JOHN CANEMAKER
Welcome to my web page, and thank you for taking an interest in my work.
Throughout my career, I have always worn several hats, so you may be interested in my work as a filmmaker, writer, animation historian, teacher or artist.
Scroll down this page to see what I am doing currently, or click one of the buttons at left to learn more about me and my work.
I have recently added a new section featuring a gallery of my watercolor paintings. The ARTWORKS button at the left of the page will take you there.
Welcome to my web page, and thank you for taking an interest in my work.
Throughout my career, I have always worn several hats, so you may be interested in my work as a filmmaker, writer, animation historian, teacher or artist.
Scroll down this page to see what I am doing currently, or click one of the buttons at left to learn more about me and my work.
I have recently added a new section featuring a gallery of my watercolor paintings. The ARTWORKS button at the left of the page will take you there.
John Canemaker and co-producer Peggy Stern, as we accepted the Academy Award for THE MOON AND THE SON: An Imagined Conversation, on Sunday, March 5, 2006.
NEWS & EVENTS:
MoMA Jazz Score Opening Night
John Canemaker at the opening reception of the Jazz Score exhibition, The Museum of Modern Art, Tuesday, April 22, 2008.
Original animation drawings from his film Bridgehampton are on display at left, and the film is screened in the background.
For a review of the exhibition, see Michael Sporn's blog, splog.
MoMA Showcases Canemaker Film and Original Animation Art
John Canemaker’s 1998 film Bridgehampton is featured in Jazz Score, a five-month long film retrospective, gallery exhibition
and concert series at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Jazz Score explores the creative and collaborative relationship between
postwar filmmakers and jazz composer.
The gallery exhibition, in the Roy and Niuta Titus 1 & 2 lobbies, includes a large-scale installation of original animation art from
Bridgehampton (above) and John and Faith Hubley’s Adventure of an * (1957). Both of these films are screened continuously
in the gallery, in addition to being shown as part of the film retrospective.
Bridgehampton features an original jazz piano score by composer Fred Hersch, who also performs the work on the soundtrack. The John Canemaker
Collection at the Museum of Modern Art includes many original artworks from his films.
Jazz Score runs through September 15, 2008. For more information, visit JAZZ SCORE.
Remembering Ollie Johnston, 1912-2008
Frank Thomas, John Canemaker and Ollie Johnston at the Walt Disney Studio, June 1979.
The Wall Street Journal asked me to write a tribute to Ollie Johnston, who was my friend and mentor for more than 30 years.
LINK HERE for the article.
ASIFA-Hollywood Cites Canemaker, Keane and Kricfalusi for Lifetime Achievement
ASIFA-Hollywood Board Member Frank Gladstone, second from right, congratulates Winsor McCay Award winners John Canemaker, John Kricfalusi and Glen Keane at the 35th Annie Awards ceremony in Los Angles on February 8, 2008. To view their bios and clip reels, go to
http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/02/annies-2007-winsor-mccay-award-winners.html
Canemaker Directs WonderPets! Episode "Save the Pangaroo"
"Save the Pangaroo," an episode of the pre-school children's series WonderPets!, premiered on Nick, Jr. on Friday, February 29, 2008. John Canemaker directed the episode and designed the characters of Pangaroo and Butterdeer for production company Little Airplane. WonderPets! follows the adventures of three animated classroom pets who travel around the world as a team to rescue animals. In this case, the animal in need is a child's discarded drawing, part parrot and part kangaroo. The WonderPets find a home for the Pangaroo by drawing a new landscape that he can live in. They also combine two children's drawings to create a friend for him, the Butterdeer, who is part butterfly and part deer .
Pordenone Silent Film Festival Honors John Canemaker
John Canemaker gave the keynote address at the 2007 Giornate del Cinema Muto, in Pordenone, Italy, on October 11. His presentation on the life and art of Winsor McCay, including full-screen enlargements of McCay's remarkable comic strips and editorial illustrations, as well as rare family photos, personal documents, and four of McCay's surviving animated films (accompanied by pianist Stephen Horne), was cited by many attendees as a festival highlight.
For his contributions to early animation history, particularly his books, films and research on pioneers McCay and Felix the Cat creator Otto Messmer, the festival awarded Canemaker the prestigious Jean Mitry Award, below, with festival official, author and historian Russell Merritt standing at right
The Pordenone Festival is the leading international festival dedicated to silent film, and widely attended by archivists, academics, curators, filmmakers and fans from around the world. Below left, Walter Veltrone, mayor of Rome and a prominent figure in Italian politics, paid a visit to the festival and met with Canemaker and animator Richard Williams .
The Moon and the Son Wins Emmy Award
John Canemaker's film The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation won an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Artistic and Graphic Design, at the 28th News and Documentary
Emmys on Sept. 24, 2007. The Moon and the Son previously won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
The film premiered on Cinemax in June 2006, making it eligible for Emmy consideration as well.
These top honors from the television and motion picture industries affirm The Moon and the Son's status as a unique blend
of animation and documentary, expanding the boundaries of both genres through dramatic visuals and an emotionally compelling narrative.
"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/
MoMA Jazz Score Opening Night
John Canemaker at the opening reception of the Jazz Score exhibition, The Museum of Modern Art, Tuesday, April 22, 2008.
Original animation drawings from his film Bridgehampton are on display at left, and the film is screened in the background.
For a review of the exhibition, see Michael Sporn's blog, splog.
