Dick Arnall and the death of animation

Dick Arnall

In 2005 the late Dick Arnall (1944-2007) wrote an essay entitled "Death to Animation", calling for a rethink of our definitions:

I believe it’s time to kill animation. Not the animation we watch, but the word we use to label it.

Everyone out there knows that animation means ‘invented’ characters brought to life on the screen by an animator. But those of us inside the world of the moving image, also use the term ‘animation’ to refer to just about anything that isn’t direct live-action, created by just about any alternative means for just about any aesthetic, narrative or conceptual reason. We lump together all these techniques, forms and ambitions, call them animation and, frankly, to say the least, it’s just not helpful.

Arnall's essay recounts how, in Britain, the term "animation" caught on as an alternative to "cartoon" in the second half of the sixties. In particular he cites the release Yellow Submarine in 1968 as the moment which demonstrated to the wider public that not all works in this medium were necessarily for children.

Like others in the animation community Dick Arnall had already been endeavouring to further this cause, having set up a festival the previous year. "I very deliberately called the event the Cambridge Animation Festival", he comments in his essay. "I wanted to signpost a defiance of Disney’s cultural hegemony and challenge the prevailing popular presumption of funny, gag-rich cartoons for kids."

The essay goes on to argue, however, that the term "animation" had outlived its usefulness:

And here we are in 2005, four decades later, in a world filled with funny ‘cartoon’ characters from Pixar, Aardman and Klasky-Csupo, and guess what, it’s all called animation now! Animation has become the new term for character-based, story-driven, frame-by-frame cartoon family entertainment. Which is fine and fun in itself, but where does it leave those of us who want to use similar tools and processes for less conventional ambitions?

[...]

I’m not just proposing a new label for experimental artist practice. There are also epic blockbuster visions like the intensely invented and constructed worlds of Lord of the Rings and Sin City, seminal concepts like (British-born) time-slice that became the climactic bullet-time moments in The Matrix series, the high-energy visual mash-ups for narrative spin in Amelie or Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. These all use conceptual boldness and a raft of animator’s tricks & tools to invent and manipulate the image, but the context and agenda is much more complex and thoughtful than making straightforward animation.

"Death to Animation" reaches a succinct conclusion:

So, as I said at the start, ‘animation’ really is not a helpful label any more. Let’s return to ‘cartoon’ to describe regular character-based storytelling, whether it’s The Simpsons, Wallace & Gromit or Toy Story. Death to ‘animation’. It’s time to find a new word for “the extended moving image”.

A number of commentators have voted for their favoured terms: Animator Malcolm Draper suggested "extramation", while teacher Brian Lammas brought up a digital art course taught at his school which uses the term "mediaonics".

Nearly eight years after the publication of this essay we still have no word for the extended moving image. Perhaps it is fitting, however, that the infinitely mutable form described by Dick Arnall will never be pinned down by a single term.

Sunset Strip by Kayla Parker

Sunset Strip is a 1996 film by Kayla Parker. The Animate Projects site provides a description of the process behind it:

365 sunsets recorded directly onto 35mm film, with a knockout soundtrack.

A day-by-day diary of a whole year’s sunsets, painted onto a continuous strip of 35mm film. The result is a dazzling expression of the visual music revealed by 365 setting suns.

12-frame, half-second days. A year of sunsets. Brakhage-style interventions directly onto film stock in this record of light and cloud. Time-lapse goes transcendent with a little help from nail varnish, petals and stockings.

Go West Young Man by Keith Parker

Keith Piper's Go West Young Man is a 1996 video montage short examining portrayals of young black males from the era of slavery onwards. The film can be viewed online here.

Farewell to the Animate scheme

A few months ago I posted about the budget cut received by Arts Council England, and the possible effect it'd have on the redoubtable Animate scheme, which has been with us since 1991. Well, the word is out:

We are very sorry to announce that Animate is likely to close down at the end of March 2011, following Arts Council England’s decision not to fund our 2011 programme.

Animate began in 1990 as an Arts Council/Channel 4 scheme and has been supported by the Arts Council England continuously for 21 years.

We set up Animate Projects four years ago, following the sudden death of Dick Arnall. animateprojects.org is a unique resource, with more than 140 films, many by key figures in British animation, including 11 British Animation Awards winners and five BAFTA nominations, as well as interviews, essays and background production materials.

We are very proud of the work that we have been able to support, and would like to thank all the animators, artists, filmmakers, writers, and partners that we’ve worked with over the years, and to everyone who has taken an interest in our work.

Our programme continues, with new works online, until March, and we hope to keep the website live for some time after that.

Whilst we are exploring options for beyond March, we would appreciate any expressions of support that might help.

