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"Music is 50% of a film -assures Carolina López- and we don't always pay enough attention to it". We remain blind, then, to half of a film. López is the director of the Catalonia Animation Film Festival (Animac), organized by the Lleida City Council, which starts today: 312 films of various lengths will be screened over four days of an Animac that reaches its 22nd edition focusing on soundtracks. In fact, the Festival honors the prestigious composer and sound designer Normand Roger, creator of the soundtracks for films such as The Man Who Planted Trees by Frédéric Back and Father and Daughter by Michaël Dudok de Wit. Similarly, it honors the career of the Catalan composer Zacarías M. de la Riva, creator of the soundtracks for the successful animated film Tadeo Jones, with a fruitful production of soundtracks for cinema, and especially for animation.
This 22nd edition of Animac features the presence of globally relevant names such as Anna Budanova, the animator of Primavera, the inaugural film-concert Animation for Vivaldi's Four Seasons; the composer of the soundtrack for the Oscar®-nominated Revolting Rhymes, Ben Locket; the Israeli animator of Waltz with Bashir, Tal Gadon; the founder of the Belgian production company Camera-etc, Jean Luc Slock; the musician of Amanita Design video games, Floex; the specialist in Animation and Jazz, Milen Alempijevic; the creator of Arroç Covat, Juanjo Sáez; the Czech animator of The Oddsockeaters, Galina Miklínová; or the director of Buñuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles, Salvador Simó, among others.
NETWORKING AND PITCH SPACE, SHOWCASE DEDICATED TO THE PROFESSIONAL ANIMATION SECTOR
Carolina López explains that the Networking and Pitch space continues to be a benchmark for emerging professionals in animation cinema: this year, the Animac organization has received 22 projects in gestation to participate in Incubator, 20 Portfolio for review by experienced mentors, and the presence of 13 companies and schools to participate in the Market Pitch.
At the same time, this 22nd edition of Animac expects the visit of a large number of professionals from the sector, with more than 250 accredited during the four days of the exhibition.
PIXAR AND COMPUTERS CHANGED ANIMATION CINEMA
Since the last decade of the 20th century, the world of animation has changed significantly after the introduction of computers in the production process of a film. The first animated film that was partially made with the help of a computer was Beauty and the Beast (1991): in the ballroom scene, a background and atmosphere were recreated to give the sensation that the camera was moving in all directions. Since then, digital technology has always been present in animated cinema, allowing for an increase in the visual complexity of films.
Pixar Animation Studios revolutionized the animated film industry: its technical quality, creativity, and production level created a new generation of computer-animated films that, in addition to public and critical acclaim, also earned them several Academy Awards. Since 1986, Pixar collaborated in the development of the production software used to create its own films using computer graphics: RenderMan. This software allowed for the production of quality, rich, and vibrant animated images, unique in the industry.
In May 1991, Pixar partnered with Walt Disney Pictures to initially develop and produce three computer-animated films. Between '92 and '94, Pixar made about 29 commercials and designed the logos for IBM and Paramount. Pixar and Disney, in a new partnership in 1997, produced five more films, among which the short film Geri's Game stands out, shining for its advancements in the ability to animate skin and clothing by computer. In 1999, Toy Story 2 was released. It was the first film in history created and exhibited digitally. In 2003, Finding Nemo premiered, and Toy Story was voted number 1 on the Top 100 animated films of all time by the OFCS (Online Film Critics Society). The following years saw successes with The Incredibles and Cars. In January 2006, Pixar and Disney reached an agreement through which Pixar became a subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The subsequent successes of the Pixar/Disney pair have been Ratatouille (2007), Wall·E (2008), Up (2009), Toy Story 3 (2010), Cars 2 (2011), Brave (2012), Monsters University (2013), Inside Out (2015), The Good Dinosaur (2015), Finding Dory (2016), Coco (2017) and Cars 3 (2017).
CATALONIA: FROM NOTHING TO THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET
Film production in Catalonia has been very poor for many years. Garbancito de la Mancha (1945) by Arturo Moreno was the first animated feature film made in the Spanish state. Later, El mago de los sueños (1966) by Francisco Macián was filmed.
Currently, animation in Catalonia is based in Barcelona, where animations intended for both the world of cinema and television series have been produced. Initially, everything started with short films designed for the big screen. Later, Catalan animation opened up to the international market thanks to television series produced by Cromosoma such as Las Tres Gemelas, Acción with 10+2 or Los Fruittis among many others. The production companies had the support of television channels, especially Radio Televisión Española and Televisión de Cataluña. Many productions were inspired by the world of comics, such as Historias de amor y masacre or a series called Cobi inspired by the mascot of the Barcelona Olympic Games.
The production of animated feature films seems to have picked up a bit in recent years. Acción premiered in 2009 a film called Cher Ami with a style very similar to Disney, while at the Mariscal studio, the same year, Chico y Rita, a production by Fernando Trueba that aimed to appeal to an adult audience, unlike most animated films that are aimed at children, was also premiered.