As an animation buff one of my biggest past times is researching animation, both in voice acting, and in styles. Rotoscoping, computer animation, I love it all, and growing up, I discovered, in the amusement park fast food fed society, that animation is not a medium reserved for Disney, and it's not a medium for children only.
In a recent article from Times Online, the website discusses and examines the animation genre, and how it's simply not a children's medium. Especially in Europe, where animation is a bold chance to explore artistic expression. And perhaps to entertain children.
Films like "Renaissance," and "The Triplets of Belleville" boldly explored the possibilities of animation to express a statement and simple stories for adults, beyond the confines of Pixar and Disney.
If you've ever seen the laughable "Best Animated Feature" category in the Oscars, an awards facet mostly dominated by Disney fare, you'll see the category is void of anything worth widening the margin with fare like "Happy Feet," and "Monster House."
The recent article "Cut the Cute" explores director Sylvian Chomet's newest production "The Illusionist," a film based on the unmade 1956 screenplay by Jacques Tati, who has managed to influence many artists. Chomet, basing his film's character on Tati's own features a form of the character made famous by him, which the article describes as: "a magician thrown by rock’n’roll and a Scottish girl who believes his magic is real."
The article writer then juxtaposes the ongoing four year production for "The Illusionist" with Hollywood malarkey:
"Like Belleville Rendezvous, this revels in its quirky, hand-drawn detail and characterisation. It couldn’t be more different from the Hollywood formula of family-friendly plots, fuzzy animal characters and starry voices that are still prevalent in such forthcoming films as Surf’s Up (more perky penguins), Ratatouille (more rats, after Flushed Away) and Shrek the Third (more fairytale spoofs)."
A bold statement, since Hollywood has had a steady insistence of attempting to think outside the box. As we saw with "A Scanner Darkly," and "Wallace and Gromit," it's very possible for the public to be open to animation that thinks outside the box, but where as Europe is more about artistic expression, American film financers have been about going where the money is. And routine works, sadly.
What with "Pixar" and the like, animation is reaching a new front technically, but sadly it's still in the doldrums of convention and sheer mediocrity. For every "Wallace and Gromit" there are seven more "Shrek" copies in the pipeline prepared to cash in, and the studios simply go with what sells.
Chomet brilliantly examines not only Hollywood's penchant for raising its audience into ignorant movie-goers who stick to one form of animation, but also animation's tendency to shy away from reality and keep its audience in the dark, and he uses Pixar's utterly awful "Cars" as an example:
“Animation can be mature but too many cartoons have the same shiny big eyes style so kids only know one taste and can’t tell the difference between good food and junk food any more. Look at Pixar’s Cars. It makes cars look cute when they’re destroying the planet. It’s awful. The company’s now a corporation and everything they do looks the same.”
Chomet has continued production recruiting animators, and strengthening production, and with a heavy annoyance expresses:
"There’s a lot of talent but it’s hard to find the right people,” says Sally Chomet. “Students come with this almost institutionalized preconception of animation so show us Disneyesque drawings when what we need to see is their take on the world.”
Footnote: The article writer points how Disney has deemed this to be a problem in finding new talent as well.
Budgeted at £10 million, Chomet's business partner Bob Last, explains the budget allows for Sylvian's vision to come through, and declares "The Illusionist" seeks to be more than just a critical success. Europe is currently a world where animation is split between low budget experimental fare, and big budget epics, take for example Luc Besson's "Arthur and the Invisibles," in which the article explains.
The goal is to keep the medium from domination from Disney and other heavy companies and open audience’s minds to a broader scale. “Pixar and Disney have shown what’s possible, so why not?” Besson asks. But the ambition has proven challenging, what with Besson's production failing to make a dent in the box office.
Further attempts at originality includes the Switzerland stop frame animated film "Max & Co." featuring a half boy, half fox hero, the British-Norwegian "Free Jimmy," about a stoned circus elephant, and "Princess," a Danish story about a lapsed priest avenging the death of his porn-star sister, all productions made possible by affordable animation technology.
Serge Bromberg, the director of the annual Annecy International Animation Festival, hopes that different countries, including the US, can interact and learn from one another, but the hope isn't always possible thanks to the recent split of Aardman from Dreamworks. But, as we all remember, Aardman was very relieved, as they insisted it gave them room to think outside the box without studio interference.
The article notes how Chomet left production of an adaptation of a children's book, thanks to pressure from Universal.
“As the budget got bigger, the studio wanted a less dark, more commercial story and it wasn’t what I wanted to make,” he says. Adds wife and business partner, Sally: “We had barely finished a character sketch and its potential as a plastic toy was being assessed.”
But the article's writer is enthusiastic citing, "He leaves me with the impression that European animation can pull something magical out of the hat."
Comparing the US's hunger to think of animation in terms of franchising, and merchandise, while European animators think of the genre in terms of expression and bold storytelling, the likelihood of collaboration seems like much more of an idealist fantasy, than a possibility.