The thirteenth edition of the Ca’ Foscari Short Film Festival is honored to welcome back the historic Disney animator Robb Pratt: an old acquaintance of ours with whom we had the honor of working back during the eighth edition when we hosted a masterclass of his in which Carman – The Road Rage Anti-Hero was presented.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Robb Pratt has always lived just a few miles away from the Walt Disney Studios and it was Disney that soon became part of his childhood dreams that, as soon as he finished high school, led him to take animation courses offered by the Cartoonists’ Union.
During the “renaissance” of American animation in the early 1990s, Disney began looking for new talent, and Pratt was hired in 1994 to work as animator on Pocahontas.
Pratt is now considered a Disney veteran, having animated and shaped characters for such classics as The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996), Hercules (1997), Tarzan (1999), Fantasia 2000 (1999), Atlantis – The Lost Empire (2001) and How to Haunt a House (2001); and the lesser-known Looney Tunes: Back in Action (2003), The Lion King 3 (2004), Home on the Range (2004), and Pooh’s Heffalump (2005); not to forget his role as animator in such hit series as The Fairly OddParents.
He then moved on to create storyboards for hit Disney Channel series such as Kim Possible, American Dragon: Jake Long, The Emperor’s New School, and Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.
He directed the series The Replacements, Elena of Avalor and Firebuds; and, as an independent director, he produced and directed the animated shorts Superman Classic, Bizarro Classic and Flash Gordon Classic, in each of which he reworked the characteristic traits of these superheroes in a personal but traditionally respectful way.
For the Special Jury Program, Robb Pratt will present his new graphic novel, Eva Strongbird and the Marine.
Robb Pratt has teamed with Des Taylor to create their own original story in the graphic novel, ‘Eva Strongbird and the Marine’! WW2 is a linchpin in history – there is a before and an after. Eva Strongbird had a painful past. She’s obsessed with the future – as evidenced by her high-tech Strata-Video-Lux and Ray Gun – gadgets that hint at the coming ‘Atomic Age’. When this war is over, she’s looking forward – the past is the past. The Marine thought the world was just fine and dandy before the war – hell, he was on his way to becoming the next big outfielder for the New York Yankees. When this war is over, he wants the world to go back to exactly what it was before. As these two philosophies clash, the themes of losing the past as you embrace the future will collide with the dangers of being lost in nostalgia and fearing change.
Inspired by the fun, pulp adventures of Superman, Flash Gordon and Indiana Jones, this WW2-era adventure promises plenty of Action, Romance and Suspense! Coming later this year through Titan Comics, UK.
