Jun 15, 2024
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Cohen’s Cartoon Corners: Mar 2024
by Karl F. Cohen
Images by Marcy Page who was honored February's Annie Awards in Los Angeles. photo courtesy: M. PagePLEASE support our GoFundMe campaign to cover travel expenses for this article.
Marcy Page Gets ASIFA’s Lifetime Award
Marcy Page, the former Californian and National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animation producer, was honored for her “unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation.” The Winsor Mccay award, named for the cartoonist and animator (1866-1934), was presented February 17th, at the 51st Annie Awards by ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association.
Born and raised in California, Marcy graduated from San Francisco State, taught there and worked at Colossal Pictures, the storied, Bay Area animation company. After meeting a man and getting married, she immigrated to Canada, where she joined the NFB in 1990, first as a director and associate producer and then as a producer.
She sought out eclectic and unusual productions and co-productions during her career as a producer with the NFB’s English Program Animation Studio, pushing the boundaries of the animation medium. Her NFB credits include two Academy Award-winning animated shorts, Chris Landreth’s “Ryan” (2004) and Torill Kove’s “The Danish Poet” (2006). She was also NFB producer on four more Oscar-nominated films: Kove’s “My Grandmother Ironed the Kings Shirts” (1999) and “Me and Moulon” (2014); Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s “Madame Tutli-Putli” (2007); and Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby’s “Wild Life” (2011).
The streets of a post-apocalyptic New York in popular new YouTube movie, 'Hazbin Hotel' by 31-year-old Vivienne Medrano.Should Animation Be This Intense?
“Hazbin Hotel” by Vivienne Medrano, who is 31 and a graduate of the School for Visual Arts, New York, is so packed full of energy both visually and in the soundtrack that it may require multiple viewings to understand what is going on, see her Vivziepop channel here. The first piece, "Hazbin Hotel", is a 30-minute, post-apocalypse comedy with over 100 million views. I’ve been led to believe by a friend, who is tuned into what is hot in current internet culture, that Vivienne’s aesthetic is a prime example of a current trend. Indeed, she has 9 million followers and over a billion hits.
Vivienne writes she has been absorbing and creating animation from a young age. She is part of a highly talented new breed of independent artists that may exist with a generation gap between them and animators from the past.
“The new animators don't know there was even a history of animation,” I was told, “Just that if they don't go viral before they finish high school, they are over the hill. On the other hand, animators who know the history, never hear of the immensely popular animation going on in the internet.”
My informant added that if you ask a young internet animator what is the most viewed animation ever made the answer won’t be Mickey Mouse; but might be “Baby Shark.” See her Wikipedia.
Geraldine Fernández, a Colombian graphic designer, hoaxed her nation by claiming she workd on 'The Boy and the Heron'.Colombian Animator Hoaxes Nation
A Colombian graphic designer scammed her nation’s media into believing she worked with the renown Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, on his recently released masterpiece “The Boy and the Heron”. Before the film opened, Geraldine Fernández Ruiz, a graphic designer at a company that produces glass and aluminum products, convinced major media outlets in Columbia that she drew a lot of the feature.
She claimed Miyazaki praised her work three times during the production and he referred to her affectionately as “the Colombian.” She worked for him for “over 20 months, I had to deliver 25 thousand frames, and those 25 thousand frames corresponded to a 10-second scene… It was a lot of work, but it was worth it, especially because Miyazaki was there.” Unfortunately, her math is BS. At 24 frames a second there are 240 frames in 10 seconds of screen time which might take a seasoned animator a week to draw.
Fernández's statements appeared in print and on the internet until somebody finally checked facts and—gosh!—found no mention of her in the film’s publicity or credits.
Finally, when Cartoon Brew heard about it, they contacted the film's U.S. distributor, GKIDS, who confirmed Fernández was not involved in “The Boy and the Heron”, although she continued to insisted everything was true but she couldn’t offer proof because of a non-disclosure agreement.
Eventually, retractions appeared in the press. El Heraldo said they trusted Fernández’s claims and apologized to printing her lies. The paper El Tiempo announced their fact check failure and hoped this will not happen again.
Finally in late January, Fernández sent out a long apology admitting she had fabricated her involvement. As the situation got out of control, it became increasingly difficult for her to retract her lies, she claimed. Oh, by the way, it turns out she has been accused of using other animation artists' work for her reel.
