Animated Thoughts: To All Things, An End

Maintaining a state of détente with
the Fleet of Fog at Shuto Con.

As Shuto Con, Lansing's only anime and Japanese-culture con has been closed for good by its owners, and they're shutting down the Facebook group that so many of us used to frequent at the end of the month, I'd like to share a little something that's been on my heart and then give a little back to the community that embraced my interest in the history of Women Animators.

So, here's an open letter to the owners, staff, and attendees of Shuto Con who may be following my blog or may come across it in the future, cross-posted on the soon-to-be-shut-down Facebook group:

"Well, all good things must come to an end, I suppose. Thank you to all who made an old anime fan feel welcome and who put up with my 'yeah, my first anime was Speed Racer and Astro Boy' comments! A special 'thank you' to the Shuto Staff for giving all of us who feel like outsiders here in the Lansing-area a place to feel like we belong, even if only for a weekend. And lastly, as this group will be shut down shortly, here's the last batch of anime movies that will be coming to the mid-Michigan area.

Remember everyone, if we want to see more anime films in Michigan, we need to support the theaters who are willing to screen them for us! Hope to see some of you around town or at some of the other Michigan cons. :)"

(links are in the titles for those who wish to buy tickets)

Whisper of the Heart
Studio Ghibli's Whisper of the Heart is showing at Celebration Cinema Lansing, the Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Flint West 14 on Monday, July 1st and Tuesday, July 2nd.

Sound! Euphonium: The Movie - Our Promise: A Brand New Day
Sound! Euphonium: The Movie - Our Promise: A Brand New Day is showing at the Regal Lansing Mall 12, Flint West 14, and Emagine Novi 18 on Thursday, July 11th and Monday, July 15th.

Is it wrong to pick up girls in a dungeon? - Arrow of the Orion
For you Danmachi Fans, the Arrow of the Orion film will be playing at the Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Jackson 10 on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Kiki's Delivery Service
Studio Ghibli's Kiki's Delivery Service: 30th Anniversary screening will be shown at Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Flint West 14 on July 28th, 29th, and 31st.

Millenium Actress
On Tuesday, August 13th and Monday, August 19th, the late-great Satoshi Kon's masterpiece Millenium Actress will be shown at Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Jackson 10 theaters. As an animator, I can safely say that this is one of, if not the best animated film that Kon ever created. Every time I watch this anime, I find something new in the animation, the editing, the layout, you could spend an entire semester studying this film and only scratch the surface of Satoshi Kon's genius.

My Neighbor Totoro
Studio Ghibli Fest continues with My Neighbor Totoro on August 25th, 26th and 28th at Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Flint West 14.

Promare
Theaters haven't been announced yet, but Studio TRIGGER's latest film Promare will be screening on September 17th and September 19th. So bookmark the and check back for locations as tickets will go on sale July 3rd.

The Secret World of Arrietty
On Sunday and Monday, September 29th and 30th, The Secret World of Arrietty will be shown at the Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Flint West 14.

Spirited Away
Just in time for the Halloween season, the Academy Award winning film Spirited Away will be shown at the Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Flint West 14 on October 27th, 28th, and 30th. (be sure to attend in costume!)

Princess Mononoke
The visually stunning Princess Mononoke will be shown on November 17th, 18th, and 20th at the Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Flint West 14. Great timing for those of us who need a quick pick-me-up before spending the Thanksgiving holiday with family members who just "don't get" our hobbies or our taste in film... ;)

The Tale of the Princess Kaguya
Studio Ghibli Fest 2019 comes to a close in December with the last film directed by Isao Takahata: The Tale of the Princess Kaguya. Showing on Monday, December 16th and Wednesday, December 18th at the Celebration Cinema Lansing, Regal Lansing Mall 12, and Flint West 14, come and close out the year by paying tribute to a masterwork by one of the greatest directors in the pantheon of anime and the co-founder of Studio Ghibli.

