Robinson: Regardless of the situations we are in, the animation seems to be able to continue

As the first discussion in the XI edition of the Anibar Festival, the evolution of animated film themes over the years was discussed with Chris Robinson, Artistic Director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival (OIAF).

Chris confirmed that he watches around 2000 animated films in a single year. According to him, the themes of the animations have changed since he started working in animation. Now, there are even more movies that address issues that are considered personal.

Also, he considers that a lot of movies that are considered personal such as mental struggles, violence, depression, abuse, gender stereotypes, even sex is talked about more freely. He thinks that it is easier to talk about things that are stigmatized now.

 

“Since the 2000s until now it is even easier to create animated movies because of technological development. In the 90s it was impossible for a person to create 2 to 3 movies in a year, that is why it was harder to talk about subjects that were relevant”, said Robinson.

Also, Robinson mentioned the influence of the pandemic to the animators saying that animators spend most of their time working on movies in isolation and according to him animation will never stop no matter the situations that we are in.

When asked about the changes from the 90s until today regarding animation, he said that “The Simpsons” paved the way for animation to be even more popular.

We thank the Embassy of Canada in Zagreb for supporting this presentation.