on an Oscar contender short films panel at this month’s World Animation and VFX Summit in November.

Plympton finished the animation on the film in about two months with a small crew of four people. He worked with colored pencils and black markers as he has done so many times throughout his amazing career.

The director says he was moved by the music used in the film, too. Daniel Jimenez Afanador composed the score of the film and worked with a group of classical musicians in Los Angeles as well as folkloric musicians in Colombia. The musicians used specific Colombian instruments

A Master at Work: Bill Plympton translated the script’s anxious energy into frenetic color pencil animation.

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Shorts Pandemic Angst: Demi’s Panic is one of the latest shorts that deal directly with the impact of COVID on our lives.

‘Frankly, I was right in the middle of it because at that point New York City was shutting down. I had to close my studio and I couldn’t let people come back into my studio for over a year. It just felt urgent and prescient.’

—

such as the marimba de chonta and the llanera harp. The filmmakers also secured the right to use two additional songs in the film: “Quizás, Quizás, Quizás” by Trio Los Panchos, which is used during a romantic dance scene, and the song “Catch That Pain” by Helado Negro.

Producer Lorena Hernández Leonard knew the music was a crucial part of telling this story.

Demi is written as a Latinx character from a multicultural background — she has a father

Director Bill Plympton

with a Brooklyn accent and a mother who speaks Spanish.

“We’re raising our daughters in this multicultural, bilingual household and this is America,” says Hernández Leonard. “It isn’t just white anymore and the Hispanic population has increased so much and we wanted to create that reality and express it through the film as well because it is a reality across the country. So, we wanted to portray our dynamics and the dynamics of

many multicultural Latinx families across the country. Also, COVID has disproportionately hit the Hispanic and Black communities. Danny really wanted to bring in beautiful music from Latin artists so through some of my background in marketing we connected with Daniel Jimenez Afandor and everything he made for this film he created from scratch. He would come up with sounds for everything. He even came up with a sound for a viral [COVID] particle.”

The acclaimed director, who was the recipient of ASIFA’s prestigious Winsor McCay award in 2007 and has won five top Annecy awards and earned Oscar nominations for his shorts Your Face and Guard Dog, says he never runs out of ideas thanks to the notebooks he keeps all the time. Whenever an idea or observation strikes him, he jots it down in a notebook. He

is also constantly doodling or drawing out new ideas. These notebooks have been his go-to for decades, whether he needed the next idea for an opener on The Simpsons or just about any other project.

“This is something very new for me because I’ve never done a serious short film before,” says the prolific Plympton, who has directed more than 44 shorts and six features (The Tune, I Married a Strange Person!, Mutant Aliens, Hair High, Idiots and Angels, Cheatin’, Revengeance) and continues to work on a new movie, titled Slide. “I’ve done politics before and dark humor.

This one has no humor, so I really wanted to see what that was like to have a story with no jokes in it and I think it really worked.” ◆ For more info, visit plymptoons.com.

CELACTION Animate and rig faster than ever before.

It’s time to look at CelAction2D. The most powerful 2D animation software in the world. www.celaction.com december 21 81

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Shorts

A Ringed Tale How director Natalie Nourigat’s own childhood inspired her vision for the new Disney short Far From the Tree.

P

arenting is never easy, especially when you’re a racoon living close to the ocean in the Pacific Northwest.

Director Natalie Nourigat ponders this idea and offers a poignant take on the parentchild relationship in her lush and beautifully animated Disney short Far from the Tree.

Nourigat, who was a story artist on features such as Ralph Breaks the Internet, Raya and the Last Dragon and Encanto and created the autobiographical graphic novel I Moved to Los Angeles to Work in Animation, says she was inspired by her own childhood growing up close to the breath-taking beaches on the Oregon coastline.

“About three years ago, I was wrapping my first short Exchange Student for Disney’s experimental Short Circuit program, when I had this great opportunity to pitch an idea for a new short,” she tells us. “So, I looked at my old sketch books and I found three that I was fond of. Then, at the last minute, I came across one that was more personal and emotional, and I decided to go for it. It wasn’t a super solid pitch, but that was the one they picked!”

Nourigat was paired with producer Ruth Strother, who had worked with her on two of her Disney features and production began on the short in 2019. Originally, the

‘I’d be very happy if someone decides to call their mom or wants to talk to their dad after seeing our short. Maybe they can let go of something from their past and get a sense of forgiveness.’

— Director Natalie Nourigat

The Circle of Life: Far from the Tree observes the trials of being a protective parent as seen through the eyes of a raccoon in the Pacific Northwest.

plan was to finish the short in 12 months, but COVID shutdown added another six months to the production schedule. “We had a pretty small crew, and we all did a lot of different jobs,” says Strother. “It was small enough that we got to know everybody. We were almost done in March of 2020, but because of the pandemic, we ended up wrapping in the summer.”

Meander Magic One of the standout qualities of the short is how it harkens back to the glory days of 2D animation at the studio, while it takes advantage of the latest CG technology and relies on the studio’s Meander animation tool to create those 2D visuals, similar to previous award-winning Disney shorts such as Paperman and Feast. (Meander, which was first developed in 2010, is an animation toolset that allows artists to draw with on-thefly vectorization. This allows the application to perform automatic in-betweening.)

