From Doodles to Pixels: Over a Hundred Years of Spanish Animation
September 7—15, 2016
The Roy and Niuta Titus Theaters
PROGRAM 1: DOODLES
L’Araignée d’or (The Gold Spider). 1908. France. Directed by Segundo de Chomón. In the stopmotion pioneer and Aragon native’s “trick” film, a magic spider is stolen from a monkish society of
gnomes. Courtesy of Lobster Films. 9 min.
En los pasillos del congreso (Down the Hallways of the Congress). 1932. Directed by K-Hito
(Ricardo García López). The famed caricaturist critiques the newly installed government of Spain’s
Second Republic. Silent. 2 min.
Alimentos de régimen Santiveri (Santiveri Diet Food commercial). 1932–35. Directed by Josep
Serra i Massana. 2 min.
Dana, colorete en polvo (Tabu Powder Blush commercial). 1933. Directed by Josep Serra i
Massana. 1 min.
Radio RCA. c. 1935. Directed by Enrique Ferrán. Broadcast music evokes erotic and racial fantasies in
this commercial. Silent. 2 min.
El Fakir González buscador de oro (Fakir Gonzalez, the Gold Digger). 1942. Directed by
Joaquim Muntañola. The eponymous hero of the Fakir Gonzalez series hunts for gold from New York to
the Wild West. 8 min.
El cascabel de Zapirón (A Bell for Zapirón). 1943. Directed by Josep Escobar. In the mold of catand-mouse cartoons from the US, this musical revenge comedy is based on a Spanish fable. 8 min.
Garabatos: Manolete (Doodles: Manolete). 1943–44. Directed by Jaume Baguñà, Manuel Díaz.
This “issue” of the screen’s graphic humor magazine bears some stylistic influence of New York’s
Fleischer animation studio. 8 min.
Los tambores de Fu-Aguarrás (The Drums of Fu-Aguarrás). 1945. Directed by Josep Escobar.
From a leading creator of Spanish comic strips and cartoons comes his Andalusian main character,
Civilón. 9 min.
El bueno de Cuttlas (Good Old Cuttlas). 1991. Directed by Calpurnio Pisón. Stick-figure animation
makes for a witty genre send-up of the Western. 9 min.
Amarillo verano (Yellow Summer). 1999/2013. Directed by Javier Mariscal. This sunny pop-music
piece by the multimedia artist and designer celebrates Mediterranean summers. 5 min.
Program approx. 65 min.
Thursday, September 8, 4:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 14, 7:00 p.m.
PROGRAM 2: UNDER THE YOKE
Garbancito de la Mancha (Knight Garbancito). 1945. Directed by Arturo Moreno. An orphan
boy goes up against an ogre, Don Quixote style, to rescue his friends. Produced under challenging
circumstances during WWII, this ambitious feature, with a budget exceeding that of many live action Spanish films of the period, bears the obvious influence of Disney’s Silly Symphony cartoons
and the Fleischer Brothers studio.
68 min.
Thursday, September 8, 7:00 p.m. Introduced by Curator Carolina López.
Monday, September 13, 4:00 p.m.
PROGRAM 3: MODERN TIMES
Estudios Moro commercials. 1954–64. A cross-section of advertising films, from soap to light
bulbs, employing the talent of the country’s leading animation artists. 16 min.
Vamos a la cama (Let’s Go to Bed). 1965. Directed by José Luis Moro. A bedtime marching song
for children’s television. 1 min.
El sombrero (The Hat). 1964. Directed by Robert Balser. An amusing search for self-identity by
the famed American-born animator of Yellow Submarine (1968), with witty nods
to animation history and the design style of New York’s Hubley Studios. 8 min.
La doncella guerrera (The Warrior Maiden). 1974. Directed by Julio Taltavull, Pepita Pardell.
One in a series of European folk tales, in the style of a medieval tapestry—with a feminist twist. 12
min.
William Wilson. 1999. Directed by Jorge Dayas. Edgar Allan Poe’s ill-fated hero meets his double.
10 min.
La gallina ciega (Blind Man’s Bluff). 2005. Directed by Isabel Herguera. Against the hip
abstraction of a hyperkinetic cityscape of blues and blacks, a blind man reunites with his distracted
seeing-eye dog. 7 min.
Las vidas ejemplares (The Exemplary Lives). 2008. Directed by Carles Porta. A child imagines
whimsical fantasies about a secret family history from a most unlikely source. 11 min.
El viaje de María (Maria’s Journey). 2010. Directed by Miguel Gallardo. A joyfully animated
public-service short on autism. 6 min.
Vía Tango. 2013. Directed by Adriana Navarro. The romantic fantasy of a train conductor, told in
lyrical drawn animation. 3 min.
Onemoretime. 2014. Directed by José González, Tonet Calabuig, Elisa Martínez. The unhealthy
life of the commercial animator. 5 min.
Program approx. 82 min.
Friday, September 9, 4:00 p.m.