MoMA Showcases Canemaker Film and Original Animation Art
John Canemaker’s 1998 film Bridgehampton is featured in Jazz Score, a five-month long film retrospective, gallery exhibition
and concert series at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Jazz Score explores the creative and collaborative relationship between
postwar filmmakers and jazz composer.
The gallery exhibition, in the Roy and Niuta Titus 1 & 2 lobbies, includes a large-scale installation of original animation art from
Bridgehampton (above) and John and Faith Hubley’s Adventure of an * (1957). Both of these films are screened continuously
in the gallery, in addition to being shown as part of the film retrospective.
Bridgehampton features an original jazz piano score by composer Fred Hersch, who also performs the work on the soundtrack. The John Canemaker
Collection at the Museum of Modern Art includes many original artworks from his films.
Jazz Score runs through September 15, 2008. For more information, visit JAZZ SCORE.
Remembering Ollie Johnston, 1912-2008
Frank Thomas, John Canemaker and Ollie Johnston at the Walt Disney Studio, June 1979.
The Wall Street Journal asked me to write a tribute to Ollie Johnston, who was my friend and mentor for more than 30 years.
LINK HERE for the article.
ASIFA-Hollywood Cites Canemaker, Keane and Kricfalusi for Lifetime Achievement
ASIFA-Hollywood Board Member Frank Gladstone, second from right, congratulates Winsor McCay Award winners John Canemaker, John Kricfalusi and Glen Keane at the 35th Annie Awards ceremony in Los Angles on February 8, 2008. To view their bios and clip reels, go to
http://www.animationarchive.org/2008/02/annies-2007-winsor-mccay-award-winners.html
Canemaker Directs WonderPets! Episode "Save the Pangaroo"
"Save the Pangaroo," an episode of the pre-school children's series WonderPets!, premiered on Nick, Jr. on Friday, February 29, 2008. John Canemaker directed the episode and designed the characters of Pangaroo and Butterdeer for production company Little Airplane. WonderPets! follows the adventures of three animated classroom pets who travel around the world as a team to rescue animals. In this case, the animal in need is a child's discarded drawing, part parrot and part kangaroo. The WonderPets find a home for the Pangaroo by drawing a new landscape that he can live in. They also combine two children's drawings to create a friend for him, the Butterdeer, who is part butterfly and part deer .
Pordenone Silent Film Festival Honors John Canemaker
John Canemaker gave the keynote address at the 2007 Giornate del Cinema Muto, in Pordenone, Italy, on October 11. His presentation on the life and art of Winsor McCay, including full-screen enlargements of McCay's remarkable comic strips and editorial illustrations, as well as rare family photos, personal documents, and four of McCay's surviving animated films (accompanied by pianist Stephen Horne), was cited by many attendees as a festival highlight.
For his contributions to early animation history, particularly his books, films and research on pioneers McCay and Felix the Cat creator Otto Messmer, the festival awarded Canemaker the prestigious Jean Mitry Award, below, with festival official, author and historian Russell Merritt standing at right
The Pordenone Festival is the leading international festival dedicated to silent film, and widely attended by archivists, academics, curators, filmmakers and fans from around the world. Below left, Walter Veltrone, mayor of Rome and a prominent figure in Italian politics, paid a visit to the festival and met with Canemaker and animator Richard Williams .
The Moon and the Son Wins Emmy Award
John Canemaker's film The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation won an Emmy Award
for Outstanding Individual Achievement in a Craft: Artistic and Graphic Design, at the 28th News and Documentary
Emmys on Sept. 24, 2007. The Moon and the Son previously won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Animated Short.
The film premiered on Cinemax in June 2006, making it eligible for Emmy consideration as well.
These top honors from the television and motion picture industries affirm The Moon and the Son's status as a unique blend
of animation and documentary, expanding the boundaries of both genres through dramatic visuals and an emotionally compelling narrative.
"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/
ONLINE PRESS
Ward-O-Matic Two Part Blog
http://wardomatic.blogspot.com/2006/11/my-oscar-experience-interview-with_28.html
All the photos featured in this Ward-O-Matic interview (and more) can be viewed together in a Flickr photoset: John Canemaker's Oscar Experience http://www.flickr.com/photos/wardomatic/sets/72157594389132570/
Official HBO The Moon & The Son Page
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/themoonandtheson/index.html
Animation World Magazine
http://mag.awn.com/index.php?article_no=2515
The Evening Class Blog
http://theeveningclass.blogspot.com/2006/08/animationthe-evening-class-interview.html
Animation Blast
http://www.animationblast.com/view/canemaker/
Laughing Place
http://www.laughingplace.com/news-pid210010-210010.asp
The Art and Flair of Mary Blair
Available in stores and online!
Distributed by Disney Editions - www.disneyeditions.com
You can also find it at www.amazon.com!
John Canemaker: Marching to a Different Toon
Available in stores and online on DVD and VHS!
Distributed by Milestone Film & Video - 800.603.1104 - www.milestonefilms.com
Walt Disney's Nine Old Men & the Art of Animation
Available in stores and online!
Distributed by Disney Editions - www.disneyeditions.com
You can also find it at www.amazon.com!
JohnCanemaker.Com, www.johncanemaker.com © 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007. All Rights Reserved. The website is for education and information use only. All contents may not be reproduced or distributed without the express written consent of John Canemaker. Under no circumstances shall John Canemaker and www.johncanemaker.com, its subsidiaries, or its members be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, or consequential damages that result from the use of, or inability to use, this site. Website by SJB © 2000, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006,2007. All Rights Reserved.