Spanish animation is experiencing a historic boom. Shorts and features from the country are achieving notable success at festivals and the box office, while Spanish artists are contributing to some of the most influential film and TV productions coming from Hollywood today.
The question now is what steps should be taken to build on recent success.
Spaniard Almu Redondo won an Emmy this year for her work on the Cartoon Saloon-produced “Star Wars: Visions” episode “Screecher’s Reach,” and Pablo Berger’s Spanish feature “Robot Dreams” was nominated for a 2024 animated feature Academy Award. Few artists had as profound an impact on the aesthetic of the “Spider-Verse” films as Alberto Mielgo, who also won the animated short Oscar in 2022 for his film “The Windshield Wiper.”
Spanish artists flourishing abroad is a longstanding tradition, but one that may be waning. Many animation professionals are now staying in Spain, while...
The question now is what steps should be taken to build on recent success.
Spaniard Almu Redondo won an Emmy this year for her work on the Cartoon Saloon-produced “Star Wars: Visions” episode “Screecher’s Reach,” and Pablo Berger’s Spanish feature “Robot Dreams” was nominated for a 2024 animated feature Academy Award. Few artists had as profound an impact on the aesthetic of the “Spider-Verse” films as Alberto Mielgo, who also won the animated short Oscar in 2022 for his film “The Windshield Wiper.”
Spanish artists flourishing abroad is a longstanding tradition, but one that may be waning. Many animation professionals are now staying in Spain, while...
- 5/19/2024
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Spain’s foremost animation film festival, Animayo Gran Canaria, awarded Oscar-qualifying honors to animation shorts “Our Uniform” by Iran’s Yegane Moghaddam and “Amarradas” by Spain’s Carmen Córdoba as it reported a 29% jump in attendance, the biggest ever in its 18-year history.
Sixty animation shorts were in contention, selected out of 2,000 entries from more than 80 countries. Disney animation legend Andreas Deja, who presented the Spanish premiere of his 2D animation short, “Mushka,” presided over the international jury. He also held a Master Class on his 30 years at Disney, delivered a keynote address on the making of “Mushka” and led a three-hour drawing class on animated villains. “The students made me feel like a rock star,” he told Variety. “What better thing to hear than that the films I worked on still impact many people to this day,” he mused.
From the scores of animation shorts he watched as a juror,...
Sixty animation shorts were in contention, selected out of 2,000 entries from more than 80 countries. Disney animation legend Andreas Deja, who presented the Spanish premiere of his 2D animation short, “Mushka,” presided over the international jury. He also held a Master Class on his 30 years at Disney, delivered a keynote address on the making of “Mushka” and led a three-hour drawing class on animated villains. “The students made me feel like a rock star,” he told Variety. “What better thing to hear than that the films I worked on still impact many people to this day,” he mused.
From the scores of animation shorts he watched as a juror,...
- 5/16/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Animayo, Spain’s leading animation festival, is celebrating its 18th edition with the help of Disney legend Andreas Deja who will be presenting his independently-produced short, “Mushka.” “Having Deja choose Animayo to debut his film in Spain is the greatest honor,” said Damian Perea, founder-director of the festival, which unspools May 3-6 on the island of Gran Canaria.
A hand-drawn 2D animated story about an unlikely friendship between a young girl and a Siberian tiger in 1970s’ Soviet Union, “Mushka” is Deja’s directorial debut. His lauded Walt Disney Animation Studio credits include “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
Other notable Spanish premieres at Animayo include that of Jan Bubenicek and Denisa Grimmova’s “Even Mice Belong in Heaven,” about two mortal enemies, a mouse and a fox, who after an accident, find themselves in animal heaven.
Animayo will also treat attendees to...
A hand-drawn 2D animated story about an unlikely friendship between a young girl and a Siberian tiger in 1970s’ Soviet Union, “Mushka” is Deja’s directorial debut. His lauded Walt Disney Animation Studio credits include “The Lion King,” “Aladdin,” “Beauty and the Beast” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit.”
Other notable Spanish premieres at Animayo include that of Jan Bubenicek and Denisa Grimmova’s “Even Mice Belong in Heaven,” about two mortal enemies, a mouse and a fox, who after an accident, find themselves in animal heaven.
Animayo will also treat attendees to...
