Latest news with #CalArts
CBC
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- CBC
Did 'bean mouth' really kill Pixar's Elio at the box office?
Social Sharing Why did Pixar's Elio put up the worst numbers in the studio's history in its opening weekend? The reasons professionals give for the sci-fi family movie's paltry $35 million US global box-office earning vary. But if you ask the internet, there's a far simpler issue at play. "Nobody wants the bean mouth style of character design," wrote one reader when commenting on a post-mortem of Elio 's bombing by the website Cartoon Brew. "It feels lazy, overused, and unoriginal." "The 3D CalArts 'bean mouth' style also just put a lot of people off," read a post on a Reddit thread about Elio 's failure. "Doesn't matter how good the story is, many people hate that animation style." The bean-mouth criticism is an opinion about Elio that's echoed across virtually every platform that allows comments: a one-to-one connection between character design and the audience's decision to stay home. More than that, it's become synonymous with an almost vitriolic hatred for a particular and supposedly ubiquitous art style. Animation journalist John Maher calls it a "pejorative and insult" that far outstrips the style's reach and misunderstands its origin. "It is a reflexive internet criticism," said Maher, the news director for Publishers Weekly. "People found a term that was snappy and catchy and easy to use. And so they hung onto it." Where bean mouth began The terms "CalArts style," "bean mouth" and "thin-line animation," all have different origins and meanings, but they all generally refer to a drawing technique exemplified by thin line-work, simplified features and bean-shaped mouths and heads. When it comes to how the "CalArts style" name came to be — Maher and others often point to Ren & Stimpy creator John Kricfalusi. Starting in the early 2000s, Kricfalusi wrote blog posts criticizing a particular style of art and derivative mentality he believed came out of the California Institute of the Arts — an influential arts and animation school founded by Walt Disney and his brother, Roy, in 1961. His criticisms were pointedly about the style championed by Disney, then copied to diminishing returns — including in movies like Treasure Planet and The Iron Giant. Though the animation in those movies looks nothing like what most people today think of as the CalArts style, the name stuck. And as many graduates of the school became associated with shows and movies that shared a similar bean-mouth design — including Elio, which has a pair of CalArts alumni listed as directors — the two names came to describe a common gripe. "That phrase has become a shorthand for a more fair criticism. Which frankly is: 'Animation as innovation rather than animation as imitation,' " Maher said. "But to call it all CalArts is just so silly and reductive and inaccurate — just fundamentally inaccurate." When asked if CalArts teaches the style, or even observes it in common use among students, Maija Burnett, the school's director of the Character Animation Program, says that's not the case. "Luckily, I can definitely dispel that," she said. "The results of the work from our program is extremely diverse. And so I do not think it typifies what comes from our programs at all." She also says it's unlikely that Pixar chose that animation style because it's cheaper, noting that the studio does most of its animation in-house, developed over years through huge teams, so they wouldn't need to default to any particular style an outside studio would find easier to work with. It's hard to say how pervasive the style is among Pixar movies. Typically only Luca, Turning Red and Elio have received the "bean-mouth" criticism. But Burnett says what people are likely identifying is an intentional technique studios employ. "Often, we can kind of tell like, 'Oh, yeah that seems like it's coming from Sony,' " she said, noting it's natural that Pixar would have a recognizable style because it's important to them both as a brand and as a studio. She says there's also likely a reason certain elements of the style are more widely used today. TV series, for example, often rely on animation techniques that work with contemporary technologies — such as the 1920s "rubber-hose" style of Felix the Cat, the "flash" animation of the early 2000s seen in Canada's 6teen, or the simplified "limited animation" style of Hanna-Barbera, the studio behind The Flintstones that essentially birthed a movement of low-budget animation in the '60s and '70s. As animation techniques progress, Burnett says they'll likely change again to fall in line with new technologies. She also notes that every art form and industry has eras where the output shares similar characteristics: from cubist paintings, to art deco architecture, to postmodern literature. The idea that the bean-mouth style is somehow more pervasive today might be related to nostalgia, she says, noting that the CalArts style was first identified around the time that social media became popular, making it one of the first animation trends to be subject to wider internet scrutiny. Finding like minds to discuss the art you grew up with gives people something to bond over, she says, and so does being able to name and shame the style that seemingly replaced it. Other issues plaguing Elio But box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian says the look of animated movies is rarely the most important factor in ticket sales, making it unlikely that's what sank Elio. "To me, that's a non-starter," he said, pointing to the Oscar-winning film Flow — animated with the free, open-source software Blender — as an example of how story trumps animation techniques. "That, to me, is like grasping at straws to find a reason that the movie didn't do it." The more likely culprits, he says, include the movie's minimal marketing, its PG rating and a lack of franchise tie-ins. And the more competitive landscape for original stories makes the market for animated movies vastly more challenging than when Pixar's Monsters Inc. or the first three Toy Story movies premiered. Maher agrees, and says the idea that fans suddenly abandoned Pixar over an animation technique is more depressing than believable. "That has nothing to do with thinking that it's like, a lesser work of art because of the shape of the character's mouth. Give me a break," he said. "If that's really what we are condemning art for at this point — we don't like the style so we're not even going to bother to understand the substance — we're in trouble."
