International Tournée of Animation

Annual touring program of animated films

The International Tournée of Animation was an annual touring program of alternative animated films that started in 1965 as The First Festival of Animated Film with each selected and assembled from films from many countries around the world and which existed from the 1970s to the 1980s-90s.

Typical program content

As released to cinemas, college campuses, and art museums and centers across the United States, a typical Tournée program ran about 105 minutes and consisted of 15 to 24 animated films in the 16mm format, each running from 1 or 2 minutes to 15 or 18 minutes each in length.

An example of the typical range of countries represented comes from the 14th Tournée in 1980 which contained 18 award-winning films from Canada, France, United Kingdom, The Netherlands, Hungary, United States and Yugoslavia. Altogether over twenty annual programs were prepared and presented; the 17th International Tournée of Animation was devoted entirely to the films of the National Film Board of Canada.

History

About 1966, several members of ASIFA-Hollywood (The Los Angeles branch of ASIFA, the International Animated Film Association) decided to put together an international animation program to be shown at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It was almost impossible to see quality animation in the US at that time. Prescott Wright became active with the group when he joined the American Film Institute in 1969 and, having worked previously in film distribution, he was asked to head the project when it was decided to show the program in other cities.

Under Wright's guidance, the program became known as the "International Tournée of Animation" and, by late 1970, he began to book the program at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, university campuses, and other cultural institutions around the US.

The animators were offered a generous contract as part of their agreement to enter their films in the Tournée. As producers, Wright and his associates received 50% of the gross, while the remaining 50% was split among the artists. About half of the money going to the animators was split evenly between each filmmaker and the remaining amount was split based on the length of each short film. This meant that a very short film got slightly less than the one which was a minute or two longer.

Increased visibility through theatrical screenings

In the mid-1970s, the Tournée increased its visibility by being screened in cinemas, initially thanks to a sale with the Landmark Theatres chain, but gradually seen in many smaller "art houses" across the country. In 1986 Prescott Wright sold the rights to the Tournées to the Expanded Entertainment group (which was under the leadership of Terry Thoren and the expertise of animation historian Jerry Beck) in Los Angeles which continued to organize them for several years with Wright's guidance.

Coverage of the festivals (both Tournee and Animation Celebration) ranged from praises by film critics, including Leonard Maltin for Entertainment Tonight, to guest appearances on talk shows such as The Today Show.