'Sumi-Jaki' Shuto Con's "imp" mascot.

Animated Thoughts: Appreciate some art

In March, the 'post-Winter and yet still pre-Spring' doldrums were setting in. The snow was almost gone, leaving patchy brown grass in its wake. The sky was still grey and overcast. And although the time change left us with more light during the day, still, the warm sunlight was noticeably absent other than the occasional glimmer at sunrise and sunset. Rain and sleet were pervasive.

In order to get the much needed pick-me-up that would carry me to the first few days of Spring, I engaged in my time-honored tradition of appreciating some art.

As fortune would have it, the Detroit Film Theater was showing the English-dub version of Ruben Brandt, Collector. I had already seen this visually engaging film at TAAFI a month earlier, but I leapt at an opportunity to see it again. At TAAFI, they showed the English-subtitled version. And while I don't shy away from watching films in their original language, a film like 'Ruben Brandt' with all it's surreal visual imagery (and artistic Easter eggs) needs to be seen in a format that allows you to take it all in without having to split your attention between the film and the subtitles.

Still Life with Yellow Apple, 1858
John F. Francis

However, before the film, I decided to spend the better part of the afternoon looking at paintings. After observing the watercolors in the newly refurbished Asian wing, I headed upstairs to spend time with the DIA's lone Monet painting. Sadly, 'Rounded Flower Bed' (formerly known as 'Gladioli') wasn't on exhibition, having been loaned out to another museum for the next six months, but it did offer me the opportunity to do a little exploring of other works of art. I soon found myself tracking down one still-life painting after another with the common theme of 'food'.

The Sinfonia (Family Portrait), 1671
Michiel van Musscher

Other than an appreciation of the paintings themselves, much of what I was looking for with this little exercise were instances of near-realism within these paintings--like the use of color to create the illusion of three dimensions within a two-dimensional image.

A week later, I made a day trip over to the West side of Michigan, starting with Meijer Gardens up in Grand Rapids for their yearly exhibition of butterflies. I'll be honest, I wasn't feeling it. After struggling to navigate hordes of toddlers and crotchety older people for a half-hour in order get a decent photo, I switched tactics. Instead of standing over a butterfly, patiently waiting for it to spread its wings only for the insect to be scared away by a little kid or hear a nasty remark from an older person who wanted to get by me, I started looking for the butterflies that were simply resting. If you've ever been to a butterfly conservatory, you know that this pose is far more common (as seen in the picture below).

The pressure off, I left Meijer Gardens about an hour later with some beautiful photos of butterflies and plants that I was really happy with.

No idea what this is, but it looks like it could start
singing and dancing at any minute!

After a quick lunch at a Chinese restaurant by the gardens, I made my way down to the Riveria Theater down in Three Rivers for a screening of the documentary 'Loving Vincent, the Impossible Dream'.

Loving Vincent is a very captivating film and watching the documentary provided a very revealing look into the making of this singular feat of animation. It is the "world's first fully painted feature film", after all. And while I did find learning the background of the directors and their struggle to get this film financed and into theaters entertaining enough, I was honestly more interested in the nuts-and-bolts of the production.

For example: I found the transformation of an empty warehouse into an animation studio filled with curtain shrouded cubicles containing built-in projection systems for rotoscoping with oil paint to be far more fascinating.

What also piqued my interest was the process that they used to weed out all the experienced oil painters that they needed to create the 65,000 frames of film as well as how the painters were apparently paid per painting. If I understand correctly, on the production, the more paintings you produced, the more you got paid. No small feat when you look at the complexity of the images in the trailer below:

Loving Vincent is now available for viewing on various streaming services (like Amazon Prime, Hulu and YouTube), as well as available on DVD and BluRay. So if you have an afternoon, it is highly recommended viewing.

My cousin Circe dressed as Ruby Rose
from the animated series: RWBY.

Well, the last gasp of Winter was bittersweet this year as it was, what would be announced about a week after the convention, the last Shuto Con to be held in Lansing.

