Animated Events: Ottawa International Animation Festival, 2025 edition

It's Fall and the leaves are changing here in the Midwest. I've received that odd psychological surge of renewal that comes this time of year. After twenty-one years of schooling, September has always felt like the beginning of the year to me. Every year since grad school, walking outside to see the colors reminds me of one of those epiphanies provided to me by my professor Marla Schweppe. We were talking about abstract animated films and how I didn't see the purpose of them. Marla suggested that I go outside, look at a tree with its colorful foliage, then defocus my eyes. I did so, and the purpose became immediately evident. With my eyes defocused, all form and structure was gone and what was left were these vibrant patterns of color. One key to why people create abstract animated films was now firmly lodged into my consciousness.

Speaking of Fall and abstraction animated films, it was time for my yearly pilgrimage to the Ottawa International Animation Festival.

I was looking forward to this trip in particular as I had purchased a new (used) car several weeks prior and it was time to break it in with the 18-hour round trip drive to and from Canada's capital. The foliage was in full color mode. The weather was clear and sunny. And Ottawa was as beautiful as I remember.

Much like in previous years, my colleague Jim Middleton shared a hotel room and drove out to the festival. We talked film and animation history and photography and gaming the entire way there and the entire way back!

Moving from venue to venue, more often than not I found myself soaking up the scenery--trying to be a little more observant of my surroundings, not for security or anything like that, but looking at architecture, foliage, even the little signs that people posted on telephone poles. One of the things that stood out to me was a city-wide art project.

Back in 2017, Ottawa had a program to cover junction boxes with artwork. It's been eight years and I had difficulty finding one or two that hadn't been defaced in some shape or form. More than just youthful mischief, some of the artwork I saw had the eyes scratched over. It hurts my heart to know that some people are so broken that they have to destroy beautiful things instead of just appreciating them. But I made it a point to photograph every one that I could find, if for no other reason than to enjoy them in later years and hopefully find some inspiration for my own art projects.

Well at the festival, it looks like the torch for the annual Friday animators picnic had been passed. No longer sponsored by Cartoon Network, this year it was sponsored by NetFlix. Along with the annual pumpkin carving contest, I had my own personal reunions as I caught up with some ASIFA Central members that I don't get to see very often as well as my fellow former R.I.T. graduates Glenn and Sarah.

On the walk back from the picnic, I had the opportunity to stop by a used book store and meet the store cat: "Milo". Whenever presented with the opportunity, always engage in a little fuzz therapy.

"Milo" at 'Barely Bruised Books New & Used'

Didn't see as many friends and colleagues as I had hoped. Wanted to talk to Steven Woloshen about his film conservation work. Was really hoping to catch up with J.J. Sedelmaier about his progress on turning his historical animation tools exhibit from the Grohmann museum into a travelling exhibit. Was of those years, I suppose. It happens. The film selection this year was pretty broad. Lots of different stories and animation techniques. Some of my favorites this year were:

Fusion by Richard Reeves: This abstract experimental animation hit all the marks: not too long, not too short, audio complimented the visuals, and the visuals reminded me a lot of the films that my former professor Stephanie Maxwell created. Not surprising since this was a direct-on-film animation. Was hoping to share a trailer but was pleasantly surprised to find an interview with Mr. Reeves regarding his creation.

I Beg Your Pardon by John W. Lustig was one of those slow-burn comedies where in every scene you keep expecting one thing to happen only to have your expectations subverted.

The Girl Who Cried Pearls was a hauntingly beautiful film by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski. And as good as the visuals and animation is in this film, it's the story that really hooked me and kept me riveted from beginning to end. As this is an NFB film, I can't wait until the festival run is over and they put it on their website and YouTube channel. Looking forward to sharing this film with friends.

Existential Greg by Will Anderson. Well... that was... something. I spent the majority of the film baffled by what was going on and flooded with memories of my aunt's weird showcats. The slow reveal of the cat's expressions are what really got me. This turned out to be a really fun film to experience.

@will.i.anderson Trailer for new short film EXISTENTIAL GREG 🙀 #b3d #blender #3danimation #geometrynodes #mocap ♬ original sound - Wi🤘 Anders👌n

Unfortunately, I couldn't fit any of the features into my schedule. Was hoping to see Yasuhiro Aoki's film ChaO. As ChaO was Produced by Studio4°C, I knew that it was going to be a visual feast. Hopefully GKIDS will pick it up for North American distribution.

And before I knew it, the week was over and we were on our way back home to the States.

Next year: the 50th anniversary of the Ottawa International Animation Festival

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Animated Thoughts: Animation in Advertising

So I'm working on research for an assignment that I'll be using in my History of Animation class--one that fills in gaps within the textbook we're using. No shade here, there's only so much you can cover within a reasonable page-count. It's a problem I'm sure that every historian struggles with.

I've already added sections in my class that cover the Internet animation boom of the late-1990's to the late-2000's--around a twenty year timespan. And one of my assignments showcases music videos and some of the techniques used to make them. Still another focuses on the "outside the entertainment industry" field of forensic animation, ranging from court cases to museum displays (drawing on many examples from my career in animation). But when I wanted to add an assignment that covers animation in advertising, it was pretty clear that I couldn't get it done in time for this Fall's class. So I ended up gathering resources for my plan to make it into an assignment for 2026's class. The first part of my  research was reading the book "Animation and Advertising" by Malcolm Cook and Kirsten Moana Thompson -- one of the few books on the subject of which I'm aware. 

