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Cohen’s Cartoon Corner by Karl Cohen
Twelve-year old character, Miguel, is star of Pixar's new 'Coco'. photo: courtesy Pixar
Pixar’s Coco a Winner
Pixar’s "Coco” should win all the awards for animated features this year. Indeed, it has already been nominated for 13 Annie Awards, given by ASIFA Hollywood, and the only real competition is “The Breadwinner”, an Irish feature about a girl in Afghanistan. The film getting the most Annie nominations is a reliable indication of what will get the top Annie prizes and the Oscar for best-animated feature.
“The Breadwinner” is an excellent film (see review below), but it lacks the overly-polished craftsmanship of Pixar in top form. Indeed, “Coco” is one of Pixar’s best in its long list of stellar productions.
The other animated US features this year are either family films, like “Boss Baby” and “Captain Underpants”, or formulaic sequels, like “Cars 3” and “Despicable Me 3”. None are likely to be considered serious competition for “Coco”.
“Coco” has already been picked as the best animated feature of the year by several film associations, including the New York Film Critics, National Board of Review, Washington DC Area Film Critics, the Chicago Film Critics and the San Francisco Film Critics Circle. The latter nominated “The Breadwinner”, “Coco”, “The Lego Batman Movie”, “Loving Vincent” and “Your Name” for Best Animated Feature but selected “Coco” as the winner.
Miguel, from 'Coco', confronts characters from Mexico's Day of the Dead tradition. photo: courtesy Pixar
Coco Initially Offended Latinos
“Coco” offended the Latino community at first but, by reacting well to criticism, Pixar was able to turn it into a respectful treatment honoring Mexican culture.
Disney, which owns Pixar, initially wanted to call the feature “Dia de los Muertos”, the name of the sacred Mexican holiday (Day of the Dead, which comes two days after Halloween and is, essentially, their version of it). They applied for a trademark for that name, an offensive, stupid mistake.
Segments of the Latino community made their feelings known to the media; consultants were called in; and the script and the title were changed. The finished film shouldn’t be found offensive to anyone, although I fear some people will object to John Lasseter’s name in the credits (due to recent allegations of sexual misconduct).
Walt Disney had a similar problem in 1946 with “Song of the South”, which features the African-American character Uncle Remus telling folk tales about Br’er Rabbit (compiled in 1881 by white ethnographer Joel Chandler Harris). But when consultants were called in, Walt didn’t take their advice.
I interviewed one of that film’s scriptwriters, Maurice Raft, for my book “Forbidden Animation”. He said that Walt was told what was offensive and the script was revised but, later on, Walt ordered some of the objectionable elements put back in.
That resulted in the N.A.A.C.P. picketing the film in several cities. The criticism didn’t go away when it was re-released and eventually the studio stopped re-releasing it due the racist content.
In 'The Breadwinner' an Afghan girl must dress as a boy to feed her family. photo: courtesy Cartoon Saloon
The Breadwinner is Exceptional
“The Breadwinner” is an unusual and exceptional animated experience. The film’s artwork is lovely but the importance of this work is the ability to tell a powerful story that would probably be too uncomfortable to watch if it were depicted in live action.
The film, based on a best-selling novel of the same name by Deborah Ellis, follows a young girl who is forced to assume responsibility for her family when her father is hauled off to the Pul-e-Charkhi Prison east of Kabul.
Following the common Islamic genre of a girl dressing as a boy, she becomes a reluctant hero who barely survives several encounters with truly despicable people before the film reaches its twin dramatic climaxes.
To relieve the tension there are lovely moments where people within the story tell stories that are full of rich stylized images reminiscent of the first two features from the Irish studio Cartoon Saloon, “Secret of Kells” and “Song of the Sea”.
Unlike their earlier features, which are wonderful fantasies, you somehow know that “The Breadwinner” is sharing with us what life is probably like for thousands of people today living in times of great conflict. For full list of local theater and play dates see the film’s site.
Journey into a Prehistoric Cave
Discover a fantastic animated, 360-degree journey into a prehistoric cave, created by Lippy Studio (director, Michael Lipman). You don’t need special goggles to see this interactive work. It has a button you click on to pan left or right and up and down to follow the action. It was made for the people who bring us the Ted Talks. For more info see their site.
Charles Schultz's Franklin was a wry combo of angst and mellow. photo: courtesy C. Schultz Museum
Great New Exhibit at Shultz Museum
Charles M. Shultz Museum in Santa Rosa opens an exhibit honoring Franklin, a confident kid who felt accepted by all his friends and happened to be black.
“I have wanted to introduce a black character for some time,” Charles M. Schulz remarked in 1970. “The reaction was tremendous. We got quite a stack of mail saying, ‘thank you.’”
Many of the strips placed Franklin in the classroom where he almost always knew the answer and frequently helped his friends. His quiet, industrious demeanor was an important part of who he was. His inclusion in the strip was a bold and important step in the right direction for civil rights.
The correspondence between Glickman and Schulz are one of several artifacts that can be seen in the Schulz Museum’s latest exhibition, “50 Years of Franklin”, on view from Jan 13-Aug 5, 2018. As America celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day, this exhibition is an ideal reminder of how important it is to not be silent about subjects that matter.
Need Unusual Stock Footage?
Oddball Films, San Francisco’s premier stock house, is still open for business, despite the untimely passing of its founder, Stephen Parr, due to complications from Parkenson’s, see cineSOURCE article. His sister and brother have decided to keep the doors open and run their late brother’s film archive. For more information, call (415) 558-8112.
Sadly, they have decided not to continue Stephen’s popular public screenings of rare material. Admittedly, before he died, Stephen had already ended those screening due to concerns about the condition of Oddball Films’ warehouse.
Karl Cohen is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .Posted on Dec 27, 2017 - 11:36 PM