Thoughts on the news can be found in the blog post's comments section. A sample:

Petra Freeman: I can't believe the Arts Council is axing all funding for Animate.This is an organisation that has worked tirelessly to support and promote animation. Animate succeeds in bringing out the very best from the artists they commission by their genuine enthusisam and belief in what they do. Animate was started by the wonderful Dick Arnall who knew what a vital contribution animation makes to the world art scene . The films made are shown worldwide and are always inspiring and challenging.

ANIMATE IS UNIQUE. ARTS COUNCIL YOU ARE MAKING A MISTAKE.




Clare Kitson: The Arts Council’s decision to stop funding Animate is the most perverse I have heard for some time.

World animation has now discovered ways of making money, and fortunes are being invested in new technologies and mass production and this is great. But somewhere along the way funding for the development and nurturing of innovation has got squeezed out – EXCEPT, until now, via Animate.

These days I am frequently asked to speak about how Channel 4 was for a certain period able to develop new animation talent and new approaches in form and content, and it has become more and more obvious to me how absolutely central Animate was to that project. For the extraordinary quality and variety of the work but also because it is an extremely low-budget scheme and therefore better able to weather economic buffetings than our more lavish individual direct commissions: it has thus had a longer life than any other animation initiative. I can also second Mario Cavalli’s comments on the Animate blog, attesting to ‘the broader economic benefits’ of the scheme, ‘stimulating commercial spin-off projects, job creation and exports.’ I have witnessed this at first-hand, as well as hearing the laments of professionals around the world as to the paucity nowadays of this kind of stimulus to creative inputs into commercial projects.

I can also, incidentally, testify to the high esteem in which the scheme is held all over the world. Of course its very many festival successes are also proof of this.

I gather that Channel 4, having suffered its own economic problems, was just gearing up to move back into this area, with Animate a key component of its animation activity. With Channel 4 on the brink of renewing its backing to this unique scheme it would be all the more tragic if the Arts Council were to walk away at this stage.




Samantha Moore: This is very sad news, and an awful, retrograde step for animation/experimental film funding in particular and our arts culture in general.

Experimental work will be deprived of a place of support, information and reflection if Animate is discarded.




Roz Mortimer: I'm writing this from the USA where my colleagues were literally dumbfounded to hear that the Arts Council would cease to support such a brilliant organisation.

Over the years animate has nurtured so many British experimental filmmakers, not just by funding new work, but also via their innovative distribution and excellent websites. animateprojects.org and APEngine are invaluable resources for discussion and dissemination. A retrograde step indeed.




Max Hattler: I am deeply shocked. This is such sad news for art animation and experimental film worldwide. And it's another nail in the coffin of (once Great) Britain.

Pulling the funding only four years after Dick Arnall's passing is such an insult to his lifelong work of championing artistic animation. It is also a huge smack in the face for Gary Thomas, Jacqui Davies et al who did such a brilliant job at taking over from Dick, keeping his vision alive, and establishing the amazing www.apengine.org, an indispensable resource and source of inspiration.

What's next? Soon there won't be much left to axe, nor anything to write home about, Britain.




Apichatpong Weerasethak: I am saddened to imagine that Animate Projects will cease to exist. It has been one of the most important organizations that contribute so much to the contemporary media culture. I have worked with its team for the past 3 years and can testify to their professionalism and devotion to cinema and art. Many of my peers in Thailand and abroad are great admirers of Animate Projects and look at it as a model for creativity and education. I wish I could convince the Arts Council of England to spare a moment to reconsider their decision. With its solid portfolio and staff, Animate Projects cannot be replicate easily in the future.




Barry Macey: A sad day for me and you guys at Animate Projects. I've enjoyed viewing the Animate films over the years and would like to extend a huge thank you to the late Dick Arnall, for it was he who championed innovation with such vigour and gave me my first job in animation to boot, probably because - all those years ago - we were wearing the same 'Take6' jacket!'

Signs of the times: Arts Council England, Animate Projects and spending cuts

One of the casualties of the government cuts announced on the 20th of October is Arts Council England, which will lose nearly 30% of its budget. This was pre-empted in September by David Shrigley's viral film An Important Message About the Arts, which makes a case for the importance of arts funding.

The Arts Council, of course, is a benefactor of Animate Projects. Animate Projects is still funding films but its backbone, the AnimateTV scheme - around in one form or another since 1991 and responsible for such gems as Petra Freeman's Jumping Joan, Jonathan Hodgson's Feeling My Way, Run Wrake's Rabbit and David Shrigley & Chris Shepherd's Who I Am and What I Want - has been on hiatus throughout 2010 due to Channel 4 holding back its arts funding.

Keep an eye on the APEngine blog for further developments.