Chris Robinson

Chris Robinson is the artistic director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, and an author and screenwriter.

He blogs for the Animation World Network as the Animation Pimp, and has written books including Estonian Animation: Between Genius and Utter Illiteracy (2003), Unsung Heroes of Animation (2006), Great Left Wingers of Hockey’s Golden Era (2006), Ballad of a Thin Man: In Search of Ryan Larkin (2008), Japanese Animation: Time out of Mind (2010) and the upcoming graphic novel My Balls are Killing Me.

Articles by Chris Robinson

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The best indie animation of 2016

It was a year rich in features – but even more so in short-form films, if only you could see them. Chris Robinson, Alex Dudok de Wit and Jez Stewart uncover the gems crying out for a place on the bill at your local cinema.

Friday, January 6, 2017

Annual round-ups
Peace through poetry: Ann Marie Fleming on Window Horses and open minds

Set at a poetry festival in Iran, the new feature from mixed heritage Canadian animator Ann Marie Fleming is a celebration of diaspora and cultural exchange. She talks to Chris Robinson about conversations across generations and borders.

Friday, December 9, 2016

Interviews
Toon of the month: Horse

Chris Robinson on Shen Jie’s boggling, mesmerising horse play, another gem from China’s budding animation scene.

Sunday, July 24, 2016

Bytes
Toon of the Month: Pineapple Calamari

Chris Robinson on Kasia Nalewajka’s surrealist portrait of grief at the races, as extraordinary as Vertigo crossed with Creature Comforts.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Bytes
Toon of the month: Old Man

Chris Robinson on Leah Shore’s brave/risque animation, putting pictures to the words issuing from an elderly Charles Manson’s head.

Saturday, February 6, 2016

Bytes
The best indie animation of 2015

Beyond the likes of Inside Out and Song of the Sea, innovation in animation continued to take place at the shorts end of the scale. Our three critics round up their international highlights of the year.

Friday, February 5, 2016

Annual round-ups
Toon of the month: Small People with Hats

Chris Robinson on the Estonian-level strangeness of Sarina Nihei’s multi-garlanded graduation short, a violent and enigmatic social allegory of death, power and revenge.

Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Bytes
Toon of the month: Creation Myth

Evolution goes into overdrive in Angela Stempel’s supersonic music video for Celestial Shore, says Chris Robinson.

Monday, October 12, 2015

Bytes
Toon of the month: Paradise Awaits

Tomek Ducki’s music video for Zhu shows us analogue desire in a digital age, says Chris Robinson.

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Bytes
Toon of the month: Pig

Chris Robinson introduces Steven Subotnick’s poetic-comic vision of hog heaven.

Monday, July 13, 2015

Bytes