There were rumblings of declining quality, increasing prices, and financial instability over the past few years, but I took them all in stride as I had been attending my local con since it's inception in 2011.

This year, the con had scaled back to a fraction of its original size as the owners fulfilled the final year of their contract with the venue.

The mood that weekend alternated between festive and somber, depending on who you asked.

Don't get me wrong, I made a decision to have a great time no matter what, and I was not disappointed. However, my worst fears were realized when the convention owner went on social media with the announcement that they were throwing in the towel and ending the con for good--leaving Lansing with one less venue for animation and one less place where I felt like I belonged.

Shuto will always hold a special place in my heart as they were the first venue that provided me space and equipment to do presentations and screenings on the history of women animators. Even though they were a Japanese animation and culture con, they saw the value in my work and for that, I will be forever grateful.

Regardless, it "is" times like this when I wish I lived in a bigger city with more opportunities to be social and engage in activities that interest me. Such is life.

*  *  *

Animated Thoughts: Shuto Con 2014 and Animated Women

Earlier this month, Spring had finally sprung and I found myself in my hometown attending Shuto Con, the yearly anime and Japanese culture convention here in Lansing.

As opposed to last year, where Disney fairies were well represented, this year, Disney princesses were all the rage. I saw no less than four sets of girls dressed like Anna and Elsa from Frozen. But almost everyone from Merida to Belle to Snow White were walking around--don't recall seeing any Tiana, Pocahontas, or Mulan cosplayers though as all the girls doing the Disney cosplays seemed to be all about who could make the most accurate (and most elaborate) dress. And unfortunately, I wasn't quick enough to get a photo of all eight of the Disney princesses when they posed for a group shot, but I did bump into Ariel later that weekend.

Though, however many princesses there were that weekend, timed with the release of Disney's "Pirate Fairy" DVD, the Disney Fairies still had adequate representation at the con.

Also, Squirrels Creations was back. Last year he showed up with a giant Starscream outfit from the original Transformers cartoon series and this year Optimus Prime was in attendance. Definitely check out his Facebook page for on it, you'll find the Mach 5 from Speed Racer! Going to have to head out to the Grand Rapids Comic Con this year to get my picture taken with the Mach 5.

This year was a bit of a departure from my regular routines. As I had been encouraged to speak at previous cons by the owner, this year I decided to toss my hat into the ring with a topic that I've been researching for several years: the history of women working in the field of animation.

I'm very fortunate that the con organizers are flexible regarding what seminar topics they allow people to speak on. They don't stick to a strict 'Japan only' philosophy as the resulting variety helps distinguish them from the other anime cons--both large and small--that are here in Michigan.

In order to liven up what could have been a very dry lecture, I decided to go with a game show format. The audience was asked three questions about a woman animator (both historical and contemporary), her career, and/or elements of work she was involved in that made it into popular culture. At the end of each animator's section, I'd recite two or three quick sentences about the animator that expounded upon the information presented in the questions

The awesome people who attended my WiA lecture

Afterwards, I presented a screening of animated short films either produced by women animators (like Lynn Dana Wilton's (Re)Cycle) or that had notable women animators working on the overall production (like Kazuko Nakamura, one of the first women animators in Japan).


"(Re)Cycle" (2011) from Lynn Dana Wilton on Vimeo.

Both events went over far better than I had hoped. Only expecting around ten to fifteen people (including friends who would be there to support me), I was pleasantly surprised when twenty-four guys and girls were there for my lecture and eighteen people showed up for the screening. As I have lots of material to draw from, you can be sure that I'll be shuffling the line-up of women animators in my presentation and proposing it to the convention next year. If you'd like to learn more about my lecture, head on over to my sister site: Animated Women for some additional information.

Given how well this presentation went over, I think it's time to dust off one of my original ideas and start working on a lecture covering the history of Japanese animation... or maybe just the history of Giant Robots in Anime... :)