Animation Day in Cannes

Today marked the festival's Animation Day that was filled with both big screen premieres in addition to smaller platform discussions about the current environment of this sector of the film industry. Over at HorYou village, winners from Montreal's Animaze animation film festival were presented along with their works. Anima Buenos Aires won best film with a beautiful piece of work that seemed like a seemless sketch all the way through. 

Filmfestivals.com's own Bruno Chatelin and Laurie Gordon also led a group of panelists regarding animation in general. A huge aspect of animation films is the goal to attract not just children, but also adults as well. Gordon noted that the successful films are the ones where "adults get the inside jokes...where the kids are laughing and adults are getting the second level of meaning." There is now a growing audience for animation pictures because this realization is starting to become more evident as time goes on. A big problem is simply getting exposure - something that the industry desperately struggles with as many audience members pointed out. Despite this, the future is promising which was echoed at the press conference of the biggest animation premiere of the festival, "Inside Out" starring Amy Poehler, Mindy Kaling, and Bill Hader. 

The new Pixar movie directed by Pete Docter tells the story of different emotions attempting to take control of the character's minds. Just like Chatelin and Gordon did, Docter stressed that animation is not just simply for children in addition to the way it is similar to other genres of film such as action. "Good story telling is still always at the core of it...and really for the whole family." In reference to his own movie, he continued by pointing out how "the idea of the movie is kind of part of our lives. It's a lot of observations of what's happening out there." The film has already received critical acclaim and hopes to have the same success as "Up" did in 2009. 

Gordon and Chatelin also announced a launching called the "Ryan Larkin Foundation" which helps to get more struggling animation creators to have more promising careers. This is just one of the many ways why the animation industry has a brighter future. 

#horyou #animationdayincannes 

By: James Cullen