Academic

Animafest Zagreb Award for Animation Studies to Maureen Furniss

Animafest Zagreb Award for Animation Studies to Maureen Furniss

Animafest Zagreb Festival Council decided to present the 2017 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation Studies to CalArts animation historian Maureen Furniss

American animation historian Maureen Furniss and her work championed quite inspiring insights into some of the most important achievements in animation, and her creative syntheses of the most significant aspects in the field are also much renowned.

Furniss herself responded to the Zagreb tribute : I am greatly honored to be the recipient of Animafest Zagreb 2017 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation.


People like to ask me how long it takes to write a book, but that's difficult to answer because they draw from my entire career. And while I am proud of them, I always tend to worry about what I haven't included because of the limitations of space and time.

My latest book, A New History of Animation, represents the culmination of my experience, and yet it is incomplete because there are so many examples I was not able to include. I invite the growing number of animation scholars to continue to write their own new histories, filling in the gaps and better representing the art of animation worldwide.  [read her complete statement below]

Furniss earned her PhD in abstract animation with a dissertation Things of the Spirit: A Study of Abstract Animation, drawing parallels between abstract animation and spirituality and music

Furniss also studied Chuck Jones and edited a book under the title Chuck Jones: Conversations, a series of analytical interviews given by this master of animation during the years.  Her syntheses of different areas of animation – her Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics encompasses main insights into the field of animation theory and aesthetics, with a special accent on creative activity in the US.

 

Her practical knowledge on animation was gathered in the book The Animation Bible: A Practical Guide to the Art of Animating from Flipbooks to Flash, and she also edited a book of essential studies of animation and its media context Animation: Art and Industry.

 

In 2016 she published an acclaimed and praised history of world animation, A New History of Animation, opening a new chapter in animation studies.

 

An outstanding writer and one of the finest connoisseurs of animation globally, Maureen Furniss is also the founder of Animation Journal magazine (in 1991) and the president of the Society for Animation Studies (2006-2010), which highlights her overall contribution to the organisation of contemporary animation studies and their evolvement into a reputable academic discipline.

The award will be presented at the festival's opening ceremony on 5 June 2017.

Here's the complete statement by Maureen Furniss:


I am greatly honored to be the recipient of Animafest Zagreb 2017 Award for Outstanding Contribution to Animation. I would like to thank the Festival Council for selecting me, and at the same time acknowledge the help of so many people in what I have accomplished. I will mention just a few of them by name.
Karl Cohen and David Ehrlich, who helped me when I was a graduate student, just entering the field. David was the one who encouraged me to go to the Zagreb festival for the first time, in the late 1980s.
Cecile Starr, co-author of Experimental Animation; Giannalberto Bendazzi, author of Cartoons; and George Griffin, co-editor of Frames, three books that played a huge role in my earliest research.
Harvey Deneroff, who founded the Society for Animation Studies and created a place for all the marginalized animation historians to gather, socialize, and encourage each other.
William Moritz, who shared his knowledge, resources, and calmness with me when I struggled with my dissertation.
John Libbey, who published my first book, Art in Motion: Animation Aesthetics, at a time when animation studies literature was scarce, and continued to publish other animation books, creating a foundation for developing scholarship.
The many independent animators who have supplied me with images representing their work, and the National Film Board of Canada, which was especially helpful to me when I was an emerging scholar, providing images and information for my books.
My parents, who never questioned my path and made it possible for me to follow it.

The administrators at CalArts, who have allowed me time and resources for my research.
People like to ask me how long it takes to write a book, but that's difficult to answer because they draw from my entire career. And while I am proud of them, I always tend to worry about what I haven't included because of the limitations of space and time.

My latest book, A New History of Animation, represents the culmination of my experience, and yet it is incomplete because there are so many examples I was not able to include. I invite the growing number of animation scholars to continue to write their own new histories, filling in the gaps and better representing the art of animation worldwide.The animation community is wonderful! Thanks to everyone who has helped me along the way. I am looking forward to the festival – see you there?

 

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