The Cartoon d’Or evening is
sponsored by:
John and Karen
Directed by: Matthew Walker
UK, 2007, 3’30’’
Flash and after effects
Prod.: Arthur Cox Ltd
Karen the penguin is not pleased to see John the polar bear on her doorstep. Their argument last night has put her in a very bad mood and John is on egg shells. John has had time to think however and has put together an apology that he hopes will appease her bad temper; he just needs an opportunity to say it out loud with Karen in ear shot. A cup of tea and a sit down would also be good. Karen reluctantly obliges.
Matthew Walker
Matthew Walker is a writer, director and animator based in Bristol. He writes, directs and animates things in the company of ArthurCox and occasionally Aardman. Although born in London, Matthew did most of his growing up in the Lake District and then Cornwall which was good. After completing a foundation course at Falmouth College of Art and Design he then studied Animation at the University of Wales Newport where he made his graduation film Astronauts which went on to win ten awards including Best Student Film at the British Animation Awards and Best Graduation Film at Annecy International Animation Festival. Matthew’s other interests include tea, fig rolls and space. John and Karen is Matthew’s second film.
« John and Karen was produced as part of Channel 4's Daytime Shorts scheme in the UK, a scheme focussed on producing short films for a daytime audience. The film needed to be uncontroversial, be suitable for a pre-watershed audience and have a broad appeal. The idea for John and Karen came from a doodle in my sketch book of a polar bear and a penguin sitting in chairs opposite each other saying "You shut up!" "No you shut up!" This seemed like an amusing basis for a relationship so I sat down and wrote more-or-less the final script for John and Karen. That was what I sent off and that was what I was given money to make and that's what became the film. Usually I rework ideas and scripts endlessly until they are remotely makeable so it was refreshing for something to happen so simply. It was a simple idea that was made fairly quickly. It is perhaps not a film I would have made without the specific requirements of the scheme but I enjoyed writing it and creating the characters of John the polar bear and Karen the penguin. Character work is what I enjoy the most and I wanted John and Karen's relationship to be convincing despite their biological disparity and for the characters to feel like they had a life beyond the three minutes of the film. »