David Hilberman’s kids, Mark, standing, brother Dan and cousin Bernard, at the 1941 Disney animators' strike, a year after they released the artistic masterpiece 'Fantasia'. photo: D. HilbermanPlay About Disney Workers Unionizing
“Burbank” is a theatrical play about Disney artists’ efforts to unionize, which started in the late 1930s and led to the Disney Strike in 1941. It will get an off-Broadway run from March 12-24 and it be available to stream on the Thirdwing platform. Written by Cameron Darwin Bossert, the play focuses on the faceoff between Walt.
The strike saw 334 Disney employees walk out and picket and 303 employees remaining inside. Employees of the studio had numerous grievances, including low wages, salary cuts, arbitrary layoffs, and other issues. A review says, “It captures the anxiety that can grip a workplace amid a labor struggle, and the ruthlessness that can ensue on all sides.”
Disney Loses Suit with DeSantis
A federal judge dismissed Disney's lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about who has the right to control development around the Walt Disney World Resort. The judge said Disney cannot sue DeSantis and his handpicked board that now controls the district in which the theme park operates. The statute granting the governor the authority to appoint every member of the tax district’s governing body is "facially constitutional" and cannot be challenged with a free speech claim. Nevertheless, the park is still the happiest place on earth!
From 'Steamboat Willie', the debut of Mickey Mouse, 1924, the copyright for which recently expired.Disney CEO Upbeat
At the quarterly meeting for stockholders in February, Disney CEO Bob Iger painted a rosy picture of the company’s future. He reaffirmed that Disney’s streaming business will be profitable this summer, thanks to higher revenue per user and efforts to control costs.
The company, which is facing proxy fights with activist investors, said that its streaming business lost $216 million this quarter, down from a loss of $387 million last quarter, and less than $1 billion a year ago. He reported higher average revenue per user at Disney+, even as subscribers dipped slightly, following a price hike. Overall revenue was $23.5 billion, even from a year ago. The company expects to expand in all of its current physical locations, as well as in its cruise line.
Bob Iger bets the future of Disney will involve more games industry, in which they recently invested $1.5 billion. He says, “When I saw Gen Z and Gen Alpha and even millennials, and I saw the amount of time they were spending in terms of their total media screen time on video games, it was stunning to me, equal to what they spend on TV and movies.”
Mark Gustafson winning an Oscar in 2023 for Guillermo Del Toro’s 'Pinocchio'. image: courtesy M. Gustafson Mark Gustafson Passes
Mark Gustafson, who co-directed Guillermo Del Toro’s Oscar-Winning “Pinocchio”, among many other achievements, has died. He was 64 and suffered a heart attack. Our condolences.
After he earned an art degree from Pacific Northwest College of Art (BFA, 1982), Gustafson joined Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon and slowly worked his way up through the ranks.
Stringer’s ‘Crab Day’
Watch Ross Stringer’s masterful short, which uses minimal color and dialogue, “Crab Day” (2023), here. It won the 2024 British Short Animation Award, BAFTA.
(Lft-rt) Frank and Caroline Mouris’ Oscar-winning ‘Frank Film,’ Jan Svankmajer’s ‘Dimensions of Dialogue,’ and Norman McLaren’s Oscar-winning ‘Neighbors.’Many Comments On Cohen’s Article
I was pleased that several people took the time to say they appreciated my article, “Help! I Love Animated Shorts”. Most were short comments like David Chai, who teaches animation at San Jose State, writing, “WOW! This is a great article! I’m looking forward to the next two!” A few were longer, more meaningful statements, like from Shirley Smith, who studied animation at SF State.
“I love this article,” Smith wrote. “It traces the fantastic journey that independent animations and animators made in my life. It was a dense string of a huge variety of events that were unique, profound and funny, and so very inspiring. When I invited my friends, they got so excited to see this kind of thing. Karl and Carol love these unique shows, and just ache for more. I hope Ron Diamond can get some momentum going again. I know in my heart that people can get addicted to this kind of stuff. I've seen it happen. My favorite films were always done by independents. They are so much more authentic. “
A very useful note came from John Hays, a former Colossal director and co-founder of Wild Brain. He pointed out a show I will add if this article is reprinted. He wrote “Excellent essay, Karl! First time I’ve seen the complex history of animated shorts put together in one place and you’re definitely the right guy to do it. Great way to stimulate discussion on a worthy subject.”
