Hollywood Honors a Year of Animated Triumphs

Read the full article by Susan King of the Los Angeles Times, posted December 2, 2010 |  5:00 am

Photo: "The Illusionist." Credit: Sony Pictures Classics

Two festivals in Tinsel Town this weekend will celebrate the best in French animation and the work of Oscar-winning Claymation filmmaker Will Vinton.

UCLA Film and Television Archive's "Les Illusionistes: A Celebration of French Animation" kicks off Friday at the Billy Wilder Theater with two films from Sylvain Chomet.  Friday's double feature includes a preview screening of his latest film, "The Illusionist," based on an unproduced script by the late Jacques Tati, and his Oscar-nominated 2003 feature "The Triplets of Belleville." Then for Saturday, a screening of two films by Jacques-Rémy Girerd: 2008's "Mia et Le Migou" and 2003's "Raining Cats and Dogs."

There's a free Sunday-morning presentation of Michel Ocelot's 2008 "Azur and Asmar," with Dominique Monfrey's 2009 feature "Eleonore's Secret" and Ocelot and Benedicte Galup's 2005 film "Kirikou and the Wild Beast," screening in the evening. Cinema.UCLA.edu

Then, the Los Angeles Animation Film Festival starts Friday and continues through Dec. 7 at the CineFamily at the Silent Movie Theatre.  This festival will also will showcase "The Illusionist" and also will honor Vinton.