The Ottawa Animation Festival

Ottawa Animation Festival 2012 Poster

           One of my favourite things about living in Ottawa has to be the Animation Festival. As a lover of all things animated and cartoony, it feels great to be able to go to an even where everyone around you is as passionate as you are. I always learn new things, make new friends, and have an awesome time.

          This year, I attended two special screenings, one of the Studio Laika movie Paranorman, and another of the classic Ralph Bakshi film Wizards. If you’re familiar with either of these, you know they’re two very different movies! But I loved them both. Usually when I go to the Festival I attend a presentation or a Q&A session with someone in the animation industry to talk about different types of animation, character design, how a certain movie was made, all different parts of the production process. This year I missed the presentations I wanted to see because of class, and at first I was sad I wouldn’t get to see some of my favourite animators/directors, but in the end I think I was happy that this year I got to just hang out and watch movies.

Paranorman Poster

                Paranorman was the first of the day. I got there just as the ticket booth opened, about a half an hour before the movie, and the line-up was already so huge it went out the door and around the building! Every year the line ups and crowds are always huge and terrifying, you always end up convinced whatever you’re going to see is going to be sold out or the seats will fill up and you won’t be able to get in. Luckily, that hasn’t happened to me yet, probably because I do my best to get there early and never underestimate how big a crowd cartoons can draw. (hehe, draw, did you see my pun there?) What’s great about events like this is that you know everyone in line is there for the same reason, so its easy to talk to people while you’re waiting. I always end up making friends, standing in line or milling around a crowd waiting for an event to start. 

                I could talk for paragraphs about how amazing both the movies were, and why you should definitely watch them, but I won’t do that here. I’ll save that for a review later. Just know that they were both amazing and you should totally watch them.

Wizards Poster

                This year the guest of honour at the Festival was Ralph Bakshi, someone who’s been animating since the 70s. He gained fame when one of his first films, Fritz the Cat, became the first ever animated movie to receive an X rating. Since then adult cartoons have been his staple. The Festival held special screenings of some of his most famous films all week, but Wizards has always been my favourite of his. The screening was held at the Arts Court theatre, which is a historic building that’s a little hard to find… I got lost on the way, but I wasn’t late! I made it just in time. For some reason, when I sat down I was immediately surrounded by old animators, most of them from out of the country. I couldn’t help overhearing them talking about them seeing the film for the first time when they were kids, and how it totally blew their minds to see so many… “adult situations” in a cartoon. I know I was eavesdropping, but I thought that was so cool to hear how it inspired them. 

                The best part about the Animation Festival is being surrounded by the best audience a movie could ask for. You can tell when an audience is into it when you see a movie – they laugh, jump, gasp, and clap at all the right parts, you can really feel the love. More than that, the Festival is different than something like a convention in that it really treats the films as films, and not just movies. It’s great to go a place that really promotes what I try to tell people all the time: Animation is art!