World Animation Celebration 1998

World Animation Celebration 1998: What Happened?

Article and photos (unless noted) by Michelle Klein-Häss

Well, here I am after a week of WAC and I'm pretty much none the worse for the wear. Then again, I spent a full day at the Internet Pow-Wow on Monday, took Tuesday completely off, went to only a few events on Wednesday and Thursday then attended solid screenings between 1 to 9:30pm on Saturday. Some of my friends who attended the festival did a lot more and they had the blood-shot eyes and stooped, pooped bodies to prove it.

One observation comes to mind immediately...if WAC '97 was a well-oiled machine, WAC '98 showed a little wear, rattled and wheezed a little...sort of like a car that needs a tune-up. Perhaps it was the fact that the second one happened less than a full year after the first, perhaps it was too few people riding herd on too many events, perhaps it was the Sophomore Curse.

I mean, here was a festival full of animation talent, and they used the very same bumper they did last year to introduce the events, with only the year changed. Why not several different intro bumpers, commissioned from different animators? There was a different UNICEF public service spot at every event. Several animation studios sponsored WAC this year...couldn't they have provided a 20-second animated bit each? Oh yeah, and lose that damn tinkly music box music...it tormented me by rising, unbidden, up from my subconscious again and again for several months after the first one. I fear I will suffer the same fate this year.

The Internet Pow-Wow was a splendid event, although I suppose I would have to reply "guilty as charged" if someone accused me of bias. After all, it was the day the New and Improved Animation Nerd's Paradise was officially launched, and it was also a day full of wonderful information I intend to put into practice on ANP and other websites I am in charge of. The highlight was a panel which paired Internet pros with animation artists like Christine Panushka and Corky Quakenbush...after an entire day hearing tech speak, it was very handy to get some perspective from those who perhaps aren't as technically inclined as myself and the majority of the presenters.

Linda Simensky and Elizabeth Moran The screenings and events I attended ranged from the great to the so-so. Wednesday brought a tribute to Speed Racer (Mach Go Go Go!) which featured an episode of the classic 1960s animated series, the Dexter's Laboratory homage "Mock 5," a peek at the absolutely hideous 1980s-vintage Speed Racer series made by Fred Wolf, and about half of a newly dubbed episode of the upcoming Speed Racer 2001 series. The very latter is now in first-run TV airings on Japanese TV as Mach Go Four and is currently looking for a syndicated or network home. I have a soft spot for Speed Racer, although it took a recent marathon on The Cartoon Network to remind me exactly why I liked the show in the first place. Speaking of The Cartoon Network, Vice President of Original Programming (and confirmed Animation Nerd) Linda Simensky hosted this event. Also pictured: Elizabeth Moran, author of Speed Racer: The Official 30th Anniversary Guide.

IMASP Poster Also on Wednesday, Bill Plympton's I Married A Strange Person unspooled. Early mentions of the show claimed this was the Plympton feature's "West Coast debut", but the feature had already screened at Sundance weeks earlier...technically Utah is part of the West. I Married A Strange Person has its moments of hilarity, but unfortunately it simply goes on far too long and repeats itself a lot. You get the idea that ...Strange Person would have made a great short or featurette, but as a feature it suffers.