FLARE

Event: “Lost Animation Festival – January 28-30” Guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present The  Lost Animation Festival: five programs over three nights dedicated to rarely screened (and rarely seen) animated films from the Oddball Film Archive. Thursday features “The Fabulous World of Jules Verne” (1958), an awe-inspiring and surreal feature film vision of Verne’s story “Face au Drapeau” (“Facing the Flag”) directed by Czech cinema master Karel Zeman.  Friday and Saturday focus on regional animation: Eastern Europe, the United States and International.  The final program lifts the rug on banned and censored animation.

Dates: Thursday, January 28, 2009 at 8:00PM – The Fabulous World Of Jules Verne

Friday, January 29, 2009 at 8:00PM – Eastern Europe/Soviet Bloc

Friday, January 29, 2009 at 10:00PM – American Animation

Saturday, January 30, 2009 at 8:00PM – World Animation

Saturday, January 30, 2009 at 10:00PM – “Banned! Censored! Animation

Venue: Oddball Films, 275 Capp Street, San Francisco 94110
Admission: $10.00 per program/$35.00 Festival Pass

RSVP Only to: 415-558-8117 or info@oddballfilm.com

Web: http://www.oddballfilm.com/oddballftp/Animation_Fest_PR.pdf

“Lost Animation Festival”

Screens at Oddball Films

January 28-30

Thursday January 28 through Saturday January 30, guest curator Pete Gowdy and Oddball Films present three nights/five programs of rarely screened/rarely seen animated films: “lost” animation.

Admission is $10.00/35.00 Festival Pass.  Seating is limited so RSVP is preferred to: info@oddballfilm.com or 415-558-8117.

Thursday, January 28 8:00PM

Opening Night Reception

Films Include:

The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (B+W, 1958, 83 mins.)

“The Fabulous World of Jules Verne” is Karel Zeman’s ground-breaking work in the genre of stop motion animation. It’s an awe-inspiring, meticulous cinematic rendering of the aesthetic and conceptual inventions of proto-science fiction genius Jules Verne.

The film’s intricate art direction successfully renders the visual style of nineteenth century woodcuts and engravings into motion pictures and creates a stylized and surreal graphic world within which Verne’s fanciful tale unfolds. The director places his actors in front of painted backdrops and two-dimensional etchings, before and beside flat painted props and animated cut-outs, and surrounds them with paintings, cut-outs, and puppets like outlandish fish, a giant octopus, and bizarre machines, all of which are moved by means of stop motion animation.

Zeman captivates us with his countless charming visions of strange, impossible aircraft flying through the skies, bizarre animated machines, a gargantuan cannon, articulated drawings of fish, and even British soldiers riding roller skating camels.

The story provides an excuse for elaborate settings and aerial and underwater acrobatics: A brilliant scientist, Dr. Roche, perches high above a stormy sea, inventing a powerful explosive, when he and his assistant are kidnapped by an evil businessman, Artigas. Taken by submarine to Artigas’ volcano headquarters, Roche is tricked into developing his experiment for evil intentions. The scientist’s assistant, Simon, struggles to free himself and warn Roche. A magical world of baroque submarines and sailing ships, killer octopus, undersea bicycles dazzles audiences as human actors, puppetry, animation and fanciful scenic design interact to create a unique cinematic experience.

Zeman’s eclectic cinematic style influenced many contemporary quirky directors such as Terry Gilliam and Tim Burton. Mixing slapstick comedy, slightly satirical, larger-than-life performances of the cast, action pacing and Mélies-style film magic, this little known Czechoslovakian gem transcends the literature at its source to create a bizarre and futuristic visionary novel come to life.

Revenge of the Kinematograph Cameraman (B+W, hand tinted, 1912)

Wildly inventive landmark of early cinema and stop motion animation, insects star in this Kafkaesque love triangle.  Polish director Ladislas Starévich, working in Russia, started out as an entomologist when he tried to replicate a bug battle he had witnessed. His experiment was so successful and satisfying that he continued with animation.

Friday, January 29 8:00PM

Subversion and Mystery in Eastern Europe

Some of the most original, wittiest and satiric animation emerged from Eastern Europe during the cold war- many were thinly veiled subversion, enough to pass the censors apparently.  Others are so mysterious that it’s no mystery the censors let them through.

