Chris Robinson (animation scholar)
Encyclopedia
Chris Robinson is an Ottawa
-based animation, film, literature and sports writer, and artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival
(OIAF). He also wrote the screenplay for the Jutra Award
and Genie Award
-winning animated documentary
Lipsett Diaries
, directed by Theodore Ushev
.
. Partially influenced by gonzo and beat writers, Pimp columns often fused philosophy, history and memoir in discussing various facets of animation. A selection of columns were later compiled into a book.
Robinson has also written on music, film, literature and sports for various international publications including Salon.com
, Stop Smiling
and the Ottawa Citizen
. His monthly literature column, "The Lit Pimp" appeared in the Ottawa Xpress
from 2006-2010.
.
His other books are: Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy (2003); Ottawa Senators (2004); Unsung Heroes of Animation; Great Left Wingers of Hockey's Golden Era (2006); his collection of articles, The Animation Pimp (2007), introduced by Nick Tosches
with illustrations by Andreas Hykade
; Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen (2008); Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin
(2008); and Animators Unearthed (2010), a collection of essays on some of the world's most famous independent animators.
His seventh book on animation was the 2010 Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind, which the Ottawa Sun
called "a personal, “stream-of-consciousness” journey combing comic book shops and studios looking for past masters and new innovators." Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind inspired a four-part retrospective about Japanese animators Osama Tezuka, Atsushi Wada, Kei Oyama and Koji Yamamura
at the National Gallery of Canada
and the Canadian Museum of Civilization
.
Robinson is currently working on a biography of Maurice Richard
, a book on The Hockey Sweater
(Canadian Cinema series) and two writing projects: You Bring out the Best in Me, and My Balls are Killing me.
(2010) directed by Theodore Ushev for the National Film Board of Canada
.
.
In early 2011, Robinson was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He is currently writing a graphic novel
, My Balls are Killing Me, about the experience. His frequent collaborator, Theodore Ushev, will illustrate the book.
Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital of Canada, the second largest city in the Province of Ontario, and the fourth largest city in the country. The city is located on the south bank of the Ottawa River in the eastern portion of Southern Ontario...
-based animation, film, literature and sports writer, and artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival
Ottawa International Animation Festival
-History:In 1976, the Canadian Film Institute founded the biennial Ottawa International Animation Festival . First held August 10 to 15, 1976, the OIAF created a gathering place for North American animation professionals and enthusiasts to ponder the craft and business of animation...
(OIAF). He also wrote the screenplay for the Jutra Award
Jutra Award
The Jutra Award is a Canadian annual cinema award that recognizes talent and achievement in the mainly francophone feature film industry in the province of Quebec...
and Genie Award
Genie Award
Genie Awards are given out to recognize the best of Canadian cinema by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. From 1949-1979, the awards were named the Canadian Film Awards...
-winning animated documentary
Animated documentary
The animated documentary is a genre of film which combines the genres of animation and documentary. This genre should not be confused with documentaries about movie and TV animation history that feature excerpts.- History :...
Lipsett Diaries
Lipsett Diaries
Lipsett Diaries is a 2010 short animated documentary about the life and art of troubled experimental filmmaker Arthur Lipsett, animated and directed by Theodore Ushev and written by Chris Robinson...
, directed by Theodore Ushev
Theodore Ushev
Theodore Ushev is an animator, graphic designer, illustrator and multimedia artist, from Montreal, Quebec, Canada.He was born in Bulgaria and graduated stage decoration, animation, and make-up at Plovdiv's School of Scenic Arts.He obtained a Master degree in Graphic Design from the National Academy...
.
Essays and columns
From 2000-2005, Robinson wrote the "Animation Pimp" column for Animation World MagazineAnimation World Network
Animation World Network is an organization for animators, with an extensive website with news, articles and links for professional animators and animation fans. AWN also publishes a printed journal, "Animation World"....
. Partially influenced by gonzo and beat writers, Pimp columns often fused philosophy, history and memoir in discussing various facets of animation. A selection of columns were later compiled into a book.
Robinson has also written on music, film, literature and sports for various international publications including Salon.com
Salon.com
Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
, Stop Smiling
Stop Smiling (magazine)
Stop Smiling was an arts and culture magazine founded in Chicago in the mid-1990s. Each issue followed a theme and consisted of feature-length interviews, essays and oral histories. With a focus on preservation, Stop Smiling published some of the last in-depth conversations with Kurt Vonnegut,...
and the Ottawa Citizen
Ottawa Citizen
The Ottawa Citizen is an English-language daily newspaper owned by Postmedia Network in Ottawa, Canada. According to the Canadian Newspaper Association, the paper had a 2008 weekly circulation of 900,197.- History :...
. His monthly literature column, "The Lit Pimp" appeared in the Ottawa Xpress
Ottawa XPress
The Ottawa XPress, currently spelled press on its cover, is an alternative weekly newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario.The paper was initially launched in April 1993 by Jim Creskey, who also founded The Hill Times. In March 2001, the paper was sold to Voirs president and founder, Pierre Paquet...
from 2006-2010.
