ANIMATION-ANIMAGIC.COM

The 14th International Animation Festival Anima Mundi 2006 (english coverage)

by Celbi Pegoraro

The 14th International Animation Festival Anima Mundi 2006 took place in Rio de Janeiro from July 14th to 23rd and in São Paulo from July 26th to 30th. The Brazilian audience had chance to see the best of the world animation with competition screenings, special programs, retrospectives, international guests and professional workshops.

The character Guard Dog from the animated short created by Bill Plympton was the star of the poster and vignette this year. The special animation vignette was animated by Marcelo Marão with music by Léo Mendes.

For me the best part of the Festival this year was the John Canemaker lecture on Mary Blair. Actually the animation historian gave three presentations. The first one "Winsor McCay" was to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the amazing comic strip “Little Nemo in Slumberland” created in 1905 by Winsor McCay. The public saw four of this pioneer animator’s greatest films: “Little Nemo” (1911), "How a Mosquito Operates” (1912), “Gertie the Dinosaur” (1914) and “The Sinking of  the Lusitania” (1918).

John also was guest of the Animated Chat, screening his animated shorts including the 2006 Oscar winner "The Moon and the Sun".

Mary Blair: Mary Blair was a concept artist who worked at Walt Disney Studios in the 1940s and 1950s. She was among the group of artists and animators that accompanied Disney on his visit to South America in 1941. During this trip, the strong colors and local culture affected Blair in a profound way, influencing her subsequent work.

During his lecture, John Canemaker showed Blair’s art in memorable scenes in four different segments. The first one South of the Border had art and scenes from the animated segments of "The Three Caballeros". In Package Films, the public was excited when showed really great scenes of the animated segments "Johnny Appleseed", "Once Upon a Wintertime" and the final chase from "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow". The lecture´s third part was The Big Three - it was a good surprise to see in the big screen 3 scenes (with Mary´s influence) from 3 great animated classics. They are: the famous March of the Cards from "Alice in Wonderland", the wonderful musical sequence Following the Leader from "Peter Pan" and Cinderella running away at midnight. The last part was mainly about Mary´s freelancer works and her last works at Disney (It´s a Small World and the theme park murals).

The Three Caballeros

At the Festival´s last day, the public could watch "Alice in Wonderland" and "The Three Caballeros" in the big screen. Disney sent two restored copies for the screening. I saw "The Three Caballeros" (1945) in a full packed theater with hundreds of young people and I must say - they love it! The magic was there. I think what the public most loved was the great animation, the acting and that old gags - I was surprised to hear so many laughs in the Gauchito segment. After the screening a few people even talked about Disney returning to traditional animation. Most than ever I´m looking forward to see a new traditional feature again in the big screen.

And speaking of traditional animation, the Festival also featured the animated short "The Little Matchgirl" directed by Roger Allers. I was afraid after reading that many people hated it. I really liked! From the last four Disney shorts, I rank it below "Destino" and "Lorenzo", being "One by One" the last one. The film has really good animation, great effects animation and a really nice and sad musical theme - String Quartet No. 2 in D Major: Third Movement: Notturno (Andante) by Alexander Borodin. And a special note: the audience praised with applause.

And now, the list of winners:

PROFESSIONAL JURY

The Professional Jury is composed by 52 professionals that include fine-artists, animators, journalists, educators filmmakers and writers.
 
