Year end projects have been delivered by BFA students of the CalArts Character Animation Program. The best of the best, 23 films, will screen tonight in the famous “Producer’s Show”, a faculty-juried showcase that is a popular event for industry to attend and see what the next generation of animation talent has to offer. However a startling number of the films are currently online! Collected in a Vimeo channel, over 60 films are available to watch.

Films from the Character Animation Program tend to be more traditionally “cartoony” than those from other schools we often feature like Supinfocom or the Royal College of Art. When I was invited to speak at the Platform Animation Festival in October by CalArts students, the impression that I got was that, for many students, their “dream job” would be to run their own Cartoon Network or Adult Swim show like festival guest, and CalArts alum, Pendleton Ward. The result therefore, and what differentiates these films from work produced at other schools, is a refreshing focus on character and tight plotting as opposed to technical proficiency.

They are all pretty short, so I encourage to check out more than a few in the channel, but to get you started, here are some of our faves.

Omelette by Madeline Sharafian

Punctuwool by Jacob Streilein

King Kababa and the Knight by Jason Reicher

Prime Evil by Kyler Spears