Los Angeles Times
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
Inspired by her dog, this L.A. ceramist makes beloved pets ‘eternal'
Ceramic characters, each with their own whimsical charm, gaze from various angles in Rami Kim's studio. Built by hand, their faces emerge from planters, ceramic dishes and slip-cast mugs like the cast of an animated Hayao Miyazaki movie. On a shelf, a customized dog figurine — a client's beloved terrier — lies on its stomach atop a lilac-colored butter dish. Nearby, a retriever, in a seated position, rests on a woman's head. 'I like the idea of giving life to the objects I create,' Kim said, standing in her garage studio. 'They're my imaginary friends.' Some of her sculptures have names, each a tribute to the inspiration behind them. There's the Penelope table lamp, where a mysterious, almost melancholy face base is adorned with a glass globe. And there's Gus, Kim's beloved white Maltese, who was her constant companion for 17 years until his death in 2023. 'I spent my 20s, 30s and part of my 40s with Gus,' she said softly before adding, 'I miss him.' Kim was sculpting a life-size Gus lamp at her work table the other day when a smile suddenly illuminated her face. With each detail of his fluffy coat, she seemed to be acknowledging the dog who brought her so much joy, infusing the lamp with the same warmth and happiness as her constant companion. 'Gus was my family,' said the 43-year-old artist as she painted the dog's eyes and nose. 'He was a sweet boy with a gentle personality. During the pandemic, it was so helpful to have him near me when life was so uncertain.' Born and raised in Seoul, Kim studied character animation at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts). After earning a master of fine arts from the UCLA Animation Workshop, she secured a job as a background painter for Nickelodeon's 'Dora the Explorer' and the independent animation company July Films, where she worked on her former CalArts professor Mike Nguyen's 2D-animated feature film 'My Little World.' Gus accompanied her. Kim smiled, remembering how her colleagues embraced Gus. 'I would bring him to work with me every day,' she recalled. 'Everybody liked to greet him and was so happy to see him. He would sit under my desk on his dog bed while I worked at the computer.' Kim was still working in animation when she first tried ceramics at Ball Clay Studio in Highland Park, which is now closed. 'I started making these little figurines as a product for stop-motion animation,' she said, holding two floating faces. The transition from the digital world to the tactile process of ceramics was a turning point in her artistic journey. 'I still remember when I first touched the clay,' Kim said. 'I was like, 'Oh, my God. I need to keep doing this.' I loved working with my hands. The possibilities seemed endless. I just knew that I would be doing ceramics for the rest of my life, as I would never get bored with it. And I get bored easily.' It grew from there. Coming from an animation background, where she learned the art of bringing characters to life, Kim said she 'always wanted to create characters in a different form. That's how I give life to my ceramic creations.' She started to turn her organic vessels into faces, complete with eyes and lips. 'That made me feel like they had a character,' she said. 'The sculptures now have a life.' When she grew weary of sitting at a computer all day long doing animation, Kim decided to pursue ceramics full time, working out of a studio in Atwater Village and later a garage studio next to her rental home near La Crescenta. Nguyen, her former CalArts professor, isn't surprised to hear she has an emotional attachment to the characters she creates. 'We as humans are very much interested in each others essences, thoughts and feelings,' he said in an email. 'Character-driven work is one focus aspect of the overall experiences of being alive. It is not necessarily coming directly from her work as an animator, but from the people she has met, the friends in her life and her family.' With people worried about a possible recession, Kim has seen customers hesitate to spend money on her works, which cost between $50 for a mug to $1,800 for a customized lamp. So she started creating custom animal figurines for clients, many of whom, like her, have lost their pets. 'People share their stories about the past,' she said of the process. 'They share photos of their pet and tell me their favorite poses, which helps me sculpt them. I feel like I know the pets. It's very special.' Eileen O'Dea — who commissioned Kim to design a figurine of her late dog, Owen, a mixed pup she found on the street near her West L.A. woodshop — talked about the profound emotional resonance of Kim's work. 