International Festival of Animation (1977) User Reviews (20)

This PBS series got me hooked on animation!

[llltdesq · 10/10 · 17 December 2002]

This series ran for three seasons on PBS and, like the overwhelming majority of the shows produced for that network, was of excellent quality and had to have been assembled by people who had a love for the subject matter. The shorts that ran on the series ran the gamut from deathly serious ones like Sisyphus (a Hungarian short) to the delightful short Great (a British Academy Award winner) and every possible spot on the line between. Work from all over was featured, from The National Film Board of Canada, the Eastern Europeans, the United States, the United Kingdom, ranging from shorts done for children to things like Closed Mondays by Will Vinton. Different animation styles, from 2-D hand drawn to puppet and Claymation, were featured. The intent was simply to showcase the best short animation available to PBS. The usual suspects-Warner Brothers, Disney, MGM-weren't featured, but they didn't need the exposure. These shorts did and finally found something approaching the audience they deserved.

It's been 25 years since this first came on the air and more than 20 since it ended. Some extraordinary things have been done in the intervening years. It would be wonderful if perhaps PBS or someone would put together a show similar to this in concept to give animation like this more of an audience these days. No matter. Thanks to this show, I discovered a whole side of animation I barely glimpsed before, here and there and for that I'll always be thankful. I wish I could see some of these again,though.

some of the best TV ever

[Bou · 10/10 · 31 March 2007]

Praise be for the IMDb! I've been trying for years to remember the name of this series correctly, and some other user mentioned it in his memories of _The Man Who Had to Sing_, one of the shorts from this remarkable series. I was already a fan of animation, but I had become aware of non-US films only a few years before the International Festival began to air. Suddenly I was catapulted into the many films of the NFB, of Zagreb Films, of the UK producers, and so forth. The material was so rich, varied, and surprising that missing a single airing was never an option in our household! As the above-mentioned user noted, I still sing the poor little man's "ya, ya, ya, ya-ya" song decades later. I still remember the one-minute adventures of Maxi Cat and fall into fits of snickering. I still, at least once a year, try to learn the name and authorship of that amazing line-drawing animation that traces the rise of "civilization" since the demise of the dinosaurs--a marvelous ending that one has, that I'd never dream of revealing here even with a spoiler alert! When one hasn't seen a snippet of works in some 20 years, then such recollection really says something about quality.

I once wrote to PBS (getting the words in the series name out of order), asking if this wonderful series was available or ever would be, and the person who answered had no idea what I was talking about.

Finally! The rediscovery of a lost treasure!

[morticia021358-1 · 10/10 · 23 January 2010]

I, too, could not remember the proper title for this series, and had it not been for reading of the death of Jean Simmons, I would never have thought to seek it out( I had confused her with Jean Marsh ).

I grew up during the '60's and '70's, when all three NY networks and one of the independent stations broadcast Saturday morning cartoons. As I got older and my tastes changed and matured, I began to turn to decidedly darker animation to keep up with my social circle, but how many times can you view "Fritz the Cat" before you fry your remaining brain cells?

Then, I stumbled across "The International Festival of Animation" one evening, and man, was I hooked! I have a collage of images running through my head of the various submissions from all over the world, my personal favorite being a short entitled "Ersatz". They were all fascinating and mind-blowing and even educational ( I discovered that "ersatz" means "substitute", and armed with this bit of trivia received extra credit during a vocabulary quiz in English class ).

Note to poster Bou: Don't feel discouraged about the PBS staffer who didn't know what show you were asking about. It's a safe bet that individual was too young to remember the program ( I'd hate to think the person was too lazy to check; I myself have always found PBS staff to be very helpful and diligent in their researching skills ).

