A program of animated shorts selected to demonstrate the concept and basic elements of sound design, as well as four acclaimed animated features, will be screened this week as part of the Film Foundation’s “Story of the Movies: The Animation Universe” development workshop for classroom teachers. Held at the Packard Campus from July 31—Aug. 2, the workshop’s afternoon and evening film programs are open to the public.
Thursday, July 31 (2:30 p.m.)
The Adventures of Prince Achmed (UFA, 1926)
The oldest surviving animation feature film, this German fairy tale is based on elements taken from the collection “One Thousand and One Arabian Nights.” Director Lotte Reiniger used hand-cut silhouettes and stop motion to create her story frame by frame. Preceding the feature will be three animated shorts, each chosen to demonstrate a different narrative structure: The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (MGM, 1965); One Froggy Evening (Warner Bros., 1955), which was added to the National Film Registry in 2003; and Enter Life (Pyramid Media, 1981).
Thursday, July 31 (7:30 p.m.)
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (Disney, 1937)
Walt Disney’s groundbreaking Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs—the first American animated feature film and a warm and joyful rendition of the classic Brothers Grimm fairy tale—is still in a class by itself. In addition to winning an Honorary Academy Award as a “significant screen innovation, which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field,” the film was also nominated for best musical score. The animated classic was named to the National Film Registry in the registry’s inaugural year, 1989.
Friday, Aug. 1 (2:30 p.m.)
Visualizing Sound
In this animation program geared more toward an adult audience, the way sound effects and music work together to communicate the filmmaker’s vision will be explored. The first half will include the opening scene from WALL•E (Disney, 2008), followed by several shorts including Gerald McBoing-Boing (UPA, 1950), which was added to the National Film Registry in 1995. The second part of the program will cover abstract and avant-garde animation and feature works by Len Lye and Oskar Fischinger. It will be followed by the 30-minute impressionistic The Man Who Planted Trees, which won an Academy Award for best short film animation in 1988.
Friday, Aug. 1 (7:30 p.m.)
The Triplets of Belleville (Sony Picture Classics, 2003)
Madame Souza goes on a quest to rescue her grandson Champion, a Tour de France cyclist, who has been kidnapped by the French mafia. She is assisted by her obese hound Bruno and the Triplets of Belleville, music hall singers from the 1930s. Sylvain Chomet wrote and directed this charming tale that is told primarily through song and pantomime. It received Oscar nominations for best animated feature and best music for the original song “Belleville Rendez-vous.”
Saturday, Aug. 2 (2:30 p.m.)
The Iron Giant (Warner Bros., 1999)
In this animated family film, a boy makes friends with a guileless and colossal alien robot that a paranoid government agent wants to destroy. Brad Bird directed the sci-fi adventure based on the 1968 novel “The Iron Man” by Ted Hughes. The film features the voices of Harry Connick Jr., Vin Diesel, Jennifer Aniston and Eli Marienthal as Hogarth Hughes.