Animation at Estonian Week

Next to the visit of Priit and Olga Pärn, announced on this blog on March 11th, yet another Estonian animator, Kaspar Jancis has confirmed attending the event. The premiere of Kaspar Jancis’ brand new short, "Crocodile" is scheduled to be screened at the opening ceremony of the cultural week’s film program in Budapest’s Toldi mozi on Wednesday, 6th of May. The short, making its international festival debut in the competition on Annecy IAFF this year, is described by the author as a "twisted love story with a crocodile".

Kaspar Jancis is one of the two younger generation Estonian animators who had the chance to study animation under the guidance of the old master Priit Pärn when there was still no separate film school or even an animation department in the country. Priit Pärn too was teaching in the neighboring Finland in the Turku Arts and Media School, but had set the possibility of accepting some Estonian students as a precondition to accepting the teaching position.

The international recognition came in 1999 when Kaspar Jancis completed “Romance”, his debut short that was awarded the Grand Prix in undergraduate competition at the 7th Fredikstadt Animerte Dager. It is his distinctive style of drawing and sense for irony in everyday life that has kept his work on the must-see lists of prestigious festivals all around the world, from France to Brazil, and Canada to Japan.

Being a multitalented entertainer, Kaspar Jancis will also perform in Budapest with his band Kriminaalne Elevant; and play a role in a play, Paul Street Boys, presented by the Estonian VAT theatre in Budapest’s Merlin on May 7th.

Filmography:

ROMANCE (1999)

WEITZENBERG STREET (2002)

FRANK AND WENDY (co-director, 2004)

MARATHON (2006)

THE VERY LAST CIGARETTE (2007)

CROCODILE (2009)

Annecy 2009 Official Selection

The selection results are out for the competition programs of Annecy International Animation Festival, taking place from June 8th to 13th this year. The festival that has often been referred to as the Cannes of animation industry, screens about 500 titles each year, selected from thousands of submissions from across the globe. This year, giving the Hungarian animation industry a reason to cheer, as many as five productions from the country have made it into the competitive section: four TV-series and one graduation short.

Eszter Szoboszlay from Kecskemétfilm has made it to the red carpet with an episode of her educational children’s series Head Dwellers: "Neighbouring". Also for the younger audiences, the second competitor from the same studio is an episode from the popular series, Hungarian Folk Tales, "The Wee King", directed by Lajos Nagy.

Also presenting two productions in the TV-competition is the Budapest-based Studio Baestarts. Selected are four episodes of Magdolna Hegyi’s “Nursery Songs”, a children’s series animating well known Hungarian nursery songs; and four episodes of Alexei Alexeev’s miniseries of animals jamming in the forest with improvised musical instruments: Log Jam "The Log", "The Rain", "The Moon", "The Snake". A discreet episode of the program, KJFJ No 5, was already touring world’s festivals in the past year, winning its director a number of audience awards for its simple but hilarious story.

Last but not least, Miklós Mendrei from Moholy Nagy University of Arts will have a chance to present his graduation short, "Alone" on the stage of the 1000-seats Bonlieu main hall in Annecy, which is an occasion one would certainly not want to miss.

Cheburashka

The TV shorts of Gena and Cheburashka, based on children’s stories by Eduard Usbensky, have been recently discovered by the audiences in Japan, and inspired a Japanese remake of the widely popular Soviet cartoons.

Gena works in the zoo as a crocodile. When he doesn’t work, Gena sits by the kitchen table puffing soap bubbles out of his pipe. There’s nothing else to do. So Gena announces his need for friends on pin-up ads all over the town. Cheburashka is a furry creature who is found sleeping in a box of oranges. Rejected by the zoo for being an unknown species, he has no respectable job, nor any friends, until he answers Gena’s ad. The two are in for a series of adventures, entertaining children in the Soviet bloc for two decades until the fall of the USSR.

As announced at Tokyo Anime Fair 2009, the Japanese Frontier Works is currently working on a theatrical remake of the Cheburashka films. It will be a stop motion puppet animation like the original films but also include some elements of CG animation. Given the success of the 2001-2002 theatrical release of the original TV shorts in Japanese cinemas, the original character designs will be used also in the remake.

The original TV shorts directed by Roman Kachanov:
Gena the Crocodile and His Friends (1971)
Cheburashka (1972)
Old Lady (1974)
Cheburashka Goes to School (1983)

A clip of the 1971 cartoon:

Tokyo Anime Fair 2009

Whether it is for taking a snapshot of a favorite anime character, being the first to see exclusive clips of titles still in production, or for expanding DVD collections by rare specimens, the Tokyo Anime Fair is the place that all anime-lovers would like to visit. It is an annual, four-day international anime trade show, taking place in a large exhibition centre, Tokyo Big Sight, situated in an ultramodern business district of the city. Running from March 18th to 21st this year, the fair attracted as many as 130,000 visitors.

Since the event is traditionally divided into two parts, the first two days for business meetings, and the last two for anime public, it is during the second half of the event that the show is the busiest. With as many as 50,000 visitors a day, the exhibition hall of the size of about four football fields is filled with anime fans, all eager to learn what’s hot this year. Given the numbers of different production and distribution houses present, the competition for attention is tough. Some try to attract curious eyes by hiring cosplay actors to impersonate their best known characters, some by handing out thematic souvenirs. The biggest studios do all that and additionally host live shows, install large screens for viewing of exclusive trailers, as well as mark their location in the huge hall by erecting giant balloons depicting anime characters. With all the noise and spectacles, the fair is like any other market square where every merchant claims to have the freshest brussels sprouts, but it’s up to the buyer to find out who’s really got the best ones.

One of the most exiting spots was definitely the showcase of Nippon TV. Together with Mad House and Kadokawa Pictures, Nippon TV announced a new title, "Summer Wars" by Mamoru Hosoda. Given the success of Hosoda’s 2006 title, "The Girl Who Leapt through Time", the news of "Summer Wars" was received with great enthusiasm, and even though only about a minute of the film was screened, it certainly looked as if it would become at least as good as its predecessor. Most probably the high expectations will also be met when the film is released this summer, the crew list being as impressive as it gets. Next to the award-winning director Mamoru Hosoda, the crew includes Youji Takeshige as the art director ("Howl’s Moving Castle"), Yoshiyuki Sadamoto as the character designer ("Evangelion 1.0" and "Evangelion 2.0"; "The Girl Who Leapt through Time"), and last but not least Satoko Okudera as the screenwriter ("Angel", "The Girl Who Leapt through Time", "Miyori no mori").

Another highlight was the sales booth of Studio 4°C, releasing a limited edition DVD of "Genius Party Beyond". Being a sequel to the popular "Genius Party" compilation, the new DVD contains a collection of works by Mahiro Maeda, Kazuto Nakazawa, Shinya Ohira, Koji Morimoto and Tatsuyuki Tanaka; and also included in the package is an additional disc with interviews, as well as one with the making of "Genius Party Beyond".

As a tribute to Osamu Tezuka, considered one of the greatest manga artists and the father of Japanese anime, the Tezuka Productions announced that his beloved comics, "King of Jungle", will be made into an anime series. The series is expected to go on air this summer under the title of "Kimba the White Lion", commemorating the 80th anniversary of the artist’s birth.

Last but not least, many production companies but also schools and institutions were presenting past works, rewarding devote fans with take-away goodies or the chance to meet familiar anime figures in life size. This approach of a general anime celebration rather than a mere trade show is also reflected in that the Anime Fair hosts an award ceremony for the Anime of the Year award, the most valued distinction in the industry; this year given to the wonderful "Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea" by much acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki.