Preparations are well in hand for the opening to the public of the Bermuda National Gallery's main Winter 2000 exhibition on February 27.

Entitled `From Mickey to The Grinch: The Art of the Animated Film', it will explore the art, history and process of the American animated film. Featured will be animation cels (clear pieces of plastic on which drawings are made), drawings and model sheets used in Hollywood films by Walt Disney, Chuck Jones, MGM, Hanna Barbera and others. The historic works in the show, which come from the private collections of the late artist and animator George Nicholas (1910-1996), will explore and explain the art of animation from the beginning of full-length animation films in the 1930s through to the revival of full animation in the 1970s.

Many animated films will be represented in the exhibition, including such classics as `Snow White', `Pinocchio', `Fantasia', `The King and I', and `The Lady and the Tramp', with shorts of popular characters like Mickey Mouse, Goofy, Donald Duck, Oswald the Rabbit, Pluto and Tom and Jerry. In addition, the show will cover popular animated television shows including The Flintstones and Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.

Creations by producer/director/designer and Bermuda resident Arthur Rankin, Jr., who made `Little Drummer Boy' among many other television shows, will be highlighted.

In addition, Bermudian Greg Lovell, who currently creates the storyboards in Hollywood for `The Simpsons' TV programme, will also be featured. Fellow Bermudian animator Al Seymour, Jr. will be working with the Education Department and teaching an animation workshop.

For those who want to know what it is like to be an animator need look no further than the Interactive Animation Station where they will be able to create their own characters by drawing on paper, sculpting characters from clay, or using the action figures and other materials provided. By using the two cameras and a monitor in the Gallery, they will then be able to create their own animation.

"The exhibition will be of great nostalgic interest to the entire community, along with grabbing the attention of our younger generation through the Interactive Animation Station,'' said the Gallery's Education Director Louisa Flannery. "Visitors creating their own animation will be able to take their work home on VHS cassette.'' Mrs. Flannery noted that the Gallery was pleased to present the work of Bermudian animator Greg Lovell, and would be working closely with the Bermuda International Film Festival in April as the new exhibition would be "an obvious fringe attraction''.

The travelling exhibition is being curated by John Vanco, Director of the Erie Art Museum in Pennsylvania, where it has just concluded.

Through his friendship with the late Mr. Nicholas, and his daughter Donna, the latter suggested that, before she donated the huge body of her father's work to a university, Mr. Vanco might like to go through it and create an exhibition.

"I really loved the collection because it had all the bits and pieces that go into making up an animated feature,'' the guest curator explained. "From 800 objects I sorted 100-odd, which were then framed and presented as an exhibition. It took me about a year.'' Certainly, the exhibition has been well received in the US, and Bermuda promises to be no exception.

The interactive animation station has been especially popular with children, with many of them returning daily to visit it.

Mr. Vanco said he was impressed by the sophistication of their creativity.

The guest curator said he is eagerly looking forward to his first visit to Bermuda and, among others, to meeting Mr. Lovell whom he believes will be using the latest animation techniques, some of which are far removed from the classic techniques used by the late Mr. Nicholas.

During his stay, Mr. Vanco will conduct several lectures and tours at the end of this month.

Before the public has access, there will be a grand opening at the Gallery on February 23 as follows: Director's Circle 5 p.m. to 6 p.m., members 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Alongside the animation exhibition, selections from the Gallery's Permanent Collection will be shown, some for the first time.

`From Mickey to the Grinch: Art of the Animated Film' will continue through May 26.

For further information see the Bermuda Calendar.

For more on this exhibition in today's paper, turn to Page 27 Photo copyright Walt Disney Studios Animator's art: This is just one of hundreds of drawings created by animator George Nicholas for Walt Disney's classic 1937 film, `Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'.