ducciones. Television provided work for new companies like the Canto brothers’ Produc-
ciones Kinema, Harvey Siegel’s Caleidoscopio, and the companies founded by Daniel
Burgos and Dan McManus. Important animators in the 1970s and 1980s include Enrique
Escalona (Tlacuilo) and Fernando Ruiz, who made Los tres reyes magos(1976), the first
Mexican feature.Magos y Gigantes (2003) from Anima Studios was the first fully digital
animated film from Mexico.
Globalization
Some animators worked internationally. Lotte Reiniger continued to make films in
Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and Canada into the 1970s. Berthoid Bartosch made films in
Vienna, Berlin, and France. George Pal, a Hungarian, worked in Berlin at UFA, in the
Netherlands, and in the United States, where he was known for his outstanding Puppetoons
and his expertise in special effects. Oskar Fischinger made films in Germany and the United
States. His films were abstract art linked to music, and it was his work that inspired portions
of Disney’s Fantasia. Born in Russia, Alexandre Alexeïeff made haunting, experimental films
with Claire Parker, working in France, Canada, and the United States. Alexeïeff is known
especially for his pinscreen films. His masterpiece was A Night on Bald Mountain.Norman
McLaren was another international animator, and in addition to his work with the National
Film Board in Canada, he made nonobjective art films (like Blinkity Blank) in Scotland,
England, Canada, and the United States. Some of his films were painted directly on film
stock. Animators now more than ever go where the work is, or they work in one country on
their computer and deliver the work digitally anywhere in the world.
The world seems very small today. The invention of modern forms of transportation
changed the way the average person lived and the way he thought. Until the early part of
the twentieth century most people never ventured more than a few miles from home. Normal
travel was determined by the distance one’s feet could walk or one’s horse could gallop.
During World Wars I and II thousands of average men went around the world to fight and
came home with a new perspective on life. Farm boys and girls moved to the big city. For
many reasons people all over the world immigrated to new lands, and they’re still on the
move. The advent of radio and television made us more aware of what others around the
world were doing and thinking. It is now very common to vacation in other lands. Phones
and the Internet allow us to communicate on a daily basis with anyone, anywhere. Satellites
deliver media from around the world. It’s impossible for almost anyone to remain unchanged
by cultural influences from other lands. Big corporations do business internationally. The
products and services of each country must be able to compete with the products and ser-
vices of companies around the world. Many countries have sponsored animation companies
directly; others give incentives or large tax credits for employing workers from their own
country. Companies in countries that don’t have access to this kind of help from their gov-
ernments find it hard to compete. When something affects the economy of one country, those
changes affect economies around the world. In a very short time the world has seen huge
changes because of globalization. For good or for bad, we will never be the same.
372002Shrekwins the first Oscar
for Best Animated Feature.