You may have read Suite 101's interview with Canadian animator Cordell Barker and wondered, "Who the heck is this guy, and why should we care?" Fear not, dear confused reader, this handy-dandy guide will tell you why.
If there's an award for having gone the farthest with the least amount of output, it would likely go to Winnipeg-born animator Cordell Barker. Despite having only produced 3 short films in his 25-year career, Barker has become a legendary figure in Canadian animation.
Both 'The Cat Came Back' and 'Strange Invaders' received Oscar nominations for Best Animated Short Film, while 'Runaway' received rapturous applause when it premiered at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival.
Canadian Animator Cordell Barker Worked with Richard Condie, Brad Caslor, Chris Hinton
Barker was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1957. Learning to draw at an early age, he loved Warner Bros.' Looney Tunes animated shorts, especially those produced by Bob Clampett. Although Barker loved to draw, he never considered animation as a career until 1974, when the 17-year-old saw the animated short 'An Old Box' by National Film Board of Canada director Paul Driessen.
"This new universe opened up, because it was more accessible to me," Barker told Suite 101 in 2009. "I remember thinking, ‘I can’t do Disney, and I doubt I’ll ever do Warner Bros. stuff, but ‘An Old Box’ looks like something I could aspire to.’ It’s so well executed, and has a naïve, lumpy charm.”
That same year, he interned at Winnipeg's Kenn Perkins Animation. The company eventually hired him, and he eventually painted cels for Sesame Street and K-Tel advertisements. However, advertising soon palled, and Barker quit in 1979.
He soon found himself at the National Film Board of Canada's Winnipeg office, established in 1976. Barker met other like-minded animators there, including Richard ('The Big Snit') Condie, Chris ('Blackfly') Hinton and Brad ('Get a Job') Caslor, and became part of the so-called Winnipeg Group. While still working in commercials, Barker harboured ideas of creating an NFB animated short and, in 1982, made his first pitch.
National Film Board of Canada Animator Cordell Barker Directed 'The Cat Came Back'
Based on the old folk song, 'The Cat Came Back' followed Mr. Johnson's increasingly desperate efforts to rid himself of a pestiferous feline. Taking 6 years to complete the short, while taking time out to work on Caslor's acclaimed short 'Get a Job,' Barker had a miserable time creating his first piece.
"At first, I cursed this song because I couldn’t go off and exercise this little gag that I’d thought up," he said. "And then I realized that it’s a good thing: it forces that discipline, to strip it down to the bone." The result was an animated classic.
“A long-time festival favorite, this animated musical tale of old Mr. Johnson and the 'cat who wouldn't leave his home' achieves a Warner Brothers quality, as the battle between man and feline escalates," wrote film critic Leonard Maltin in 1994. "The song is insanely catchy, and the joke is built carefully, exquisitely timed with a knockout punchline.”
'The Cat Came Back' won 7 awards and was nominated for an Oscar. While it lost to John Lasseter's 'Tin Toy,' the former Disney animator offered Barker a job at Pixar.
Barker declined the offer, returning to work on commercials while plotting his next short. He admitted insecurity, and a desire to establish himself before making another move, were major factors in his decision.
"I was shy," he admitted. "I didn’t feel I had a body of work to indicate what I could do. I felt I had lucked out."
His plan was to produce 3 shorts for the NFB before moving on. However, the nonstop grind of producing commercials for companies like Coca-Cola, Nike and Bell Canada meant that fans had to wait until 2001, when he released 'Strange Invaders.'
Based on Barker's experiences as a father of 3 boys, 'Strange Invaders' follows a family that adopts a bizarre child found on their doorstep. With its crisp pacing and off-the-wall humour, the short won 16 awards and secured Barker another Oscar nomination. Its success gave him the confidence to pitch his 3rd short.
In a remarkably short time (only 8 years), Barker returned with 'Runaway,' a madcap metaphor for an out-of-control world.
“I borrowed the old cliché: society is a runaway train," he said. "I’d see some people concerned about global warming, but they’d still drink half of a bottled water and throw it into the trash, not even in recycling. So everybody’s along for the happy ride, even though they might know it’s headed for a crash, everybody just rolls along, doing what they’re doing."
Cordell Barker Worked with Composer Benoit Charest
Working with composer Benoit Charest (The Triplets of Belleville), Barker matched his dark humour to a hot jazz score. However, the ending eluded him until he decided to save a cow from a grisly demise. The response to that decision mystifies him.
"Originally, the cow was going to get nailed and leave the train in mid-air to imply destruction, but it never felt fulfilling," he said.
“But then I decided to give the audience . . . a happy ending: the cow survives and walks off into the sunset. And it’s amazing how much people really liked that. I set up this romantic moment with the Fireman and the Lady before killing them off, and it doesn’t matter because I saved the cow."
The short was another success: “This film premiered at Cannes and the crowd there gave it one of the strongest reactions I’ve ever had, whooping and hollering," he said. "And it was my first validation that maybe the first two films weren’t flukes.”
What does Barker have planned for the future? Finally realizing that his three successful films weren't a fluke, he's currently pitching yet another short to the NFB, and contemplating his next move. However, if Barker never animates another line, his 3 classic shorts have secured him a place alongside Norman McLaren and Richard Condie as one of Canada's greatest animators.
Dominic von Riedemann - Dominic is the Animated Film Feature Writer, and winner of 11 Suite 101 Editors' Choice Awards.
Join the Conversation