Tuesday, September 13, 7:00 p.m.
PROGRAM 4: MACIÁN, THE MAESTRO
Buena mesa – aceite Koipe (Good Cooking: Aceito oil commerical). 1955–57. Spain. A
commercial produced by Estudios Macián for Estudios Moro. 1 min.
Sinfonía escarlata – tomate Corchero (Symphony in Scarlet). 1958. Directed by Francisco
Macián. A commercial for canned tomatoes. 1 min.
El mago de los sueños (The Wizard of Dreams). 1966. Directed by Francisco Macián. In this film
inspired by José Luis and Santiago Moro’s bedtime television spot Vamos a la cama and a tale by Hans
Christian Andersen, a wizard gives each of six children a dream, visualized in different graphic styles
and song. Based in Barcelona, Macián (1929–76) was among Spain’s most accomplished and
pioneering producers of animation. 70 min.
Program approx. 76 min.
Friday, September 9, 7:00 p.m.
Wednesday, September 14, 4:00 p.m.
PROGRAM 5: THE ARTIST’S TRACE
Get Back. 1969 Directed by Iván Zulueta. A music video set to the Beatles song. 5 min.
Homenaje a Tarzán (Homage to Tarzan). 1970. Directed by Rafael Ruiz Balerdi. Avant-garde
analog animation techniques in stark black and white dramatize the effect of white men’s violence on
an African jungle. 5 min.
No sé (I Don’t Know). 1985. Directed by Nicéforo Ortiz. A jazzy, graffiti-inspired, sci-fi noir drawn
directly onto film. 5 min.
Impresiones en la alta atmósfera (Impressions from the Upper Atmosphere). 1988–89.
Directed by José Antonio Sistiaga. Originally created in 70mm for IMAX projection, the Basque artist’s
hypnotic display of color and movement is painted directly onto film. 7 min.
20 días de amor (20 Days of Love). 1991. Directed by Etxegaraico Goti (José Félix González Placer).
Unfinished at the time of the artist’s death, this AIDS-era love story is frank and poignant in the
simplicity of its notepad animation. 4 min.
Las partes de mí que te aman son seres vacíos (The Parts of Me that You Love Are Empty
Beings). 1995. Directed by Mercedes Gaspar. In this short, recalling the surrealism of Luis Buñuel’s Un
Chien Andalou (1929) and using an impressive array of basic animation techniques, romantic fetishists
explore their desires across a dinner table. 9 min.
Geroztik ere... (And since then...). 1999. Directed by Begoña Vicario. On a restless monochromatic
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palette, a woman experiences the psychological damage of a visit from the police. 2 min.
Minotauromaquia: Pablo en el Laberinto (Minotauromachy: Pablo in the Labyrinth). 2004.
Directed by Juan Pablo Etcheverry. In this clay animation tour de force, Pablo Picasso has a series of
unnerving encounters with characters from his art. 9 min.
Estado de cambio (State of Change). 2010. Directed by David Betsué, Marc Vives. The material
world of everyday objects and actions rendered as an animated game of cause and effect. 6 min.
Cromo. 2013. Directed by Marcel·lí Antunez. A reference to Pirandello, this linear fragment is from the
director’s interactive work Pseudo. 4 min.
Hotzanak (For Your Own Safety). 2013. Directed by Izibene Oñederra. A disjointed visual
landscape, sweeping movement, and grotesque character animation create a personal vision of the
dehumanizing airport security system. 5 min.
Sangre de Unicornio (Unicorn Blood). 2013. Directed by Alberto Vázquez. A pair of bickering toy
bears go on the hunt in a Pop Surrealist landscape of deceptively sweet pinks and whites. 9 min.
Estela. 2015. Directed by Frederic Amat. Amat’s use of thread captured in the frames of a projector
has been compared to the avant-garde work of Stan Brakhage. Silent. 2 min.
Tengo miedo (I’m Afraid). 2014. Directed by Laura Ginès. The artist brings her skill in illustration
and collage to this feminist music video for singer Maria Rodés. 4 min.
Program approx. 80 min.
Wednesday, September 7, 7:00 p.m. Introduced by Curator Carolina López and Animator
Alberto Vázquez.
Sunday, September 10, 4:00 p.m.
PROGRAM 6: HUMOR AND CARNAGE
La bronca (The Scolding). 1917. Director unknown. A political cartoon in which reformer Melquíades
Álvarez faces off with monarchist Juan de la Cierva. silent. 1 min.
Cambó i l’autonomia (Cambó and self-government). 1918. Director unknown. A political cartoon
on the issue of Catalonian independence. Silent. 1 min.
La edad de piedra (The Stone Age). 1965. Directed by Gabriel Blanco. From the work of Spain’s
famed graphic humorist José Maria González Castrillo (Chumy Chúmez), an allegory of working-class
life under the Franco regime. 11 min.
Pasión Siega (Blind Passion) excerpt from. 1979. Directed by Jordi Amorós. This episode from
Histories of Love and Carnage, the first adult-oriented animated feature in Spain, offers a scatological,
decidedly unsentimental view of sexuality and old age. 13 min.
