Ciné-Outremont: Littlemary

Animated short film, 2015, 7 minutes. Without words.

Presented before the Ciné-Outremont screening on March 4

Littlemary is a stop-motion animation about a string marionette in search of “The Old Puppets”. The main character, Littlemary, sneaks under the theatre curtain and onto the stage, and realizes that she is among the very puppets she has been searching for. Littlemary walks into various scenes of The Old Puppet Show and meets the many colourful characters. In the end, she comes to understand that she is different and a bit out of place, and wakes up to the realization that it was all a puppet dream.

The story of how the animation was created began when I found, in my home, an old piece of newspaper with the headline 70-YEAR-OLD PUPPETS. At the bottom of the page, there I was, next to my father: a little girl holding a puppet. This reminded me of my childhood, when I went to see puppet shows every weekend. After a while I saw so many plays that I knew all the lines and noticed every improvisation. When I was a little girl, my father had some little, old puppets and small theatre sets, carefully stored in the closet, with which I couldn’t play. These were his toys!

Today, I understand that these toys are 90-year-old puppets (approx.), a family heirloom and tangible proof of the first Romanian puppet shows. Having this in mind and in the memory of my ancestors, I created this animation. As a playful little girl, I was hoping to sneak into my father’s closet and play with those puppets, just like Littlemary tries to sneak into The Old Puppet Show.”

– Maria Boldor

Company

Maria Boldor holds master’s degree from the graphic design department at the Art and Design University in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. She is currently working as a graphic designer at HOLA Media in Cluj-Napoca.

Credits

Year: 2015
Animation Concept, Scenario, Script and Direction: Maria Boldor
Music: Liviu Ciprian Szasz
Technical Assistants: Lucian Boldor, Angela Boldor and Dacian Boldor (Maria’s family)

The puppets in this animated short film are part of the Şesan family collection featured in the A Story with Marionettes – The Șesan Family Collection exhibition on display at the Paul-Gérin-Lajoie d’Outremont High School gymnasium. This exhibition marks the 90^th anniversary of the founding of UNIMA, the international association of puppeteers, in Prague in 1929.