“One thing you might consider adding to the mix is MTV’s & (C)P’s “Liquid Television”. The episodic show was a pretty good effort at bringing animated shorts to the mainstream. Also proved to be a good launching platform for potential series pilots. Worked well for ‘Aeon Flux’ and ‘Beavis and Butthead’ at least.”
Sketch of the fourth complex Universal Orlando is building in Florida, in an attempt to compete with its larger rival, Disney.Labor Crisis at Universal’s Theme Park
The press has revealed a serious labor crisis at Universal Studios’ theme park. Labor problems at the Disney theme parks are well-known. Now The Los Angeles Times reports a UCLA study says that Universal Studios’ theme park in Hollywood has serious problems. They make massive investment in attractions, but try to cut costs on the laborers who keep it running. Many workers in this profitable theme park are underpaid and struggle to pay rent and buy food. One worker is reported to say, “It’s a constant battle, tearing at us mentally.”
This Hollywood Reporter article included numerous stories about people struggling to survive. The study says 44% of the workers reported they worried about being evicted from their homes, while others said they have had to reduce the size of meals or skip them. A quarter of the workforce has used food stamps, food banks or other need-based food donation programs.
The survey interviewed 1,330 park workers in the two unions that represent most Universal Studios personnel, including people who dress up a film characters like Scooby-Doo, Gru, Hello Kitty and the Bride of Frankenstein. They also talked to ride operators, tour guides, carnival barkers, clerks, parking lot attendants, store clerks, cooks, bartenders and warehouse workers. I find it shocking that the unions don’t fight harder for livable wages.
The example of how desperate people are is summed up in this quote from the article, “I’ve seen people get fired because they take food out of the trash to eat it. [Management] lets them go because they say that’s still stealing.” Hard to believe!
Winner of SF Indie Fest
The Audience Award for Best Animation at the SF Indie Festival went to “The Grand Book” directed by Arjan Brentjes. It concerns a young woman living on the streets of a 1920s city but under constant surveillance and unable to be herself?
Miyazaki’s standard gaggle of powerful old women from his Annie-award-winning 'The Boy and the Heron'. photo courtesy: H. MiyazakiThe Annie Awards 2024
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” wins best commercial feature in the Annie Awards, the accolade presented by the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood. It was the shows' biggest winner in applause and by winning all seven categories in which it was nominated (best commercial feature, FX, character design, direction, music, production design, and editorial). “Robot Dreams” wins best independent feature at the Annie Awards. You can see the entire three-hour award ceremony online here.
“Robot Dreams” won best independent feature, and “War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko” was the best independent short. It also just won Spain’s Goya Award for Best Animated Feature.
Hayao Miyazaki’s masterful and popular “The Boy and the Heron” won Annies for character animation and Miyazaki’s storyboarding. It has won most of the critics’ awards. It also just won the Best Animated feature at the BAFTA ceremony in the UK “Nimona” had nine Annie nominations and it won for voice acting and writing.
Netflix’s “Blue Eye Samurai” won six Annies (for TV mature, FX, character animation, production design, writing, editorial). Three honorary Winsor McCay Awards were given. They went to legendary animator and director Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger (posthumously), Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi; and National Film Board animator and producer Marcy Page.
The Iwerks Award (named for animator Ub Iwerks) for technical advancement was awarded posthumously to John Oxberry for his developing and producing the Oxberry animation stand that was used for many decades to shoot cell animation.
ASIFA Hollywood presented a well-run and nice looking three-hour long ceremony. If you want to see Marcy Page, who studied and taught at SF State and worked at Colossal Pictures before moving to Montreal, her appearance starts at one hour fifty minutes. It includes clips from her personal film "Paradisia" and clips of work she produced including the four films that received Academy Award nominations (two won Oscars). Ron Diamond introduces her.
Congratulations to ASIFA-Hollywood and their crew for a fine evening honoring animation. The show included clips for almost all the winners and a chance to see some of the talent who created it. It was also an interesting fashion show, from formal attire to white tennis shoes.
’Despicable Me’ Trailer Online
Take a look at the latest edition of Hollywood’s most financially successful animation franchise: the "Despicable Me" trailer. What does that tell us about popular taste?
