It's Alive! John Canemaker (Part One)

The 40's. 1974. 3 min. 16mm. Greed. 1973. 1 min. 16mm. The Wizard's Son. 1981. 10 min. 16mm. DNA Concerto. 1983. 3 min. 35mm. Confessions of a Stardreamer. 1979. 10 min. DCP. The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation. 2005. 28 min. DCP. Total runtime 55 min. A fixture of the New York independent animation scene, John Canemaker is an award-winning animator, an accomplished animation historian, curator, author, professor, and mentor. A frequent lecturer and teacher at many institutions, John was a co-founder of NYU's Tisch School of the Arts animation program, which he was head of for 30 years. John's singular painterly style encapsulates the charming cartoon expressive to the rhapsodic. Fluid motions seamlessly blend with their musical scores, frequently classical in nature. His films are often immensely funny and always spellbinding. Based in his Upper West Side home studio for most of his career, John has directed and animated numerous commercials and commissioned works. Segments for film and television include The World According to Garp, Sesame Street, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, The Electric Company, and HBO documentaries. This first of two programs includes four early shorts, three of which are independent projects, and ends with the Emmy and Academy Award-winning short The Moon and The Son: An Imagined Conversation, his most personal film.