'It's the kind of object that blurs the line between beauty and memory,' O'Dea said of the butter dish Kim made her. 'It looks just like him; even his floppy ear is perfect. Every time I use it, I'm reminded of him.' Another customer ordered two custom figurines as a gift for her sister who had just completed nursing school at the age of 60. 'Her dogs had helped her get through it,' Kim said. 'It was such a touching story to be a part of.' The tactile nature of her work is something she hopes to share with others. 'I want to create work that people can enjoy and touch and hold,' she said, adding, 'I hope my work gives people a warm feeling.' Yes, it's hard working for yourself, she said, but Kim likes the flexibility of being able to work anytime she wants or take a day off to wander a museum or see a movie. However, after she relocated her studio from Atwater Village, where she shared space with other artists, to her home in La Crescenta, she admitted to feeling isolated. 'I miss having a community and visiting with studio mates. I feel like I learn so much from other people. That's why I host workshops here in my studio,' said Kim, who enjoys teaching. 'As an independent artist working alone, it's tough because I don't want to work too much in the wholesale business because then I would need a team and more orders, and then I would have to operate like a factory.' Still, she can't see herself going back to computer work. 'I'll never get bored with this,' she said. 'I can do this until I'm 90. I'm having so much fun.' Kim's understanding of the comfort her ceramics provide to those grieving the loss of a pet is not just professional but deeply personal. She has experienced it herself in her studio, home and garden, where she is surrounded by the 'friends' that she has created. 'When I put the Gus lamp on a table in my living room, it feels like he is sitting next to me,' she said. 'He's eternal now.'
Scoop
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
John Maus Announces New Album Later Than You Think + New Single ‘Because We Built It'
Press Release – The Label Today Maus shares the opening track from the album, 'Because We Built It,' a song that poetically and pointedly expresses the burden of collective guilt and the need for radical transformation of unjust systems. On September 26th, 2025, two decades and seven albums into his career, American musician, composer, and academic John Maus will release his most transcendent work yet: Later Than You Think. Arriving via his new label YOUNG, the album explores themes of grief, justice, rebirth, transformation, and spiritual warfare – coalescing into a work of confession and confrontation: an aural metaphysics where affect, intellect, and spirit converge in search of the beautiful, the truth and the real. Today Maus shares the opening track from the album, ' Because We Built It,' a song that poetically and pointedly expresses the burden of collective guilt and the need for radical transformation of unjust systems. If the project's first single, ' I Hate Antichrist,' found Maus in spiritual confrontation, this new track follows the road to reckoning and the glimmers of reconstruction. Written, produced, and recorded in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri, Later Than You Think spans 16 tracks and contains multitudes – the lush and the bare, the sacred and the profane, minimalist discipline and maximalist indulgence, counterpoint and simple pop harmony. At its core, the album reaffirms John Maus' commitment to radical sincerity and emotional truth in an age of alienation. Powered by confrontation, faith and transformation – driven by the urgent belief that meaning still matters, and time is of the essence. Holding a degree in experimental music from CalArts and a PhD in political science from the University of Hawaii, Maus has been dubbed a 'philosopher pop star' and 'analog futurist' for the way he merges academic rigor with lo-fi synth-pop aesthetics. His influence spans genres and generations—from UK grime icon Skepta, who sampled his track 'I'm Only Human,' and Gen-Z rapper nettspend, to filmmaker Josh Safdie, actor Natasha Lyonne, and photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. His track ' Cop Killer ' features in the 2025 film Friendship, underscoring his continued relevance across high and low culture. With five previous albums under his belt – Songs (2006), Love Is Real (2007), We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (2011), Screen Memories (2017) and Addendum (2018) – Maus has carved out a singular path where irony, grief, joy, and absurdity can coexist and gained a cult following along the way. On Later Than You Think Maus doesn't just return- he confronts, confesses, and transforms. The result is not only a career-defining work, but a rare artistic offering: one that dares to believe in meaning, beauty, and the possibility of transcendence. Later Than You Think is available to pre-order now as Standard Black LP, Limited Blue Hour Edition LP and CD and to pre-save on all digital platforms. Out September 26, 2025 worldwide. John Maus – Later Than You Think 1. Because We Built It 2. Disappears 3. Reconstruct Your Life 4. Shout 5. Came & Got 6. I Hate Antichrist 7. Theotokos 8. Let The Time Fly 9. Out Of Time 10. Tous Les Gens Qui Sont Ici Sont D'ici 11. Tonight 12. Let Me Through 13. Water 14. Pick Me Up 15. Losing Your Mind 16. Adorabo Content Sourced from Original url