Anime Your Way with Carlos
Calling all young creators! The Cartoon Art Museum is excited to host two free 90-minute anime workshops with comics artist and Anime Your Way founder Carlos Nieto III. It is a comprehensive step by step drawing program that teaches how to create and modify an anime character from scratch, regardless of drawing experience. Using simple shapes and easy to understand instructions, participants will gain the knowledge to create their very own unique anime characters. All materials are provided.
Join Carlos on Saturday, April 6, 2024—Kids (6-13): 1:00-2:30pm, Teens and Adult: 3:00-4:30pmat the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, Cartoon Art Museum, 781 Beach Street. Both workshops are free but advance registration is required; please visit here.
Image from 'They Shot The Piano Player' a feature by Spanish animators about a Brazilian pianist who disappeared in Argentina. They Shot the Piano Player
“They Shot The Piano Player” follows a journalist trying to understand why a Brazilian Bossa Nova piano player was shot in Argentina. I was directed by Tono Errando, Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, the Spanish team known for “Chico and Rita”, the 2010 animated piece, an adult romantic drama, also about musicians.
Opening on March 1st at the Landmark Opera Plaza, San Francisco, it is an ambitious combination of classical animation—it’s completely hand-drawn—documentary—it actually happened—and political commentary, on Argentina's authoritarian regime in the 1960s.
ASIFA-SF Needs Volunteers
ASIFA-SF is a chapter of Association Internationale du Film d’Animation, which has over 40 chapters around the world. Now that we are supposedly post-Covid we hoped to bring back live events, but that isn’t happening yet.
To keep the chapter alive, until we can find volunteers to make live events and/or online programs, we are offering a free temporary membership. That will get you our monthly newsleteer free and free passes to whatever screenings ASIFA-SF members get invited to.
Please contact to get on our email list, and tell others to join. That will help us rebuild our mailing list. Thanks.
Animation Mentor Student Showcase 2023
Animation Mentor is an online animation school teaching character animation skills to students in over over 105 countries. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, it offers six core animation courses, in addition to Creatures and Maya Workshops. Students are mentored by experienced animators, professionals working in the animation industry, see their site.
Karl F. Cohen—who added his middle initial to distinguish himself from the Russian Karl Cohen, who tried to assassinate the Czar in the mid-19th century—is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .
Posted on Mar 09, 2024 - 12:51 AM
by Karl F. Cohen
Images by Marcy Page who was honored February's Annie Awards in Los Angeles. photo courtesy: M. PageMarcy Page Gets ASIFA’s Lifetime Award
Marcy Page, the former Californian and National Film Board of Canada (NFB) animation producer, was honored for her “unparalleled achievement and exceptional contributions to animation.” The Winsor Mccay award, named for the cartoonist and animator (1866-1934), was presented February 17th, at the 51st Annie Awards by ASIFA-Hollywood, the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association.
Born and raised in California, Marcy graduated from San Francisco State, taught there and worked at Colossal Pictures, the storied, Bay Area animation company. After meeting a man and getting married, she immigrated to Canada, where she joined the NFB in 1990, first as a director and associate producer and then as a producer.
She sought out eclectic and unusual productions and co-productions during her career as a producer with the NFB’s English Program Animation Studio, pushing the boundaries of the animation medium. Her NFB credits include two Academy Award-winning animated shorts, Chris Landreth’s “Ryan” (2004) and Torill Kove’s “The Danish Poet” (2006). She was also NFB producer on four more Oscar-nominated films: Kove’s “My Grandmother Ironed the Kings Shirts” (1999) and “Me and Moulon” (2014); Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski’s “Madame Tutli-Putli” (2007); and Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby’s “Wild Life” (2011).
The streets of a post-apocalyptic New York in popular new YouTube movie, 'Hazbin Hotel' by 31-year-old Vivienne Medrano.“Hazbin Hotel” by Vivienne Medrano, who is 31 and a graduate of the School for Visual Arts, New York, is so packed full of energy both visually and in the soundtrack that it may require multiple viewings to understand what is going on, see her Vivziepop channel here. The first piece, "Hazbin Hotel", is a 30-minute, post-apocalypse comedy with over 100 million views. I’ve been led to believe by a friend, who is tuned into what is hot in current internet culture, that Vivienne’s aesthetic is a prime example of a current trend. Indeed, she has 9 million followers and over a billion hits.
Vivienne writes she has been absorbing and creating animation from a young age. She is part of a highly talented new breed of independent artists that may exist with a generation gap between them and animators from the past.
