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Source: Variety
Since its inception in 1960, the Annecy International Animation Film Festival (sometimes shortened to the Annecy Festival) has been hailed as the animation-focused equivalent of the Cannes Film Festival, and that’s not just because it too takes place within the French nation (specifically in the eastern city of Annecy). Originally being held every two years before turning into a yearly event in 1998, the festival has become a source of gathering for the world’s most prominent and revered figures and studios who specialize in the medium of animation. Each year near the beginning of June, animators and filmmakers make their way to Annecy to either compete against one another or to just simply show off what they are currently producing. This is one of four animation film festivals that has received the sponsorship of the International Animated Film Association – the other three taking place in Ottawa, Canada; Hiroshima, Japan; and Zagreb, Croatia – though given how many more high-profile works get highlighted at Annecy compared to the others, it’s safe to say that this is the most revered of them all. If this year’s selection of films and presentations is any indication, that status won’t be changing any time soon, as there are quite a number of notable announcements and screenings that either have or are expected to take place before the festival’s end. Many of these, unsurprisingly, come from some of the biggest animation leaders in the world like Disney and Netflix, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any notable independent studios and creations worthy of one’s attention.
Of course, while the number of major studio productions shown at Annecy (either fully completed or still work-in-progress though very near completion) is somewhat limited, the impact most, if not all of them are anticipated to make on the industry as a whole will hopefully be quite large. Disney, for example, has only a short film to show off at this year’s event, but the size and scale of this short is far greater than almost anything the company has produced yet. Made to commemorate the studio’s 100th anniversary as part of a year-long celebration held by the entirety of the Walt Disney Company, the short, titled “Once Upon a Studio”, combines hand-drawn animation, computer-generated imagery, and live-action in its depiction of Disney animation’s most beloved and iconic characters, a number said to be around four hundred altogether (a testament to how expansive the Disney filmography has become over its century-long history). Featuring the voice talents of Bret Iwan as Mickey Mouse, Josh Gad as Olaf the Snowman, and the late Robin Williams as the Genie (whose dialogue is sourced from previously unused recordings), the short has been described as a “love letter” by directors Trent Correy and Dan Abraham, and will make its public premiere alongside the studio’s upcoming theatrical release “Wish” in November of this year.
Other major motion picture productions being screened at Annecy include Universal and DreamWorks’ “Ruby Gillman: Teenage Kraken”, a coming-of-age fantasy comedy set to be released in theaters at the end of June; “Nimona”, a previously unfinished feature from the recently defunct Blue Sky Studios that was passed over to Annapurna and Netflix (which will make the film available for streaming also before the end of June); and Paramount and Nickelodeon’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”, the latest incarnation of the popular martial arts action/fantasy/comedy property that has captivated young audiences since its creation in the mid-1980s. The latter film, at the time of its Annecy screening, was not yet finished (with the version shown stated beforehand to be very much a work-in-progress), but considering how enraptured its audience was regardless of its unfinished nature, many are predicting that it too will be another breakout hit once it comes to theaters in the beginning of August.
Despite the overwhelming presence of the big studios however, there is still plenty of room for smaller, independent productions to take hold of the spotlight. One feature titled “Four Souls of Coyote”, for example, was described by esteemed French animator Eléanor Coleman as being “a delightful, quirky Hungarian feature made entirely within one Budapest studio” in her expressing of excitement of what this year’s festival has to offer when it comes to independently created fare. “There’s such a range: Stop-motion, 2D, 3D, big name directors, such as Oscar winning ‘Ratatouille’ co-writer Jim Copabianco [‘The Inventor’], to French auteurs,” Coleman states before going on to highlight such Un Certain Regard contenders as “White Plastic Sky,” another Hungarian featured helmed by directors Tibor Banoczki and Sarolta Szabo, and the Spanish-made“Robot Dreams” from Arcadia Motion Pictures, for which independent distributor Neon recently received North American distribution rights. David Jesteadt, president of indie animation giant GKIDS (which not only distributed such Academy Award nominees as “The Secret of Kells”, “Ernest and Celestine”, and “Minari”, but also currently holds the North American rights to the acclaimed Studio Ghibli filmography) shared similar comments regarding this year’s Annecy line-up. “If you just sampled the competition lineup,” Jesteadt argues, “I think you’d be pretty excited about the state of animation.”
Of course, one shouldn’t overlook the various different short films set to screened at some point during the Annecy Festival. Though they may not be as talked about as their feature-length counterparts, there are still several wonderful animated shorts that demonstrate the exceptional talent of their respective creators. These include “Humo”, a harrowing Holocaust narrative from Mexican director Rita Basulto; “The Smile”, a stop-motion mockumentary from Dutch filmmaker Erik Van Schaaik; “Last Order”, a short, but disturbing tale of horror from Chinese animator Hangjin Jo; “La Saison Pourpre” a lavishly animated piece from France’s Clémence Bouchereau; and “27,” the Best Short Palme d’Or winner from Hungary’s Flora Anna Buda. As one can see, their limited running times do not diminish their overall quality, and they are further proof as to why the Annecy International Film Festival reigns supreme as one of animation’s biggest global events.