- 5/2/2023
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Starting this year, Spain’s Animayo Gran Canaria will place not one, but two animated short films in the running for an Oscar. Both the winner of Animayo’s International Jury Grand Prize and – effective this 17th edition – the best Spanish-language animated short will be eligible for consideration in the animated short film category of the Academy Awards.
News broke days after the festival wrapped May 7 which saw “Prisoner Outside” by Germany’s Igor Medvedev snag the International Jury Grand award, which includes a cash prize of €3,000 Euros and the aforementioned eligibility for Oscar consideration. Short centers on a long-confined prisoner who uses his imagination to escape from his cell.
Also eligible for Oscar consideration, the best short film in Spanish – the Animation With an Ñ Award, went to “Leopoldo el del Bar” (“Leopoldo from the Bar”), by Spain’s Diego Porral, which revolves around Leopoldo, an old man who...
News broke days after the festival wrapped May 7 which saw “Prisoner Outside” by Germany’s Igor Medvedev snag the International Jury Grand award, which includes a cash prize of €3,000 Euros and the aforementioned eligibility for Oscar consideration. Short centers on a long-confined prisoner who uses his imagination to escape from his cell.
Also eligible for Oscar consideration, the best short film in Spanish – the Animation With an Ñ Award, went to “Leopoldo el del Bar” (“Leopoldo from the Bar”), by Spain’s Diego Porral, which revolves around Leopoldo, an old man who...
- 5/14/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
“Pearl Diver” by Norway’s Margrethe Danielsen has swept Spain’s 16th Animayo Gran Canaria Festival awards, making off with the International Grand Jury Prize as well as plaudits for best student short film, stop motion and comedy for adults.
“Pearl Diver” follows three odd couples: a hedgehog that falls in love with a balloon, two oysters anxious to meet; and an Arctic couple drifting apart.
The stop-motion animated short was produced at Volda University College and has already won a string of awards worldwide. Aside from scooping a cash prize of €3,000 and a trophy, “Pearl Diver” qualifies to compete for the Academy Award’s short list of qualifying animated shorts.
Italy’s “Where Night Falls” by Francesco Filippini nabbed the best 3D, best comedy for all ages and best screenplay awards. The short revolves around a boy and his grandmother as they set off on a shamanic journey to discover their roots.
“Pearl Diver” follows three odd couples: a hedgehog that falls in love with a balloon, two oysters anxious to meet; and an Arctic couple drifting apart.
The stop-motion animated short was produced at Volda University College and has already won a string of awards worldwide. Aside from scooping a cash prize of €3,000 and a trophy, “Pearl Diver” qualifies to compete for the Academy Award’s short list of qualifying animated shorts.
Italy’s “Where Night Falls” by Francesco Filippini nabbed the best 3D, best comedy for all ages and best screenplay awards. The short revolves around a boy and his grandmother as they set off on a shamanic journey to discover their roots.
- 6/7/2021
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Madrid — Spain’s animation industry is experiencing an unprecedented boom backed by strong financial incentives, an increasing demand for content from platforms and networks, and a push from a creative workforce which is among the most experienced in all of Europe.
To fuel industry growth, Spain must educate future talent and provide a framework for to stay in the country, and few organizations are working harder towards that end than the Canary Islands-based Animayo Summit, Conference and Intl. Film Festival for animation, VFX and videogames, the only Spanish animation festival recognized by the Academy Awards as an Oscar qualifying event.
Between May 7 and 11, the event hosted 14 masterclasses, nine training workshops, five contest sections, twelve screenings for local schools, a number of public feature film screenings as well as a Vr exhibit, video games competitions and animation exhibits.
Animayo now also boasts a budget of more than €100,000 dedicated to promoting scholarship...
To fuel industry growth, Spain must educate future talent and provide a framework for to stay in the country, and few organizations are working harder towards that end than the Canary Islands-based Animayo Summit, Conference and Intl. Film Festival for animation, VFX and videogames, the only Spanish animation festival recognized by the Academy Awards as an Oscar qualifying event.
Between May 7 and 11, the event hosted 14 masterclasses, nine training workshops, five contest sections, twelve screenings for local schools, a number of public feature film screenings as well as a Vr exhibit, video games competitions and animation exhibits.
Animayo now also boasts a budget of more than €100,000 dedicated to promoting scholarship...
- 5/17/2019
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
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