“I’m a child of the 1980s, and I come from the world of comics,” says Nourigat.

“So, I love 2D animation and anything that is graphic and simplified. Today, we have so many cool tools in CG. We can create these really complex camera moves, get some really subtle acting choices for the characters and achieve this hybrid look that combines the best of both worlds.”

As the director explains, the short’s environments and characters were all modeled in CG. Then, a flat color was applied to the characters. Meander was used on top of to get that hand-drawn, frame-by-frame animated line art. “That program has been updated through the years, but it’s still a fan favorite at the studio,” notes Nourigat. “Now we can draw with multiple colors. I actually learned how to use it from Rachel Bibb [veteran Disney animator who also worked on Paperman and Feast] and animated a couple of shots with her, which was super fun.”

Nourigat mentions that she and her team originally thought they were going to use

Meander only for about 10 percent of the short. “We thought we were going to use it sparingly, just like the cherry on top,” she says. “But we loved it so much that we ended up using it in 95 percent of the shots. As soon as you see a shot with Meander, you think, ‘Oh, we could use it a little bit more!’”

As she prepares for her short’s theatrical premiere with the Disney feature Encanto, the Disney artist says she is happy to have explored part of her own childhood and personal history for this project. “I knew that I wanted to make a short that spoke to that nostalgia,” she says. “I liked the idea of a multi-generational story and I have such fond memories of this place. Ruth and the rest of our development team helped me poke at this idea and find an actual story and a conflict that made it deeper. I went back to that beach with my parents a few years ago and I just saw it in a different way, from their perspective. I asked them, ‘This place is kind of dangerous with these sharp rocks, big waves and riptides that pull people out to sea … How did you feel bringing your kids here?’”

Nourigat’s parents told her that being a parent was difficult because you want your child to experience the world, but you also need to protect them and keep them safe.

“You know they’re going to get hurt sooner or later,” she says. “I thought that was a good place to start, to shift from a child’s POV to a parent’s perspective and to find a sense of healing and forgiveness along the way.”

The director says she hopes when audiences see Far from the Tree, it prompts them to think about their parents or children. “I’d be very happy if someone decides to call their mom or wants to talk to their dad after seeing our short,” she says. “Maybe they can let go of something from their past and get a sense of forgiveness. Maybe they’ll decide to hug their kid a little closer.” ◆ Far From the Tree will screen with Encanto in theaters, beginning November 24.

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Shorts

Point by Point Honami Yano talks to us about her remarkable Ottawa Grand Prize-winning short A Bite of Bone.

I

n Honami Yano’s acclaimed short A Bite of Bone (Honekami), memories of a summer spent with her father return to a young girl’s mind during his funeral. The impressionistic short, which won the Grand Prize for Short Animation at the Ottawa International Animation Festival last month, was made by the talented young director during her time as a research assistant in the Tokyo University of the Arts graduate program.

“The island where I was born, which also is the setting for my film, has no high school nor art classes, and certainly no art school,” she tells Animation Magazine. “I just always loved to draw and paint. I went to a university that had nothing to do with animation, but then I decided that I wanted to pursue it, so I enrolled in an art university in Kyoto.”

After enrolling in an exchange program at the Rhode Island School of Design, Yano was introduced to independent animation.

She recalls, “I took a studio course with Gina Kamentsky which I really enjoyed. She told me, ‘Go crazy, Honami!’ And I indeed became crazy about animation.”

Soon after, she joined Oscar-nominated director Koji Yamamura’s (Mt. Head) seminar at the Tokyo University of the Arts and began creating A Bite of Bone. “I started on the storyboard in about February 2019 and finished the film in March 2021, so it took two whole years,” she recalls. “The animation and compositing were almost all completed in the first year. The rest of the time was spent entirely on coloring (dotting)!”

Patient Pointillism Yano was the sole person working on the actual production of the short. “The method of pointillism was not something I could get anyone to help me with, and basically I really like doing things by myself,” she says.

“I had many discussions with my producers, Koji Yamamura and his partner Sanae, about the piece. In particular we discussed in detail how to phrase the dialogue, what to say out loud and what not to say out loud. Our conversations were not only a lot of fun but made the whole process joyful and educational for me.”

What’s so impressive about the short is Yano’s clever use of colored markers to create the images. For the intermediate shades, she bought special markers from an art supply store. But some had tips that were too thick — so, for some scenes, she ended up borrowing markers that Yamamura had used on Mt. Head. Colored pencils and pastels

were also employed on the reverse side of the paper. For software, she used Dragonframe, After Effects, Premiere and TVPaint.

When we ask her about the superhuman amount of patience required to create animation by dotting, she says, “When I started, a day of dotting brought on headaches and pain in my neck and wrist. From the beginning I found the work enjoyable and rewarding, but the pain made me wonder if I could continue until the end. But after a certain point, my body stopped hurting. Then I had more leeway to think about other things, such as how to make it even better and more beautiful. At first it took a lot of patience, but as dotting became a part of my daily routine, doing it became the norm. I just kept at it, day in and day out. When I was finished, it felt strange — like something was off!”

