Richard Williams 80 Animated Years at EIFF
Richard Williams is a revered character in the world of animation, but one who is remembered differently by each generation.
For my generation, he was the man who taught me how to animate with his “Animators Survival Kit” book, for the generation before he was the man who revitalised the flagging animated features market with his animation direction on “Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” and before that he was the multi award-winning Director of many short films, ads and film titles. For every generation combined, he is known as the man who bridged the gap between the animation stars from the silver and golden ages of animation, such as Art Babbit and Ken Harris, and the animation stars of today.
So it was delightful to see the Edinburgh International Film Festival present a retrospective of the work of Richard Williams. ’80 Animated Years’ featured many landmark films from the Williams collection in a kind of chronological order; from The Little Island in its full glory through to his latest film Circus Drawings, with what would appear to be his whole history in between – although in reality we would have needed much more time to contain everything the prolific director has ever done.
It was an excellent experience seeing The Little Island up on screen; not just because I have not seen it on a cinema screen before but because near the end of the production, the ratio of the film switches from 4:3 to widescreen and the projection team at the Filmhouse Cinema did a marvellous job opening the curtains in time to reveal the growing picture and treating most of the audience to a 55 year old surprise.
The Little Island, a 55 year old treat!
The playlist staged the longer works together with shorter adverts, which made the long programme of films flow by very smoothly and added to the fun, as the audience enjoyed the smooth talking Polar Bear starring in the commercials for Cresta, the Frank Frazetta inspired advert for Sex Appeal aftershave and ballerina Mice advertising Mini Cheddars, amongst others.
As well as the more obvious inclusions of work, such as the opening of Who Framed Roger Rabbit and the title sequence for his Animators Survivial Kit (a series of videos and now iPad app based on the popular book), it was nice to see an array of short films fill up the list. Love Me, Love Me, Love Me was a particular highlight and another part of the Williams back catalogue which is seldom seen or appreciated as much as it was here. The audience lapped up the kooky story and wonderful characters. Later on in the programme, Circus Drawings showed the artistic side of the Director. This is a project that started back when Williams was living in Spain over 50 years ago, and only recently completed production after a lengthy pause. The full print of A Christmas Carol was also screened, which might be cited as one of the most concise but also well executed portrayals of the Dickens story in any medium. The fact that it was June didn’t tarnish any of the Christmas Spirit the film evoked either.
Work created for title sequences and feature films such as The Return of the Pink Panther (the theme for which is still stuck in my head now) and it was incredible to hear that Richard Williams played the trumpet on What’s New Pussycat. Charge of the Lightbrigade was another excellent addition to the work chosen to represent his career, given that it lead to him recounting the story of Ken Harris complimenting the draftsmanship of the work whilst telling him “It just doesn’t move right” – further fuelling Williams’ quest for animated perfection.
Animated perfection was the goal of the feature film The Thief and the Cobbler; a film which has developed legendary status in the years since its… well since its corporate theft from the hands of the Williams studio when it was not completed on time, and subsequent ruination by Miramax which made it the opposite of what the Director had intended. The mystery surrounding the film has been amplified by the fact that Williams refuses to talk about it publicly, which, when you think about what happened, is probably fair enough. So what was pleasantly surprising was seeing that he had brought in his own 35mm copy of the trailer, created before the film was seized by Miramax. This was everything the legend had promised, and to know that Richard Williams himself had presented the trailer amongst his finest work made the experience all the sweeter. He even talked about the film after it was screened declaring that the production would have been great if they had allowed him to finish it. I have no doubt it would have been.
Richard Williams on stage at EIFF (Amy Muir © EIFF)
Although the talk afterward was relatively short, I am sure it seemed shorter because of the excitement surrounding it, and perhaps due to the sheer length of the screening of work beforehand. Yet Richard Williams was on top form; just as expressive and as lively as he has ever been, leaping from his seat to demonstrate a pitch meeting and impersonating the director of Casino Royale (which he did the titles for). Host Iain Gardner asked all the right questions, and ensured the audience didn’t leave feeling short changed. After the talk, seeing Richard Williams interact with students and signing books and DVDs for fans in the Filmhouse, it is clear he still has a wild spark in his eyes and a passion for animation. A lucky few animators even had him flip through their drawings and he gave them tips to improve their work. His energy and enthusiasm seems boundless, and you would be forgiven for thinking that his love for animation will drive him for another 80 years.
With special thanks to the team at EIFF. More photographs of the event can be seen here