1 00:00:31,690 --> 00:00:34,990 Hi, my name is Chris, and I'm here to explain some things. 2 00:00:36,750 --> 00:00:42,770 These are from October 1989, when my unbridled romantic worldview was 3 00:00:42,770 --> 00:00:44,470 permanently shattered. 4 00:00:45,650 --> 00:00:52,410 This is from September 1982, when I underwent a catastrophic loss of my 5 00:00:52,410 --> 00:00:56,450 ability to organize my finances in any meaningful way. 6 00:00:58,470 --> 00:01:00,250 But before all that... 7 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:05,600 I took on a paralyzing, self -defeating, all -pervading dread of personal 8 00:01:05,600 --> 00:01:07,800 failure. October 1963. 9 00:01:09,280 --> 00:01:10,280 Age 2. 10 00:01:11,760 --> 00:01:14,160 But I'm getting off the subject here, I'm afraid. 11 00:01:14,660 --> 00:01:16,560 This story is about Ryan. 12 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:42,100 I live in Toronto, a city in Canada where I see way too many shades of gray 13 00:01:42,100 --> 00:01:43,100 my own good health. 14 00:01:43,680 --> 00:01:49,120 A few years ago, however, I became friends with a splash of color in the 15 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,880 a slight, fragile gentleman from Montreal named Ryan Larkin. 16 00:01:53,140 --> 00:01:54,140 Hello, Ryan. 17 00:01:54,640 --> 00:01:55,579 Hello, Victor. 18 00:01:55,580 --> 00:01:58,140 Like me, Ryan is a filmmaker and animator. 19 00:01:58,380 --> 00:02:02,020 Three decades ago, he was a rising star in the world of animation. 20 00:02:02,830 --> 00:02:07,530 He's the creator of several short films, two of which have secured his place in 21 00:02:07,530 --> 00:02:09,150 the history of animated filmmaking. 22 00:02:09,449 --> 00:02:10,449 You want me to confess? 23 00:02:13,650 --> 00:02:18,710 Today I asked Ryan if I could record our conversations. 24 00:02:19,590 --> 00:02:24,270 He replied by telling me about a simple inspiration he had back in 1968. 25 00:02:24,990 --> 00:02:30,550 So I said, you know, what I really want to do is make a film just with figures 26 00:02:30,550 --> 00:02:31,550 walking. 27 00:02:32,190 --> 00:02:33,190 Walking figures. 28 00:02:35,070 --> 00:02:36,270 Oh, wow, you got something. 29 00:02:36,510 --> 00:02:39,890 Oh, wow, you got one of the original drawings. Ryan's looking at artwork he 30 00:02:39,890 --> 00:02:44,590 created 35 years ago. This is the first time he's seen this drawing since he 31 00:02:44,590 --> 00:02:45,830 created it. This is amazing. 32 00:02:46,130 --> 00:02:47,130 Oh, wow. 33 00:02:47,270 --> 00:02:52,350 35 years ago, Ryan created thousands of drawings like this one and then put them 34 00:02:52,350 --> 00:02:55,110 together one after the other after the other. 35 00:03:01,870 --> 00:03:06,630 I meet people that say that my films had influenced a whole generation of 36 00:03:06,630 --> 00:03:09,330 animation filmmakers, which is probably true. 37 00:03:21,030 --> 00:03:23,370 It was fabulous. It's a great honor to be nominated. 38 00:03:23,950 --> 00:03:27,110 But then everybody gets nominated for Academy Award eventually. 39 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:32,320 See, I didn't actually win the Academy Award. 40 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:38,140 Walt Disney won the award that year. That's how we looked for the Academy 41 00:03:38,240 --> 00:03:42,340 and that's how we looked. This is what you wore to the Academy Awards? Yeah. 42 00:03:42,600 --> 00:03:45,360 You must have stood out like big -time rock stars. 43 00:03:45,760 --> 00:03:51,960 Now I look at this, I think maybe perhaps I would disqualify because of my 44 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:52,960 costume. 45 00:03:57,720 --> 00:03:59,040 Who is that young woman? 46 00:04:01,960 --> 00:04:05,980 Felicity was the love of my life for a long time. 47 00:04:07,960 --> 00:04:11,280 Ryan was always a little close to the edge. 48 00:04:11,780 --> 00:04:15,100 He was an emotionally fragile person. 