NEWS & EVENTS:

Ohio State University to Host Winsor McCay Lecture


John Canemaker will present his internationally acclaimed lecture/screening on the art and life of animation pioneer
Winsor McCay (1867 – 1934) at the Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, on November 3. 
The event is part of the current Winsor McCay: Legendary Cartoonist exhibit at the OSU Cartoon Library and Museum.

Swiss animation historian Oswald Iten reviewed the McCay lecture at the 2008 Annecy International Animation Festival:

“But for me the absolute highlight in any category was John Canemaker’s presentation of The Art and Life of Winsor McCay!
It was nothing less than a revelation. If ever you thought that Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) was just a silly old hat every animation student
has to sit through, wait till you see Canemaker presenting it the way it was meant to be shown – as a vaudeville act with live musical
accompaniment. Of course the great historian also managed to comment on the historical process at the same time as encouraging
the audience to participate in the act  ...John Canemaker achieved the feat of transporting the audience back to the 1910s and opening
their eyes for an unfamiliar experience of familiar movies.”

November 3, 2009 - 7:00 pm
Wexner Center Film/Video Theater
1871 North High Street
Columbus, Ohio

For tickets and information, please visit the Ohio State University Cartoon Library and Museum website:

http://cartoons.osu.edu/?q=events/art-and-life-winsor-mccay


John Canemaker to Teach in Ireland Nov. 9 – 20, 2009


For two weeks in November, John Canemaker will be a Visiting Fellow at the National Film School at the Institute of Art/Design/Technology
in Dun Laoghaire, Ireland, where he will present master classes in Action Analysis and Storyboarding, and advise on senior thesis projects. 
Canemaker will also present three illustrated lectures on animation: a selection of his own professional work, including The Moon and the Son;
the life and career of designer Mary Blair, and the art and life of animation pioneer Winsor McCay.


New Book Coming August 2010

Two Guys Named Joe: Master Animation Storytellers Joe Grant and JoeRanft
ISBN: 978-1-4231-1067-5
Disney Editions
192 Pages
$40.00
On Sale: August 2010

In his upcoming tenth book on animation history, John Canemaker brings his unique insight and understanding to the lives
of Joe Grant (1908-2005) and Joe Ranft (1960-2005), two gifted artists whose work defined and refined the art of animation
story telling, beginning in the 1930s during the Golden Age of traditional animation at the Walt Disney Studios and continuing
into the present digital age at Pixar Animation.

Their imaginative and inventive approach to animation narrative helped create many unforgettable moments in such classic animated
features as Beauty and the Beast, Toy Story1&2, Fantasia, The Lion King, Aladdin, Monsters, Inc., Pinocchio, The Nightmare Before Christmas,
Cars, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, A Bug's Life, Dumbo and more.

Joe Grant straddled two eras, starting as a gifted newspaper caricaturist who contributed gags and ideas for Mickey Mouse and
Silly Symphony shorts.  Grant soon became Walt Disney’s confidant, and through the 1930s and 40s played a leading role in defining
Disney’s pioneering animation legacy.  After a forty-year hiatus, he returned to the studio in his 81st year, his creative spirit and abilities
undiminished, and made significant contributions to the second great era of Disney features until his death at age 97.

Joe Ranft built on the traditions of the past forged by Grant and others to become the top animation storyboard artist of his generation.  
As one of Pixar’s creative founders, Ranft was a major influence on the studio’s signature originality, warmth and irreverent humor. His untimely
death at age 45 stunned his colleagues but the legacy of his extraordinary humanity can still be seen in Pixar’s unprecedented series of popular and
critically acclaimed animated features.

Both men had great insight into characters and personalities that ultimately entertained audiences worldwide, and both became inspiring mentors
to numerous colleagues.

Lavishly illustrated with personal art from both artists as well as rarities from the Disney and Pixar archives, Two Guys Named Joe sensitively
and candidly explores the interplay between personal creativity and the craft of animation storytelling, as seen through the lives and art of
two of animation’s most original artists.


Canemaker Completes Bellagio Residency

John Canemaker recently spent four weeks as a resident fellow at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Villa Serbelloni Study Center
in Bellagio, Italy.  Working daily in La Veduta, an artist’s studio housed in an eighteenth-century ‘folly’ overlooking Lake Como,
he completed preliminary storyboards for a new animated film.

 

Animation historian, critic and writer Federico Fiecconi graciously organized a post-residency visit to Bergamo, including lunch
with Italian animation great Bruno Bozzetto.  Near the ancient citadel high above the city, Bozetto, Canemaker and Fiecconi posed
for a photo, a la The Three Tenors.

 


On the Big and Small Screens

John Canemaker is featured on the new Blu-Ray edition of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, in which his audio commentary on the making
of the film is interwoven with audio clips of Walt Disney himself discussing the project. The novel pairing of producer and historian has been
noted in many reviews of the new release, such as this from Justin Sluss at Hi Def DiscNews.com:

“This audio commentary is an absolute treat and is a definite must-listen if you didn’t hear it on the previous DVD release.
It’s amazing to get to hear these archival audio interviews with Walt discussing the film as well as the information that Canemaker
discusses is very informative and entertaining throughout. Kudos to Disney for porting this and the other DVD bonus content.”

Canemaker is also on screen in Walt and El Grupo, a new feature documentary by Ted Thomas about the now-legendary 1941 South American
tour by Disney and a team of his key artists.  The goodwill visit was part of President Roosevelt’s “Good Neighbor” Policy and resulted in the
creation of Saludos Amigos, The Three Caballeros and several animated shorts and segments in Disney compilation features.  Combining on-camera
interviews with family members of the artists and never-before-seen color footage of the Disney group on tour, Walt and El Grupo is a unique
record of a pivotal moment in the history of the Disney studio.


"The Moon and the Son" on iTunes

THE MOON AND THE SON is now available for download at Apple’s iTunes Store.  Just enter “THE MOON AND THE SON” in the search box at the upper right corner of the iTunes Store home page to preview the film.  THE MOON AND THE SON is one of more than 100 award-winning short films offered exclusively on iTunes by Shorts International.


Canemaker Animation Featured on MoMA Kid's Website Destination Modern Art

The Museum of Modern Art has selected John Canemaker's 1998 animated short, Bridgehampton, as the centerpiece of a learning module about filmmaking at its new interactive learning site for children, Destination Modern Art.

Destination Modern Art is a virtual museum that allows children to explore various works from MoMA's renowned collections of painting, sculpture, design and film. Users can "enter" the works of artists such as Picasso, Van Gogh, Frida Kahlo, Romare Bearden, sculptor Umberto Boccioni and architect Marcel Breuer, as well as access a variety of related learning activities and projects.

At the site's Movie Theater, one can watch the full six-minute film Bridgehampton, as well as select individual scenes and see original storyboard sketches from Canemaker's painterly study of the seasons on eastern Long Island.

Learning activities include a step-by-step example of how animation is done and a downloadable flip book, both of which were designed and animated by Canemaker specifically for the site.

For more information: http://www.moma.org/destination/