The short’s plotline was inspired by Yano’s own memories of her father and her home island. “I lost my father when I was nine years old, but I remember him at every turn,” she says. “I decided to confront my father’s bones through this work. I also wanted to address my feelings about the gunpowder storage hole that was in the hills behind my family’s house on the island.

In the film, I refer to it as a bomb storage to keep it simple, just like a father would say when explaining it to his kids. I have always felt guilty about its existence and wondered why we have it in the back hills instead of an air-raid shelter. This made me feel a little gloomy, like it was saying that I side with the oppressors who inflict violence on people. This artifact is no doubt a negative truth of our history but I felt I needed to recognize and accept it, have it passed on to me and portray it.”

The talented artist says she loves working in animation because it allows her to refine her skills as she is in the process of creating a work of art. “The more I make animation, the more I understand how great the works of my favorite artists are. Then these works seem to move farther away from my reach and I can never catch up with them. But this endless pursuit is what makes it challenging.”

Yano is kind enough to offer some helpful tips for newbies in animation: “During my student days in Kyoto, my school was more oriented towards ‘anime’ than experi-

caption

‘The more I make animation, the more I understand how great the works of my favorite artists are. Then these works seem to move farther away from my reach and I can never catch up with them. But this endless pursuit is what makes it challenging.’

— Director Honami Yano

mental animation,” she mentions. “I got a D on my first animating assignment. I tried to revise it and then took it to my teacher.

The teacher said, ‘You are the only one who got a D on this assignment, which was the lowest grade possible. You are also the only one who corrected it and brought it to me.

You’re the worst in the class, so you’re not going to get any worse. That means you can only get better no matter what you do, and you can do anything you want!’”

She concludes, “My starting point as an

animator was at the bottom: D. That set me free and made me look up. When I looked up, there were many shining, wonderful films to guide me. This prize I got is a very big and also a small step in a long road.

The stars are out of reach. That’s why I am still looking up from the world of D. I think everyone, wherever they are, should look at what they want to see and be free. Personally, I like the shape of B in the alphabet!” ◆ For more info, visit honamiyano.com.

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Shorts

Close Encounter How a personal tragedy inspired Joe Mateo to create his beautiful Skydance Animation/Apple Original short Blush.

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hen Joe Mateo’s beautifully crafted Blush premiered at Annecy this past June, audiences were moved by its lovely visuals and heartfelt storyline. Billed as the inaugural short

by Skydance Animation and Apple Original Films, the short centers on an astronaut who crash lands on a desolate dwarf planet, but finds his life saved and forever changed by an ethereal visitor.

Mateo is an Emmy-winning writer and story artist (Prep & Landing) and a longtime animation veteran at Disney and Pixar, having worked on features such as Pocahontas, Mulan, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tarzan, The Emperor’s New Groove and Treasure Planet. In addition to co-writing Meet the Robinsons (and voicing Tiny the T-Rex), Mateo served as story artist on such hits as Bolt, Tangled, Zootopia, Wreck-It Ralph and Raya and the Last Dragon, and head of story on Big Hero 6. Mateo talked to us earlier this year about his labor of love: Animag: Congratulations on all the accolades your short has received so far. Can you tell us a little bit about the origins and inspirations for Blush?

Joe Mateo: When I lost my wife about four years ago, I couldn’t breathe. I didn’t know what a panic attack was, and it was the first time I had it. Right after that, I felt like I

wasn’t able to breathe. I had a hard time going back to work. I was at Disney at the time, and everyone was very supportive. But drawing and animation has always been my outlet. So I thought, why not channel all of this grief and experience to tell this story?

That’s how it all came about. With my kids, being the new air that I breathe, I thought I should share my source of healing and hope with the world.

Did the short start at Disney or was Skydance Animation involved from the beginning?

It wasn’t supposed to be a Disney project.

When I started toying with the idea of the short, I started thinking about John [Lasseter], with whom I had worked with in the past. He had started his new position at Skydance at that time. He is so good at staying with the filmmaker’s ideas and is very supportive of the true story that

‘We knew when we started the project what our message was going to be, but for me, I didn’t expect the healing to happen to me in the process of making it.’

— Director Joe Mateo

the filmmaker wants to tell. So, I thought it would be awesome to have John as my mentor, because it is always scary to direct your first project. So, I made that leap and decided to tell him why I thought this film had to be made.

The design of the planet and the overall visuals of the film are quite striking. Can you tell us a little bit about them?

So, I designed the characters and I followed my own personal style, how I always do storyboards. I am really comfortable working in that style, and it fit with the tiny planet. I didn’t plan to design it, but John really liked how I did the storyboards and decided to go with it. For the look of the world, I had a lot of help from my production designer Noëlle Triaureau and my art director Julian Romero Muñoz. One thing that stands out: When we started production, we designed the planet — I had a rough drawing, and then Noëlle did this painting that served as a springboard that really got everything going.

