Animator Bill Plympton to Appear at Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology in August

Animator Bill Plympton to Appear at Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology in August

July 12th, 2023

Jerry Beck

Today, Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation and Technology (PFCAT) is pleased to announce that legendary director and animator Bill Plympton will be in attendance at the 2023 Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology on August 4th at 8pm. This special event will be held at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry’s (OMSI) Empirical Theater.

Admission to this special event is $25 and includes the screening, presentation and reception at Theory Restaurant. After the screening and presentation, Plympton will sign autographs and offer complimentary sketches to audience members. Tickets are available at https://omsi.edu/events/portland-festival-of-cinema-animation-and-technology/.

Often called the “King of Indie Animation,” Mr. Plympton will be presenting a special retrospective screening of some of his favorite past works as well as clips from “Slide,” his newest animated feature, which is about a mythical cowboy who appears in a corrupt logging town in the 1940’s. This animated western is set in Plympton’s home state of Oregon and marks his 9th animated feature film.

Mr. Plympton grew up on the Clackamas River and attended Oregon City High School and Portland State University, where his cartoon work was first published. After moving to NYC in 1969, he continued to do work for Willamette Weekly and The Oregonian.

Twice nominated for an Oscar for his animated short Your Face (1988) and Guard Dog (2004) and the winner of the Prix Special du Jury at the Cannes Film Festival for Push Comes to Shove (1991), Bill Plympton’s animation style is unmistakable and iconic. Other career highlights include directing and animating numerous music videos including “Weird Al’ Yankovic, 8 The Simpson’s Couch Gags and over 40 animated shorts. The Academy Film Archive currently holds a collection of over 180 Plympton items.

The Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation and Technology will be taking place at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) from August 3rd – 6th and will include screenings of 119 films including 110 World or Regional Premieres from 22 countries, as well as panel discussions, parties, and presentations. The festival will feature 68 animated projects ranging from stop-motion and rotoscope to hand drawn animation, 3D animation as well as a range of features, documentaries, sci-fi shorts and projects that feature a focus on VFX and the use of cutting-edge technology. The complete schedule of screenings and special events can be found at www.pdxfestofcinema.com.

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Jerry Beck

Writer, cartoon producer and author of more than 15 books on animation history. A former studio exec with Nickelodeon and Disney; currently on the faculty at both CalArts in Valencia and Woodbury University in Burbank, California.