From the Summer 1989 issue of Animation Magazine

Video Review:
The Best of the 20th International Tournee of Animation

by Phil Denslow

First, a personal message from the author:
What can I say? Get it. It's a great tape. The 20th Tournee of Animation. Award winning films. Independent animators' sweat and blood. Sixteen gems of international animation. You'd be crazy not to want this tape. Any intelligent being with a VCR should want this tape. Yes, I know this article is appearing in a magazine published by the same people who are selling the tape. I don't care. I'm not being paid enough for writing this to influence my opinions. At least maybe bug your local rental joint to get it so you can rent it. And all this goes for the tape of the 19th Tournee too. Get 'em both. Because... if everyone buys these tapes then distributers will keep creating more compilations like this and then I'll be able to get all the animation I've ever wanted. Thank you.

And now, the films:

"The Frog, the Dog and the Devil" by Bob Stenhouse of New Zealand, spins a spooky hallucinatory Ichabod Crane-like tale. The excellent animation is filled with lots of effects and startling images.

"Set In Motion" by Jane Aaron of the United States, uses clever stop-motion animation to create a visual-music piece. Colored paper shapes glide over the surfaces of real furniture and people.

"Success" by Zoltan Lehotary of Hungary, opens with a thunderous ovation. Soon we find out why the actor is so deserving. Dissolves are used to create motion with painterly images.

"Garbage In, Garbage Out" by Terry Wozniak of the United States, begins with a dinosaur emerging from an trash truck, but then the film maker has other ideas.

"Carnival" by Susan Young of Great Britain, weaves beautiful chalk and ink drawings into animation of the Brazilian festival. Different people are drawn with contrasting styles. For example, the police are drawn like crude children's caricatures.

"Baeus" by Bruno Bozzetto of Italy, is about a bug that falls in love with a housewife. Thankfully the cute insect gets a better fate than usual.

"Academy Leader Variations" by various animators of Switzerland, the U.S., Poland, and China, gives us multiple versions of that little-seen opening to all films. It's like a series of Sesame Street count-down segments that never quite finish.

"A Greek Tragedy" by Nicole Van Goethem of Belgium, has a happy ending to a nicely animated dilemma. This film was the Academy Award winner in 1986.

"Plus One, Minus One" by Guido Manuli of Italy, depicts rapid surreal events and transitions, first with, and then without our hapless victim/hero.

"Your Face" by Bill Plympton of the United States, puts a singer through a series of unusual changes. Although the animation is somewhat "limited" in the number of drawings per second, it is extremely unlimited in what it depicts.

"Break" by Garri Bardin of the Soviet Union, uses clay animation to create a strange boxing match. This film demonstrates how much can be achieved with great animation, even when the characters are simple in appearance.

"Gravity" by Ferenc Rofusz of Hungary, has apples hanging in a tree watching one of their own struggle to get loose.

"Augusta Feeds Her Child" by Csaba Varga of Hungary, combines clay characters and real food. The child eats all that is asked of it, and then some.

"Girl's Night Out" by Joanna Quinn of Great Britain, features a wild night at a male strip joint. Because each scene is a series of cycled drawings, the film relies on good caricatures and soundtrack to succeed, which it does.

"Drawing on My Mind" by Bob Kurtz of the United States, employs animation to illustrate "news items" written and narrated by George Carlin.

"Snookles" by Juliet Stroud of the United States, is a cute film in which a baby dinosaur befriends a little bird. Maybe it's a prequel to "Bambi vs. Godzilla."

This would be a worthwhile tape with only half the films. Most, if not all, of these are comedies of various kinds, so this is an entertaining package. Together with the 19th Tournee tape, one can enjoy a good sampling of what has been produced recently by independent animators from around the world.

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Animation Magazine: published by Thoren Publications, Agoura Hills, CA (818) 991-2884.