Some random statistics from a 62-year career

84-year old Gene Deitch concluded his 2008 tour of San Francisco—which included being an honored guest of the SF International Animation Festival—by addressing a rapt audience at SF State. His 6th presentation on the tour was ostensibly a review of his work for Weston Woods, but he called it a salute to his "greatest failures." (As if!) Allow us to summmarize some highlights, quantitatively:

150+ The number of awards Gene has won for his childrens’ story adaptations.

5 The number of "failed projects" Gene presented Thursday night: (But on balance, it’s also the number of Academy Award nominations that he’s received.)

1/2 is how much weight a good musical soundtrack carries in the success or failure of an animated film. Gene showed us 2 versions of William Steig’s Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1993) to illustrate his point.

12 The length (in minutes) of his 35mm adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit, created in 30 days to secure an option on The Lord of the Rings for producer William Snyder. They got the option, but couldn’t raise the necessary backing to make the film in 1964.

3 The number of adaptations of Jules Pfieffer stories that Gene has adapted: Munro (1961), Bark George, and I Lost My Bear (2005).

1968 was the year he could have won his second Oscar, if only The Giants had been properly submitted for consideration. But it did make him 1 of 6 directors in the Czech Republic to have his film banned by the Communist regime (for "Objectivism").

34 The number of chapters in Gene’s online book, How to Succeed in Animation, available free from Animation World Network.

2 is the number of versions of Where the Wild Things Are that were released. The first (from 1976) features an avant-garde soundtrack by Gene himself; the other (from 1988) has a more conventional music accompaniment by Peter "PDQ Bach" Schickele. 

5840 The number of miles Gene and wife Zdenka must travel from San Francisco back to their home in Prague (where they’ve lived together for 48 years). Have a safe trip and thanks for a great evening! 

Thursday, Nov. 20, 8pm • FREE 

Gene Deitch is a veteran of 62 years in the animation industry, with credits including work at U.P.A. and Terrytoons in Hollywood (including an Academy Award for his adaptation of Jules Pfieffer’s Munro). He served as art director for the legendary jazz magazine The Record Changer and even drew a short-lived cartoon strip entitled Terr’ble Thompson.

Since 1968, Deitch has been the leading animation director for the Connecticut organization Weston Woods/Scholastic, adapting children’s picture books. In 2003, he was awarded the "Annie" by ASIFA Hollywood for a lifetime contribution to the art of animation. And now, following his appearances at the San Francisco International Animation Festival, Gene will present a lecture on adapting children’s books for animation. His adaptations include Where the Wild Things Are (1973), In the Night Kitchen (1987), The Emperor’s New Clothes (1990) and Sylvester and the Magic Pebble (1993); don’t miss this opportunity to get up-close-and-personal with a great animator (and a real mensch) before he returns to his home in Prague!

8 pm • August Coppola Theater
San Francisco State University,
1600 Holloway Ave. S.F.
FREE • Public Invited!

Wouldn’t you feel a little more special attending as a member of ASIFA? If you’re not a member yet, you can join right now! New members who join this month will be given an extra month’s membership for the price of a 12-month membership. (Your membership will expire at the end of Dec. 2009.) Visit here for membership information. For fastest service you can use PayPal .

The San Francisco Film Society Gets Animated From November 13 - 16

SFFS will present a four-day showcase at Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinemas of the latest trends, voices, styles and practices in international animation with filmmakers in attendance. Tickets are on sale now, but hurry, some great shows are selling out fast. Highlights include:

OPENING NIGHT • November 13

Sita Sings the Blues  • Nina Paley (USA 2008)
Betty Boop meets bhangra in Nina Paley’s celebrated first feature-length film, a beautifully animated visual feast of East meets West that has delighted audiences around the world. U.S. distribution has not been secured, so this is a rare chance to see a remarkable artistic achievement.

Friday, November 14

The Best of Annecy 2008
The Best of Annecy 2008 presents a selection of the best shorts to have appeared this year at Annecy International Animated Film Festival, the most important festival for animation in Europe.

Locomotion
The short films in this program bring a fascinating and fascinated eye to the mechanics of movement.

Play It by Eye
This popular show reprises the San Francisco International Animation Festival’s survey of the best recently completed animated music videos

Saturday, November 15

Play: The Art of the Animated Film Title
Film title experts Design Films offer an entertaining showcase of animation and motion design in the modern era. Clips from more than 20 film title sequences will be shown.

Encyclopedia Pictura
This shorts program features wildly creative music videos and animated, live action and hybrid pieces created by the enigmatic Bay Area collective known as Encyclopedia Pictura.

Control Freaks
Are we masters of our own destinies? The short films in this program dance around the question, and ultimately evade it.

Waltz with Bashir
Ari Folman’s animated Waltz with Bashir (pictured above) is a direct and uncompromising look at the effects of war, and one of the most inventive and powerful films of the year.

Idiots and Angels • Director Bill Plympton expected to attend.
Indie animation king Bill Plympton’s newest feature is a dark and humorous allegory about morally bankrupt men.

Meet the Maker: Practice and Craft with Gene Deitch
10:00 am Ninth Street Independent Film Center Screening Room, 145 Ninth Street
Maverick animator Gene Deitch discusses his 50-plus years in animation.
$10 member, $15 general public.

