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I’ve been remiss. Yes, horribly remiss by not writing blog posts when they’re actually timely. I’m sorry!

Tonight is Christmas Eve. Matt and I had dinner at the Sizzler down in Southcenter. It’s not fancy, but it sounded like fun and we were feeling a little nostaglic. Besides, remember when going to the Sizzler or Taco Bell were special occassions? We might be old but we don’t need fancy to have fun.

Once we got home, I decided that I needed to shed a little tear to help remind me that a lot of people would be happy to have something as nice as Sizzler for dinner. So I sat down on the couch, turned on my laptop and did a search for “The Little MatchGirl”.

Don Hahn screened this gem at the 2D or Not 2D Festival last month. It’s 6:39 minutes long (including the credits) and took 2 – 3 years to produce–it shows. The animation is beautiful: well-paced, adorable character designs, great story… and done without dialog and colored in monotones.

The rest of the festival was also a treat. The speakers were top notch. We also had a chance to hang out with some talented animator friends and had direct access to lumniaries from the business.

Besides seeing Don Hahn’s screening of rare Disney shorts that included “Steamboat Willie”, “Der Fuhrer’s Face“, and “Lorenzo”, Matt and I also went to the presentation based on his book The Alchemy of Animation. We were joined by Peter Moerhle, Geraldine Kovats and Suzanne Kaufman. Don’s talk was very inspirational and motivating. Animation a result of a lot of hard work and can be a frustrating and long process. He reminded us that “animation is the ultimate team sport” and requires a lot of dedication and passion but that the end results can be like magic.

A few other highlights included Dean Yeagle’s and Barry Cook’s presentations. Dean has been in the animation industry for decades and has worked on projects for Disney, Jim Henson, Playboy, Nestle, and Kraft. Barry directed Mulan and worked as an animator on Torn, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, and The Black Cauldron. Most recently, Barry was directing an animation for Laika studio in Portland, Oregon.

The icing on the cake for me was that since we designed and developed the website for the festival, we were given an all-access pass that included the festival gala event. I was priviledged to be able meet Don Hahn, Barry Cook, and Dean Yeagle. Every one of them were nice and nice can be.

We look forward to next year’s festival and hope more people take advantage of this great event.