If PBS isn't going to release it on DVD, then they should re-broadcast the series. I'd happily watch it again.

needs to be on DVD

[loop66-1 · 10/10 · 4 September 2012]

I too loved this show and watched it religiously on PBS in Los Angeles. I too was haunted by some of those shorts and two are mentioned by previous reviewers. I found this one: La Faim(Hunger) - Peter Foldès on youtube -- http://youtu.be/Vw5fi0iFBDo That one haunted me for all these years! Like a bad acid trip! and someone posted it!

Now the mosquito one, I need to find that NOW! I don't know the name but remember it vividly. I thought it was from Italy... The mosquito city that is born from the pipeline of blood on the finger of the sleeping human! The ending is the best!!! I still remember... but not the name! ha! HELP!!

An enjoyable selection of international animation

[Rosabel · 25 July 2000]

This programme was an always interesting, innovative smorgasbord of international animation. It was my first glimpse of European animation, and made foreign animated films available to a much wider North American audience than would normally have seen them. These are the sorts of movies usually shown once a year at repertory cinemas in the larger cities - for them to come on television regularly was quite an achievement, and an example of public television programming at its best. My favorite films were the Canadian NFB shorts, but there were many other memorable and often disturbing films included. Jean Marsh (along with her partner, Grover the Muppet) was a fine choice as presenter, at the height of her recognition in North America for her recent performance on "Upstairs, Downstairs".

Caterpillar

[anonyarena · 10/10 · 28 September 2010]

One animated film I recall being fascinated with as a child was something I seem to think was entitled CATERPILLAR and it was from an Asian country, possibly Japan or Hong Kong I would imagine. In this beautiful cartoon, a young boy plays harmonica for a cute dancing caterpillar (the little tune he played was wonderful) and is discovered by adults who throw this boy and caterpillar on TV and turn them into a media sensation. The caterpillar is exploited commercially, even to the point where they manufacture toothpaste which resembles the caterpillar as it is squeezed onto the toothbrush. Eventually, the caterpillar transforms into a butterfly and flies away. It was an excellent cartoon and I would love to see it again someday. I've never gotten that catchy harmonica tune out of my mind, and this cartoon made a big impression on me for its beauty. Another cartoon that made an impression in a different way was one that I suspect must have been one of the first computer animations ever. A gluttonous man eats and eats until he is morbidly obese, and continues eating so much that he even grows extra mouths on his body in order to consume food faster. Then, painfully thin and starving children appear and stare at his obese body with horrorfully hungry eyes. One boy reaches for the man and bites him, and then the boy and the rest of the starving children swarm all over the obese man to cannibalize his body. This one scared the bejeezus out of me as a child, but I never forgot it, and for me it remains one of the most powerful and frightening artistic statements about starvation I've ever seen. I do not remember the name of that film though, nor what country it originated from. I agree with the previous reviewers that PBS should re-broadcast this series or make it available on DVD. It had so much amazing stuff that you never could see anywhere else unless you were able to get yourself to obscure animation film festivals.

Better with age

[msinard1 · 10/10 · 21 September 2012]

It amazes me that I remember this series from my childhood. I was in kindergarten when I first saw this series and was haunted by the animations every night. I remember being terrified by the thought of a giant butterfly chasing me down and pinning me. The animations in this series are what made animation it is today. No one ever went against the Disney inspired grain of animation, until this series aired. The shorts all seem to escape me accept for two very vivid ones.

1.) The butterfly collector one gave me nightmares forever. It was beautiful in its animation and I just remember a butterfly collector chasing down butterflies and pinning them to his collection.

2.) This one is still a little sketchy to my memory, it was animated in a similar style as the butterfly one although, it featured a little girl at a table talking to an older gentleman. She would continually talk to the older man and he would continually get more aggravated with the little girl. I can't remember much more about it but it stuck in my mind like glue.

3.) The Hunger about killed me. The thought of it now gives me chills. It had the same theme as the butterfly one. With the main character ending up getting what he was giving.

