Solid Gold…again(duh)! I am always blown away by your Substacks! Lots of info, well organized, fun to read, and Animation! I do not have the capability to be a monthly subscriber, but is there a way to send a gift now and then? (monetary, cup of coffee, etc.)
Thanks so much for the kind words! It means a lot. Unfortunately we don't have any kind of tip system set up -- Substack doesn't offer tools for it right now. Still, really appreciate it.
These really are treasures you’ve shared— incredible views into how these artists work. It’s always fascinating and instructive to see what different types of shorthand people develop over time. Thank you!
Animation Obsessive has been doing some truly great and important work for sometime now. You're constantly pulling back the curtain to reveal personal processes behind iconic animated films, while digging deeper to unearth less familiar but equally important and influential animators and their films. However, I was shocked to see that I and some of my work was included alongside the company of Miyazaki, Trnka, Disney and one of my all time favourites Lotte Reiniger. Thank you AO for your kind and generous words. It's almost morning in the UK and I'm heading to bed after a long animated shoot that again combines a range of different media. You'll be among the first to know if/when this new animated series sees the light of day. Meanwhile, I've gotta get some sleep before sun up and thank you again for your kind words, Osbert Parker.
It's an honor -- thanks for taking time out to read the piece, and for these very kind words. We've been big fans of your stuff for a while. Best of luck with the series, and please do ping us if it moves ahead. (On that note, we'd love to chat about your work sometime: our readers would definitely be interested in your process.)
One of the absolute greatest. We've written a little about her before but not nearly enough -- she was incredible. Hoping at some point this year to cover her work in more detail!
I love seeing master artists in action—Miyazaki’s approach to watercolour is incredibly fascinating! His quick and rough method shows that creativity thrives in spontaneity. Another great post.
Great article, and I also love these BTS looks at brilliant animators. But Trnka 'something of an unknown'? He's literally one of the greatest stop motion animators of all time, rightly documented in the history books and still celebrated with screenings, exhibitions and articles. How is he unknown?
Thanks very much. And, as we noted in our intro to Trnka last year, his star has unfortunately fallen in present day -- he was once a topic for mainstream newspapers around the world, but his films' lack of availability has made him increasingly niche in the DVD/Blu-ray/streaming era.
We collect books and magazines about him, and it's pretty startling to see the gap in awareness now compared to, say, 1965 or 1990. He's still one of the greatest ever, arguably the greatest director of stop motion in history, but his name is mostly known in hardcore animation circles today (at least outside Czechia). And even among the hardcore, few have seen any of his films beyond The Hand, if that. Bringing a little more attention to his work is a goal of ours -- we love it and think a lot of other people will love it too, once they get to know it.
I would say he is well known in animation and film here in Europe at least. His films are often still screened at festivals and people talk about his work at seminars. Even last summer at the British Film Institute's stop motion season they did screenings of some of his films and they've also screened his features in the past. I definitely agree that he should be more celebrated than he is now and sadly all of the puppets were lost or sold off after the fall of communism but his son and Grandson are currently doing work on his estate and legacy.
Solid Gold…again(duh)! I am always blown away by your Substacks! Lots of info, well organized, fun to read, and Animation! I do not have the capability to be a monthly subscriber, but is there a way to send a gift now and then? (monetary, cup of coffee, etc.)
Thanks so much for the kind words! It means a lot. Unfortunately we don't have any kind of tip system set up -- Substack doesn't offer tools for it right now. Still, really appreciate it.
These really are treasures you’ve shared— incredible views into how these artists work. It’s always fascinating and instructive to see what different types of shorthand people develop over time. Thank you!
Shorthand is an awesome way to describe it -- thanks for the thoughtful comment! Glad you liked the piece.
Animation Obsessive has been doing some truly great and important work for sometime now. You're constantly pulling back the curtain to reveal personal processes behind iconic animated films, while digging deeper to unearth less familiar but equally important and influential animators and their films. However, I was shocked to see that I and some of my work was included alongside the company of Miyazaki, Trnka, Disney and one of my all time favourites Lotte Reiniger. Thank you AO for your kind and generous words. It's almost morning in the UK and I'm heading to bed after a long animated shoot that again combines a range of different media. You'll be among the first to know if/when this new animated series sees the light of day. Meanwhile, I've gotta get some sleep before sun up and thank you again for your kind words, Osbert Parker.
It's an honor -- thanks for taking time out to read the piece, and for these very kind words. We've been big fans of your stuff for a while. Best of luck with the series, and please do ping us if it moves ahead. (On that note, we'd love to chat about your work sometime: our readers would definitely be interested in your process.)
I am just blown away by Lotte Reiniger -- absolutely amazing artist !
One of the absolute greatest. We've written a little about her before but not nearly enough -- she was incredible. Hoping at some point this year to cover her work in more detail!
Thank you for this precious piece and share! I am preparing a piece about the Animator and this will be super useful for my readers to expand ideas.
Great to hear! Glad you enjoyed it and hope it's inspiring to your readership -- we really can't get enough of videos like these ourselves.
I agree, they are masterclasses. And the peaceful, yet speedy rhythm says a lot about the animator.
I love seeing master artists in action—Miyazaki’s approach to watercolour is incredibly fascinating! His quick and rough method shows that creativity thrives in spontaneity. Another great post.
Thanks very much, Jon! Glad you liked it.
Inspiring. Keep up the great work.
Thank you! Happy you liked the piece.
Oh my god 🤩🤯🙏
Ah, happy you enjoyed! We keep rewatching these ourselves -- so much magic in them.
This was a delight, and as an artist, both useful and awe-inspiring! I particularly enjoyed the Disney artists and Jiří Trnka.
This is fantastic to hear. Thank you!
Great article, and I also love these BTS looks at brilliant animators. But Trnka 'something of an unknown'? He's literally one of the greatest stop motion animators of all time, rightly documented in the history books and still celebrated with screenings, exhibitions and articles. How is he unknown?
Thanks very much. And, as we noted in our intro to Trnka last year, his star has unfortunately fallen in present day -- he was once a topic for mainstream newspapers around the world, but his films' lack of availability has made him increasingly niche in the DVD/Blu-ray/streaming era.
We collect books and magazines about him, and it's pretty startling to see the gap in awareness now compared to, say, 1965 or 1990. He's still one of the greatest ever, arguably the greatest director of stop motion in history, but his name is mostly known in hardcore animation circles today (at least outside Czechia). And even among the hardcore, few have seen any of his films beyond The Hand, if that. Bringing a little more attention to his work is a goal of ours -- we love it and think a lot of other people will love it too, once they get to know it.
I would say he is well known in animation and film here in Europe at least. His films are often still screened at festivals and people talk about his work at seminars. Even last summer at the British Film Institute's stop motion season they did screenings of some of his films and they've also screened his features in the past. I definitely agree that he should be more celebrated than he is now and sadly all of the puppets were lost or sold off after the fall of communism but his son and Grandson are currently doing work on his estate and legacy.
What an amazing post, thank you so much for sharing these treasures! I feel totally inspired.
Wonderful to hear! Thank you -- happy to bring them to more eyes.
Great article. And I totally agree, watching glass blowers work is hypnotic and wonderful! These were great videos also! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks very much! For sure -- process can be a beautiful thing to watch. Glad you liked the piece and the clips!