Shortly after ordering it, I logged onto Facebook where a post in the History of Animation group popped up in my feed. Turns out J.J. Sedelmaier reposted a link from Donna Dazzo about an auction that contained material her father, Jack Dazzo, had animated for commercials back in the 1980's. A quick review showed that there was production material from M&Ms and Alka Seltzer. But the one lot which immediately caught my eye was the production material from a Clairol Herbal Essences commercial. I fondly remember those commercials from when I was a kid and was actually showing one of them on the last day of class--sort of a catch-all screening of animated shorts that weren't in the book but were worth watching anyways. And what a treat it would be to show students actual production drawings and storyboards from a commercial they just watched in class. So, just like the Brenda Banks production drawing from Wizards, I had to have this set of Jack Dazzo drawings from the Clairol commercial.

It was a rare pleasure to page through this material when it arrived at my doorstep.

I quickly discovered that they were kind enough to include a matted and painted cel.

There are also little things here to learn. It appears that Mr. Dazzo used 10.25" x 14" animation bond with the Acme hole punch style for many of these drawings. And if you look closely in the lower right side of several of these drawings, one can see his notes: mostly calculatons as well as timing charts.

There are also a number of "X"s in the hair, notations that I often see in anime drawings. These are usually notes to the cel painters denoting lighter and darker areas. The "X"s are usually drawn in red or blue pencil that won't show up on the photocopied cel but are visible in the production drawings.

This was an interesting one: a series of photocopies that have the television field safe areas marked out--these are zones where you can and cannot see the picture on a television. I believe what we're looking at here are the title-safe area (the inner rounded rectangle) and the action-safe area (the outer rectangle). Basically, you're trying to prevent important parts of the drawings from being clipped when viewed on a television screen.

Well, after going over the material, I'm pretty sure that some of this artwork was used in this commercial from 1976.

I'm hoping to bump into Mr. Sedelmaier at the Ottawa festival if he's there. Would like to thank him personally for pointing out this auction. Also hoping that he might be willing to introduce me to Jack Dazzo's daughter. I'd love to talk to her about her father and his work in the New York animation scene.

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Animated Events: Dragon Forest at the Detroit Zoo

Dragon Forest at the Detroit Zoo

So I'm posting this on the blog a little earlier than I normally would, hoping that it'll give everyone a couple extra weeks to make it to the Dragon Forest event at the Detroit Zoo.

First off, the admission to the Dragon Forest is an additional cost, in my case it was $6 for a single adult. Well worth the experience for the price I paid. After going through the first time, I went to lunch, walked around the zoo to gather photo and video references, then paid to go through the Dragon Forest a second time before I left for the day.

The elusive owlbear.

There were three separate types of displays: a couple were images posted on flat boards, solid statues (many of which accessible so that kids could climb on them), and full animatronic displays that could move (which were roped off so people wouldn't touch them).  

The Griffin
Made as a solid statue.

From what I could tell, all the 3d statues (solid and animatronic) had motion sensors that would trip when you got close, then they would play soundtracks: animals roaring, a dragon talking, etc. There was also a flower telling stories that was on a timer--more on that later.

The Basilisk (with motion sensor)

If you look at the photo above, you can see one of the motion sensors that would trigger the sound effects--it's the little black pole with the white sensor pointing towards the path (looks like an oddly shaped birdhouse).

They also camouflaged some of the speakers so they'd blend into the display, like the one pictured below that was molded into the shape of a rock.

The eleven year old kid in me was absolutely giddy as I walked through the display--fond memories of the time spent playing Dungeons and Dragons and daydreams of being the hero in Dragonslayer danced through my head.

The Wyvern

In addition to the many dragons, they even had a wyvern. It wouldn't be until decades later that I encountered a plethora of nerds arguing that the "dragon", Vermithrax Pejorative, in Dragonslayer was actually a wyvern since it's wings were attached to its frontal arms. 

Personally, I didn't care--back then or now--as I'm far more interested in the practical special effects used by Industrial Light and Magic to bring Disney's great wyrm to life. I love CGI and the many movies it's made possible, but there's just something special about practical effects be it the work of ILM or the films of Ray Harryhausen.

The Fairy Garden

Halfway through the display, there was a "fairy garden" with little cat-sized faerie dragon statues, larger-than-life toadstools, and stumps where kids could sit down for a spell. Every five minutes, this large flower would light up and recite stories from Aesop's Fables to the visitors.

One of several Faerie Dragons that were out and about.

They also didn't focus on one single region. There were fantasy creatures from Egypt, Borneo, and North America, among others.

The 'Western Dragon' was about as tall as a one-story house.

The Dragon Forest event ends on Sunday, September 7th, so if you're interested, I'd head down to Detroit sooner rather than later. If I lived closer to Detroit, I'd go back and see this display again. Even if I wasn't studying animated installations and displays, this would still have been a fun and worthwhile experience to have. Since all the animatronics appeared to run off of the same motion sensors, there wasn't much to puzzle out, but it was still a good learning experience.

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