Another standout part was the design of the tree and how it grew on the planet.

I know it had to be special, but the way I storyboarded it, it was just a basic mango tree growing. But Julian, our art director, came up with this spiral movement. I saw it and I knew it was perfect. It didn’t stop with the tree: It became a unifying element throughout the short. We have the spiral

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Shorts image, which symbolizes life and makes total sense for us.

Love at First Sight: Joe Mateo’s personal loss inspired his poignant space fantasy Blush.

Where was the animation produced? Did you all work from home?

We started production here in L.A., two months before the pandemic shutdown. It was a small group of us at Skydance L.A. We also collaborated with the Skydance Madrid studio [formerly Ilion Animation Studios], which was awesome. That’s where most of the crew was based. We started with a small group and it grew from there. It took about a year and a couple of months. We all worked from home.

How does it feel to finally release this very personal project into the world?

It feels like you’re showing off your baby. For me, it goes back to the original intent and message of the short, which is about hope and healing, and the importance of love. We knew when we started the project what our message was going to be, but for me, I didn’t expect the healing to happen to me in the process of making it. I felt that Blush gave me and our crew who were working from home something to look forward to every morning.

When did you decide to tie in your own personal photos and images during the end credits of the short?

Initially, I went back and forth. I wasn’t sure because I wanted people to relate to

the short and have a connection with it.

When we were putting the storyboard reel together, we tried it both with and without it, and it was just so much more impactful with the addition, and the message really resonated with that [autobiographical] connection. It became a love letter to my wife and my family.

When you were a kid growing up in the Philippines, did you always know you wanted to work in animation?

I was a big fan of Saturday morning ’80s cartoons, shows like G.I. Joe, Transformers, etc. I think watching Disney movies really made me look into the art form. It was amazing to witness how things come to life. That’s how I got into it. I took two animation classes in college in the Philippines, but I majored in advertising. So, all my knowledge in animation came from those two classes. I was just fortunate that there was an opening position for cleanup in-between artists

for Pocahontas at Disney and I learned so much on that job.

Any final words of advice for other animation hopefuls?

I never imagined being a director, but this idea for the story came along and it was so personal to me. So, my advice would be to find something that means a lot to you, and then figure out a way to tell the story in the most entertaining way. That’s it I guess! ◆ Blush is currently streaming on Apple TV+.

For more info, visit skydance.com/animation.

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Shorts

Impressions of a Lifetime Director Erick Oh comments on some of the images from his poetic and personal short, Namoo.

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orean writer-director Erick Oh, who was nominated for an Oscar for his ambitious short Opera earlier this year is back on the scene again with another powerful project: Produced by Baobab Studios, Namoo is a highly personal short (available both in VR and linear formats) which was inspired by his own grandfather’s passing. We asked Erick to comment on some of the project’s beautiful artwork. Here is what he shared with us:

Scene 4: This is the moment the boy discovers his love for art. We finished this shot first as a test, not only because this is one of the most important scenes of the film, but also, this contains lots of things we had to solve visually and technically. As a result, this shot became a guiding star for the rest of the film. That being said, every step and stage of completing this shot was a challenge. Here are breakdowns :

1. Storyboard. It always starts from a rough thumbnail board which contains the high level story points. This is where I figure out what the boy needs to be doing and how he starts drawing.

2. Concept Art. Then, Eusong Lee, the art director, took this drawing and visually explored it in different directions, in order to capture the right tone and emotion of the moment. Also since this is a film that has to clearly indicate the passage of time

through four clear seasons. Eusong spent lots of time designing the overall color script from beginning to end. This shot has a warm pastel color in the sky because everything here is all about youth, dream, hope and innocence.

3. Scene Development. While Eusong figured out the overall tone, I made further steps into the story. Which objects are hung on the tree or on the ground? Why do they need to be there? What are the main objects that the audience needs to pay attention to while what are the supporting objects?

4. Master Painting. After I finished the detailed planning, Eusong took over again and took it to the next level by finalizing the look and design of the shot. Eusong did an amazing job coming up with the painterly look that has an organic warm traditional touch. Mixed medium between watercolor and oil painting.

5.VR Quill Painting. Then our main Quill artist, Nick Ladd, repainted everything three dimensionally in VR space by using Quill, the VR software developed by Oculus. It allows the artist to be able to draw, paint, animate and design intuitively in VR right away. So this became the main software to actualize this film. Eusong and Nick had to work together to find a way to absolutely match the look between Eusong’s 2D painting and Nick’s VR painting. It was a very challenging process but after many attempts and trials, we were able to come up with a look we were all happy with.

6. Final Rendering. At last, we exported everything to Unity for the cinematography. Again, extremely challenging because this process of translating what is made in Quill into Unity, was never done before anywhere. But thanks to the cinematographer, Kelly Nakasone, and many artists’ hard work, we were able to successfully deliver everything to Natan Moura, the After Affect compositor. Natan added extra effects and made the final tweak for the final rendering. ◆ Visit baobabstudios.com/namoo for more information.

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VFX VFX

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A Monster Evolves How the teams in London, New York and Toronto worked together to up the visual ante in Venom: Let There Be Carnage.

By Trevor Hogg

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ne of the benefits of producing a sequel is that the filmmakers can build upon what has already has been established, which is exactly what director Andy Serkis (Breathe) and VFX supervisor Sheena Duggal (The Hunger Games, Agent Carter) have accomplished with Venom: Let There be Carnage.

“Venom and Eddie Brock [Tom Hardy] are still in a symbiotic relationship, but they’re more of a squabbling couple who get on one another’s nerves,” notes Duggal. “We get to see much more of Venom’s individual personality. For example, there is a scene in which he uses multiple tentacles to cook Eddie breakfast and another where they have a physical fight. We hadn’t developed anything this extensive in the first film, and this time around we leaned much more into the comedy of these moments.”

Something that was unforeseen was the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic. “Working from home across multiple time zones was enormously challenging and everyone was using different ways to communicate,” recalls Duggal. “Initially I didn’t

have a server setup in my house, so that, coupled with limited bandwidth internationally, meant it was too hard to download directly from the server in the U.K. I would spend hours downloading Aspera data packages from the visual effects vendors, editorial and concept artists on my laptop!”

additional VFX supervisor Marty Waters, who is based in the U.K. and was our shoot supervisor during principal photography. Tools like QTAKE and Moxian made it possible for me to be connected to the set and give feedback on the visual effects work.”

‘The desire was for Venom to be even more realistic and fierce, so DNEG, led by VFX supervisor Chris McLaughlin, updated his muscle system which makes use of a three-layer muscle/fat/skin simulation.’

— VFX supervisor Sheena Duggal

Duggal says the process required a lot of persistence and practical intelligence to meet the team’s initial goals. “We did some additional photography during the lockdown in the U.K., New York City and Toronto. Our actors were in different countries although sometimes acting in the same scene. We did a lot of previz and tech viz to figure out how best to shoot. I was lucky to have the help of

Tactile Tentacles Among the improvements the VFX team were able to achieve was the cloth interaction with the tentacles coming out of Brock’s body. “The idea is that the Venom symbiote seeps through his pores and increases in bulk. It pushes through the threads of his clothing, creating many small tentacles, which then combine into the creation of the

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full-grown tentacle,” explains Duggal. “Creature effects were devised to create all the tentacle and clothing interaction.”

About 1,323 visual effects shots are in the final cut with sharing taking place between an in-house team, DNEG, Framestore, Image Engine and, in some cases, The Third Floor for camera blocking. Duggal notes, “The desire was for Venom to be even more realistic and fierce, so DNEG, led by VFX supervisor Chris McLaughlin, updated his muscle system which makes use of a threelayer muscle/fat/skin simulation. An entirely new facial rig allowed for better lip-sync, dialogue delivery and general performance. More weight was added to his animation. The Wraith Venom appears in many more shots this time around, so the animation rig was rebuilt and new development work had to be undertaken, as well as redesigning Wraith’s connection to its host [which was not visible in the previous film].”

Serving as the primary antagonist is the symbiote Carnage, the alter ego of serial killer Cletus Kasady (portrayed by Woody Harrelson). “I decided that it was beneficial

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VFX VFX

A Monster in Motion: To get the right movements for the creature’s tentacles,VFX supervisor Sheena Duggal looked at the way a scorpion raises its tail behind its head in a threatening way.

to sculpt a maquette to give us something physical for everyone to interact with early on rather than waiting for it to be built in CG,” explains Duggal. “This allowed us all to see how the character was going to look and gave me something to do lighting studies with. The maquette was 3D scanned and became the basis of the digital model.”

According to Duggal, Carnage is a more complex character than Venom. “He has more transformational abilities, including the ability to have multiple weaponized tentacles, to project weapons from his body and to use his biomass to grow and expand to any size he wants,” says the VFX supe.

“Unlike Eddie who is hosting Venom, Cletus births Carnage and they share DNA. Based on some concepts from Danny LuVisi, we created complex anatomical transformations where we see the shared anatomy being broken and ripped apart. When the tentacles first grow, I looked at the intertwining growth of tentacle-like mold and vines.

To get ideas for the weapons, I looked to animals in nature and how they use them.”

“We also had to sell the idea that the symbiote had a serial killer as a host so I had to come up with ways to make him scary and dangerous and add that extra bit of unhinged to his character,” she notes. “We definitely did that with the way Carnage moved and held his body, the weapons, and the rage tentacles.”

Digital doubles such as digital face and limb replacements were needed for the

Shriek transformations, the female symbiote that lives inside of Frances Barrison (Naomie Harris). “Shriek has a powerful scream that we had to visually convey. We looked at sonic booms and cymatics, the study of visible sound and vibration,” remarks Duggal. “It’s something I’d researched in the past and it was perfect for this as it gave us an added extra layer of complexity.”

To achieve the desired effect, Image Engine (who completed all the Shriek shots) relied on two ingredients — the visual representation of the scream and its interaction with the environment. “The representation was executed using a combination of effects layers and comp treatment,” Duggal explains.