PBS should really consider giving the kids (and adults) a chance at this series once again. This shows everyone that animation was something to enjoy, without the computer generated characters, the 3d effects and all of the other current effects that people throw together just to make what they think is entertainment for kids.

I Remember This!

[bagelj · 10/10 · 15 April 2007]

This was a fantastic series on PBS! It was one of those shows you would watch on a rainy weekend and there was nothing else to watch on television. I was drawn to this show on such an event. It had some wonderful animations from some very creative people. I was once inspired to be an animator myself because of the show, but certain career choice put me in the other direction. I was a kid watching this and Jean Marsh was like a babe then to me. The last show I remember watching was Jerry Stiller an a very young Ben Stiller talking over the kitchen table about the many different types of fruit. When the walked away the fruit became alive and created mischief in the kitchen. I also remember Count Bakeula and Bakenstien. Very funny. I do wish these were all on DVD.

LOVED this show!!!

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 14 March 2011]

I was in high school when this came out. It played on PBS here (the US). Out of idle curiosity I tuned in one night and LOVED it! Up till then the only animation I knew was from Walt Disney, Warner Bros. or Hanna-Barbera. I thought animation was just kiddie stuff. Boy was I wrong! The stories here were not aimed at kids (some were but not all). They were aimed at general audiences but didn't speak down to the audience like animation at the time did. It assumed you had a brain and knew how to use it:) The stories were interesting and thought-provoking and it introduced me to all different styles of animation from all over the world. It made me realize that animation could appeal to adults AND children. Also Jean Marsh was a wonderful host. She was a beautiful woman and her voice was very soothing and pleasant to hear. I haven't seen it since it went off the air and don't think I want to. Usually childhood memories DON'T live up to expectations. Still--I have great memories of this show and enjoyed it very much.

I still think about these animations after 35 years.

[oobymm · 10/10 · 26 April 2013]

I was young and impressionable (17) when these animations entered my living room 35 years ago. Our family gathered around the TV once a week religiously. This program opened our eyes to the talented animators that sprung from all around the world. There was an amazing variety of subjects and styles in these films: scary, gloomy, serious, funny and beautiful. The one I still ponder was about 'progress', maybe that was the name of it? It started out very innocently in a little yard with a little house and a butterfly, but the ending was astonishing! I won't spoil it in case we get a chance to see these again. We should start a letter writing campaign to PBS. These are treasures that should be seen more than once!

I so desperately want this on DVD

[taz-in-bc · 10/10 · 19 January 2021]

I can remember first watching these as compilations on VHS and then laserdisc in the clunky 90's. Some of the most beautiful, haunting short animations I've ever seen, many of which I still recall 30 years later. I can't believe this series has never been released on DVD! This is where I first saw the work of the Brothers Quay; I notice that another reviewer remembers the creepy giant mosquito feature :-) and I remember an amazing dreamlike story about a train in the Russian Steppe that I think was painted on glass, very impressionistic. Every one different and every one a gem. WHY are these not on DVD? copyright issues with so many different artists? It's tragic that such brilliant work should sink without a trace into the memory hole.

Mosquitoes Self Service Cartoon

[jmpastoetter · 10/10 · 23 November 2014]

I am awfully glad that thanks to the great list of titles I could locate that one after 40 years: The hilarious Mosquitoes Self Service Cartoon

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vqg16z8ehp0

It is from one of the great Italian cartoon artists, Bruno Bozetto. It's amazing how little the public TV channels are interested in quality entertainment. I think that cartoon in particular is a very moral parable on the way us humans are operating the world: We want pity but when we finally get lucky we are becoming the greedy bunch.

Enjoy, JP

Found

[walkers77 · 15 July 2011]

I have wondered for years what this show was. I had tried off and on for years to find it on Google but did not enter the right key words. I thought Jane Curtain was the host so that messed me up till I stumbled on to the name Jean Marsh yesterday and it triggered my brain. The reason I tried to find it was because of a film on the show about a mosquito who finds a sleeping man and builds an oil like derrick on him to pump blood. He sells the blood and a town is created. Then things go haywire after the gambling and brothels appear. The man stirs in his sleep and the skeeters all run to church. Had a cool ending. Only found two people who saw it but none could remember the name of the show. It was on public TV I believe (Seattle area). Have searched online for that mosquito film with no luck.

