The Big Sleep

Colin Low (1926-2016)

The Big Sleep is paying tribute to Colin Low, the Canadian cinema legend whose brilliant career was rewarded with a number of prizes.

A pioneer of cinema in all genres, Colin Low started out at the National Film Board of Canada at the end of WWII by taking a summer training course set up by Norman McLaren. He then stayed there for the next six decades and worked on some 200 productions, including The Romance of Transportation in Canada, the first animated film to come out of the NFB, Palme d’Or winner and nominated for an Oscar.

Tireless creator, always on the lookout for new techniques or styles, he was a key figure in the research of new cinematic formats like IMAX and OMNIMAX and inspired many other filmmakers. His work on Universe, a skillful hybrid of animation and special effects, particularly influenced Stanley Kubrick for 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Although his filmography is dominated by documentaries, the body of his work reflects the filmmaker’s inquiring mind and eclecticism, which in turn mirrors the vitality and diversity to be found in Canadian cinema and the examples of his films in this programme.

Jane Aaron (1948-2015)

Come along to the tribute programme for American filmmaker and illustrator Jane Aaron, who passed away in 2015.

The Big Sleep offers the chance to catch up with a few of the films created by Jane Aaron, who made a name for herself for her work for children and particularly her 17 years spent on the series Sesame Street. By combining animation and live action, the filmmaker, originally from New York, made her letters appear from all over the place, presenting an entertaining way to learn on the small screen.

Several of her short films were screened at the Annecy Festival, including Interior Designs in 1981, Traveling Light in 1985 and This Time Around in 1989.

She also wrote and illustrated the Sometimes I Feel… series of books that explained different emotions to young readers.

Pascual Pérez (1967-2015)

Darren Walsh described him as "A beautiful man with a gigantic heart": The Big Sleep is also paying tribute to Pascual Pérez.

After playing around with plasticine and the family super-8, Pascual Pérez started his career in Spain working on the 2D animation series Cutlass created by Calpurnio, before teaming up with animators like Javier Tostado and stop-motion studios in Valencia, including Pasozebra Productions or Conflictivos Productions.

He subsequently made his own brilliant independent stop-motion short Història d’Este that won the Junior Jury Award for a short film at Annecy 2012. One of the last films he worked on was the feature Possessed that was also warmly received at Annecy last year in the Official Selection.

Peter Lord expressed a few words about this animator whose work is highlighted in this programme: "Pascu was part of so many Aardman productions… Funny, calm, instinctive and brave. A fabulous combination of skills for an animator… For me, personally, working with him on The Pirates! was marvellous."

Robert Balser (1927-2016)

The Big Sleep will highlight the work of Robert Balser, a familiar face at the Annecy Festival, known for his numerous collaborations on popular animated films and series.

Robert Balser may be gone, but the work he accomplished during his career will always live on. "Bob" leant his talent to some legendary pieces of animation such as Yellow Submarine, the trippy film starring the Beatles, the opening credits for Around the World in 80 Days by the illustrious Saul Bass, several features and TV series including The Jackson 5ive, The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show and Heavy Metal as well as loads of commercials.

In 1972, along with Julio Taltavull he co-founded Pegbar Productions in Barcelona, which turned into one of Spain’s greatest animation studios. He was always searching for jobs that allowed him to be extremely creative and experiment, even when doing commissioned work.

His fascination for the European animation scene led him to become very involved in it. He was President of the CARTOON programme from 1990 to 2004 and he served on the board of directors at the Asifa.

He also helped Spain earn its first award at the Annecy Festival in 1965 with Manos Ilenas, an advertisement for the weekly show Triumph, created at Moro studios.

Giuseppe Maurizio Laganà (1944-2016)

The tribute to Giuseppe Maurizio Laganà, on the scene since the 1960s, reflects the history of animation in Italy.

Italian filmmaker Guiseppe Laganà started his career at Cartoons Film with Pierluigi de Mas and at Gamma Film with the Gavioli brothers. He then became one of the main collaborators at Bruno Bozzetto’s studio.

He made several TV series, including Lupo Alberto and Spaghetti Family which won an award at Cartoons on the Bay in Rapallo. As far as features go, he enchanted the children of Italy and elsewhere with Felix – All Around the World.

Gifted with an innovative spirit, in 1982 he made the short Pixnocchio with Guido Vanzetti which was the first computer-animated film in Italy. He went on to teach at the European Institute of Design in Milan.

Passed away at 71, Giuseppe Laganà came to the Annecy Festival several times, as part of the selection committee in 1985 and as a member of the jury in 2005.