“How it interacted with the environment ranged from replacing live action props to making them fly around a cell room, to fully

replacing Shriek digitally so we could make her cheeks, hair and clothes react.”

Digital Doubles to the Rescue DNEG and Image Engine created digital doubles of Brock and Kasady for the scenes that take place at the Ravencroft Institute for the Criminally Insane and Grace Cathedral. “These were used as fully CG characters where stunts were not feasible as well as in all of the character transformations between Eddie/Venom and Cletus/Carnage,” Duggal points out. “To some degree, digital doubles were also used for Mrs. Chen/Venom and built for other non-lead characters who transform.”

The film also required extensive CG world building. “Once we get off the ground in Ravencroft, all the environments are fully

CG, featuring CG assets: Shriek, Cletus, ‘67 Mustang, Kia Tellurides and Carnage [shared DNEG asset],” says the award-winning VFX supe. “There were many FX elements created as well from simple atmospheric effects to complex car and building destruction, and a couple of Carnage transformations. The Grace Cathedral set was shot on a bluescreen stage in Leavesden Studios, with some of the set built. Everything becomes fully CG once we get up in the air and they are fighting on the bell tower. This was the most complex sequence for DNEG, was nearly half of the assigned shots and required their largest environment build because in the film the cathedral is under renovation/construction. Eddie’s apartment had a greenscreen exterior and there were many miscellaneous greenscreen shots spread throughout the film.”

Duggal says one of the highlights of the project was working on a beautiful storybook animation piece that was shot on greenscreen, with Eddie and Cletus sitting at a table while postcard drawings come to life. “It required creating an animated sequence telling the twisted backstory of Cletus, a maniacal serial killer, using his deranged doodles on a postcard as a device,” she recalls. “This was a highlight for me as well as for Framestore VFX supervisor Dale Newton.” ◆ Sony’s Venom: Let There Be Carnage opened with the biggest domestic box office of the pandemic ($90M); now in theaters worldwide.

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VFX VFX

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Tech Reviews

by Todd Sheridan Perry

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EmberGen Beta

e all know that the heavy demand for VFX is not slowing down anytime soon — especially for effects like fire, explosions, dust, dirt hits, smoke and fog. These are elements that traditionally have a heavy computation hit. There is a lot of complex math going on, especially when you get more and more photorealistic, because all of that simply takes time. This is even more of a problem in real-time environments like games, and I suspect we’ll be seeing them creep into virtual production pretty soon.

Last year, JangaFX released a product into the wild called EmberGen. It was, and still is, in beta, but is actively being worked on with frequent builds and probably the most transparent development I’ve seen in any software with fully visibility to the Trello board they are using to track tasks.

EmberGen is a real-time volumetric fluid simulator that allows the user to generate fire, smoke, etc., and iterate the simulation in real time (or near real time depending on the complexity) to quickly design looks from realistic to magical. These can then be rendered out to image sequences or flipbooks for use in VFX or games, or you can export out the volumes to VDB files.

The workflow is node-based, and any VFX artist coming from Houdini, Bifrost, thinkingParticles or tyFlow will feel perfectly at home in the procedural methodology. The parameters like vorticity, temperature, turbulence, etc. will all be familiar. One feature that is not in all other FX software is the ability to easily create seamless loops — which is kind of amazing.

Earlier versions of the beta had an interface that left a lot to be desired. The math under the hood is solid, but it just needed an intuitive interface. The developers listened (to the users — not to me specifically) and brought in a UX designer to kick the software up a few notches.

The good news is that the outputs are on par with most production software. Image renders support RGBA, motion vectors, normals, masks, emissive, six-point lights, etc. You can bring in cameras from your preferred DCC and render the elements. Or, the same passes can be in a flipbook format to be used on sprites — either in a comp or in your game engine.

EmberGen comes with a plethora of presets to get you on your way: fire, volcanos,

space portals, tornados, torches, dry ice — you name it. There are tons to not only act as a foundation for your own stuff, but a great way to deconstruct how the FX are made and begin to develop new recipes the more you understand how it works.

The software is GPU accelerated, so make sure you have a nice video card. I’m watching a sim on my laptop (with an RTX 5000) that is utilizing 95% of the GPU and over 8MBs of my 16MB of RAM. The cost of a permanent license is $199 which gives you a year of updates, while further maintenance comes out to $149 per year to continue updates. So it’s sort of a subscription, but your software doesn’t go away if you don’t continue, it just doesn’t get updated. It’s not a bad price at all, and I’m all about supporting little guys. So, if you have lots of effects to create, this feels like a perfect tool for the toolbox.

Website: jangafx.com Price: First year: $99.99 - $239.99

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KeenTools

ince my last review of KeenTools back in 2018, the development team hasn’t stopped making those tools better, and they’ve continued to add useful features using the technology they’ve already developed. The foundational tools allow one to track geometry, build face geometry from scratch, track face geometry to footage, texture geometry and lock geo to a scene through GeoTracker, FaceBuilder, FaceTracker, TextureBuilder and the PinTool, respectively. All of this without leaving the comfort of your Nuke interface.

