March 1997 Vol. 1 No. 12 Children & Animation Theresa Plummer-Andrews Children’s Animation, a Universal Language? Deborah Reber UNICEF’s Animation Consortium for Children’s Rights The Thief and the Cobbler Interview With George Griffin Table of Contents 3 Editor’s Notebook The Thief and the Cobbler: A Modest Proposal. 5 Letters to the Editor ASIFA-Sanctioned Animation Festivals, Annecy. 8 Children’s Animation, a Universal Language? The BBC’s Theresa Plummer-Andrews provides a light-hearted look at the problems and peccadilloes of producing ani- mated children’s programming for the international marketplace. 10 Sporn’s Choice:An Independent’s Struggle New York producer Michael Sporn’s commitment to making films about human issues has lately led him to animated documentaries for which the children’s market has been most receptive. Janet Benn reports. 15 Yvonne Andersen: Profile of a Pioneer Wendy Jackson details the career of Yvonne Andersen, founder of the Yellow Ball Workshop, and pioneer of teaching animation to children. 19 Folk Animation: Low Tech Art in the High Tech Age John Serpentelli relates his experiences teaching the folk art of animation to children in Philadelphia. 22 Kids Making Animation: A Sampling of Children’s Animation Workshops Around the World A look at what’s going on in a selection of children’s animation workshops in North and South America, Europe and Israel. 28 UNICEF Draws on Talent to Advance Children’s Rights Deborah Reber provides a look on how almost 80 studios around the world joined forces to form UNICEF’s International Animation Consortium for Child Rights. 31 The Making of Child Soldiers John W. Rice relates how he and his fellow artists at Fil-Cartoons in the Philippines created a public service announce- ment for UNICEF’s International Animation Consortium for Child Rights. 34 Trees for Life: Making Life Better Through Fruit Trees and Animation Heather Kenyon reports how Balbir Mathur and his organization, Trees for Life, with help from Frédérick Back, are using animation in to help people in the third world plant trees. 37 An Interview With George Griffin Ann C. Philippon talks with “quintessential independent American animator, George Griffin” about his life and art. 43 Going on Their Own in Vancouver With animation booming in Vancouver, Sean Maclennan Murch explains how and why studios there are trying to sashay out of contract work and into their own properties. Video Reviews: Festivals, Conferences, etc.: 76 News 47 The Thief and the Cobbler 56 Imagina 97 Fred Seibert Goes to MTV Networks, by Alex Williams by Jean Segura Visual Effects and Real-Time Animation Associations Formed, and much, much 50 Death Laughs Among Us: The 62 Brussels 97 more. Films of John Schnall by André Joassin I Miss You by John Kricfalusi 84 On a Desert Island With . .Three by Wendy Jackson 69 1997 American International Toy Kinder Folk and an Animator Fair Compiled by Wendy Jackson Software Reviews: by Marcy Gardner March 1997 52 Kids’ Light Intertainment 86 AWM Comics Channel by Jami Maloney News & Special Reports: Dirdy Birdy by John R. Dilworth 74 Special News Reports 55 Macromedia Flash The Oscars are Coming! 87 Next Issue’s Highlight by Guillaume Calop 1 Cover: Original Artwork by George Griffin © 1997 © Animation World Network 1996. All rights reserved. No part of the periodical may be reproduced without the consent of Animation World Network. ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE March 1997 2 by Harvey Deneroff The Thief and the Cobbler: duction was moved from London, A Modest Proposal in part, “to avoid the wrath of the British animation community.”) When I met former Disney ani- Calvert, who worked under the mator, Art Babbit (who was respon- close supervision of Completion sible for the dancing mushrooms in Bond Company’s Betty Smith, was Fantasia) towards the end of his life, clearly out of his element in trying he said he had only two major to turn Williams’ wondrous comic goals before he died: one was to masterpiece into a half-baked set the record straight on the 1941 Aladdin clone, including the addi- Disney strike and his role in it; the tion of several rather insipid musi- second was to pass on what he cal numbers. The result, as Alex knew about animation to a new Williams notes in his review of his generation of artists. His first goal father’s film in this issue, is some- was satisfied by letting historians like Andy in the US for Dick Williams thing less than grand. myself interview him; the second and, for many years, the world’s I really do not want to get into was done courtesy of Richard longest-awaited animated feature, a game of who did what to who Williams, who arranged to have Williams’ The Thief and the Cobbler, and why. The fact is that something him teach a series of classes at his due to be completed shortly. Then needs to be done about saving London studio, which helped train Art Babbitt will live afresh.” what’s left of the The Thief and the a whole generation of British ani- However, in May, Richard Cobbler. First, it is vital that steps be mators. Williams was fired from the film by taken to preserve Williams’ last Thus, it was perhaps no surprise the completion bond company and workprint, the source of the numer- that, when he died on March 2, the production was given to Fred ous video copies floating around. 