Hollywood has the Oscars and the cartoon world has the Cartoon d’Or – the top European prize for animation.
This year’s Best European short film went to the Christmas Log by Stephane Aubier and Vincent Patar.
The film is based on characters seen in “A Town Called Panic”, a feature which premiered at Cannes in 2009 and subsequently won many international awards.
The pair behind the film rarely appear in public and gave the Toulouse ceremony a miss but their producer did speak to euronews.
“Yes, they really do exist but they don’t like this type of thing. It makes them feel uncomfortable, they’re a bit shy. I’m shy too but less so, so I’m the one they send,” said Tavier.
Tavier says the pair like to work as quickly as possible: “It was made quite quickly, within 10 weeks. The entire production took six months. They’re always working on techniques to improve turnover time, even when they’re drawing storyboards. They’re a bit like rock groups who want to record their material quickly.”
It caps a very successful year for Stéphane Aubier and Vincent Patar. The duo have also Oscar nominated for “Ernest and Celestine” an animation film they made with France’s Benjamin Renner. And the Cartoon d’Or comes with a 10,000 euro cash prize to finance their next project.
