Guy Lochhead, 02/09/10
Australian stop-motion animator best known for the feature-length ‘Mary and Max’ and ‘Harvie Krumpet’, which won an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 2003. He was born on a shrimp farm to an ex-acrobat father and a hairdresser mother. At school, he excelled in all the arts-related subjects. He studied animation at college, during which time he made his first stopmotion film, ‘Uncle’. The film played at festivals around the world, and launched his career His films can be recognised by their all-‘in-camera’ effects, ‘chunky- wonky’ style (due in part to a physiological tremor Elliot’s had since birth), and a gothic sort of humour. Elliot is simply a great maker of animated films, and for this reason I don’t want to include him. His films are derivative and (unintentionally as well as intentionally) sad.