In the latest build, 2021.3.2, the big addition is a suite of three nodes for controlling blend shapes. By taking different meshes with the same topology, one can make morph targets between the shapes. In the case of a face, it could be the difference between a neutral face and a smile. This may be pretty “3D 101” stuff, but this is all in Nuke rather than a dedicated 3D program.

JoinBlendshapes does exactly that — it joins geometry to be used in the model deformation (neutral, smile, right eyebrow up, left eyebrow up, blink, etc.) The node collects the same topology models with their unique deformations, gives you a field to name them, and then passes the information downstream

to the second node in the suite, MixBlendshapes. This node provides sliders for each of the inputs for you to animate and/or create new expressions.

You might say, “Well, this is all well and good, but I can do that in Maya.” And yes you can, but now you can take your blendshapes and feed them into the KeenTools GeoTracker and track your head to the person in the footage. Also, when the director wants to modify an expression or add a blink, then it can be done in Nuke without sending it all the way back up the chain to Maya and the animation department.

For human faces specifically (which FaceBuilder and FaceTracker is ideal for), you don’t need to set up your own blendshapes.

The FACS (Facial Action Coding System) node provides all of the targets already. Hook up a MixBlendshapes node to the FACS node and you have all the controls for the face target shapes. You can even feed in data from the FaceTracker node to drive the FACS shapes.

And if that weren’t enough, you can remap the animation to another face, even if the topology is different.

It doesn’t stop there: The KeenTools are available for Nuke Indie as well. And: the KeenTools team has also ported FaceBuilder for Blender since I last looked at it. This is some serious stuff, people! Incredibly powerful, and as I said in the last review, also incredibly smart.

Website: keentools.io Price: $399

Cebas’ thinkingParticles 7.0

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ere is yet another powerful piece of software that I haven’t reviewed for a few years: thinkingParticles. And perhaps this is because Cebas does periodic drops of builds rather than an annual release with all sorts of new stuff that you’ve been needing since the last big release. This is the same with Adobe or Autodesk, where they push out a new build and say, “Take a look!” Great for the users, but not so good for reviewers like me who just want to showcase the big advances.

But the release of thinkingParticles 7 warrants a nod as Cebas moves from 6.x into the next realm of procedural visual effects — not all of it on the surface. The developers at Cebas have been spending time cleaning out the older, slower code, swapping out the memory management architecture to make sure the software is taking full advantage of the ubiquitous multi-core workstations we have today. It’s this necessary housekeeping that keeps things from not taking advantage of the latest hardware tech.

The largest step forward is the inclusion of the Flow MPM node, which allows for Material

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Point Method simulations. This is a calculation technique to simulate solids, liquids, gases and continuum material. And for TP7, this solver calculates granular elements like snow and sand, stuff with cohesion that can break apart. Full control of the materials is provided, and even further control happens when you utilize the Flow Data node, reading and manipulating the properties of the material. The Flow MPM solve will also work in conjunction with other solvers in TP using Flow Solver — like their SPH (smoothed-particle hydrodynamics) solver.

The viewport display is now more robust with the help of the latest GPU acceleration.

Millions of particles in the viewport give a much more accurate representation of the volume and density compared to the final render. Oh, and by the way, Cebas’ finalRender is bundled with TP, so you can further take advantage of the hybrid render that can do insanely faster point renders through NanoVDB — a subset of OpenVDB that TP 7 has taken advantage of. Also note that support for OpenVDB got a performance boost and is multithreaded.

In addition, a Voronoi/Cellular helper has been included to provide control to the shape and structure of fractures. And anyone who is tired of looking at traditional Voronoi fractures knows just how important it is to be able to mix that up so the pattern doesn’t reveal itself.

Fragmenter has received an overhaul, giving birth to ShapeElement, which will break apart meshes into its elements for proper destruction. Fragmenter is still available, but ShapeElements is more streamlined. Of course, any time you can optimize your workflow, it is a good thing — all those extra calculations can add up quickly.

Overall, this is a powerful and promising release for a package that has been delivering high-end VFX for high-end studios for over a decade. If you need more proof, just watch the opening bridge collapse sequence in Final Destination 5 (#notsohumblebrag).

Website: cebas.com Price: $55 (monthly rate); $945 (annual rate) Todd Sheridan Perry is an award-winning VFX supervisor and digital artist whose credits include Black Panther, Avengers: Age of Ultron and The Christmas Chronicles. You can reach him at todd@teaspoonvfx.com.

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Opportunities

Autonomous Animator

By Martin Grebing

Terrific Toons: (Clockwise) Maya and the Three (Netflix), Central Park (Apple TV+), Invincible (Amazon Prime Video) and Star Wars: Visions (Disney+) are only some of the animated shows that have found huge audiences on streamers.

How to Get Your Animation on Streaming Services

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treaming services continue to redefine how people view content. Long gone are the days of only a few networks having a stranglehold over the country’s television options.

Giants like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Disney +.

