If you have already seen it and love it or are yet to fall for it...Chico and Rita is currently on iplayer and is one you won't want to miss.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cpckc/chico-and-rita
It is a Spanish animated feature-length film, with English subtitles but please don't be put off, it's definitely worth the reading! The story of Chico and Rita is set against the backdrops of Havana, New York City, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Paris in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Chico is a young piano player and Rita is a mesmerising singer, music and romance unite them and they chase their dreams, and each other, from Havana to New York and Las Vegas. Following the tradition of the Latin ballad, their story brings heartache.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01cpckc/chico-and-rita
It is a Spanish animated feature-length film, with English subtitles but please don't be put off, it's definitely worth the reading! The story of Chico and Rita is set against the backdrops of Havana, New York City, Las Vegas, Hollywood and Paris in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Chico is a young piano player and Rita is a mesmerising singer, music and romance unite them and they chase their dreams, and each other, from Havana to New York and Las Vegas. Following the tradition of the Latin ballad, their story brings heartache.
It's a must see!
From the official Chico And Rita Website about the style:
"One key creative decision for the film-makers was the animation style: how real; how graphic. Explains Errando: “We had to investigate what quality of movement we needed for the film. Live action is very precise. Animation needs to invent another reality. You move a character using other ways, it’s another quality of movement. You have all these feelings that an actor is giving you, on the other hand we want the poetry that animation can provide. We spent about six months discovering the right balance.”
Assembling a team of animators capable of animating Mariscal’s designs was also a challenge. Says Errando: “In a film you need great casting, and in animation the actors are the animators. We chose some of the best animators we could find, all of them had a lot of experience. But then we had to ask them, ‘Hey guys, forget everything that you have done in your life. Here you’re not going to use all the tools that you’re used to. Forget about stretch, squash, anticipation, and start animating in a very different way, in a very new way.’ Some of them reacted very well, and they found it fascinating, and some of them couldn’t do it, it was very frustrating.’”
"One key creative decision for the film-makers was the animation style: how real; how graphic. Explains Errando: “We had to investigate what quality of movement we needed for the film. Live action is very precise. Animation needs to invent another reality. You move a character using other ways, it’s another quality of movement. You have all these feelings that an actor is giving you, on the other hand we want the poetry that animation can provide. We spent about six months discovering the right balance.”
Assembling a team of animators capable of animating Mariscal’s designs was also a challenge. Says Errando: “In a film you need great casting, and in animation the actors are the animators. We chose some of the best animators we could find, all of them had a lot of experience. But then we had to ask them, ‘Hey guys, forget everything that you have done in your life. Here you’re not going to use all the tools that you’re used to. Forget about stretch, squash, anticipation, and start animating in a very different way, in a very new way.’ Some of them reacted very well, and they found it fascinating, and some of them couldn’t do it, it was very frustrating.’”
