2 Finnish Short Films 2011

Kari Juusonen
Milla von Konow
A rope extending to the heavens controls the Creatures
Kari Juusonen’s animation “Ö” is an evolution story whose characters are protozoans from our planet’s ancient past.
Considered one of Finland’s
leading animators, Kari
Juusonen (born 1967) has
switched techniques from clay animation
to computer animation.
Juusonen’s new 12-minute solo
work is called Ö. Before this Juusonen
had created the short clay animations
Pizza Passionata (2001) and The Birthday
(2004), with the former winning him
the Prix du Jury award at the Cannes
film festival.
He has had a long break since his
last work but he has a good reason for
this. Juusonen has built a house and
worked as a co-director in the feature-length
computer animation Niko
– The Way to the Stars (2008), by the
Anima Vitae animation studio. The
film’s other director was the Danish
Michael Hegner. Distributed to over
one hundred countries, the speedy and
Christmas-themed Niko is one of the
most internationally successful Finnish
films of all time.
“Ö is a kind of reflective work”, says
Juusonen.
“It’s probably the fact that I’m middle-aged
that creates a slightly introverted
atmosphere sometimes. You can
understand the passage of time in another
way – I’ve tried to make time visible
in the film using ropes that extend
upwards out to the characters.”
As described, the film’s protozoan
creepy-crawly characters are attached
to wire-like ropes that lead up, as if
umbilical cords to the heavens.
One of the creatures rises from the
water onto an island, begins to explore
the world with its limited senses and
tries to fortify the island, but eventually
realises it wants to make contact
and spend time with others. This very
original film seems like a metaphor
for humans trying to find their way.
When you watch Ö, you are reminded
of the way the story is carried and the
infinite savouring of existence that
Pixar boldly displayed in the computer
animation Wall-E.
The imagery of Ö, however, is
the work of one man, created in the
boiler room of the new house built by
Kari Juusonen. At the time of his first
award-winning animation, Juusonen
saw himself very much as a “manual
labourer”, but tools change.
“Initially I made a one-minute clay
animation demo of Ö, but putting the
ropes in proved too difficult. With
computer animation you can make
movement look the way you want it.
The feel here had to be immaterial.”
“The film as a whole, though, is
carefully constructed. I don’t get ideas
for films in my dreams. What is interesting
is the rope, a force that draws
the characters in a certain direction. I
was intrigued by the thought of following
this with the logic of a nature film
that is as pure as possible.”
During the working stage, Juusonen
called the main character ‘Hemppa’
and the other members of his species
‘Creatures’. The film’s creatures, of
course, cannot speak any clearly formed
language. In the preliminary production
information, the central character
was called ‘Adam’.
“After Niko, this short film feels like
it’s a form of self expression. Although
in the best cases, when working on a
feature film, the filmmaker can share
his ideas and even make confessions.”
“I have a long-term plan for my own
film that would be half live, half computer
animation. I think I might make
some kind of a live short film before
that, though”, Juusonen promises.
Niko the Reindeer’s stepfamily
“There are lots of really interesting
Finnish short animation makers”, Juusonen
says. Animation training and
the opportunities offered by the industry
are quite a new thing in Finland.
When Juusonen was working on his
debut film, Pizza Passionata, which is a
love mystery taking place in a concrete
suburb, he considered making the animations
in Estonia. But within a dec-
ade, an entire animation industry has
been born in Finland, whose influencers
include Petteri Pasanen, the untiring
ambassador for the Niko project
and the producer of Pizza Passionata.
Now that Ö is finished, Juusonen
has taken on a new job with Anima
Vitae, which is creating a sequel for
the story of Niko the little reindeer.
The sequel is to be released for Christmas
2012 and currently has the working
title ‘N2’. “I’m responsible for
image design and animation again.
My co-director, the Danish charmer
Jørgen Lerdam, will be responsible
for character design.”
“Niko’s story of growing up will
continue quite naturally. He has to rediscover
himself in relation to others –
within a stepfamily. Niko’s mother has
found a new husband and Niko gets a
new stepbrother. Even though the film
is a fantasy, it talks about issues that
touch children here and now.”
Jussi Karjalainen
Ö, page 17
Niko – The Way to the Stars
4 Finnish Short Films 2011