Sunday, November 16
Gene Deitch: A Retrospective of Films for Children
Gene Deitch in person.
This child-friendly program of work by maverick animator Gene Deitch includes adaptations of stories by Maurice Sendak, an Oscar-winning classic, and some of Deitch’s own favorites and surprises.

All shows are at the Landmark’s Embarcadero Center Cinema (except Meet the Maker with Gene Deitch), and many have repeat showings through the weekend. More information can be found at the SFIFF website.

 Character Sheet: Sabrina Cecchini

 Sabrina Cecchini grew up overseas until she was 13 and then her family moved to New York City. After college she moved to California and has lived here for the last 5 years. She attended the Academy of Art University where she developed her thesis film.

We had the pleasure of meeting Sabrina back at our Student and Independent Screening where she screened her film. “How to Avoid The Slaughterhouse” is a three and a half minute film about a young farmyard pig who tries to avoid going to the slaughterhouse by learning to become a dog. In the story, the pig mail orders a video tape that takes him through five instructional steps leading to his new canine persona. 

Thursday thru Saturday at the Red Vic

This year’s traveling collection of two dozen shorts from around the world (curated by Mike Judge) makes a return engagement to San Francisco. Consider it a warm-up to the the main event of the season, next week’s San Francisco Animation Film Festival. For full details, visit the movie house website.

ASIFA-SF’s President Extends His Gratitude

On November 2, the Balboa Theatre attracted nearly 500 people to a most unlikely-sounding event, a presentation on the principles of animation. The audience took advantage of a rare chance to see the legendary British director Richard Williams (pictured above, center, with my wife Denise and yours truly). Richard has won 3 Oscars (including two for directing the animation in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). He is also the author of the definitive guide to character animation, The Animator’s Survival Kit. He is presently marketing a 16-disc DVD set developed from master classes that he has presented to animation pros for many years.

Williams was originally scheduled to present a single program, which sold out in less than a week’s time after its announcement. A noon show was quickly added and also nearly sold out. Both programs included personal recollections from Richard’s 50-year career and touched on the subtle nuances that can make a good animator a great one. He also answered lots of questions from the audience.

Writer Tony Reveaux told me, "He presented the principles in a lucid and clear way."  Michael Bunker recalled, "What a warm, friendly man! He was just amazing. After all he’s done and everyone he’s worked with and met, he’s still completely approachable and I really felt like I could ask him anything. The world needs more people like him, both in their incomparable skill and library of knowledge, and in their eagerness to teach what they know and help aspiring students."

Part of the excitement was Williams meeting the audience in the lobby after each show to talk, sign copies of his book (or anything else that people brought to the theatre) and to pose for photographs. My wife saw one young woman dancing for joy in the lobby after getting an autograph.

The programs were presented as a benefit for ASIFA-San Francisco, a chapter of the international animation association. We hold monthly events that included screenings, lectures and networking parties. We also published an informative 10 page monthly newsletter. For more information visit www.asifa-sf.org. For information about The Animator’s Survival Kit: Animated, visit www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com And to learn more about the great SF repertory theatre, visit the Balboa’s website.

Thanks to the Balboa’s Gary Meyer for presenting this wonderful celebration of animation as a great art form at your theatre, and of course, thanks to Richard Williams for his continuing inspiration and mentoring of us all.

Karl Cohen, chapter president
 

…And one mysterious thing he didn’t talk about!

Richard Williams’ two shows at the Balboa Theater in San Francisco were a big success as ASIFA-SF benefits, and were delightful, enlightening and inspiring to attendees. Here’s just a few goodies we gleaned from the animation legend’s appearance:

—According to "Disney Old Man" Milt Kahl, everything you need to know about lipsync can be learned from watching Kermit the Frog.

—Warner Bros. animator Ken Harris was a great dance animator (see A Bear for Punishment) because he could dance well himself.

—These days, Williams tries not to think about The Thief and The Cobbler, his great, unfinished feature. (He also doesn’t think much about motion capture, for very different reasons.)

—He’s an Artist, not a Businessman, so when his studio was poached for talent after Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, he was actually relieved by the downsizing. "The Rabbit saved my life!" he said.

 —The secret to his creativity is relentless research. Before animating anything Williams swipes, studies, copies and cadges what he needs from relevant source material. Or, as he quoted actor Michael Caine, "If you see something you like, steal it!"

—His animated logo for The Animator’s Survival Kit: Animated is two minutes long and required nine months of production.

—The best time to be an animator, he says, "Is right now! You can actually make a living, raise a family and have a life, the technology is exploding (although he thinks CGI is more like hi-tech puppeteering than animation) and there are more opportunities than ever!"

The one thing that Richard Williams did not discuss, but alluded to throughout the evening, is his next project, a personal work that harkens back to his roots which has been gestating for 50 years. What is that project? When will it be released? He wasn’t telling. But he’s doing virtually all the work himself, with only an assistant and a compositor to polish his animation. "It’s far out, it’s shocking, and I don’t know if anyone will care about it. But I need to do it."

Well, we all need to see it, Mr. Williams, and we’re waiting anxiously for its completion. Best of luck and Godspeed!