Another contemporary animation classic on YouTube. This 1980 Hungarian short by Ferenc Rofusz won an Oscar. Hungary was at the time a Communist country and Rofusz himself wasn’t allowed to leave the country to attend the Oscars. Without his knowledge, somebody accepted the award for him during the show. I recall watching an interview once with Rofusz where he explained who the guy was, and how surprised he was during the broadcast to see somebody he didn’t know accepting the award for him. This excerpt from the LA Times in 1981 discusses the mystery person who took his award:

Academy officials were still wondering late Tuesday night if the real Ferenc Rofusz had accepted his award. Rofusz, the Hungarian producer of the winning animated short film “The Fly,” had not been scheduled to attend the ceremonies. But just as presenters Alan Arkin and Margot Kidder were announcing that the academy would accept on behalf of Rofusz, a bearded man bounded onto the stage, made a short acceptance speech, posed for the obligatory photos and departed with an Oscar, leaving, somehow, an air of mystery…

(Thanks, Philip Rogosky)

Russian animation director Fyodor Khitruk once said in an interview that the best award he ever received was when Disney director Woolie Reitherman told him, “You know, your Winnie is better than mine.” Now we can judge if Reitherman was right. The first of Khitruk’s three Pooh shorts, Winnie the Pooh (1969), has been posted online (watch it below). I think if I ever had to point to an example of perfect stylized animation, this short would be it. Just look at the way Pooh and Piglet move in this cartoon—so simple yet so much personality and humor throughout. There’s a moment when Pooh is talking to Piglet and he takes a deep breath before speaking. It is absolutely beautiful. You can truly feel these characters thinking before they act.

Looking at this, I can’t help but think of all the Flash TV cartoons being produced nowadays. The character designs in this Pooh short, in terms of complexity and construction, are no more complicated than anything one would find in a contemporary piece of Flash animation. Yet the animation in Khitruk’s film is light years ahead of anything being produced today. I was just watching an episode of a Cartoon Network Flash series yesterday. The movement was even fuller than this Pooh cartoon, but it left me feeling completely empty. The characters moved with generic gestures, mechanically matched to the dialogue and scripted actions; there was never the sense that the characters were alive or had a thought process beyond their meaningless movements on the screen. To create great character animation, whether it’s stylized or full animation, one must believe in…empathize with…truly feel…their characters; clearly Khitruk and company did.

Some stills from Khitruk’s other Pooh shorts are here.

What would happen if some Russians took a Dr. Seuss story and turned it into a paint-on-glass animated short? The results would be Welcome (1986), a gorgeous ten-minute cartoon directed by Alexei Karayev. It is based on Dr. Seuss’s 1948 book Thidwick the Big-Hearted Moose. The film’s art director was a young Aleksandr Petrov, who today is the most famous proponent of the paint-on-glass animation technique with films like The Old Man and the Sea (1999). The three-dimensional rendering of the painted figures in Welcome is absolutely stunning; they manage to build on Seuss’s original line drawings while retaining the warmth and appeal of his characters, which is quite an accomplishment considering how easy it is to make Seuss’s characters cold and unappealing.

One more note: the film is in Russian, but the YouTube version below is translated into English. The translation was done by Brew reader ESN, who also sent me the link to this film. A big thank you for translating this and allowing all of us to enjoy the film.

Fred Seibert has posted a group of publicity postcards created to promote his new series, Random Cartoons. Thirty-nine animated shorts were produced by the likes of Bill Plympton, John Dilworth, Doug TenNapel, Pat Ventura, Jun Falkenstein and yours truly. Nickelodeon is scheduled to air the series sometime this year, but no one knows when. In the meantime, these images should keep you intrigued.

Brew reader Charles Brubaker wrote in to tell me that Mel Brooks Academy Award winning animated 1963 short, The Critic, had popped up on You Tube. I always forget how funny this film is. I did some searching around and found a better version on brettratner.com. If you haven’t seen it in a while, or not at all, here it is. Created and narrated by Mel Brooks. Produced and Directed by Ernest Pintoff: The Critic.

Enjoy!

I’ll probably regret posting this in a few hours but the animation at Technicolon.com is some of the most trippy (innovative?, annoying?) CG I’ve seen in a while. Take heed of the warning at the front of the site: “PLEASE DO NOT WATCH THESE CARTOONS IF YOU SUFFER FROM PHOTOSENSITIVE EPILEPSY (PSE).”

[Note: The manifesto has been removed at the request of the filmmaker. He says it wasn't really intended to ever be put up on the site, so just enjoy the cartoons for what they are.]

(Thanks, Nathan Barley)

The Japan Media Arts Festival has announced the winners of it’s 10th annual competition and have set up a very nice website offering video of the honored films. Check out the diversity of animation techniques — particularly Alexander Petrov’s moving painting, My Love; the fun designs of Bloomed Words; and whatever-the-technique of Lightning Doodle Project’s Pika Pika.

If you happen to be in Japan between February 24th anad March 3rd, check out the free exhibits, panels and screenings at the Tokyo Metropolitan Photography Museum.

Nick Cross has released a limited edition dvd of his wonderful 12-minute animated short The Waif of Persephone. The dvd, which includes extras like director commentary, story reel and pencil tests, is available through Nick’s blog for $13.99 (via Paypal or money order) and includes free shipping. I’ve already plunked down my money, and anybody else who wants to support some independent, uncompromising cartoony goodness would be well advised to do the same. Nick has also posted a clip from the film on his blog.