Books
Robinson's book Stole This From a Hockey Card: A Philosophy of Hockey, Doug Harvey, Identity & Booze (2005),which was a critical success and was shortlisted for the Ottawa Book AwardOttawa Book Award
Ottawa Book Award and Prix du livre d'Ottawa is a Canadian literary award presented by the City of Ottawa to the best English and French language books written in the previous year by a living author residing in Ottawa. There are 4 awards each year: English fiction and non-fiction ; French fiction...
.
His other books are: Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy (2003); Ottawa Senators (2004); Unsung Heroes of Animation; Great Left Wingers of Hockey's Golden Era (2006); his collection of articles, The Animation Pimp (2007), introduced by Nick Tosches
Nick Tosches
Nick Tosches is an American journalist, novelist, biographer, and poet of Albanian and Italian descent.- Life :After different odd-jobs, Tosches started writing with poetry and rock-'n'-roll magazines, including Creem, Fusion, and Rolling Stone.Tosches' second book, a biography of Jerry Lee Lewis...
with illustrations by Andreas Hykade
Andreas Hykade
Andreas Hykade is an animation director from Germany. Before studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart from 1988 to 1990, he attended König-Karlmann-Gymnasium Altötting. He worked as an animator in London in 1991, then studied animation at the Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg until 1995...
; Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen (2008); Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin
Ryan Larkin
Ryan Larkin was a Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with the psychedelic 1969 Oscar-nominated short Walking and the acclaimed Street Musique . He was the subject of the Oscar-winning film Ryan.-Home life and education:Ryan Larkin's father was an airline mechanic...
(2008); and Animators Unearthed (2010), a collection of essays on some of the world's most famous independent animators.
His seventh book on animation was the 2010 Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind, which the Ottawa Sun
Ottawa Sun
The Ottawa Sun is a daily tabloid newspaper in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is published by Sun Media. It was first published in the early 1980s as the Ottawa Sunday Herald, until it was acquired by Toronto Sun Publishing Corporation in 1988....
called "a personal, “stream-of-consciousness” journey combing comic book shops and studios looking for past masters and new innovators." Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind inspired a four-part retrospective about Japanese animators Osama Tezuka, Atsushi Wada, Kei Oyama and Koji Yamamura
Koji Yamamura
is a Japanese independent animator who, since leaving a career as a background artist at an animation studio, currently directs, writes, edits, animates, creates the model sheets and background art for and sometimes produces his own short films and has worked on many commissions such as music...
at the National Gallery of Canada
National Gallery of Canada
The National Gallery of Canada , located in the capital city Ottawa, Ontario, is one of Canada's premier art galleries.The Gallery is now housed in a glass and granite building on Sussex Drive with a notable view of the Canadian Parliament buildings on Parliament Hill. The acclaimed structure was...
and the Canadian Museum of Civilization
Canadian Museum of Civilization
The Canadian Museum of Civilization is Canada's national museum of human history and the most popular and most-visited museum in Canada....
.
Robinson is currently working on a biography of Maurice Richard
Maurice Richard
Joseph Henri Maurice "the Rocket" Richard, Sr., was a French-Canadian professional ice hockey player who played for the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League from 1942 to 1960. The "Rocket" was the most prolific goal-scorer of his era, the first to achieve the feat of 50 goals in 50...
, a book on The Hockey Sweater
The Hockey Sweater
"The Hockey Sweater" is a short story published in 1979 by Canadian author Roch Carrier....
(Canadian Cinema series) and two writing projects: You Bring out the Best in Me, and My Balls are Killing me.
Screenwriting
Robinson's first attempt at screenwriting was the Jutra and Genie Award-winning animated documentary Lipsett DiariesLipsett Diaries
Lipsett Diaries is a 2010 short animated documentary about the life and art of troubled experimental filmmaker Arthur Lipsett, animated and directed by Theodore Ushev and written by Chris Robinson...
(2010) directed by Theodore Ushev for the National Film Board of Canada
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada is Canada's twelve-time Academy Award-winning public film producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary, animation, alternative drama and digital media productions...
.
Personal life
One year after completing his work on Lipsett Diaries, Robinson was diagnosed as suffering from a mild form of bipolar disorderBipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
.
In early 2011, Robinson was diagnosed with testicular cancer. He is currently writing a graphic novel
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
, My Balls are Killing Me, about the experience. His frequent collaborator, Theodore Ushev, will illustrate the book.
Books by Chris Robinson
- Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy (2003)
- Ottawa Senators (2004)
- Stole This From a Hockey Card: A Philosophy of Hockey, Doug Harvey, Identity & Booze (2005)
- Unsung Heroes of Animation (2006)
- Great Left Wingers of Hockey's Golden Era (2006)
- The Animation Pimp (2007)
- Canadian Animation: Looking for a Place to Happen (2008)
- Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin (2008)
- Animators Unearthed (2010)
- Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind (2010)
- My Balls are Killing Me (graphic novel) (upcoming)