From the relatively well known to extremely obscure- these are some of our favorites.

Films Include:

Rhinoceros (Color, 1935, Dir. Jan Lenica)

When the storied film journal Sight and Sound asked a young Roman Polanski to name his favorite Polish filmmakers, he cited only two—Andrzej Wajda and Jan Lenica.

A master illustrator and animator (he designed the poster for Cul-De-Sac), Lenica had a flair for the absurd- Rhinoceros borrows the title and spirit of lunatic despair and pessimistic dystopia from the Ionesco play.

Ersatz (Substitute) (Color, 1961)

Winner of the Academy Award for best animated short, this beautifully animated mid-century piece is something else!  The first non-US animated short to win the Oscar, this Croatian film by Dusan Vukotic took the States by storm and influenced many artists.  Cute little guy goes to the beach and inflates everything he needs (and doesn’t need), from a raft, to a girl, a shark and so on…

Bags (Color, 1967)

Mysterious and creepy stop-motion film from Poland, directed by Tadeusz Wilcosz.  A burlap sack proceeds to consume everything in sight, until all the objects- scissors, sewing machines, etc. revolt, organize and subdue “him”. This may be a parable for something…

A Place In The Sun (Color, 1960)

Two figures battle for their spot in the sunshine- a place that should have room for everybody (unless you live in Frisco in the Summer).

The Fly (Color, 1980)

The sole representative from the 1980’s is this wonderful Academy Award-winning short from Hungary.  If you ever wanted to know what it would be like to be the “fly on the wall”, you’ll know after seeing this.

The Hand (Dir. Jiri Trinka, Color, 1965)

Jiri Trnka’s “The Hand” (1965) is his last, and many say his best work. “The Hand” is an allegorical take on the Stalinist Czech dictatorial regime. Trnka directed some of the most acclaimed animated films ever made. In 1966, four years before his death, Newsday lauded him as “second to Chaplin as a film artist because his work inaugurated a new stage in a medium long dominated by Disney.” Trnka, was a 1936 graduate of Prague’s School of Arts and Crafts. In 1945 he set up an animation unit with several collaborators at the Prague film studio; they called the unit “Trick Brothers.” Trnka specialized in puppet animation, a traditional Czech art form, of which he became the undisputed master. He also created animated cartoons, but it was his puppet animation that made him an internationally recognized artist and the winner of film festival awards at Venice and elsewhere. His films are brilliant, bizarre and meticulously rendered.

Kosmodrome 1999 (Dir. Frantisek Vystreil, Color, 1968)

The year is 1999. Interstellar travel is so commonplace; hordes of commuters shuttle about on rockets as casually as they commute from SF to LA today. Our hero misses his flight, however and his zany adventures with the Rube Goldberg-like rocket he tries to enlist results in bizarre and weirdly animated adventures. Brilliant animation and zany, electronic sounds! Produced by the famed Kratky Film Company in Prague.

Red and Black (Dir. Witold Giersz, Color, 1963)

Working with oil-based paints on glass, master Polish animator Witold Giersz creates a fluid, color patch style that would influence many

Plus- Blacktop, Duet, The Sword and more!

Friday, January 29 10:00PM

Wild Innovation in American Animation

From the country that knows how (or knew how): humor, jazz, rock ‘roll, and some of the most visually stunning animation on the planet, whether from independent artists or the largest studios.

Films Include:

Claude (Dir. Dan McLaughlin, Color, 1963)

Wonderful UPA-styled short by Dan McLaughlin, head of the UCLA Animation Workshop and recipient of the Winsor McCay Award for lifetime achievement in animation. Little Claude is a clever boy, but his parents are clueless…

Toot Whistle Plunk and Boom (Dir. Ward Kimball, Color, 1953)

Academy Award winner in stunning Technicolor- this short was originally released in theaters as part of the “Adventures in Music” educational series.  Directed by the brilliant Ward Kimball, this is a classic of mid-century cartoon design and has been ranked one of the top 50 greatest cartoons.

The Critic (Dir. Ernest Pintoff , Color, 1963)

Another Oscar winner form the great Ernie Pintoff- the “Critic is Mel Brooks, sitting in a movie theater. Loudly describing/deriding what he sees on the screen (a spoof of a Norman McLaren-styled animation). Hee-larious.