“The new animators don't know there was even a history of animation,” I was told, “Just that if they don't go viral before they finish high school, they are over the hill. On the other hand, animators who know the history, never hear of the immensely popular animation going on in the internet.”
My informant added that if you ask a young internet animator what is the most viewed animation ever made the answer won’t be Mickey Mouse; but might be “Baby Shark.” See her Wikipedia.
Geraldine Fernández, a Colombian graphic designer, hoaxed her nation by claiming she workd on 'The Boy and the Heron'.A Colombian graphic designer scammed her nation’s media into believing she worked with the renown Japanese animator Hayao Miyazaki, on his recently released masterpiece “The Boy and the Heron”. Before the film opened, Geraldine Fernández Ruiz, a graphic designer at a company that produces glass and aluminum products, convinced major media outlets in Columbia that she drew a lot of the feature.
She claimed Miyazaki praised her work three times during the production and he referred to her affectionately as “the Colombian.” She worked for him for “over 20 months, I had to deliver 25 thousand frames, and those 25 thousand frames corresponded to a 10-second scene… It was a lot of work, but it was worth it, especially because Miyazaki was there.” Unfortunately, her math is BS. At 24 frames a second there are 240 frames in 10 seconds of screen time which might take a seasoned animator a week to draw.
Fernández's statements appeared in print and on the internet until somebody finally checked facts and—gosh!—found no mention of her in the film’s publicity or credits.
Finally, when Cartoon Brew heard about it, they contacted the film's U.S. distributor, GKIDS, who confirmed Fernández was not involved in “The Boy and the Heron”, although she continued to insisted everything was true but she couldn’t offer proof because of a non-disclosure agreement.
Eventually, retractions appeared in the press. El Heraldo said they trusted Fernández’s claims and apologized to printing her lies. The paper El Tiempo announced their fact check failure and hoped this will not happen again.
Finally in late January, Fernández sent out a long apology admitting she had fabricated her involvement. As the situation got out of control, it became increasingly difficult for her to retract her lies, she claimed. Oh, by the way, it turns out she has been accused of using other animation artists' work for her reel.
David Hilberman’s kids, Mark, standing, brother Dan and cousin Bernard, at the 1941 Disney animators' strike, a year after they released the artistic masterpiece 'Fantasia'. photo: D. Hilberman“Burbank” is a theatrical play about Disney artists’ efforts to unionize, which started in the late 1930s and led to the Disney Strike in 1941. It will get an off-Broadway run from March 12-24 and it be available to stream on the Thirdwing platform. Written by Cameron Darwin Bossert, the play focuses on the faceoff between Walt.
The strike saw 334 Disney employees walk out and picket and 303 employees remaining inside. Employees of the studio had numerous grievances, including low wages, salary cuts, arbitrary layoffs, and other issues. A review says, “It captures the anxiety that can grip a workplace amid a labor struggle, and the ruthlessness that can ensue on all sides.”
Disney Loses Suit with DeSantis
A federal judge dismissed Disney's lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis about who has the right to control development around the Walt Disney World Resort. The judge said Disney cannot sue DeSantis and his handpicked board that now controls the district in which the theme park operates. The statute granting the governor the authority to appoint every member of the tax district’s governing body is "facially constitutional" and cannot be challenged with a free speech claim. Nevertheless, the park is still the happiest place on earth!
From 'Steamboat Willie', the debut of Mickey Mouse, 1924, the copyright for which recently expired.At the quarterly meeting for stockholders in February, Disney CEO Bob Iger painted a rosy picture of the company’s future. He reaffirmed that Disney’s streaming business will be profitable this summer, thanks to higher revenue per user and efforts to control costs.
The company, which is facing proxy fights with activist investors, said that its streaming business lost $216 million this quarter, down from a loss of $387 million last quarter, and less than $1 billion a year ago. He reported higher average revenue per user at Disney+, even as subscribers dipped slightly, following a price hike. Overall revenue was $23.5 billion, even from a year ago. The company expects to expand in all of its current physical locations, as well as in its cruise line.
Bob Iger bets the future of Disney will involve more games industry, in which they recently invested $1.5 billion. He says, “When I saw Gen Z and Gen Alpha and even millennials, and I saw the amount of time they were spending in terms of their total media screen time on video games, it was stunning to me, equal to what they spend on TV and movies.”
