Library Find

August 9th, 2007 admin Posted in Art, Film |

I use the Fort Collins Library system quite a bit. It is nice to be able to search the catalog at home and put a book on hold to have it waiting for you when you can make it over. But one of the things I really like to do is just browse the shelves. This takes time but often yields rewards. Two weeks ago I came across a movie called Ryan. The cover of the DVD case is what caught my eye. But after a quick skim of the words on the back I knew I had to check it out.

Ryan is a short animated film about Ryan Larkin an animation artist from the 60s. Early in his career he made quite an impression on the animated film world. One of his first films was even nominated for an OSCAR. (He lost to Walt Disney) But at that young age he just walked away from it, giving in to madness and drug addiction.

The movie has a lot of insight into the process of becoming an artist and how that can go wrong. The film in and of itself is a creative way to tell a story. Through animation the director, Chris Landreth, presents him and his subject Ryan as flawed yet colorful human beings.

You can find the movie in the library’s catalog here. The DVD also contains Ryan’s movies as well as movies from Chris Landreth.