The Bug Trainer
It’s a testament to the appeal of one who is often hailed as the father of stop motion animation that a real buzz could be felt in the audience before the screening of this film at the London International Animation Festival. The Bug Trainer tracks the life and work of Ladislas Starewitch, the prolific Russian-born Polish animator who brought life to bugs and other animals for over 50 years.
The documentary itself is well crafted, with an interesting mix of stop motion animation, constructed sets and filmed interviews. But there is surprisingly little time spent on the work of the great man itself, the focus instead being on a strange parallel love story between an animated bug and the regal Lionness character from Starewitch’s film The Tale of The Fox. I found the narrator bug device both contrived and distracting, and was left wandering who exactly this film was made for.
Still, I enjoyed reacquainting myself with Starewitch’s work, which I hadn’t seen since my heady days as an animation student. There were a couple of interesting tidbits of information and some curious footage of real insects being wired up for animation. Sadly there was not much else here to satisfy the hungry animator, who may have more luck rediscovering Starewitch’s work on a DVD or two.
Loading... 