Mark Gustafson winning an Oscar in 2023 for Guillermo Del Toro’s 'Pinocchio'. image: courtesy M. GustafsonMark Gustafson, who co-directed Guillermo Del Toro’s Oscar-Winning “Pinocchio”, among many other achievements, has died. He was 64 and suffered a heart attack. Our condolences.
After he earned an art degree from Pacific Northwest College of Art (BFA, 1982), Gustafson joined Will Vinton Studios in Portland, Oregon and slowly worked his way up through the ranks.
Stringer’s ‘Crab Day’
Watch Ross Stringer’s masterful short, which uses minimal color and dialogue, “Crab Day” (2023), here. It won the 2024 British Short Animation Award, BAFTA.
(Lft-rt) Frank and Caroline Mouris’ Oscar-winning ‘Frank Film,’ Jan Svankmajer’s ‘Dimensions of Dialogue,’ and Norman McLaren’s Oscar-winning ‘Neighbors.’I was pleased that several people took the time to say they appreciated my article, “Help! I Love Animated Shorts”. Most were short comments like David Chai, who teaches animation at San Jose State, writing, “WOW! This is a great article! I’m looking forward to the next two!” A few were longer, more meaningful statements, like from Shirley Smith, who studied animation at SF State.
“I love this article,” Smith wrote. “It traces the fantastic journey that independent animations and animators made in my life. It was a dense string of a huge variety of events that were unique, profound and funny, and so very inspiring. When I invited my friends, they got so excited to see this kind of thing. Karl and Carol love these unique shows, and just ache for more. I hope Ron Diamond can get some momentum going again. I know in my heart that people can get addicted to this kind of stuff. I've seen it happen. My favorite films were always done by independents. They are so much more authentic. “
A very useful note came from John Hays, a former Colossal director and co-founder of Wild Brain. He pointed out a show I will add if this article is reprinted. He wrote “Excellent essay, Karl! First time I’ve seen the complex history of animated shorts put together in one place and you’re definitely the right guy to do it. Great way to stimulate discussion on a worthy subject.”
“One thing you might consider adding to the mix is MTV’s & (C)P’s “Liquid Television”. The episodic show was a pretty good effort at bringing animated shorts to the mainstream. Also proved to be a good launching platform for potential series pilots. Worked well for ‘Aeon Flux’ and ‘Beavis and Butthead’ at least.”
Sketch of the fourth complex Universal Orlando is building in Florida, in an attempt to compete with its larger rival, Disney.The press has revealed a serious labor crisis at Universal Studios’ theme park. Labor problems at the Disney theme parks are well-known. Now The Los Angeles Times reports a UCLA study says that Universal Studios’ theme park in Hollywood has serious problems. They make massive investment in attractions, but try to cut costs on the laborers who keep it running. Many workers in this profitable theme park are underpaid and struggle to pay rent and buy food. One worker is reported to say, “It’s a constant battle, tearing at us mentally.”
This Hollywood Reporter article included numerous stories about people struggling to survive. The study says 44% of the workers reported they worried about being evicted from their homes, while others said they have had to reduce the size of meals or skip them. A quarter of the workforce has used food stamps, food banks or other need-based food donation programs.
The survey interviewed 1,330 park workers in the two unions that represent most Universal Studios personnel, including people who dress up a film characters like Scooby-Doo, Gru, Hello Kitty and the Bride of Frankenstein. They also talked to ride operators, tour guides, carnival barkers, clerks, parking lot attendants, store clerks, cooks, bartenders and warehouse workers. I find it shocking that the unions don’t fight harder for livable wages.
The example of how desperate people are is summed up in this quote from the article, “I’ve seen people get fired because they take food out of the trash to eat it. [Management] lets them go because they say that’s still stealing.” Hard to believe!
Winner of SF Indie Fest
The Audience Award for Best Animation at the SF Indie Festival went to “The Grand Book” directed by Arjan Brentjes. It concerns a young woman living on the streets of a 1920s city but under constant surveillance and unable to be herself?
Miyazaki’s standard gaggle of powerful old women from his Annie-award-winning 'The Boy and the Heron'. photo courtesy: H. Miyazaki“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” wins best commercial feature in the Annie Awards, the accolade presented by the Los Angeles branch of the International Animated Film Association, ASIFA-Hollywood. It was the shows' biggest winner in applause and by winning all seven categories in which it was nominated (best commercial feature, FX, character design, direction, music, production design, and editorial). “Robot Dreams” wins best independent feature at the Annie Awards. You can see the entire three-hour award ceremony online here.