Scoop
6 days ago
- Entertainment
- Scoop
John Maus Announces New Album Later Than You Think + New Single 'Because We Built It'
On September 26th, 2025, two decades and seven albums into his career, American musician, composer, and academic John Maus will release his most transcendent work yet: Later Than You Think. Arriving via his new label YOUNG, the album explores themes of grief, justice, rebirth, transformation, and spiritual warfare - coalescing into a work of confession and confrontation: an aural metaphysics where affect, intellect, and spirit converge in search of the beautiful, the truth and the real. Today Maus shares the opening track from the album, ' Because We Built It,' a song that poetically and pointedly expresses the burden of collective guilt and the need for radical transformation of unjust systems. If the project's first single, ' I Hate Antichrist,' found Maus in spiritual confrontation, this new track follows the road to reckoning and the glimmers of reconstruction. Written, produced, and recorded in the Ozarks of Southwest Missouri, Later Than You Think spans 16 tracks and contains multitudes - the lush and the bare, the sacred and the profane, minimalist discipline and maximalist indulgence, counterpoint and simple pop harmony. At its core, the album reaffirms John Maus' commitment to radical sincerity and emotional truth in an age of alienation. Powered by confrontation, faith and transformation - driven by the urgent belief that meaning still matters, and time is of the essence. Holding a degree in experimental music from CalArts and a PhD in political science from the University of Hawaii, Maus has been dubbed a 'philosopher pop star' and 'analog futurist' for the way he merges academic rigor with lo-fi synth-pop aesthetics. His influence spans genres and generations—from UK grime icon Skepta, who sampled his track 'I'm Only Human,' and Gen-Z rapper nettspend, to filmmaker Josh Safdie, actor Natasha Lyonne, and photographer Wolfgang Tillmans. His track ' Cop Killer ' features in the 2025 film Friendship, underscoring his continued relevance across high and low culture. With five previous albums under his belt - Songs (2006), Love Is Real (2007), We Must Become The Pitiless Censors of Ourselves (2011), Screen Memories (2017) and Addendum (2018) - Maus has carved out a singular path where irony, grief, joy, and absurdity can coexist and gained a cult following along the way. On Later Than You Think Maus doesn't just return- he confronts, confesses, and transforms. The result is not only a career-defining work, but a rare artistic offering: one that dares to believe in meaning, beauty, and the possibility of transcendence. Later Than You Think is available to pre-order now as Standard Black LP, Limited Blue Hour Edition LP and CD and to pre-save on all digital platforms. Out September 26, 2025 worldwide. John Maus - Later Than You Think 1. Because We Built It 2. Disappears 3. Reconstruct Your Life 4. Shout 5. Came & Got 6. I Hate Antichrist 7. Theotokos 8. Let The Time Fly 9. Out Of Time 10. Tous Les Gens Qui Sont Ici Sont D'ici 11. Tonight 12. Let Me Through 13. Water 14. Pick Me Up 15. Losing Your Mind 16. Adorabo
Yahoo
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
An Art Form Grows Up: The Transformation and Evolution of Animation Is Celebrated at Annecy
Thirty years after Pixar launched a revolution when it introduced the world's first fully computer animated feature, 'Toy Story,' its anniversary will be marked amid another sea change at this year's Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where the close-knit animation community gathers in the picturesque French city on Lake Annecy near the Swiss border. The festival will take place from June 8-14 amid a collision of artistic, business and technological shifts, driven by factors from a post-strike business climate to AI developments. 