John Canemaker

John Cannizzaro Jr.(born 1943), better known asJohn Canemaker,is an American independentanimator,animation historian,author, teacher and lecturer. In 1980, he began teaching and developing the animation program atNew York University,Tisch School of the Arts', Kanbar Institute of Film and Television Department. Since 1988 he has directed the program and is currently a tenured full professor. From 2001-2002 he was Acting Chair of the NYU Undergraduate Film and Television Department. In 2006, his filmThe Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation,a 28-minute animated piece about Canemaker's relationship with his father, won the Academy Award for best animated short. In 2007 the same piece picked up an Emmy award for its graphic and artistic design.

Biography

Raised inElmira, New York,Canemaker began an acting career which included off-Broadway and advertising work in New York City from 1961 to 1965. In 1967, after a two-year stint in the Army, Canemaker, with funds from acting assignments in TV commercials (he appeared in over 35 advertisements for major products, most famously leading a line of "fat kids, skinny kids, kids who climb on rocks" through Central Park for Armour hotdogs)—and appearing as a cast member of the 1972 WCBS-TV showPatchwork Family,in which he drew on a large sketching pad—he obtained his bachelor of arts degree fromMarymount Manhattan Collegein 1974 and master of fine arts in film from New York University in 1976.

Career

While studying for his bachelor of arts degree, Canemaker's childhood interest in animation revived. He began making sponsored animated shorts and wrote the first of more than 100 articles on animation history. His first book, the story of the making ofRichard Williams'Raggedy Ann and Andy,was published in 1977 asThe Animated Raggedy Ann and Andy.In 1982, he wrote the introduction ofTreasures of Disney Animation Art;in 1987, he publishedWinsor McCay—His Life and Art;and, in 1991,Felix,the Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat.There followedTex Avery:TheMGMYearsandBefore the Animation Begins: the Art and Lives ofDisneyInspirational Sketch Artists(both in 1997),Paper Dreams: The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards(1999),Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation(2001), andThe Art and Flair ofMary Blair(2003).

His research in the history of animation inspired two of his own films,Remembering Winsor McCay(1976) andOtto Messmer and Felix the Cat(1977).

Canemaker's filmography includes independently made animated shorts that are part of the permanent collection of New York'sMuseum of Modern Art.Among them areThe '40s(1974),Street Freaks(1975),Confessions of a Stardreamer(1978),The Wizard's Son(1981),Bottom's Dream(1983),Confessions of a Stand-Up(1993), andBridgehampton(1998).

In the early 1980s, Canemaker animated severalChildren's Television Workshopfilms forSesame Street,TV commercials, and, in 1981, created the animation sequences for theWarner Bros.featureThe World According to Garp.He designed and directed animation sequences in theAcademy Award-winningHBOdocumentaryYou Don't Have to Die(1988) and thePeabody Award-winningCBSdocumentaryBreak the Silence: Kids Against Child Abuse(1994).

John Canemaker: Marching to a Different Toon,a DVD/home video collection of his films, is distributed by Milestone Film & Video/Image Entertainment. In addition, Canemaker writes regularly on animation forTheNew York Timesand is on-camera and audio commentator onDVDversions ofTheFantasiaAnthology,Dumbo,Beauty and the Beast,Peter Pan,Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,Cut-up: The Films ofGrant Munro,andWinsor McCay: The Master Edition.He has appeared onNBC'sToday,PBS'The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer,andEntertainment Tonight,and has lectured throughout the United States and in Brazil, Canada, England, Ireland, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, and Wales.

In 2006, he received an Award for outstanding contribution to animation studies at the World Festival of Animated Film -Animafest Zagreb.

Books

• Felix,The Twisted Tale of the World's Most Famous Cat,1991, Pantheon, New York,ISBN0-679-40127-X.
• Storytelling in Animation: The Art of the Animated Image, Volume 2,editor, 1988, The American Film Institute.
• Paper dreams; The Art and Artists of Disney Storyboards,1999.
• Winsor McCay:His Life and Art,1987.
• Treasures ofDisneyAnimation Art(with Robert E. Abrams), 1982.
• The Animated Raggedy Ann and Andy,1977.
• Walt Disney's Nine Old Men and the Art of Animation,2001.
• Two Guys Named Joe: Master Storytellers Joe Grant & Joe Ranft.,2010.ISBN978-1-4231-1067-5.
• The Lost Notebook - Herman Schultheis and the secrets of Walt Disney’s movie magic,2014.ISBN978-1-61628-632-3.
• Before the Animation Begins: the art and lives of Disney inspirational sketch artists,1997.ISBN0-7868-6152-5.
• The Art and Flair of Mary Blair: an appreciation,2003.ISBN0-7868-5391-3.

External links

• John Canemaker's Animated Eye
• John Canemaker Animation CollectionatNYUFales Library
• "My Oscar Experience: An Interview with John Canemaker":Part 1,Part 2