Film
The Active Line: A Brief History of Film Animation
Motion picture animation has a long and distinguished history, sadly overshadowed by second-rate, mass-produced children’s cartoon entertainment. This 8-week survey of feature films and selected shorts attempts to place animation in its proper context in the history of the cinema. In additon, there will be three special presentations: an illustrated lecture on animation, a screening of local animators’ works and an introduction to the commercial animation industry in the Maritimes. Curated by Ron Foley Macdonald, who will introduce all evening screenings and events, The Active Line is designed to complement the exhibition of contemporary Canadian drawing, Just my Imagination. The regular film program is on Wednesdays at 12:30pm and 8:00 pm; special presentations are on Tuesdays at 8:00 pm only.
19 October: Winsor MacKay Collection 1911-1921
For a decade in the early 20th century, American cartoonist Winsor MacKay produced hand-drawn animation for vaudeville houses and movie theatres, pioneering the techniques of cell animation. This 60-minute presentation includes LIttle Nemo (1911), Gertie the Dinosaur (1914), How A Mosquito Operates (1918), The Sinking of the Luisitania (1918), Bug Vaudeville (1921), Pet (1921), Flying House (1921) and Flip's Circus (1921).
25 October (Tuesday): The Lines Drawn: More than One Hundred Years of Movement in All Directions.
In this illustrated lecture, Ron Foley Macdonald will examine film animation from the beginnings of cinema to the digital age, looking at graphics, titling and narrative cell animation, along with trends in stop-motion, collage and experimental styles.
26 October: The Adventures of Prince Achmed
Lotte Renieger, Germany, 1927, 67 minutes. Considered the first animated feature film, Lotte Renieger's silhouette animation masterpiece shows clear influences from her friends and contemporaries in the German Expressionist movement (she collaborated with Fritz Lang and Walter Ruttman) as well as the exotic narrative style that would foreshadow the work of her associate Bertold Brecht. Also on the bill will be Walter Ruttman’s experimental silent short Opus 1 (Germany, 1922,10 mintues).
2 November: Snow White and the Seven Dwarves
Walt Disney, USA, 1937, 83 minutes. 3 years after Reneiger (and 570 artists and 1.5 million dollars later), Walt Disney released the first of his ground-breaking animated features which have gone on to define and dominate the form and the industry itself. Despite a sanitized narrative, the startling beauty and richness of the carefully wrought cell animation remains the standard by which all else is measured. Selected Betty Boop and Felix the Cat shorts will round out this glimpse of Hollywood animation in the 1930s.
8 November (Tuesday): Local Animators
An evening of selected animated shorts produced by members of Atlantic Filmmmakers Co-operative, presented by the filmmakers and friends and hosted by AFCOOP’s own Chris Spenser-Lowe.
9 November: Animal Farm
Joy Batchelor and John Halas, Britain, 1955, 73 minutes. George Orwell's beloved political allegory becomes a stark cold-war story (with a questionable happy ending that Orwell never intended). The grown-up subject matter and sophisticated cell animation makes Animal Farm one of the first animated feature films for adults. In keeping with the theme of political allegory. Norman McLaren's Oscar-Winning fable Neighbours (NFB, 1953, 8 minutes) will open the show.
16 November: Yellow Submarine
George Dunning, UK, 1968, 87 minutes. Filled with all the whimsey and psychedelia of the 1960s, the Beatles' animated feature remains, strangely, one of their most under-rated achievements. Set in a tapestry of some of their most famous songs, Yellow Submarine is a diverting visual delight. Also on the bill: the absurdist short What On Earth (Les Drew and Kaj Pindal, 1996, 9 minutes), a tale of our planet as viewed by “Martians”.
22 November (Tuesday): So You Want To Work In Animation? A lively seminar with just some of the over 250 people in Halifax who currently work in the animation industry, this presentation will look at the scope and potential of a growing--but still relatively unknown--sector of the East Coast motion picture production scene.
23 November: Fritz the Cat
Ralph Bakshi, USA, 1972, 77 minutes. The first x-rated feature animated film, Fritz the Cat took R. Crumb's comic character to a motion picture extreme that included visual representations of many of the counterculture's excesses. Funny, sweet and definitely subversive, Fritz broke some of the last taboos left in the animated world. It will be prefaced by two shorts by the famous Ryan Larkin: Walking (NFB, 1968, 5 minutes) and Street Musique (NFB 1972, 9 minutes).
7 December: Princess Mononoke
Hayao Miyazaki, Japan, 1997, 135 minutes. Considered the most substantial exponent of the Japanese anime form, Hayao Miyazaki's work sports baroque storylines, wild imaginative leaps and astonishing visual beauty. While Princess Mononoke revolves around environmental themes, the film's wry humour and humanity make it a classic of this influential genre.
14 December: The Triplets of Belleville
Sylvain Chomet, France/Canada/Belgium, 2005,
82 minutes. A multiple-award-winner and one of the most notable animated features of the new millenium, The Triplets of Belleville harkens back to the 1930s for its depression-era visual style and jumpy Django Reinhardt-like music. Filled with memorable, if claustrophobic urban images, sinister gangsters, Tour-De-France cyclists and mysterious kidnappings, the film appeals to a broad audience. Also on the bill is Chris Landreth's Oscar-Winning short Ryan (NFB 2005, 15 minutes).
