Watch: 5 Gobelins Shorts That Pay Tribute To Women Animation Pioneers

Among the highlights of every Annecy animation festival are the daily screening intros created by Gobelins animation students. This year, in celebration of the festival’s focus on women animation artists, the mini-shorts paid tribute to women animation pioneers.

The shorts aren’t intended to be literal biographies, but rather to evoke the life and accomplishments of each artist. The five artists honored with films were Mary Blair, the Disney Studio’s most influential woman art director; Evelyn Lambart, first Canadian woman animators; Claire Parker, co-inventor of the pinscreen animation technique; Lotte Reiniger, director of the first European animated feature; and Alison de Vere, the first woman to win an award at Annecy.

Mary Blair

Directors: Michiru Baudet, Cécile Carre, Viviane Guimarães, Fanou Lefebvre, Léni Marotte

Mary Blair is hired to work in Walt Disney’s gigantic and rigorously maintained garden. As he welcomes her and invites her to get to work, she starts producing plants magically. Although he is amazed, Walt cannot refrain from correcting and toning down Mary’s work behind her back…

Evelyn Lambart

Directors: Simon Anding, Elena Dupressoir, Lucas Durkheim, Paul Regnier, Diane Tran-Duc

Tribute to Evelyn Lambart, first female Canadian animator and Norman McLaren’s collaborator.

Lotte Reiniger

Directors: Hadrien Bonnet, Nicolas Capitaine, Charlène Chesnier, Céline Desoutter, Samuel Klughertz

Germany, 1936. Lotte Reiniger, prodigal creator of marvelous universes in paper cut, finally chooses to confront herself to the reality of the outside world.

Claire Parker

Directors : Alix Arrault, Jules Durand, Arina Korczynski, Margo Roquelaure, Ines Scheiber

In a castle full of hedgehogs, an engineer is trying to satisfy her king, who wants her to create an unusual machine. After being thrown away for her failure, she finds an hedgehog on her head which gives a brilliant idea. She presents her new invention to the king, astonished : she reveals a pinscreen made out of hedgehogs and their spines.

Alison de Vere

Directors: Adrien Calle, Leïla Courtillon, Martin Hurmane, Nathan Otaño, Jules Rigolle

Alison is giving birth to a creature, who runs away when faced with the oppressing stares of huge statues surrounding them. Alison then runs after her creation, to be finally confronted with the eyes of the crowd.