The Corners are Glowing
Selected Writings from the Ottawa International Animation Festival
Preview
Book Description
The Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) began in 1976 and stands today as one of the oldest and largest animation events in the world. One of the unique features of the OIAF is the inclusion of commissioned writings that provide attendees with a more in-depth background into the festival’s special screenings. These writings have not only contextualized the festival presentations but have also contributed significantly to animation education and scholarship.
The Corners are Glowing is a selection of the best writings (many unseen for decades) culled from past OIAF catalogues. These wide-ranging texts cover the spectrum of animation from the familiar (Daffy Duck, Pee Wee Herman, Bob Clampett, Joanna Quinn, Hiyao Miyazaki, Frank Tashlin) to the more esoteric (Robert Breer, Emily Pelstring, Taku Furukawa, Michael Sporn, and even the use of furniture in animation!).
The Corners are Glowing is a valuable time capsule that celebrates animation’s past and present, and the styles of writing are as diverse, enlightening, and fun as the animation subjects being written about.
Table of Contents
Author Bio. INTRODUCTION. Chapter 1 In Search of Raoul Barre (1976). Chapter 2 The Importance of Being Fischinger (1976). Chapter 3 Segundo de Chomon: Spanish Magician (1978). Chapter 4 German Animation Pioneers (1988). Chapter 5 The Evolution of Daffy Duck (1988). Chapter 6 Frame by Frame: Animated Commercials 1920–1990 (1990). Chapter 7 The Personal Side of Ernest Pintoff, Filmmaker. Chapter 8 Drawing on Both Sides of Their Brains (1996): The Art and Careers of Derek Lamb and Kaj Pindal. Chapter 9 A Taste of Tashlin (1998). Chapter 10 The Animation of MTV (1999). Chapter 11 Phil Mulloy: An Appreciation (2001). Chapter 12 Rex, Epicurus and Me: The Search for Pleasure (2001). Chapter 13 Narrow Roads: The Wor (ks) (lds) (ds) of Taku Furukawa. Chapter 14 Piotr Dumala: Notes from Underground (2002). Chapter 15 Janie Geiser’s Uncanny Silence (2002). Chapter 16 The Fecal and the Feral: John Kricfalusi, Theme & Variation (2002). Chapter 17 Ominous Beauty: The Animation of Jean-Francois Laguionie (2003). Chapter 18 The Wage Of Mersh, The Fart Of Art: Oscar Grillo In The 21st Century (2003). Chapter 19 Miyazaki Magic (2004). Chapter 20 Robert Breer: Dadanimator (2004). Chapter 21 Transforming Realities: The Work of Co Hoedeman (2004). Chapter 22 Animating Pee-wee’s Playhouse (2005). Chapter 23 Bob Clampett at Warner Bros. (2006). Chapter 24 Showing Scher (2006). Chapter 25 Bawdy Politics: The Animation of Joanna Quinn (2007). Chapter 26 Dušan Vukotić – A Canonical Modernist of Animated Film (2007). Chapter 27 Saul Steinberg and Animation (2007). Chapter 28 Don’t Throw Out Your Television: The Works of Christopher Mills (2008). Chapter 29 There’s a Party in My Tummy: The Yo Gabba Gabba Revolution (2008). Chapter 30 Jonas Odell: Revolver Bang! Bang! (2008). Chapter 31 Michael Sporn (2008). Chapter 32 Jim Blashfield: "And Things Were Looking Like a Movie" (2009). Chapter 33 Stan Vanderbeek (2009). Chapter 34 Furniture of My Mind (2010). Chapter 35 The Genius of Osamu Tezuka (2010). Chapter 36 Decoding Narrative: The Animated World of Gil Alkabetz (2011). Chapter 37 Don’t Stop: Animating Hip Hop (2011). Chapter 38 Remembering Karen Aqua (2012). Chapter 39 Unseen Forces: A Spotlight on Emily Pelstring (2020). Chapter 40 Flannel Fever Dream: The Films of Mike Maryniuk (2021). INDEX.
Editor(s)
Biography
Chris Robinson is a Canadian writer and author. He is also the Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF) and is a well-known figure in the animated film world and was recently given the 2020 award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies by the World Festival of Animation Film - Animafest Zagreb.
Robinson has been called "one of the stylistically most original and most provocative experts in the history of animation. He made a name for himself with a unique and eclectic magazine column Animation Pimp, which became a book of the same name (the column was later renamed into Cheer and Loathing in Animation).
Mastering different methods and styles in critical and scholarly approaches, Robinson covers a broad range of Canadian and global subject matters in his books Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy, Unsung Heroes of Animation, Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen, Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin, Animators Unearthed, Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind and Mad Eyed Misfits: Writings on Indie Animation.
In addition to his writing on animation, Robinson also wrote the Award-winning animated short, Lipsett Diaries (2010) directed by Theodore Ushev.
Currently, Robinson is writing two books on animation and is working with German artist, Andreas Hykade on My Balls Are Killing Me, a graphic novel about his experience with cancer. He is also collaborating with Theodore Ushev on a live action feature film, Drivin’.
Tom McSorley is Executive Director of the Canadian Film Institute. He is also an Adjunct Research Professor of Film Studies at Carleton University, and the film critic for CBC Radio One’s "Ottawa Morning."
McSorley is the editor of Rivers of Time: The Films of Philip Hoffman (2008), Elective Identities: The Moving Images of Garine Torossian (2010) and Entre Nous: The Cinema of Denis Cote (2011); Intimacies: The Cinema of Ingrid Veninger (2012); Forms of Light: The Films of Malcolm Sutherland (2012); Time Being: The Moving Images of Daniel Cockburn (2013); Dark Mirror: The Films of Theodore Ushev (2014); and co-editor, with Andre Loiselle, of Self Portraits: The Cinemas of Canada Since Telefilm (2006); with Mike Hoolboom, Life Without Death: The Cinema of Frank Cole (2009); and, with Scott Birdwise, The Transformable Moment: The Films of Stephen Broomer (2014). He has published numerous articles and book chapters on Canadian and international cinema for various international film journals and magazines, and is the author of Atom Egoyan’s The Adjuster (University of Toronto Press, 2009) a book-length critical study of Egoyan’s 1991 feature film.