Mountain Music (Dir. Will Vinton, Color, 1975)

Truly bizarre claymation hippie music concert out in the sticks.  Gentle nature scene slowly gives way to heavy rock freakout, with volcanic results

The Interview (Dir. Ernest Pintoff, Color, 1960)

Animated short by the brilliant Ernie Pintoff has square interviewer befuddled by fictional hipster jazz musician Shorty Petterstein (voiced by Henry Jacobs) as the Stan Getz combo blows and riffs “off camera”.  “Like, don’t hang me- I didn’t wanna fall up here in the first place!

Frank Film (Dir. Frank Mouris, Color, 1973)

Brilliant art film by Frank Mouris featuring rapid animation collage of magazine clip art with “competing” narration.  Winner of the 1974 Academy Award for short film.

Kick Me (Dir. Robert Swarthe, Color, 1975)

Weird animation of stick figure legs kicking a ball that morphs into hundreds of spiders with a surprise ending.  Nominated for an Academy Award in 1976.

Fantasy (Dir. Vince Collins, Color, 1975)

A hallucinatory handmade animated film from San Francisco animation legend Vince Collins evokes his particular brand of surrealist psychedelia. Mind-blowing!

Thank You Mask Man (Dir. Jeff Hale, Color, 1971)

Produced in San Francisco by Imagination, Inc. and based on a Lenny Bruce routine featuring The Lone Ranger and Tonto. Initially decried as homophobic by the gay community, it went on to screen at many gay film festivals.

Stop, Look and Listen (Dir. Len Janson/Chuck Menville, Color, 1967)

Inventive traffic safety short utilizes the pixilation technique (pioneered by Norman McLaren) to animate live actors as they “drive” all around Los Angeles.

Saturday, January 30 8:00PM

World Animation: Post-War Avant Garde and Social Critique

A broad stroke of post-war animation with subjects that range from the deeply disturbing (death, cannibalism, alcoholism) to hypnotic, visual hallucination (Spacey) to social critique (most of the rest).  If there’s one underlying theme that sets them apart from Eastern Europe and America- none are simply pure entertainment or subtle subversion.

Films Include:

Hunger (Color, 1974)

Brilliant, disturbing, landmark early computer animation by Peter Foldes.  Characters morph and cannibalize in this mesmerizing Pop Art short, with a super cool soundtrack by Pierre Brault.

Spacy (Color, 1980-81)

Hypnotic avant-garde rarity by Takashi Ito.  This experimental stop-motion film takes place in a gymnasium: we approach a picture on a frame, which turns out to be a picture of the gymnasium.  We enter the picture and approach another frame, which turns out to be a picture of… and so on.  A mesmerizing electronic soundtrack completes this trance-inducing meditation on time and space.

The Trendsetter (Color, 1970)

Cool British animation from the great Vera Linnecar portrays a little man who is annoyed with the little trendies who ape and one up his every move.  Illustrates how the trendsetters depend on others for their sense of self worth.

History of the Cinema (Color, 1957)

The History of the Cinema is an undeniable classic of animation, very British in its humor and very tied in with its period. With an irrepressibly optimistic narrator and great wit it takes us from the cavemen daubing on the rock, the pinhole camera, through the early silent movie era, and eventually to the rise of television. John Halas’ 1957 movie also manages to convey facts in an amusing way. Thus we learn why Hollywood was so good for film-making (sun, dependable sun) and the vital role the censor paid in movie history – essentially he snipped away all the good bits of film and left the audience with the rest – and even the fads designed to withstand the impact of the little box in the home.

Toys (Color, 1966)

Grant Munro, frequent Norman McLaren collaborator, directed this clever anti-war and anti-war toy short using the stop-motion technique. It all starts innocently enough with kids coveting the toys in a store window with a groovy soundtrack.  But then the war toys come to life and the ensuing violence is quite less than playful.

Mr. Rossi Buys A Car (Color, 1966)

Italy was not well known as a hotbed of animation in the 60’s, with the exception of Bruno Bozetto’s great series of shorts starring the “everyman” Mr. Rossi.  Here he buys a car and tears around Rome when he isn’t fighting the endless bureaucracy, mechanics and other maniac drivers.

Flower Storm (Dir. Ali Akbar Sadeqi, Color, 1972)

Two boys prevent their countries from going to war with one another in this charming Iranian folk tale. This animated short evokes the style of Persian miniatures.

