Lectures

The lecture focuses on the creative process of the series “Pocoyo” (2005) and Doomed a biological cartoon! (2012) “Pocoyo” has brought Guillermo García Carsí to the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, the European University of Madrid, the Italian Institute of Design in Madrid, DUOC University of Chile, and the SIGGRAPH Festival, among others, where he has taught courses and case conferences. Doomed, his first project with his own production company, has won awards at seven festivals including Best Comedy at the 2012 Clermont-Ferrand Short Film Festival. 

The first efforts at producing and distributing domestic animated film in today’s Czech Republic date back to the 1920s. Most such efforts were advertisements involving the use of classical animation and other special effects; these films were produced by small production companies or studios. The lecture looks at this period in the history of animation, and supplements the festival programme with a screening of the most interesting surviving films from this era, most of which will be shown on the big screen for the first time in more than 50 years. 

To some, he is the king of sentimental, treacly popular entertainment; to others, he is a master storyteller. Be that as it may, he is a key figure of international cinema and of Western in general. Starting in the mid-1930s, Walt Disney (1901–1966) took a keen interest in European artists. These individuals brought to Disney’s films the aesthetic traditions and cultural heritage of their home countries. The lecture presents the breadth of these foundations in Disney’s animated films, and shows Disney as a man who found inspiration in Europe’s literary and fairytale tradition – not only in terms of subject matter (Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Cinderella, Pinocchio), but visually as well. For instance, on his trip to Europe in 1935, he purchased 350 books with illustrations by the greatest legends of the genre, including Arthur Rackham, Gustave Doré, Honoré Daumier, Grandville, John Tenniel and many more.
But Disney also absorbed the pop culture of his time – the look and behaviour of his animated characters often copied the era’s movie starts, and he made use of Vaudevillian elements as well.
Disney deconstructed art and art recycled Disney. The lecture will be accompanied by excerpts from various films. Also screened will be the short film Destino (2003), which is the result of the surrealist Salvador Dalí’s work for Disney’s studio. 

PhDr. Helena Diesing Ph.D.

In the late 1950s, UPA sold an idea for the first prime-time animated TV series to CBS Television. Nearly 100 shorts were created by new directors, whom Robert “Bobe” Cannon, the series’ supervising director, hand-picked from among UPA’s animators, designers and writers. Over 20 directors made their debut on this show, including George Dunning, who later directed the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, and Ernie Pintoff, Gene Deitch, and Fred Crippen, who later won Oscars for their own animated shorts. Other directors included T. Hee, Alan Zaslove, Ossie Evans, Bob Dranko, Rob Scribner, and Lew Keller, who continued on to distinguished careers.

Sixteen shorts will be shown as a sample of the variety of shorts created for this innovative television series. 

Tee Bosustow

Through excerpts from feature films ranging from romantic comedies to action thrillers, film music composer and music producer Łukasz Targosz introduces the audience to his work and to his approach to composing film music. Targosz wil share his experiences and take you on a step- by-step look at the working process. He will share what he considers important, where he usually starts, where he finds inspiration, how he approaches recording, and how to choose the right melody for a film. There will naturally be room for questions and discussion. 

The lecture on the life and work of the French pioneer of the animated film will include a screening of the surviving films of Emile Reynaud. 

The lecture The Early Days of Music in Animated Film looks at the early work of two pioneering studios in this field – Max Fleischer and Walt Disney. We learn about the first films to feature popular animated characters such as Betty Boop, Mickey Mouse or Popeye the Sailor, and also hear about revolutionary discoveries in the field of animation and audio-to-video synchronization. The lecture’s main focus will be on the use of music in the films of the time, the role of orchestras and composers in creating the first soundtracks, and the impact of film on musicians’ popularity. From the first short films made for adult audiences we move to Disney’s first feature length movies made primarily for children, where we again focus on the role of music.