BEST DESIGN / ART DIRECTING
1st - Dreams and Desires - Family Ties, by Joanna Quinn, UK
2nd - História Trágica com Final Feliz, by Regina Pessoa, Canada - France - Portugal
3rd - Jona - Tomberry, by Rosto, Netherlands

BEST SOUNDTRACK
1st - Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, by Stefan Mueller, Germany
2nd - História Trágica com Final Feliz, by Regina Pessoa, Canada / France / Portugal
3rd - Guide Dog, by Bill Plympton, USA
             
BEST SCREENPLAY
1st - Flatlife, by Jonas Geirnaert, Belgium
2nd - Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, by Stefan Mueller, Germany
3rd - Capelito Mata-Moscas (Capelito Mosqueado), by Rodolfo Pastor, Spain
          
BEST ANIMATION
1st - Dreams and Desires - Family Ties, by Joanna Quinn, UK
2nd - Creature Conforts - "Monarchy Business", by Richard Goleszowski, UK
3rd - Guide Dog, by Bill Plympton, USA
         
AUDIENCE AWARDS - Rio de Janeiro

BEST SHORT FILM
1st - First Flight, by Cameron Hood e Kyle Jefferson, USA
2nd - Guide Dog, by Bill Plympton, USA
3rd - Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, by Stefan Mueller, Germany

BEST BRAZILIAN ANIMATION
1st - Pax, by Paulo Munhoz, Brazil
2nd - Engole Duas Ervilhas, by Marão, Diego Stoliar, Alessandro Monnerat, Eduardo Perdido, Thomas Larson, Pedro Iuá and Rosaria, Brazil
3rd - Montanha Russa de Pobre, by Radamés Araujo, Brazil

BEST FILM FOR CHILDREN
1st - Minhocas, by Paolo Conti, Brazil
2nd - Kater, by Tine Kluth, Germany
3rd - Abi´s Soup, by Alfredo Lammie, Panama / Spain

BEST FIRST FILM
1st - Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, by Stefan Mueller, Germany
2nd - Citoplasmas en Medio Ácido, by Iborra, Gautier and Puertas, Spain
3rd - Bow Tie Duty for Squareheads, by Stephan-Flint Müller, Germany
 
BEST ANIMATION OF COURSE
1st - Versus, by François Caffiaux, Romain Noel and Thomas Salas, French
2nd - Psicho, by Libor Pixa, Czech Republic
3rd - Grhaenpa, by Manuel Quinto and Nicolas Vion, French

BEST PORTFOLIO
1st - Sexteens, by Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina
2nd - Ter "Waiting Beauty", by Smith & Foulkes, UK
3rd - Vodafone "Mayfly", by Darren Walsh and Peter Thwaites, UK

AUDIENCE AWARDS - São Paulo

BEST SHORT FILM
1st  - Guide Dog, by Bill Plympton, USA
2nd - First Flight, by Cameron Hood and Kyle Jefferson, USA
3rd - Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, by Stefan Mueller, Germany

BEST BRAZILIAN ANIMATION
1st - Pax, by Paulo Munhoz, Brazil
2nd - Tyger, by Guilherme Marcondes, Brazil
3rd - Propaganda, by Vinicius Oppido, Brazil

BEST FILM FOR CHILDREN
1st - Minhocas, by Paolo Conti, Brazil
2nd - A Sopa de Abi (Abi´s Soup), by Alfredo Lammie, Panama / Spain
3rd - A Cobrinha Míope (The Little Short-Sighted Snake), by Aina Järvine and Meelis Arulepp, Estonia

BEST FIRST FILM
1st - Mr. Schwartz, Mr. Hazen & Mr. Horlocker, by Stefan Mueller, Germany
2nd - Citoplasmas en Medio Ácido, by Iborra, Gautier and Puertas, Spain
3rd - Flatlife, by Jonas Geirnaert, Belgium

BEST ANIMATION OF COURSE
1st - Grhaenpa, by Manuel Quinto and Nicolas Vion, France
2nd - Versus, by François Caffiaux, Romain Noel and Thomas Salas, France
3rd - Propaganda, by Vinicius Oppido, Brazil
              
BEST PORTFOLIO
1st - Sexteens, by Juan Pablo Zaramella, Argentina
2nd - Gorillaz "Feel Good Inc.", by Pete Candeland and Jamie Hewlett, UK
3rd - Vodafone "Mayfly", by Darren Walsh and Peter Thwaites, UK

More info: Anima Mundi - official site

Voltar