Caracol, col, col (Snail Tale). 1995. Directed by Pablo Llorens. A psychotic killer with an affection for
snails is welcomed by an abused wife in this gruesome comedy. 12 min.
Cirugía (Surgery). 2006. Directed by Alberto González Vázquez. An amorous man imagines himself in
increasingly intimate professions. 2 min.
Vicenta. 2010. Directed by Sam. Riffing on the work of Tim Burton, this cynical clay-animation horror
story, triggered by the greed and lust of an abusive husband, is punctuated with scatological humor. 22
min.
Amor de mono (Monkey Love). 2015. Directed by Trimono. An irreverent goof on political
repression, told in the wacky television-style animation that typifies this Madrid studio. 4 min.
Program approx. 66 min.
Saturday, September 10, 7:00 p.m.
Monday, September 12, 4:00 p.m.
PROGRAM 7: DESTINO HOLLYWOOD (AND BEYOND)
The Metamorphosis, Part 1. 1998. Directed by Charlie Ramos. A chilling version of the opening
scene from Franz Kafka’s 1915 novella. English version. 8 min.
Top Gum. 2001. Directed by Víctor Vinyals. A luckless dragon engages with a wad of gum in this
endearing set piece. 2 min.
How to Cope with Death. 2002. Great Britain. Directed by Ignacio Ferreras. Mortality meets an
unlikely superhero. 3 min.
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Tadeo Jones. 2004. Directed by Enrique Gato. Gato takes the George Lucas/Steven Spielberg
adventure franchise to its inevitable conclusion. 10 min.
The Tell-tale Heart. 2005. Spain/USA. Directed by Raul García. A stark black-and-white adaption of
Edgar Allen Poe’s story by a veteran animator long associated with Disney. English version. 10 min.
Alma. 2009. Spain/USA. Directed by Rodrigo Blaas. This sinister vignette of childhood innocence
exploited is as fully realized as a feature despite its short running time. 5 min.
Doomed: A Biological Cartoon! 2011. Directed by Guillermo García Carsi. A documentary-style
creature comedy for adults. 10 min.
Historia de Éste (Story of Him). 2011. Directed by Pascual Pérez. Using the clay-animation
technique he mastered at Britain’s Aardman Animations, the director memorializes youthful drinking
habits. 7 min.
Strange Oaks. 2013. Directed by Headless Studio. In the spirit of Tim Burton, a black comedy from
the Barcelona-based independent animation studio. 1 min.
Program approx. 57 min.
Sunday, September 11, 2:00 p.m.
Thursday, September 15, 7:00 p.m. Introduced by Animator Rodrigo Blaas.
PROGRAM 8: NEXT GENERATION
Cada día paso por aquí (I Pass by Here Every Day). 2004. Directed by Raúl Arroyo.
A contemporary cityscape is seen through an invigorating, rhythmic montage of street trash, graffiti,
signage, and noise. 9 min.
Les bessones del carrer de Ponent (The Twin Girls of Sunset Street). 2010. Directed by Anna
Solanas, Marc Riba. In a gray, stop-motion world, a kidnapped child witnesses the sinister end-of-life
rituals
of elderly twin sisters. 13 min.
Crik-Crak. 2011. France. Directed by Rocío Álvarez. The night terrors of a child end happily when she
surprises her parents in the act. 1 min.
O Xigante (The Giant). 2012. Directed by Julio Vanzeler, Luis da Matta. This fable about a young
princess living in the heart of a towering giant is a Pop Surrealist allegory of parental affection. 11 min.
Astigmatismo (Astigmatism). 2012. Directed by Nicolai Troshinky. Without his glasses, a child
explores an out-of-focus world undaunted—as reflected in the free-associative manner of the film’s
production. 4 min.
Magma. 2013. Directed by Dvein. A music video for the group The Vein, by the Barcelona-based
design collective known for its organic aesthetic. 1 min.
The Day I Killed My Best Friend. 2013. Spain/Great Britain. Written and directed by Antonio J.
Busto, Blanca Font. Soft pastels give way to frantic stop-motion when a girl and her imaginary friend
confront puberty. 6 min.
Zepo. 2014. Directed by César Díaz Meléndez. Animated with sand, this is a disturbing tale of political
violence from a master of stop-motion. 3 min.
Bendito Machine V: Pull the Trigger. 2014. Directed by Jossie Malis. In this elegant piece of
silhouette science-fiction, an alien visitor survives the centuries-long, war-driven evolution of mankind.
12 min.
Princesa china (Chinese Princess). 2014. Directed by Tomàs Bases. The geometry of threedimensional puzzle blocks is the visual inspiration for a cautionary reincarnation lullaby. 5 min.
Program approx. 66 min.
Monday, September 12, 7:00 p.m. Introduced by Animator Anna Solanas.
Thursday, September 15, 4:00 p.m.
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