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Today, I suggest you to discover a great Dutch artist who had success only at 41 years old, thanks to beautiful short films realized from drawing with brush and Indian ink, Michael Dudok de Wit.

Yes, his short animated films are very different unlike animations presented on Sunday on CrystalXP, because Michael Dudok de Wit is an animator, a director and an illustrator who transmits many emotions through simple images, without use technical tools.


In fact, each of his short films has a soul, stories are accompanied by a soundtrack (which also shows the importance of music in animation) perfectly synchronized with images, framings are perfect, animations are fluid and some characters are really moving.



Well, before presenting these 2D animations, I will talk you a bit about the history of Michael Dudok de Wit.

Michael Dudok de Wit, a native from Netherlands, was born in 1953. After studied on the animation at UCA (University for the Creative Arts) in Farnham (England), he worked for one year to Barcelona in an animation studio. In 1980, he settled in London where he directs and animates award-winning commercials for television and cinema. Then, he worked at Disney as story-border on Beauty and the Beast,



and it is only in 1992 that he created his first short film (2min30), Tom Sweep, which was intended to be one of a series of films.

Tom Sweep, realized with Indian ink and watercolor, is the story of a funny little street sweeper,exasperated by the lack of respect of people about his work, and discouraged by pollution growing :



Well, you'll tell me : where are these emotions of which I spoke ?

Wait, it is really in 1994, with The Monk and the Fish, realized in France with the studio Folimage that begin the success of Michael Dudok de Wit.



A real gem which was nominated for an Oscar and has won numerous prizes including a César and the Cartoon d'Or.
The story seems simple at the base, a monk disturbed and obsessed by the presence of a fish in the basin of the monastery, tries to catch it by all means... but it reveals a very symbolic story.
I leave you the pleasure to discover it :



In 2000, he realized a beautiful animation, Father and Daughter, also rewarded by numerous prizes including an Oscar, the Prix Public and Grand Prix of short film at the festival of Annecy.
In fact, there is no real word to describe this animation so it is touching... full of poetry, it is a strory dedicated to lova and the cycle of life.



Lastly, in 2006, he made The Aroma of Tea, drawn entirely with tea.



Since The Aroma of Tea, Michael Dudok de Wit had not realized other short films.
However, he worked as animator on La Prophétie des Grenouilles such as for T.R.A.N.S.I.T (1997), L'enfant au grelot (1998) et Fantasia 2000 (1999).



Acutely his next short film !

P.S1 : Thanks to Rim-K who helped me write this news.

P.S2 : The official website of Michael DUdok de Wit is currently under construction, you can discover his entire filmography here.