ANIMATED FILMS AT VIFF 2012

THE MONKEY KING — UPROAR IN HEAVEN 3D
(Da nao tian gong) 

A grand spectacle, Su Da and Chen Zhihong’s 50th anniversary 3D restoration of China’s most lauded animated feature is truly a special event. Based on the the Ming Dynasty classic Journey to the West, it chronicles the adventures of the magical Monkey King, a mischievous character who creates havoc in the palace of Heaven by refusing to kowtow to the Celestial Jade Emperor... Bring the kids! Classification: TBA.

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A LIAR'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY:
THE UNTRUE STORY OF MONTY PYTHON'S GRAHAM CHAPMAN

Ready for something completely different? In the spirit of Graham Chapman’s five-author, highly fictionalized autobiography, this carnivalesque 3D adaptation/animation enlists three directors (Bill Jones, Ben Timlett, Jeff Simpson), 15 animation studios (each using different techniques) and the remaining Monty Python members (minus Eric Idle) to pay irreverent tribute to "the dead one."

ERNEST ET CÉLESTINE

Like-minded Ernest, a busking bear, and Célestine, a boho mouse, forge an interspecies friendship and instantly become a cause célèbre. Teaming with Benjamin Renner, A Town Called Panic’s Vincent Patar and Stéphane Aubier curb their anarchic tendencies and delicately craft "a cautionary fable where friendship tries to stand the test of bigotry and intolerance."—Hollywood Reporter. To be classified so all ages can attend!

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MCDULL: THE PORK OF MUSIC
North American Premiere

Hong Kong’s funniest and most subversively popular avatar, the cartoon piglet McDull, is back in an animated musical by Brian Tse and Alice Mak. Mixing hilarious, weird and deliciously profane humour with ultra-sharp social critique, McDull & Company sing about HK’s uniqueness with a poignant charm all their own.

CONSUMING SPIRITS

In this spiralling animated tale, the darkly humorous, seemingly random misadventures of three Rust Belt grotesques coalesce into a single affecting narrative. "Shot frame-by-frame using models, multi-plane paper cutouts and traditional pencil-drawn cartoons... this labor of love from do-it-all animator Chris Sullivan has the same rough-edged, cantankerous charms as the characters that populate it."—Variety

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CARTOON COLLEGE
World Premiere 

This bittersweetly charming documentary introduces us to some of the world’s greatest graphic novelists, and the extraordinary college in White River Junction, Vermont, where the comic artists of tomorrow get inspired and get to work! Chris Ware, Lynda Barry, Art Spiegelman, Françoise Mouly and Scott McCloud are among the many artists to take us into their imaginative inner lives and craft. The fabulous soundtrack includes an original score by Jason Zumpano.

PERSISTENCE OF VISION
World Premiere

Stupendous! After toiling on his masterpiece The Thief and the Cobbler for 28 years, top British animator Richard Williams—famous for Who Framed Roger Rabbit—saw it wrested from his control and savagely recut. Pairing unreleased scenes from Williams’ virtuoso fairytale with horror stories of creativity falling prey to commerce, Kevin Schreck takes us inside "the greatest animated film never made."

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WRINKLES
(Arrugas) 

By turns moving and funny, Ignacio Ferreras’ animated tale of two elderly men who become friends at a care facility for the aged "has heart and humour... Wrinkles ranks as an extraordinarily involving and poignant film... likely to inspire laughter and deep sympathy for the characters, if not tears, in equal measure."—SBS Film.

Winner, Best Animated Film, Best Adapted Screenplay, Goya Awards 2012.