Talk to the Snail

My fifth and final (sorry, folks) post re-capping last week’s Ottawa International Animation Festival.

Codename Kids Next Door

Just three nominees here, and I missed seeing one of them (my apologies, Tom: Tom in the Woods — you can watch Tom here, but it’s in German). The other two were Cartoon Network shows, episodes of Camp Lazlo and Codename Kids Next Door. I like a lot of Camp Lazlo, but this episode (“Tree Hugger”) I don’t think ranks among the strongest. The KND episode, “L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.”, on the other hand, I absolutely loved. Unlike last year when creator Mr Warburton clearly bribed the festival jury to have his show beat out Frederator’s My Life as a Teenage Robot for top honors in this category, this year’s KDN entry deserved the win. The jury and I agreed. “L.I.C.O.R.I.C.E.” won.

Pass the Pinha!

The Short Animation Made for Children part featured nine films, most of which were really good (thank god I don’t have to write reviews for a living – “um, good”, “I liked it”). Elanna Allen’s “Pass the Pinha!” was incredibly cute, “Die Gross Frage” by Matthias Bruhn I loved, and “Jaime Lo – Small and Shy” by Lillian Chan was adorable (“Jaime Lo” won the National Film Board of Canada Public Prize, an audience-voted award).

Jaime Lo - Small and Shy

Unfortunately, the only other film besides Tom: Tom in the Woods I missed this year was Michael Sporn’s “The Man who Walked between the Towers”, which I was eager to see. It wound up winning this category, too. I like the Gerstein book on which this film is based, and I’m a fan of Michael’s work, so it’s a safe bet I’ll enjoy the film, too. (There’s a clip on Sporn’s website.)

The Man who Walked between the Towers

Congratulations to all the filmmakers.

Hmmm. Maybe I should do one more post next week about some of the other Ottawa screenings I attended, like the Clampett retrospective, the Canadian Film Showcase, and Konstantin Bronzit screening.