So fun to see others talking about this!

[happymrpinkhead · 10/10 · 15 June 2015]

I used to watch this show as a kid on the local LA PBS affiliate (KCET, no longer PBS) and recorded many of them on audio cassette tape (rather goofy, since you couldn't see anything, but the audio would trigger memory of the animation). Not sure if any of the cassette recordings have survived, or where they would be. However, I am delighted to see mention of the one short I remember vividly and have been looking for, for all these years, and that's the exploding flowers short. Can't remember which studio this came out of, and cannot find anything by searching. The premise was that the flowers explode when sniffed, and this becomes a public craze, where everyone wants exploding flowers. I want to see this again!

I've reached out to KQED to no avail. They claim that they never had anything but broadcast rights to the show (this makes no sense, they clearly were involved in a very big way with it). I think the person handling the query just really doesn't want to do any digging. At one time, 3/4" U-matic archived video copies existed at the Golden West College library (KOCE came out of GWC), but those tapes are long gone, and queries to GWC have also been fruitless.

We MUST find archive copies of this, there must be something, somewhere. If we could just reach out to other producers, editors, etc., we might be able to pick up the trail.

One thing I am bothered by. I distinctly recall this show being called "The International Animation Festival," not "International Festival of Animation." A small point, but if I am correct (I may not be), the title should be corrected.

We must not give up, and must find a way for everyone to enjoy this show again. I am stunned at some of the short-sightedness of networks, and this is a prime example of it. How is it possible to have nothing left of a series that ran for three seasons? PBS, please help us!

Before its time

[fenix-31882 · 10/10 · 25 June 2022]

I was 12 years old when this aired. It introduced me to a whole new level of "cartoons", and I was hooked. It was not a kids show, even though it was on PBS. My mother would allow me to stay up past my bedtime to watch it as she enjoyed it also. The animated shorts were not only entertaining, but also mentally challenging. I think seeing this program helped me expand my mind to what could be as well as seeing sly commentary on what is. If you can find this, watch it. You will not be disappointed.

Mystery solved, and great memories recalled!

[kobbink · 10/10 · 2 July 2015]

I was talking with a friend about Upstairs, Downstairs and looked it up on IMDb, and when I saw Jean Marsh I had a snapshot flashback... some program that she narrated or hosted or something, and all I could remember was the way she signed off by saying "and me, Jean Marsh." But the way she said it kind of ran the word together. So whenever I saw her in movies or TV after that, I'd say "Oh, look! It's MeJean!"

I loved that show so much! I've always liked animation shorts from different countries, and the selection they picked was always fascinating. Just hope it's lurking around the Interwebs where I can find it....

Episode guide lists some titles

[prodes333 · 9 May 2014]

The TV Guide site for this series includes episode descriptions from the old shows, many of which include film titles. For example, I found out that the mosquito one is called "Self Service," and it's indeed from Italy.

http://www.tvguide.com/detail/TV-show.aspx? tvobjectid=407838&more=ucepisodelist&episodeid=691333

Here are the episode descriptions:

• Cartoons from five different countries include a 1967 Oscar winner about Noah and the ark, and a parody of life in the industrial age.

• Oscar-winning films from Yugoslavia and America and an innovative Canadian cartoon.

• Included: "Self Service," an Italian film about mosquitoes; and "The Shepherd," an American cartoon about a sheepherder in a city.

• Walter Lantz's "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company 'B' " and a Canadian cartoon about bandits who rob Santa Claus.

• A program of cartoons leaning toward the macabre includes "Homo Augens," "The Spider" and "Mr. Hyde."

