Watch Me Move The Animation Show

I was extremely excited to learn of the Barbican Art Gallery’s exhibition ‘Watch Me Move: The Animation Show’ as I have studied Animation and its history for years. The show is divided into six themed sections over 2 floors and starts with the very beginnings of animation in the late 1800s through to the CGI era of Tron (1982) and Jurassic Park (1993). It also incorporates contemporary video art which leads to exploration and questioning of the borders between art and visual entertainment. The exhibition is also complemented with screenings of popular animated feature films such as Toy Story 3 (2010) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004).

The first section, Apparitions, is clearly well-planned and thought out with excellent examples of early animation and the technology being explored by animators. There are treats such as Blackton’s Humorous Phases of Funny Faces (1906) and Cohl’s Fantasmagorie (1908) in almost pristine condition, a sheer delight to see, as well as Hepworth’s Explosion of a Motor Car (1900), a very early example of special effects, and Disney’s The Skeleton Dance (1929). To be pedantic the works are not in chronological order but the room which places Willis O’Brien’s The Dinosaur and the Missing Link: A Prehistoric Tragedy (1917), McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) and Spielberg’s Jurassic Park (1993) together is genius and by far my favourite room of the whole exhibition!

Unfortunately I found the second and third sections, Characters and Superhumans, weak in comparison to the first section. There is a lack of analysis of character development in the second section which really lets it down and is a missed opportunity. The first room contains a lot of small images and the montage video lacks any titles or explanation. There is nothing new or thought-provoking in either of these sections and it feels rather hastily put together, disappointing.

However, section four, Fables and Fragments, is a return to form. It is the biggest section and features a wonderful variety of cultures and techniques. Visitors have the opportunity to watch classics such as Willis O’Brien’s The Lost World (1925) in their entirety so make sure you give yourself plenty of time there! There is also Lotte Reiniger’s The Adventures of Prince Achmed (1926) and Starewicz’s The Tale of the Fox (1929-30) to view on the big screen. My only criticism of this section is that some animations share a projection with one short animation and a much longer one together. Therefore if you time it badly you have to wait a very long time to see the shorter one, or in my case completely miss it. This seems a real shame especially when some of the short animations have a screen of their own and could have been put together. That said the volume of works to enjoy in this section is commendable and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Section five, Structures, is displayed interestingly and creatively and features a good selection of avant-garde animation from Léger’s Ballet Méchanique (1924) to Chuck Jones’ Duck Amuck (1953). This is another strong section in the exhibition. Section six, Visions, features a nice excerpt from Tron (1982) but the rest of the section is rather weak virtual reality videos, a poor end to the show. An added bonus though was The Animation Toolbox room which has objects from Starewicz’s fox puppets and Svankmajer’s Alice to Muybridge’s zoetropes and Aardman’s model were-rabbit.

Watch Me Move is a fascinating exhibition, one that deserves a lot of time and attention, but it is lacking in a lot of areas. The Golden Age of American Animation is briefly mentioned but rather overlooked and although there is the inclusion of contemporary artists there is little contemporary animated film in the exhibition with only a small amount of Pixar, which is hugely surprising when all the marketing for the show features Toy Story including the exhibition catalogue’s cover! However, there is a good mix of what constitutes animation with the inclusion of Jurassic Park, Tron and special effects and the catalogue is an extremely useful resource and a joy to read. The exhibition perhaps would have benefited from a little about the process of animation to enable the visitor, particularly of the younger variety, to appreciate certain aspects more thoroughly and maybe a section on new technologies would have been nice but what is included is detailed, thorough and most importantly entertaining.

Overall I urge people to go and see this interesting and informative show. It is an opportunity to see some rare early classics in their former restored glory and it is important for people of all ages to understand the evolution of this magical medium. Catch it before it vanishes!

Watch Me Move is on at the Barbican London until 11^th September for more information visit http://www.barbican.org.uk

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