Animation: The Art of Film
SXU Film Series 2011-12

7:00 p.m.
McGuire Hall
Free Admission

Fantasia

September 13, 2011
Directed by: James Algar, 1940

Disney animators set pictures to Western classical music as Leopold Stokowski conducts the Philadelphia Orchestra. "The Sorcerer's Apprentice" features Mickey Mouse as an aspiring magician who oversteps his limits. "The Rite of Spring" tells the story of evolution, from single-celled animals to the death of the dinosaurs. "Dance of the Hours" is a comic ballet performed by ostriches, hippos, elephants and alligators. "Night on Bald Mountain" and "Ave Maria" set the forces of darkness and light against each other as a devilish revel is interrupted by the coming of a new day.

A Disney animated feature-length "concert" film milestone is an experimental film integrating eight magnificent classical musical compositions with enchanting, exhilarating and imaginative, artistically-choreographed animation. The conceptual framework of the individual pieces embraces such areas as prehistoric times, the four seasons, nature, hell/heaven, the themes of light vs. darkness and chaos vs. order, dancing animals, classical mythology, and legend.

Special Screening Sponsored by the SXU STUMP Library

Persepolis

September 15, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
September 20, 2011 at 5:00 p.m.
September 21, 2011 at 6:00 p.m.
Directed by: Vincent Paronnaud and Marjane Satrapi, 2007

The Adventures of Prince Achmed

October 13, 2011
Directed by: Lotte Reiniger, 1926

Based on stories from The Arabian Nights. A wicked sorcerer tricks Prince Achmed into riding a magical flying horse. The heroic prince is able to subdue the magical horse, which he uses to fly off to many adventures. While travelling, he falls in love with the beautiful Princess Peri Banu and must defeat an army of demons to win her heart. The entire film is animated using the silhouette technique, which employs movable cardboard and metal cutouts posed in front of illuminated sheets of glass.

Toy Story

November 15, 2011
Directed by: John Lasseter, 1995

A little boy named Andy loves to be in his room, playing with his toys, especially his doll named Woody. But when Andy is not with them, they come to life. Woody believes that he has life (as a toy) good. However, he must worry about Andy's family moving, and what Woody does not know is about Andy's birthday party. Woody does not realize that Andy's mother gave him an action figure known as Buzz Lightyear, who does not believe that he is a toy, and quickly becomes Andy's new favorite toy. Woody, who is now consumed with jealousy, tries to get rid of Buzz. In the process, both Woody and Buzz become lost. They must find a way to get back to Andy before he moves without them, but they will have to pass through a ruthless toy killer, Sid Phillips first.

Howl's Moving Castle

February 21, 2012
Directed by: Hayao Miyazaki, 2004

The follow up to his 2004 hit Spirited Away, in Howl's Moving Castle, director Hayao Miyazaki creates an artful and metaphysical tale of magic and sorcery, home and adventure, youth and old age set in an insanely imaginative landscape of stunning visuals and gentle humanist spirit. Voiced by Christian Bale, Lauren Bacall and Emily Mortimer.

Waltz with Bashir

March 20, 2012
Directed by: Ari Folman, 2008

Director Ari Folman's animated, quasi-documentary follows the filmmaker's emotional attempt to decipher the horrors that unfolded one night in September of 1982, when Christian militia members massacred more than 3,000 Palestinian refugees in the heart of Beirut as Israeli soldiers surrounded the area. Folman was one of those soldiers, but nearly 20 years after the fact, his memories of that night remain particularly hazy.

Triplets of Belleville

April 10, 2012
Directed by: Sylvain Chomet, 2003

When her grandson is kidnapped during the Tour de France, Madame Souza and her beloved pooch Bruno team up with the Belleville Sisters -- an aged song-and-dance team from the days of Fred Astaire -- to rescue him.