We’re still in Prague, and besides walking around the city and reading Czech litterature, we have not done many adventurous things lately. So, to get that glorious feeling of freedom, chaos and adventure back into my veins, I decided to watch all over again several of animations made by a Canadian artist named Ryan Larkin. He made namely animated short films in the 1960’s and was a protégé of Norman McLaren known for his work for the National Film Board of Canada. With McLaren’s support, Larkin made one of the most influential animation films of all time, namely Walking (1968). I love this adventurous animation for its lack of structure and refusal of order in life:
PS:
By 1999, Ryan was living on welfare in a mission house and panhandling for spending money. In 2004, filmmaker Chris Landreth made a short film about Mr. Larkin, titled Ryan: “A gentleman panhandler. One of the pioneers of Canadian animation. Oscar nominee. Poor beggar. An artist unable to create. Fallen angel. Arrogant. Shy. Broken. Not destroyed.” Ryan Larkin died in 2007 from lung cancer which had spread to his brain.
