Biography

Cordell BarkerCordell Barker is an award winning animator from Winnipeg, Canada.

Cordell Barker was born in Winnipeg in 1956. He began his career in 1974 working for Sesame Street and collaborating on a number of commercials. In 1982, he joined the NFB where he made his first film, The Cat Came Back (1988). The short was a huge audience favourite and garnered 16 awards in addition to picking up an Oscar® nomination. He subsequently returned to advertising, directing commercials for major companies (Bell Canada, Nike, Coca Cola, etc.) before returning to filmmaking with Strange Invaders (2001). It turned out to be another sensational hit, winning 16 awards and receiving an Oscar® nomination. Runaway (2009), his third film and third collaboration with the NFB, is likewise an absurd comedy filled with latent social satire. As a filmmaker who focuses on pacing, action and narrative, Cordell Barker enjoys this particular form of expression because it enables him to make the most of his incisive sense of humour.

Cordell Barker’s Work

Cordell Barker’s work is closely linked to Richard Condie’s and has contributed to making Winnipeg Canada’s cartoon capital. With only three short films, Barker has established a crisp, rhythmic style that is action-based and relies on rapid-fire gag sequences and simple drawings characterized by clean lines and intense colours. His first film, The Cat Came Back (1988), is based on an old folk song and tells the tragicomic story of a man living alone who can’t get rid of a burdensome kitten. Constructed like a continuous crescendo, The Cat Came Back demonstrates the filmmaker’s remarkable talent for making people laugh. It garnered 16 awards, received an Oscar® nomination in the best animated short category and defined the filmmaker’s absurd and slightly sadistic humour.

After a long interlude spent primarily making commercials, Barker made a comeback with a second short film thirteen years later. Strange Invaders (2001) is about a couple that finds a very bizarre child – an unexpected gift that quickly turns their quiet, orderly lives into a constant nightmare. In making the sci-fi comedy, Barker, himself a father, admits that he based the events on his own experiences. The result was another highly acclaimed film: a second Oscar®  nomination and 16 more prizes.

Barker’s stint in advertising gave him an incredible sense of timing and an extraordinary knack for succinct narrative. These qualities are also inherent to his third film, Runaway (2009), which he made using 3D animation software for the first time. His artistic style nevertheless continues to be largely influenced by traditional cartoons: the technique may have changed but the essence remains the same.