Over a whirlwind of a weekend, the Dot and Line attended the SCAD AnimationFest 2019, held September 26-28 in Atlanta, a celebration of animation from the Savannah College of Art and Design in the heart of Georgia. From a special screening of Abominable and behind-the-scenes presentations on Toy Story from the head of animation at Pixar, Becki Tower, to special industry discussions about where animation is headed, AnimationFest had it all.
While there were animators and experts from across the industry in attendance, perhaps most impressive was how many of them were alumni of SCAD. On Friday, September 27, a panel featuring alumni who have since gone on to change animation for the better sat down on the main stage to talk about their journeys through the industry. Alumni including Jay Li, project manager, Secret Sauce Studio; Becki Tower, directing animator, Pixar; Jalysa Leva, animation director, Primal Screen; and Kate Kirby-O’Connell, character technical director, Disney Animation Studios, discussed what it takes to make it in animation and what motivates them to create more innovative art.
“It feels like a family,” Becki Tower says of the animation industry, and what keeps her going in her work. “You dream of that day where you could find your people, and I found that specifically here. And then moving out into the industry, being a department head, I’ve decided to step away from the creativity just to love my family and help all these 150 animators figure out where they want to go. It’s the people who make it special. It really is the people who drive the work.”
Later in the day, Kate Kirby-O’Connell, technical animation supervisor for Disney Animation Studios, and Neysa Bove, a visual development artist also with Disney, talked shop on the main stage, exploring the complexities of designing characters and costumes in animation. How does an animator bring appealing characters to life and take the vision of a team to make movie magic when there are no live action actors to rely on? Kirby-O’Connell and Bove shared insights on Disney’s filmmaking process and what they learned from working on movies like Frozen 2, Moana, and Ralph Breaks the Internet.
In a special presentation on Saturday morning, Mark McCray, animator at Adult Swim and author of The Best Saturday’s of Our Lives, took the audience through the history of diversity in cartoons, discussing the debut of black animated characters in Space Sentinels in 1977. McCray took the crowd on a journey through animation history featuring shows like Tarzan and the Super 7, Super Friends, Bravestarr, and more, leading up to a showing of The Princess and the Frog for its 10th anniversary and a celebration of Tianna as the first black Disney princess.
SCAD, which is the number one university in America for 2D-animation as well as the highest-ranked college in the world for motion graphics design, has held the SCAD AnimationFest for the past three years. The university, which is a private nonprofit, hosts the festival to inspire students and public audiences to learn the ins and outs of animation and all the varied art forms and skills it takes to make toons come true. Hosting panels that explore VR and behind-the-scenes looks at long-running, award-winning shows like The Simpsons was only the beginning.
Matt Maloney, associate chair of the animation school at SCAD, said during AnimationFest that the university hopes for the show to grow, and for others outside of the community to benefit from the pride and joy SCAD tries to bring to the art form through its students, faculty, alumni, and programming. SCADFILM senior executive director Leigh Seaman said this year’s festival “hosted record-setting crowds,” adding that going forward, “AnimationFest intends to include more global content and additional opportunities for attendees to experience the best of what is offered by studios and individuals working in this field.”
SCAD president and founder Paula Wallace summed it all up: “At SCAD, we’re not just watching cartoons—we’re celebrating the oldest genre of filmmaking and leading its foray into the future!” She added: “AnimationFest expands the limits of possibility with help from visitors like Disney, Pixar, and Dreamworks—and of course, the magic of SCAD students.”
SCAD AnimationFest 2020 will take place September 24-26, 2020, in Atlanta.
This piece has been updated with further information.
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