“Robot Dreams” won best independent feature, and “War is Over! Inspired by the Music of John and Yoko” was the best independent short. It also just won Spain’s Goya Award for Best Animated Feature.
Hayao Miyazaki’s masterful and popular “The Boy and the Heron” won Annies for character animation and Miyazaki’s storyboarding. It has won most of the critics’ awards. It also just won the Best Animated feature at the BAFTA ceremony in the UK “Nimona” had nine Annie nominations and it won for voice acting and writing.
Netflix’s “Blue Eye Samurai” won six Annies (for TV mature, FX, character animation, production design, writing, editorial). Three honorary Winsor McCay Awards were given. They went to legendary animator and director Charlotte “Lotte” Reiniger (posthumously), Studio Ghibli composer Joe Hisaishi; and National Film Board animator and producer Marcy Page.
The Iwerks Award (named for animator Ub Iwerks) for technical advancement was awarded posthumously to John Oxberry for his developing and producing the Oxberry animation stand that was used for many decades to shoot cell animation.
ASIFA Hollywood presented a well-run and nice looking three-hour long ceremony. If you want to see Marcy Page, who studied and taught at SF State and worked at Colossal Pictures before moving to Montreal, her appearance starts at one hour fifty minutes. It includes clips from her personal film "Paradisia" and clips of work she produced including the four films that received Academy Award nominations (two won Oscars). Ron Diamond introduces her.
Congratulations to ASIFA-Hollywood and their crew for a fine evening honoring animation. The show included clips for almost all the winners and a chance to see some of the talent who created it. It was also an interesting fashion show, from formal attire to white tennis shoes.
’Despicable Me’ Trailer Online
Take a look at the latest edition of Hollywood’s most financially successful animation franchise: the "Despicable Me" trailer. What does that tell us about popular taste?
Anime Your Way with Carlos
Calling all young creators! The Cartoon Art Museum is excited to host two free 90-minute anime workshops with comics artist and Anime Your Way founder Carlos Nieto III. It is a comprehensive step by step drawing program that teaches how to create and modify an anime character from scratch, regardless of drawing experience. Using simple shapes and easy to understand instructions, participants will gain the knowledge to create their very own unique anime characters. All materials are provided.
Join Carlos on Saturday, April 6, 2024—Kids (6-13): 1:00-2:30pm, Teens and Adult: 3:00-4:30pmat the Cartoon Art Museum in San Francisco, Cartoon Art Museum, 781 Beach Street. Both workshops are free but advance registration is required; please visit here.
Image from 'They Shot The Piano Player' a feature by Spanish animators about a Brazilian pianist who disappeared in Argentina.“They Shot The Piano Player” follows a journalist trying to understand why a Brazilian Bossa Nova piano player was shot in Argentina. I was directed by Tono Errando, Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal, the Spanish team known for “Chico and Rita”, the 2010 animated piece, an adult romantic drama, also about musicians.
Opening on March 1st at the Landmark Opera Plaza, San Francisco, it is an ambitious combination of classical animation—it’s completely hand-drawn—documentary—it actually happened—and political commentary, on Argentina's authoritarian regime in the 1960s.
ASIFA-SF Needs Volunteers
ASIFA-SF is a chapter of Association Internationale du Film d’Animation, which has over 40 chapters around the world. Now that we are supposedly post-Covid we hoped to bring back live events, but that isn’t happening yet.
To keep the chapter alive, until we can find volunteers to make live events and/or online programs, we are offering a free temporary membership. That will get you our monthly newsleteer free and free passes to whatever screenings ASIFA-SF members get invited to.
Please contact to get on our email list, and tell others to join. That will help us rebuild our mailing list. Thanks.
Animation Mentor Student Showcase 2023
Animation Mentor is an online animation school teaching character animation skills to students in over over 105 countries. Headquartered in Emeryville, California, it offers six core animation courses, in addition to Creatures and Maya Workshops. Students are mentored by experienced animators, professionals working in the animation industry, see their site.
Karl F. Cohen—who added his middle initial to distinguish himself from the Russian Karl Cohen, who tried to assassinate the Czar in the mid-19th century—is an animator, educator and director of the local chapter of the International Animation Society and can be reached .
Posted on Mar 09, 2024 - 12:51 AM