Returnable Bottle (Dir. Johan Hagelbeck, Color, 1977)

Swedish animation by Johan Hagelback tackles a rather grim subject with humor and pathos- a boozer on a binge.

Urbanissimo (Dir. John/Faith Hubley, Color, 1966)

Famed animators John and Faith Hubley’s film tells the tale of a wily farmer who matches wits with a runaway “city” on legs. Dramatizing the blight perpetuated by chaotic urban development, this animated film tells the story of an unassuming little farmer, symbolic of non-urban man, who is sitting amidst natural surroundings enjoying the flowers and bees. He is interrupted by the entrance of a personified city which chews into his charming landscape. The urban monster is rampant and uncontrollable but the farmer is intrigued by its mobility and dynamic excitement. With a hoppin’ jazz soundtrack by the great Benny Carter with Maynard Ferguson and Ray Brown.

Saturday, January 30 10:00PM

Banned! Censored! Animation

Racism, sexism, drug references and more were routinely featured in American animation- many of these cartoons were shown on TV through the late 1960’s until they were pulled from distribution. Swept from the public eye as an embarrassment and considered a danger to the public, these cartoons are nonetheless a part of American cultural and artistic history, should be available, and perhaps need to be seen.

Films Include:

Coal Black and The Sebben Dwarfs (Color, 1943)

Considered by many one of the greatest animated films of all time, Coal Black has been officially banned from circulation since 1968 and is one of the so called “Censored 11”, the group of cartoons pulled by United Artists due to racist content.  A parody of Snow White, (called So White in the film), the blackface imagery and stereotypes are shocking to witness today (including a nasty dig at the Japanese). Nonetheless, Coal Black is a cultural tour de force snapshot of 1940’s America, ugly stereotypes and all.

Tokio Jokio (B+W, 1943)

Venomous anti-Japan propaganda short produced at the height of WWII portrays the Japanese as incompetent, weak, cowardly and primitive utilizing patently offensive portrayals, along with a raspberry or two for Hitler, Mussolini, Hess and others.

Little Black Sambo (Color, 1935)

Pre-war cartoon from two-time Academy Award winner Ub Iwerks and adapted from the controversial children’s book (and “inspiration” for the 1960’s-70’s restaurant chain Sambo’s).  Despite the innocent theme, blackface representation and stereotypes prevail. Portions of the audio from this short were sampled by Public Enemy on their Fear of a Black Planet album.

All This and Rabbit Stew (Color, 1941)

You didn’t think the rabbit would escape unscathed, did you?  Bugs Bunny at his worst tormenting a Stepin Fetchit –esque hunter. Another of the “Censored 11” pulled from distribution in 1968.

Minnie The Moocher (B+W, 1932)

All time classic featuring Cab Calloway and his Orchestra (seen live briefly at the beginning), Betty Boop and Bimbo. The main controversy here is the veiled drug and sex references: Minnie gets caught up with a pot headed coke-sniffing junkie who teaches her how to “kick the gong” (mainline heroin). Later she meets up with a pimp, the king of Sweden, who gives her “somethin she was needin’”…

Bacall To Arms (Color, 1946)

Directed by an un-credited Bob Clampett, this Merrie Melodies release features some great Hollywood star caricature- and a nasty final blackface gag (which hit the cutting room floor in modern times).

Lumber Jerks (Color, 1955)

Featuring the “Goofy Gophers”, who have been called the first openly gay gophers in Hollywood. Aside from the intimation of behind-closed-doors cross-dressing, a scene where gas is siphoned from a truck was censored in later versions of this cartoon.

Buried Treasure (B+W, 1928)

The Granddaddy of pornographic cartoons, persistent rumors suggest that Max Fleischer (Betty Boop and others), Paul Terry (of TerryToons) and Budd Fisher (Mutt & Jeff) were responsible for this bawdy masterpiece.

Curator Biography:

Pete Gowdy (aka DJ Chas Gaudi) is host of San Francisco’s Shellac Shack, a weekly 78 rpm listening party and a DJ specializing in vintage sounds: soul, jazz, country, punk and new wave.  A graduate of the Vassar College Film Program, he is an associate producer of Marc Huestis Presents, the long-running movie legend tributes at the Castro Theatre.