Charles daCosta

Who’s Out There: Halas, the Relevance of Oral Traditions and the Animated Documentary

Abstract: Conversations with the late John Halas impressed on me that production of good animation should not be determined by marketing and industrial demands. Rather it should be about the capture of ideas, development of thought and the projection of ideologies. Inspired by Halas, I argue that while the ability of animation to educate is well understood, the relevance of critically empowering artists – during training - is largely ignored. This however must be central to animators’ education. This could be addressed through programs in which liberal studies are integral. The design and implementation of courses that require the accurate documentation of non-technical thought processes preceding, as well as occurring during and after production must be promoted. The proliferation of affordable digital tools makes capture of these new oral histories possible.

Biographical statement: Charles daCosta is an animation history professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design. A multi-instrumentalist, he is passionate about stop-motion. Charles’s scholarly work focuses on the nexus between theory and practice in animation. Previously he taught Animation at the University of Westminster, Media and University for the Creative Arts, Farnham; Cultural Studies at the Kingston University and Animation Studies at Morley College, south London. He also taught Film and Post-Colonial Studies at the London Center of Samford University, Birmingham, Ala. Charles previously served the University of Reading as its New Media Manager, and was a project manager for the European Commission's MEDIA initiative prior to that position. In addition, daCosta has worked as a cameraman and photographer for a UNESCO expedition in the South Pole; and on several educational animation projects in Europe, Africa and South America. He is currently developing a series of history-centered animated shorts.

David Williams

Going to The Dogs

Abstract: Although the Jerry the Troublesome Tyke animations were extant in the Pathé Pictorial holdings, no one had realized their significance until they were virtually rediscovered in 1992, and only Denis Gifford refers to them without having seen any. There was a special section of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival devoted to them in 2002 with a biographical presentation by David Berry on their Welsh creator, Sid Griffith. All of the cartoons are downloadable on the Pathé web site and it is the purpose of this paper as a DVD to look at the innovations and homages contained within them. It is extraordinary, though possibly predictable, that with silent screen animation saturated by cats, English animators should turn to dogs for inspiration. The enterprise of three talented men deserves wide acclaim and analysis. With minimal equipment and limited experience, Sid Griffith’s results are indeed remarkable. He creates a character of mischievous charm with a durability of style and story that remained constant throughout the 40 cartoons in the series. Diolch yn fawr, Sid.

Biographical statement: My abiding interest is the historical siting of film and film animation. To this end, I have researched British sources, Disney sources and the work of Lotte Reiniger, and organised important Exhibitions on these topics. I am especially interested in the historical techniques of animation and, as a practical animation teacher, I believed that this knowledge transmitted to students gave them a better understanding of the scope, artistry and significance of the medium. I am, of course, retired and my affiliation to an institution in a teaching capacity ceased three years ago at Teesside University.

Tom Klein

WALT-TO-WALT OSWALD

Abstract: Walt Disney and Walter Lantz both endured career setbacks as producers of the same early American cartoon series, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. In the case of Disney, his bold, contentious break from the Oswald series defined his visionary zeal. And with Walter Lantz, the gradual separation from Oswald that he arranged with the consent of Universal defined his more genial and conservative approach. Yet in each case, despite their contrasting styles, these trials prepared them and led them to their ultimate success with subsequent cartoons, notably the ones they each created next: Mickey Mouse and Woody Woodpecker.

Biographical statement: Tom Klein is an Assistant Professor at Loyola Marymount University, in Los Angeles. He is formerly the Animation Director of Vivendi-Universal’s educational software division. While a graduate student at UCLA School of Film and Television, he catalogued the Walter Lantz Archive, and has since remained active as a scholar and researcher of Lantz studio animation.

Malcolm Cook

The Lightning Cartoon: Animation from Music Hall to Cinema

Abstract: This presentation will explore the relationship between early animation and the lightning cartoon, an act known to have been performed by a number of key figures in the early history of animation, including J. Stuart Blackton in the US, George Méliès in France and Walter Booth in the UK. Concentrating on Britain it will examine the music hall act as an example of pre-cinematic animation, the earliest examples of the use drawn material in film in 1895, the importance of this performance to World War 1 animated cartoons and its continued influence in the 1920s.


Biographical statement: Malcolm Cook is a Doctoral candidate at Birkbeck College, University of London. He is researching early British animated cartoons prior to the advent of sound cinema, with a particular focus on the relationship between the moving image and the graphic arts and other pre-cinematic entertainments, as well as the neurological processes involved in the perception of these forms. He holds a BA in Film and Literature from the University of Warwick and an MA in History of Art, Film and Visual Media from Birkbeck College.