1992, his obituaries in some British Calvert, in Hollywood, to finish. (At This alone, even its incomplete papers were bigger than those in the time, I speculated that the pro- state, would certainly be welcomed Los Angeles, where he spent most of his professional career. One of these obits, written by Les Gibbard, told how Williams got him to, “lec- ture, direct and animate at his Soho Square studio. He drummed all the rules and cliches into a generation of British artists—then told them to go away and break all the rules. “An awesome taskmaster,” Gibbard went on to say, “he enthused about the boundless hori- zons of a medium in its infancy: ‘We are barely learning to stumble on the stage . the pressure of ‘time’ and ‘economics’ have so bas- tardised the medium we have even forgotten how to stumble.’ Zig Zag the Grand Vizir, from Richard Williams’ The Thief and the Cobbler. Courtesy of “Art animated Raggedy Ann and Alex Williams. ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE March 1997 3 at film festivals and in a letterboxed subsidiary, it now owns the rights to laserdisc presentation.(After all, The Thief and the Cobbler. As Disney showed a similary incom- Miramax supposedly bought the plete “work in progress edition” of film after all the damage was done Beauty and the Beast at the New by the Completion Bond Company, York Film Festival and also released it would engender enormous good it on laserdisc.) will and somewhat erase whatev- ANIMATION WORLD NETWORK Beyond that, it is necessary to er stigma it might have by distrib- 6525 Sunset Blvd., retrieve and preserve all the unused uting the current version. It would Garden Suite 10 footage and art work produced also help honor the memory Art Hollywood, CA 90028 over the some 30 years it was in Babbitt, of one of its greatest artists, Phone : 213.468.2554 production. For most of that peri- the fifth anniversary of whose death Fax : 213.464.5914 od, The Thief and the Cobbler was is this month. Email : [email protected] mostly used as a training exercise. Thus, when Williams received full * * * funding to finish his film in 1990, only about 10 minutes of what was Reminder ANIMATION WORLD MAGAZINE to be about a 90 minute film were If you have a video, film, book, [email protected] actually finished. This discarded or other product you think should PUBLISHER material includes not only the work be reviewed in Animation World Ron Diamond, President of Babbitt, but of such legendary Magazine, please send a review Dan Sarto, Chief Operating Officer masters as Ken Harris (the film’s copy and accompanying informa- EDITOR-IN-CHIEF “Master Animator” who used to tion to Animation World Magazine, Harvey Deneroff hang his shingle at Warner Bros.), or contact me at [email protected]. ASSOCIATE EDITOR/PUBLICITY Lantz veteran Emery Hawkins, and Wendy Jackson Betty Boop creator Grim Natwick —Harvey Deneroff CONTRIBUTORS : (who was brought out of retirement Janet Benn to work on the film); in addition, it Guillaume Calop includes some marvelous work of Marcy Gardner such younger talents as Eric Heather Kenyon Goldberg, co-director of Disney’s Wendy Jackson Pocohantas, whose animation was André Joassin mostly left on the cutting room floor Jami Maloney by Calvert and company. Sean Maclennan Murch In these days, when the box Theresa Plummer-Andrews office returns are being dominated Deborah Reber John W. Rice by the newly restored “Special John Serpentelli Edition” of George Lucas’ Star Wars Alex Williams trilogy, perhaps it is time that the animation community started think- Le WEBMASTER ing about getting involved in some Guillaume Calop serious restoration work of its own. While ASIFA-Hollywood’s Adopt-a- DESIGN/LAYOUT : Guillaume Calop Cartoon project is a good starting IMP Graphic place, perhaps Disney should step e-mail : [email protected] in to get the ball rolling. After all, as seen in its work on Snow White and ADVERTISING SALES the Seven Dwarfs, it certainly has North America : Bart Vitek the necessary expertise to do the Europe : Vincent Ferri job right. But more importantly, Art Babbitt in self-portrait as The UK: Roger Watkins through its wholly-owned Miramax Cobbler from The Thief and the Cobbler.