John Canemaker

John Canemaker

1943-05-28 33 Credits

Biography

John Canemaker has won an Academy Award, an Emmy and a Peabody Award for his animation and is an internationally-renowned animation historian and teacher. A key figure in American independent animation, Canemaker’s work has a distinctive personal style emphasizing emotion, personality and dynamic visual expression. His film, The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation, won an Oscar in 2005 for Best Animated Short, as well as an Emmy. A 28-minute autobiographical essay about a troubled fathe...

Known For

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Complete Filmography

Cartoon Carnival

Cartoon Carnival

2021

as Self

5.7
Acting

Cartoon Carnival tells the story of the pioneering early days of the animated art-form and chronicles one film preservationist's quest to rescue pre-s...

Hands

Hands

2019

Director

Directing

The film follows Wing Biddlebaum, a lonely former schoolteacher whose “hands” led to a scandal that drove him from his previous town and life’s callin...

Tyrus: The Tyrus Wong Story

Tyrus: The Tyrus Wong Story

2015

as Himself

7.1
Acting

The unlikely story of 106-year old Chinese American artist Tyrus Wong, and how he overcame poverty and racism in America to become a celebrated modern...

King-Size Comedy: Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution

King-Size Comedy: Tex Avery and the Looney Tunes Revolution

2012

as Self

Acting

Focuses on how the legend of animation, Tex Avery, revolutionized cartoons.

Dalí & Disney: A Date with Destino

Dalí & Disney: A Date with Destino

2010

as Himself

8.5
Acting

The story of the unlikely alliance between two of the most renowned innovators of the twentieth century: brilliantly eccentric Spanish Surrealist Salv...

Taking Flight: The Making of Dumbo

Taking Flight: The Making of Dumbo

2010

as Himself

Acting

The making of Dumbo (1941).

Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood

Chuck Jones: Memories of Childhood

2009

Animation

7.0

Blending the animation of Chuck Jones’ original drawings, traditional documentary elements, and one of Jones’ most intimate interviews before his dea...

Forging the Frame: The Roots of Animation, 1921-1930

Forging the Frame: The Roots of Animation, 1921-1930

2008

as Self

Acting

A documentary about the early days of animation.

Walt & El Grupo

Walt & El Grupo

2008

as Self

5.9
Acting

The year was 1941, and the world was on the brink of war. In an effort to improve relations between the Americas, the Roosevelt administration called ...

Forging the Frame: The Roots of Animation, 1900-1920

Forging the Frame: The Roots of Animation, 1900-1920

2007

as Himself

Acting

A documentary about the early days of animation.

Lady's Pedigree: The Making of Lady and the Tramp

Lady's Pedigree: The Making of Lady and the Tramp

2006

as Self

10.0
Acting

A documentary on the making of Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp created for the 2006 Platinum DVD.

From Rags to Riches: The Making of Cinderella

From Rags to Riches: The Making of Cinderella

2005

as Self

10.0
Acting

The making of Cinderella (1950).

The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation

The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation

2005

Director

6.3
Directing

An animated documentary that explores the terrain of father/son relationships, as seen through Canemaker's own turbulent relationship with his father.

The Art of Mary Blair

The Art of Mary Blair

2005

as Self

Acting

Short Documentary on the art of Mary Blair: An extraordinary talented artist.

Shadowplay

Shadowplay

2002

Thanks

A stop-motion film, written, animated, & directed by Dan Blank.

Celebrating Dumbo

Celebrating Dumbo

2001

as Self

Acting

Bonus feature on the Dumbo DVD.

Disney's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs': Still the Fairest of Them All

Disney's 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs': Still the Fairest of Them All

2001

as Himself

9.0
Acting

Released as a Bonus Feature for Disney's Platinum DVD Edition of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" this short documentary shows how this classic film ...

The Fantasia Legacy: The Concert Feature

The Fantasia Legacy: The Concert Feature

2000

as Self

8.0
Acting

Documentary on the making of Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

The Fantasia Legacy: The Concert Feature

The Fantasia Legacy: The Concert Feature

2000

Creative Consultant

8.0

Documentary on the making of Walt Disney’s Fantasia.

A Letter from the Western Front

A Letter from the Western Front

1999

Thanks

In Belleau Wood, France, during the Great War, a soldier named John writes a letter home to his wife Sara in Milwaukee. He writes that her picture "he...

Frank and Ollie

Frank and Ollie

1995

as Himself

7.4
Acting

Before computer graphics, special effects wizardry, and out-of-this world technology, the magic of animation flowed from the pencils of two of the gre...

Earthday Birthday

Earthday Birthday

1990

as (voice)

Acting

After learning about pollution a group of creatures called Zwibble Dibbles, decide to throw a party for the Earth to raise awareness.

Santabear's High Flying Adventure

1987

Animation

6.0

It's Christmas Eve and all the children around the world are asleep and dreaming of the toys that Santa Claus will bring - except at the South Pole, w...

Lyle, Lyle Crocodile: The Musical - The House on East 88th Street

Lyle, Lyle Crocodile: The Musical - The House on East 88th Street

1987

Animation

The Primm family moves into an old brownstone house on East 88th Street, where they find a crocodile named Lyle in their bathtub.

The John Lennon Sketchbook

1986

Director

Directing

In 1986, seventeen years after Yoko Ono and John Lennon’s animated conversation about love and six years after the beloved Beatle’s assassination, Ono...

Bottom's Dream

Bottom's Dream

1984

Director

5.0
Directing

The short takes as its inspiration Bottom's contemplation on the "dream" he has experienced in the middle acts of Shakespeare's play "A Midsummer Nigh...

Byron B. Blackbear and the Scientific Method

1980

as (voice)

Acting

This educational science program features the story of Dr. Alfred Clothear and his discovery of how bears know when to sleep for the winter.

Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat

Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat

1977

as Narrator

Acting

Documentary short on cartoonist Otto Messmer, co-creator of Felix the Cat

Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat

Otto Messmer and Felix the Cat

1977

Writer, Director, Producer

Writing Directing Producing

Documentary short on cartoonist Otto Messmer, co-creator of Felix the Cat

Remembering Winsor McCay

Remembering Winsor McCay

1976

Editor, Producer, Director

6.0
Producing Directing

The life and career of the great cartoonist Winsor McCay is warmly recalled by his former film assistant, John Fitzsimmons, with clips of classic McCa...

The 40s

1974

Director, Art Designer

Directing

The essence of the 1940s, to the lively beat of "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy." A rapidly paced collage of the fads, fashions, and personalities of wartime...

Street Freaks

1974

Director

Directing

An urban fable about a young street musician who finds competition for space to play his much a bit too tough, until he joins in the live-and-let-live...

Felix the Cat Through the Ages

N/A

as Himself

Acting

Documentary short from Felix the Cat Collector’s Edition DVD