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w at er lo oc hr on ic le .c a W at er lo o C hr on ic le | T hu rs da y, M ay 31 ,2 01 8 | 20 From the latest information on local politics, to minor sports scores and what's going on down the street, get it all online. CURRENT. COMMUNITY. CONNECTED www.waterloochronicle.ca ARTS FOCUS Visit waterloochronicle.cafor more coverage Whenever Robbie Mccartney has a story to tell, his black sketchbook comes out and the pages are soon filled with the characters from his head coming to life to help voice his ideas. His hand gracefully glides over the blank page, while the pencil lines soon form the characters of the short film that has got the 11-year-old a lot of notori- ety lately, including an in- vitation to the 46th Inter- national Children's Exhi- bition of Fine Arts in Lidi- ce, Czech Republic, this week. That's where he'll re- ceive a gold medal for his film, called the Water Bot- tle Adventures. Mccartney created the film at the local Sheepdog Animation stu- dio as was one of the top en- tries in exhibition that re- ceived more than 29,000 en- tries from 79 different countries. "I never really knew that it would connect with audiences, I was just doing it for fun," said Mccartney. "It turns out it was actually a good film and I've won a couple of awards for it." "I was really happy for how people have perceived it." The gift of drawing and creation started early and out of necessity for Mccart- ney. He started drawing when he was just two, and struggled with his speech development. "I had a problem talking when I was four or five," said the Grade 5 student at St. Louis Catholic school. "So I would usually ex- press myself through drawing." He couldn't quite ver- balize what he wanted so he drew it instead. He still has some of those early drawings with the differ- ent food that he wanted to eat as a toddler. No sur- prise, but pizza was one of his favourites. "I would draw what I like and if I wanted to eat food I would draw a picture of the food I wanted," said Mccartney. "I was always trying to communicate through my drawings." He was born in Manito- ba, and lived in Toronto for a while before his family moved to Waterloo three years ago. That's where his drawing really took off when he was introduced to Sheepdog Animation Stu- dios. The principles behind that studio, Alice Sinkner and Paul Kriz, where pro- fessional animators who worked on famous kids shows likes Franklin the Turtle, Arthur and the Ru- grats, and shared their tal- ents with local kids inter- ested in animation. The motto of the studio is where art meets technol- ogy, and it helped Mccart- ney, who was dabbling in stop animation filming with his Lego. "They gave us the tools and the expertise," said Mccartney. "Alice worked on Franklin and Rugrats, and from that experience I knew I wanted to make an animated film." That's where Mccart- ney's story idea of promot- ing water treatment and sustainability through the adventures of Walter the Water Droplet, who teams up with Clean Water to catch and treat a group of mischievous dirty water bottles so they can get clean and help save lives. The film honours the UNESCO designated Inter- national Decade of Water, and also captures Mccart- ney's personal passion for water and the days he spent at his family's cot- tage on Lake Winnipeg. "I needed to do some ba- sic animating before I could start on a film, but af- ter a few months I came up with the idea for my film," said Mccartney. "At first I just wanted to make any film so it went from space- ships to knights in shining armour, and bounced all over the place before I de- cided it would be about wa- ter." Water is essential to life, and the theme of his movie has made a big impression on the people who have seen it. It's also made an impression at the competi- tions he's entered in in- cluding at the Elements Film Festival In Vancou- ver, where he recently won Best Youth Picture for 2018. It's also received other recognition as a selection for the Imagination Lunch- box International Chil- dren's Film Festival, a quarter-finalist at the Ani- mazSpot International Short Animation Feed- back Festival, an official selection for the Kids First Film and Video Festival and Gold Award at the Spring Cinefest in India as Best Young Filmmaker. His parents hosted a special a special screening of the film for friends and family last Friday at Sheepdog Studios before he left for the Prague in the Czech Republic this week to receive his latest award. Two other local filmmak- ers also received recogni- tion for their work at the Children's Exhibition in Lidice, Amber Kelly, 8, and Jun Davidson, 13. It's all got Mccartney thinking about a future in animation and filmmak- ing. "The AnimazSpot festi- val had people from Disney there and they were send- ing back feedback on the animation," he said. "They said it was very good." "That was an amazing feeling. That was awe- some." MOVIES Young animator's work being recognized around the world Robbie Mccartney's short film to be honoured in the Czech Republic BOB VRBANAC bvrbanac@waterloochronicle.ca Robbie Mccartney draws the characters from his film The Water Bottles Adventure in his ever-present sketchbook that is the source of his storytelling. The 11-year-old animator has received a lot of international recognition for his work including receiving a gold medal in the Czech Republic this week. Bob Vrbanac Photo