• A 1911 cartoon by the French animation pioneer Emile Cohl and a 1974 Oscar winner utilizing animated clay figures.

• An animated version of Edgar Allen Poe's macabre story "The Masque of the Red Death" and a tale about a mad baker.

• A submarine kidnaps the Statue of Liberty, a pesky housefly won't stop growing, and insatiable humankind gets its just deserts in the program's three cartoons.

• An all-Canadian program salutes the National Film Board of Canada. Cartoons include "Hot Stuff," about the gods' gift of fire to man.

• Comedies from Hungary, Yugoslavia and Canada look at a ribbon-cutting ceremony, a train ride and evolution.

• "Opera," an Italian satire; and "Bigger Is Better," about the growth of a megalopolis

• The common man is the subject of cartoons from Poland (including the film "Tomorrow"), Hungary, Czechoslovakia and England.

• Cartoons about birds and flying from America's Walter Lantz, Soviet animators and England's Terry Gilliam. Included: Woody Woodpecker as the "Barber of Seville."

• Cartoons about a hot-tempered Italian driver, a daydreaming English couple and an American weight lifter.

• A film of a boy's nightmare about a land where everyone must smoke, a 1908 cartoon and an adaptation of an old song about a logger.

• A cartoon based on James Thurber's "Many Moons," a film about a clumsy magician and an abstract work.

• A 1962 Oscar winner about chance accidents and nuclear disasters, and a film about life in a police state.

• Freedom is the subject of a Yugoslav short and a Czech tale about an artist in a totalitarian society. The program concludes with a 1936 commercial.

• A program honoring Yugoslavia's Zagreb Studios includes an interpretation of Balzac's "La Peau de chagrin."

• Roberta Flack sings in a performance of "The Legend of John Henry"; E.B. White narrates an animated version of his story "The Family That Dwelt Apart."

• Walter Lantz's "Musical Moments," starring Woody Woodpecker and Andy Panda.

• "A Bird's Life," about a housewife who literally takes wing to escape tedium; and "Sisyphus," based on Greek mythology.

• A cartoon based on James Thurber's "A Unicorn in the Garden," about achieving success, a Yugoslav animator's impressions of America.

• A 1960 Oscar winner about a 4-year-old draftee, and cartoons about exploding flowers and a character living in a one-dimensional world.

• "Puttin' On the Ritz," a tribute to Fred Astaire; "Let's Keep a Dog," or 11 reasons not to.

• Seven cartoons include playwright Eugene Ionesco's "Rhinoceros," and "The Critic," a 1963 Oscar winner written and narrated by Mel Brooks.

Important series for animation history

[Jack_1515 · 16 November 2009]

I first remember being exposed to this wonderful series in the summer of 1978. I was barely a teenager at the time, so I admit the lovely Jean Marsh and her muppetesque co-host were targeted just for my age group, and a good thing too!

Yes, as the other comments indicate, there were animated shorts from various Western and Eastern European countries, including England and France, as well as Canada, the Czech Republic, and even Russia, if I recall correctly. And yet, that is just the point - I still recall so much of it after all these years, from Monty Python's Terry Gilliam's short, "The Miracle of Flight" to a bizarre French, or possibly Belgian (forgive my recollection, it's been 30 years!), piece about a blood-sucking mosquito who sets up shop in a man's nose. This series must be a treasure trove of mid-late 20th century animation and as a historical document should be released on DVD for that reason.

The correct title is...

[octobus-68861 · 7 June 2018]

International Animation Festival.

Hosted by Jean Marsh.

Does anyone have a recording of the theme to this series?

[david-01367 · 30 March 2018]

I can still hear it in my head to this day. I LOVED this series. It just had a dreamlike quality and you got a sense of how other people and countries/cultures approached life differently. Just an amazing warm-fuzzy. I can see that all who comment and search the internet for news of this series were similarly affected.