Tuesday, October 6, 2009

RYAN



Ryan Larkin (1943 – 2007) was a Canadian animator, artist, and sculptor who rose to fame with the psychedelic 1969 Oscar-nominated short Walking and the acclaimed Street Musique (1972). He was the subject of this Oscar-winning film, Ryan.

At the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), Ryan learned animation techniques from the ground-breaking and award-winning animator, Norman McLaren.

In recent years, Ryan was plagued by a downward spiral of drug abuse, alcoholism and homelessness, but found himself back in the limelight when a 14-minute computer-animated documentary on his life, Ryan by fellow Canadian animator Chris Landreth. Ryan died of lung cancer in 2007.
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8 comments:

  1. Arthurstone11:44 PM, October 06, 2009

    Super!

    Watched the piece on my iPhone, utterly transfixed bigger screen tomorrow.

    Thanks. Best link I've followed in quit a while.

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  2. rockync1:23 AM, October 07, 2009

    That was gripping and incredibly sad.

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  3. Matt Osborne1:31 AM, October 07, 2009

    Wow...

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  4. Anonymous3:35 AM, October 07, 2009

    Awesome animation of a grim story. Thanks, Octo.

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  5. Shaw Kenawe8:57 AM, October 07, 2009

    Powerful!

    I know a young man who was born in Toronto, who is very much interested in animation and whose father worked on a couple of block-buster Hollywood animated movies.

    I've sent him this link and hope he enjoys it as much as I did.

    Thanks for posting it.

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  6. Pamela Zydel9:29 AM, October 07, 2009

    Octo: That was a great film. Very sad, but I can see why it won an Oscar. I never thought of Animation Films being anything other than stories like Bambi or even A Bugs Life. So, I thank you for sharing this and opening my eyes to Animation Film that depict “real life”. Alcoholism, drug addiction and homelessness are REAL and such tragic trials that many people face on a daily basis. It’s unfortunate that someone so talented, like Ryan, was haunted by fears that he couldn’t control which prompted him to stop his wonderful talent.

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  7. (O)CT(O)PUS9:42 AM, October 07, 2009

    Pamela, many thanks for checking out this film. The Norman McLaren link takes you to another short subject, created on the 1950s. It embodies a universal theme: "Love thy neighbor."

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  8. Pamela Zydel10:01 AM, October 07, 2009

    Octo: I'll check it out afer work today, thank you. I think many of us could use a good dose of "loving thy neighbor" these days.

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