'It's just south of chaos,' admits Pixar Animation Studio's chief creative officer Pete Docter, who was a young animator at Pixar when Woody and Buzz were birthed. But as the industry evolves, he remembers the words of Disney legend Joe Grant, one of the writers of 'Dumbo,' who years ago advised Docter to remember that the business is cyclical. More from Variety 'The Bad Guys 2': DreamWorks Animation Will Preview Footage at Annecy International Film Festival (EXCLUSIVE) Finnish Animated Adventure 'Fleak' to Get U.S. Distribution After Annecy World Premiere (EXCLUSIVE) 'Mulan's' Ming-Na Wen to Narrate Annecy-Bound 2D Animation Documentary 'Pencils Vs Pixels' (EXCLUSIVE) 'I keep that in the back of my head as we face what seems like, craziness, that it is cyclical. And I think the thing that I take comfort in is, regardless of the business, I have confidence in the artists,' Docter says. He recalls coming out of CalArts at a time when artists struggled to find a job. 'But that was when some of the greatest animation was produced in the form of shorts. I think the artists will always find a way to express themselves and continue to challenge the medium and push it forward. So I have a lot of optimism.' The animation community uses the mantra 'animation is film' to suggest that it's not just for kids. Rather, animation is an art form that can be used to reach changing, global audiences with all sorts of stories and on a range of budgets. Just look at this year's animated feature Oscar winner, Latvia's 'Flow,' a moving dialog-free tale of a solitary cat's journey as it learns to survive after a great flood, that was made with open-source software Blender for just $3.4 million. Or 2024 category winner, Hayao Miyazaki's semi-autobiographical 'The Boy and the Heron,' which was distributed in the U.S. by indie distributor GKIDS. 'I think the assumption that animation is tied to a particular type of four-quadrant family film has really been challenged,' says GKIDS president Dave Jesteadt, who sees opportunity for all types of films. 'I think that you see a greater acceptance of animation as a film and artform. It certainly feels like whether that's 'Flow' last year or 'The Boy and the Heron' from two years ago — and obviously there's lots of projects in between — it does feel like the things that we're sort of looking at, that are playing in Annecy, do have the potential to reach commercial audiences.' Alex Woo, director of upcoming Netflix original 'In Your Dreams,' points to not just features but series work: 'A show like 'Arcane' just wouldn't have existed without a platform like Netflix. And 'Love, Death & Robots' feels like a spiritual successor to (the Wachowskis' 'Matrix'-themed) 'The Animatrix' anthology, but with all original stories. It's been encouraging to see studios taking more chances and telling different kinds of stories in animation — and even more exciting to see audiences embracing them.' Director Genndy Tartakovsky, whose 'Fixed' (the story of a dog who learns that he will be neutered, produced by Sony Pictures Animation for Netflix) will have its world premiere at Annecy, suggests that adult animation is thriving. 'Adult series animation definitely feels like it offers the most creativity as far as art and story,' he says adding, though, that he finds it's 'very difficult these days to get an original theatrical feature made.' In 2024, three of the five highest grossing theatrical releases were animated, with Pixar's 'Inside Out 2' and Disney Animation's 'Moana 2' both topping $1 billion. Dreamworks Animation chief Margie Cohn says it's 'imperative' to create stories that give audiences a reason to see a movie in a theater, and DWA is delivering two to three theatrical films per year, a mix of original and franchise titles. 'We will continue to strike the right balance with one original and a reimagined franchise title each year,' she reports, adding 'there is great nostalgia for existing franchises, but there still needs to be a compelling reason to add another chapter — evolving your character, story and look — making it relevant for today's audiences.' To address competition for viewers' time between social media, gaming, streaming and cinema, Laika describes its emphasis on building its audience. 'It's very challenging in a world where audiences' attention is massively fragmented,' admits Laika's CMO David Burke, citing the studio's next release, 'Wildwood,' which will part of the studio's Annecy slate presentation as an example. 'Over the last couple of years, we've really focused on building out our social platforms, so we have an audience who's aware of Laika as the creator of these five kinds of wonderful films [including 'family horror' titles 'Coraline' and 'ParaNorman'], Burke says. 'Now that we've built in this kind of foundation of brand awareness directly with the audience, we're able to build anticipation and have a conversation with our fans directly, online, as it relates to 'Wildwood.'' He adds that Laika additionally used the theatrical rerelease of 'Coraline' for its 'Wildwood' title release, which additionally played online. 