Animated documentary
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The animated documentary is a genre of film which combines the genres of animation and documentary. This genre should not be confused with documentaries about movie and TV animation history that feature excerpts.
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[edit] History
The first recognized example of this genre is Winsor McKay's 1918 12-minute-long film The Sinking of the Lusitania, which uses animation to portray the 1915 sinking of RMS Lusitania after it was struck by two torpedoes fired from a German U-boat; an event of which no recorded film footage is known to exist.[1] Since the 1920s, animation has been used in educational and social guidance films, and has often been used to illustrate abstract concepts in mainly live-action examples of these genres. Early examples of fully animated educational films are The Einstein Theory of Relativity (1923) and Evolution (1925) by Max and Dave Fleischer.[1] Walt Disney used it in films such as Victory Through Air Power (1943), How to Catch a Cold (1951) and Our Friend the Atom (1957).[1]
In 1953, Norman McLaren's "Neighbours" won the Academy Awards for Best Documentary (Short Subject). The award is somewhat considered a mistake, but the fact that it was not only indicated into that category, but also won, shows that, somehow, the animated images spoke to the judges almost like a documentary.
Of Stars and Men, a 1964 animated feature by John Hubley which tells of humankind's quest to find its place in the universe, won an award in the documentary category at the San Francisco Film Festival.[1]
The 2007 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam featured a programme based around "documentaries that partly or completely consist of animation".[2] In the article written to accompany the event, Kees Driessen talked about the "least controversial" form of the genre; the "illustrated radio documentary", citing Aardman Animation's 1987 film Lip Synch: Going Equipped (directed by Peter Lord) as an example.[3] One of the most consistent creators of this form of animated documentary today is Paul Fierlinger.[4] His films from the late 1980s-onward typically feature recordings of people talking about certain topics in their lives (such as alcohol abuse or loneliness), accompanied by Fierlinger's animation which mainly illustrates the stories in a realistic way. This is a contrast from films and series such as Aardman's Creature Comforts, which recontextualise such audio recordings by combining them with more fanciful, non-realistic animated interpretations. Fierlinger's 1995 animated feature-length autobiography Drawn from Memory, in which he is the main subject as well as the director, voice actor and only animator, was also called a documentary by Driessen.[3] This technique of animating interviews has also been used by other filmmakers, such as Chris Landreth in his Oscar-winning 2004 short film Ryan (mainly based on an interview done with animator Ryan Larkin) and Jonas Odell in the 2006 Swedish film Aldrig som första gången! (Never Like the First Time!, consisting of animated segments based around people's descriptions of their first time engaging in sex). The film Chicago 10, about the Chicago Seven incident, received some acclaim for recreating courtroom scenes using animation. Another documentary with animated elements is the German film Neukölln Unlimited, which uses animation to depict past traumas of its protagonists.
The 2008 film Waltz with Bashir was advertised as being the first feature-length animated documentary.[5]
[edit] Animated Documentary in the UK
Animated Minds
Mosaic Films pioneered the use of animated documentaries in the UK in 2003, with the award-winning series Animated Minds. Animated Minds is an innovative and award-winning series of short animated documentaries, commissioned by Channel 4, which use real testimony from survivors of mental illness, combined with engaging visuals, to climb inside the minds of the mentally distressed.
The films – directed by Andy Glynne, an award-winning filmmaker and clinical psychologist – were a resounding success, being nominated for and winning numerous awards. The first series (2003) focuses on adults’ experiences of bipolar disorder, psychosis, panic attacks, and obsessive compulsive disorder. The second Animated Minds series (2009) focuses on young people and their experiences of specific mental health problems. They explore eating disorders, deliberate self-harm, obsessive compulsive disorder and the social distress experienced by young people affected by Asperger’s syndrome.
The Animated Minds series were broadcast through Channel 4 [6] and Teachers TV and received a great deal of attention from health, education and community settings in the UK and around the world, as a tool for education and communication.
The first series won a Mental Health Media Award for best documentary (2003), a Grierson Award for Best Newcomer Director (2003), Best Animation at BANFF (2003), and Student Jury Prize at BANFF (2003). The second series went on to win a BAFTA Children’s Award for Secondary Learning (2009), a Mind Mental Health Media Award (2009), a Royal Television Society Award for Best Educational Television (2009), Scottish Mental Health Arts and Film Award for Best Animation (2009), and Best Educational Film at the Holland Animation Film Festival (2009).
[edit] References
- ^ a b c d DelGaudio, Sybil. If Truth Be Told, Can Toons Tell It? Documentary and Animation. Film History 9:2 (1997) p. 189-199
- ^ IDFA Animation Programme, 2007.
- ^ a b Driessen, Kees. More than just talking mice. IDFA Magazine. 2007.
- ^ Robinson, Chris. Waking Life: The Truth is in the Animation. Montage Magazine. 2004.
- ^ Ide, Wendy. Waltz With Bashir. Times Online. May 14, 2008.
- ^ "Animated Minds". channel4.com. http://www.channel4.com/health/microsites/A/animated_minds/. Retrieved 2011-11-08.
[edit] External links
- Articles about the animated documentary in the March 2005 issue of fps magazine
