(not) my kind of animation..

First, let me just say..
I'm really really sorry to single out one guy for this. And understand, whilst I am singling out one person - i'm also not, i'm just using it as an example of a whole canon of work - a whole canon of thought about the medium & the usage of the medium. I do not mean to single him out in anyway other than to provoke in your mind ideas of other examples.

There, haha.



This is the showreel of Sandro Cleuzo, someone who has been around for a while, worked on some big films & clearly a very talented fella. However, I wanted to point out this kind of work. I would not be happy on my deathbed to look back at my career like this. It's just regurgitating of the same subject over and over, slick, beautiful, but just dead underneath. What's the point? (besides the holy $...)

I agree whole-heartedly with what Ralph Bakshi says in this clip, and whatsmore the sentiment grows each time I watch it.



I felt that same way about Tom & Jerry as a kid, what's the point? Every episode is the same. Disney films are the same (hyper-Holywood, atleast every now & then live action throws a curveball). Dreamworks etc are largely the same. What's the point? I don't want to do this with animation. Lets not forget, it's a medium with such explorative artistic potential. (someone really needs to put a decent version of this online..)

On the contrary, I have alot of time for Pixar as they do things with heart & the occasional daring (if minor) attempt (Wife dying in first ten minutes of Up, how dark Toy Story 3 almost gets (all things considered..), largely silent first half hour of Wall-E) that I think in their own small but far-reaching way are slowly championing the change in animations public perception.

PS - just to again apologise to Sandro Cleuzo. I see he worked on Chico & Rita, a film I do very much admire, especially for its use of animation to tell an adult tale. Perhaps the above is simply an overview of his more commercial work.