The opening shorts for this year’s Annecy animation festival are being made available online. They were created by groups of students from French school Gobelins.
MARY
Mary Blair is hired to work in Walt Disney’s gigantic and rigorously maintained garden. As he welcomes her and invites her to get to work, she starts producing plants magically. Although he is amazed, Walt cannot refrain from correcting and toning down Mary’s work behind her back…
EVE
Tribute to Evelyn Lambart, first Canadian animator and Norman McLaren’s collaborator.
LOTTE
Germany, 1936. Lotte Reiniger, prodigal creator of marvellous universes in paper cut, finally chooses to confront herself to the reality of the outside world.
CLAIRE
In a castle full of hedgehogs, an engineer is trying to satisfy her king, who wants her to create an unusual machine. After being thrown away for her failure, she finds an hedgehog on her head which gives a brilliant idea. She presents her new invention to the king, astonished : she reveals a pinscreen made out of hedgehogs and their spines.
ALISON
Alison is giving birth to a creature, who runs away when faced with the oppressing stares of huge statues surrounding them. Alison then runs after her creation, to be finally confronted with the eyes of the crowd.