'In total, we got like 30 million cumulative views — eight million views in theaters and 25 million views online for the title reveal,' he says. At Pixar, Docter says the team remains focused on universal stories but that also 'take advantage of what animation can do, bringing to life characters, inanimate objects and looking at things from a unique viewpoint.' As to evolving technology, notably the thorny subject of AI, he observes that it 'kind of feels like there's a very close equivalent' to the sorts of questions and discussions that surrounded the 'Toy Story' release about the future of animation. For Docter, technology doesn't replace the humanity. 'Movies are going to change. I don't know exactly how, but at the heart of it, people don't want to watch heartless robots making stuff. I think they go to the movies because they want to feel that they're not alone, that someone else out there had a feeling and an idea about the world and experience,' he says. 'It comes from going out and taking risks and feeling pain and struggle and then putting that into a story. … It comes from living.' THINGS TO SEE AT ANNECY Walt Disney Animation Studios' CCO Jared Bush will introduce a sneak peek at Nov. 26 theatrical release 'Zootopia 2,' which Bush directed (with Byron Howard) and wrote. Fans may enjoy an evening, open-air screening of 2016's 'Zootopia.' During the week, Disney Animation director Ron Clements ('The Little Mermaid,' 'Aladdin') will be inducted into Annecy's Walk of Fame. Dreamworks Animation's slate presentation will include Aug. 1 release 'The Bad Guys 2.' Helmer Pierre Perifel, who also directed the original, will be at Annecy, joined by returning composer Daniel Pemberton. Universal will present a preview of writer/director Dean DeBlois' upcoming live action reimaging of 'How to Train Your Dragon.' A first look at Paul McCartney's 3D animated film 'High in the Cloud' helmed by Toby Genkel joined the lineup. It's recently-announced all star cast includes Celine Dion, Himesh Patel, Hannah Waddingham, Idris Elba and Ringo Starr. Pixar's Pete Docter will host a slate presentation, joined by 'Elio' directors Madeline Sharafian and Domee Shi, and producer Mary Alice Drumm. This will include footage from June 20 release 'Elio' and first looks at the studio's 2026 releases, 'Hoppers' and 'Toy Story 5.' Marking the 30th anniversary of the original 'Toy Story,' Docter will share footage of Pixar as a young studio working on the movie. Andy Serkis will introduce a screening of 'Animal Farm,' his upcoming animated adaptation of the George Orwell novel, produced by Aniventure and Imaginarium. Its all-star voice cast includes Seth Rogen as devious pig Napoleon, Glenn Close, Laverne Cox and Kieran Culkin. Serkis will also lend his voice. Next on Netflix will include new footage of Fall release 'In Your Dreams,' its upcoming comedy adventure set in the dreams of a pair of siblings, introduced by director Alex Woo, production designer Steven Pilcher, and VFX supervisor Nicola Lavender; and a first look at its animated series 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85,' with showrunner Eric Robles. Annecy will host the world premiere of Genndy Tartakovsky's 'Fixed,' produced by Sony Pictures Animation (Tartakovsky's 'Hotel Transylvania'). The movie will be released by Netflix on Aug. 13. SPA's Annecy plans also include more on its upcoming feature 'GOAT' with director Tyree Dillihay and producer Michelle Raimo-Kouyate. Paramount & Nickelodeon Animation's slate presentation will include'Smurfs,' directed by Chris Miller ('Puss in Boots') and 'The SpongeBob Movie: Search for SquarePants,' helmed by Derek Drymon. A first look at Paul McCartney's 3D animated film 'High in the Cloud' helmed by Toby Genkel will be featured. It's recently-announced voice cast includes Celine Dion, Himesh Patel, Hannah Waddingham, Idris Elba and Ringo Starr. Laika's development slate presentation will include a sneak peak at Travis Knight-helmed 'Wildwood.' Additionally, Laika director Chris Butler ('Paranorman,' 'Missing Link') will present a masterclass during the festival. Honorary Cristals will be awarded to Michael Gondry, who will also screen his new film 'Maya, Give Me Another Title;' animator and advocate Joanna Quinn, who will receive her honor as part of the 10th Women in Animation Summit; and 'The Simpsons' creator Matt Groening, who will participate in a session on the longrunning series. Annecy's 2025 country of honor is Hungary and related programming will include Hungarian feature films, such as 'Bubble Bath' and 'Heroic Times,' as well as student films. Best of Variety 'Blue Velvet,' 'Chinatown' and 'Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas' Arrive on 4K in June All the Godzilla Movies Ranked Final Oscar Predictions: International Feature – United Kingdom to Win Its First Statuette With 'The Zone of Interest'
