Talk to the Snail

This week I’m highlighting just a few of my favorite things from last week’s Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Meet filmmaker JJ Villard. I met him a couple of years ago when his film, Son of Satan, was shown as part of the CalArts Producers’ Show. Being a Charles Bukowski fan, I liked the film because it’s based on a Buk short story. But I loved it because of JJ’s style and point-of-view. This year, JJ had in the festival’s competition his latest film, Chestnuts Icelolly. I’ve seen it many times, and was more than happy to watch it again. The festival’s jury was pleased with it, too: Chestnuts Icelolly won the Grand Prize for Student Animation. JJ’s currently doing something over at DreamWorks. Good for them.

And now for something completely different. I love Peppa Pig. It’s a British preschool show shown on ABC and Tickle U here in the US and on Nick Jr internationally. It competed in the TV Series for Children category against Frederator’s My Life as a Teenage Robot (both shows lost to Code Name: Kids Next Door). Peppa’s so completely charming I could’ve spent all Saturday just watching the little pig. Great stuff.