Animated films: an activist art form

Fortunately, that same year, Hubert and I did have another opportunity to go back to L.A. The Disney studios invited us to present The Man Who Planted Trees and meet some of their best-known in-house artists. We visited their studios with Charles Solomon, a writer and animated film critic, and other animator friends. An Oscar always gives a film tremendous leverage in terms of distribution. The Man Who Planted Trees had already won over many hearts to the cause of acting generously to save the forests, but now it had an extra boost! My films have become “classics,” studied in universities and animation schools for their technical, artistic and cultural content. That goes beyond anything I might have hoped for and still surprises me. It shows that politically engaged art is both possible and worthwhile. Long before me, Breugel, Goya and many other talented artists showed this to be true with all the power of their art.

TO BE CONTINUED...

The Man Who Planted Trees (Filmmaker section)