Apple TV +, Hulu and many others have completely taken over traditional television stations and even movie theaters to provide seemingly limitless on-demand movies, cartoons, series and shorts, all available instantly all the time with a click of a button and a small monthly fee.

With hundreds of millions of subscribers worldwide, it’s no surprise that these companies are spending hundreds of millions of dollars producing their own content and scouring the globe for the best already-produced content available.

While this may seem like a modern-day gold rush for content producers, trying to get your show on any of the bigger streaming services comes with all the traditional trappings of old Hollywood.

However, with a little guidance and a whole lot of effort, you just may be able to crack the code and get your show on a streaming service.

Focus on Concept

More than anything else, you need an idea that is instantly engaging. Or, in some cases, an

idea that is similar to but not a direct copycat of another highly successful show that is currently leading the genre.

You need to have millions of viewers identify with your characters, at least on some level.

People need to care about the characters and what happens to them, otherwise viewership will fall off quickly and permanently.

Moreover, if your concept doesn’t jump out in front of the competition, your pilot episode may never be viewed by a potential buyer.

The show needs to be sustainable. Think long and hard about how you can keep your show fresh and moving forward for 10, 20 or even 100 episodes. While some streaming services use their platform as a real-time focus group where they test a single episode or a small number of episodes before committing to a full season, they are always looking for a show that can keep viewers engaged for episode after episode, season after season.

Quality Matters

Make sure your production quality is topnotch. Once in a blue moon, a show comes along that gets away with amateur-looking animation and even excels because they wear the low production quality on their sleeve as if it’s a red badge of courage, but never aim for the bottom

— always keep things as high quality as possible if you hope to attract interest from a streaming service in today’s competitive climate.

Know Your Audience

It is crucial to be crystal clear on your target demographic. Nothing says “I really don’t know what I’m doing” like trying to promote your show as something that appeals to all ages and everyone in the world. Have a firm grasp on the target age range of your show as well as other target viewer statistics as you will need to present this information in your pitch.

The Pitch

Now that you have your pilot episode of your blockbuster show ready to showcase and your pitch has become pitch-perfect, there are only a handful of ways to get your foot in the door to see if your show has what it takes to land a deal.

The best option is knowing someone in acquisitions at your target streaming service. As they say in the entertainment biz, “It’s who you know.” When ready, reach out to your contact and politely ask if you can show your amazing animated show that you think they could be very interested in acquiring Secondly, you could work with a producer or agent. A seasoned veteran of the industry with

connections is invaluable in your pursuit to land a streaming deal. They can serve as a consultant and will more than likely be brutally honest about your project and if impressed, could help fine-tune your project and schedule a pitch session with an appropriate streaming service.

The most challenging option is trying to do it yourself. If you have no experience in this realm and no contacts of the sort, you would be much better off spending your time and money making these types of contacts and researching and reaching out to producers and agents to see if you can find someone to be your aggregator.

If you’re passionate about your project, have a great idea, know your target audience, can make viewers care about your characters and have excellent production value to boot, with time, persistence and connections, millions of people may one day see your show on a streaming video service.

Martin Grebing is the president of Funnybone Animation Studios. He can be reached at funnyboneanimation. com.

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A D ay I n T he L ife We decided to get in the mood for the cold weather by visiting our Finnish friend, Gigglebug Entertainment Founder & CEO Anttu Harlin, the talented animation writer and producer behind Gigglebug, 101 Dalmatian Street, The BeatBuds! Let’s Jam and the upcoming show Best & Bester.

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8:30 a.m. The day begins with a walk to the elementary school to drop off our twin boys!

3 10 a.m. The crew is doing well. No fires. Not even smoke. They are such superstars for looking after the artists and keeping the shows on schedule and budget.

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9.15 a.m. I arrive at the Gigglebug studio, where Gustav, the Yellow Yeti and star of our upcoming original show, greets me every morning! Now, where are my keys when I need them? Luckily, someone lets me in.

11.42 a.m. I drop by the directors’ room to ask about an animatic I’m waiting to review.

They tell me it’s coming soon.

Just a few more tweaks!

5 11.48 a.m. Hard-working office dog Maggie relocated to Helsinki from Edmonton. She brought along our layout supervisor for Best & Bester, too!

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7 1 p.m. Fridays are cool! We host Idea Labs, which are co-creation sessions over lunch.

We spitball half-baked ideas among six to seven of our artists to create seedlings for new shows. Sometimes we come up with nothing and sometimes with something great, and we consider both successes!

6 Noon: I have to enter the phone booth for a call.

In an open-plan studio, you need rooms to make important calls!

5 p.m. It’s the first time since this summer that we’re getting together for food, drinks and watching animatics with the team!!

9 10 6 p.m. The day has a perfect ending as we make a big splash at swimming school with the boys!

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• Generous and reliable creative tax reliefs • World-class cast, crew and facilities across the UK • Film-friendly policies The British Film Commission provides free tailored production support at the highest level, from the earliest stages of development through to postproduction. With offices in the UK and the US, we are available 24 hours a day.

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