49 00:04:15,440 --> 00:04:20,820 You know, his father had been violent when they were young, and I'm sure you 50 00:04:20,820 --> 00:04:25,740 know about the tragedy of his brother's death, and that affected him enormously. 51 00:04:28,940 --> 00:04:30,360 We should have had children. 52 00:04:32,110 --> 00:04:33,890 Guess it wasn't meant to be, eh? 53 00:04:36,970 --> 00:04:39,610 Oh, I still love you. 54 00:04:47,110 --> 00:04:53,490 In 1971, three years after the success of walking, Ryan was struck by another 55 00:04:53,490 --> 00:04:56,330 very simple inspiration, himself. 56 00:04:56,730 --> 00:04:58,690 I was always moving my body around. 57 00:04:59,390 --> 00:05:05,170 in front of mirrors and stuff, and making drawings from my body, you know, 58 00:05:05,170 --> 00:05:06,170 flashes. 59 00:05:06,630 --> 00:05:13,470 And sometimes I even used a camera to record how I was moving because it 60 00:05:13,470 --> 00:05:19,430 to me that I was moving in a very particular way that other people weren't 61 00:05:19,430 --> 00:05:20,430 moving. 62 00:06:31,330 --> 00:06:33,370 That's somebody you know, right? Derek Lamb. 63 00:06:35,930 --> 00:06:37,770 He was my executive producer. 64 00:06:39,410 --> 00:06:41,970 And he was a very nice, a very beautiful man. 65 00:06:42,790 --> 00:06:49,250 Here was a guy that had been bursting with life five or six years earlier. You 66 00:06:49,250 --> 00:06:54,770 know, he could hardly contain the flow of drawings in his cubicle at the film 67 00:06:54,770 --> 00:06:58,090 board. And now here's a guy, you know, who... 68 00:06:59,180 --> 00:07:02,020 Is living out every artist worth fear? 69 00:07:02,860 --> 00:07:03,860 Losing. 70 00:07:04,880 --> 00:07:06,680 And hangry. 71 00:07:12,660 --> 00:07:19,240 The first loss of addiction 72 00:07:19,240 --> 00:07:21,680 produced some amazing work. 73 00:07:22,620 --> 00:07:24,300 A life can be spent. 74 00:07:25,180 --> 00:07:28,400 really trying to get that moment back. 75 00:08:13,580 --> 00:08:20,560 I really do hope that you get back into some serious creative work. That was 76 00:08:20,560 --> 00:08:21,560 one thing I wanted to say. 77 00:08:22,380 --> 00:08:28,220 The other thing that I wanted to say, I'm going to say one thing, one concern 78 00:08:28,220 --> 00:08:30,820 that I have about you, which is your alcohol. 79 00:08:31,140 --> 00:08:32,580 Which is what? Your alcohol. 80 00:08:32,960 --> 00:08:33,799 My alcohol? 81 00:08:33,799 --> 00:08:34,799 Yes, your alcohol. 82 00:08:35,140 --> 00:08:38,179 Your alcoholic consumption is, as you know, pretty high. 83 00:08:39,260 --> 00:08:42,500 I want you to consider... 84 00:08:43,630 --> 00:08:46,610 Beating alcohol in the same way that you beat cocaine. 85 00:08:59,770 --> 00:09:00,770 What? 86 00:09:02,150 --> 00:09:06,090 There's nothing I enjoy more than a good glass of cold beer. 87 00:09:07,870 --> 00:09:11,150 Am I supposed to give that out for, like, tea or something? 88 00:09:11,370 --> 00:09:12,450 No, can't do that. 89 00:09:13,520 --> 00:09:17,280 I personally want to see you around, and I personally want to see you thrive, 90 00:09:17,440 --> 00:09:18,440 Brian. 91 00:09:18,840 --> 00:09:20,380 Fry? Not fried. 92 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:22,160 I want to see you thrive. 93 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:27,120 Why? Who's going to buy my creations? 94 00:09:28,640 --> 00:09:29,680 What's in it for me? 95 00:09:31,000 --> 00:09:36,640 I don't create because I've been ripped off so fucking much, I decided to stop 96 00:09:36,640 --> 00:09:38,020 creating. 97 00:09:38,820 --> 00:09:42,240 Creativity, what do you think I can do, you know? I cannot do anything. 98 00:09:42,790 --> 00:09:43,810 I've been deprived. 99 00:09:44,330 --> 00:09:47,950 Deprivation is the most devastating thing. 100 00:09:48,410 --> 00:09:53,250 I will surely, you know, be right on deck. I'll give up booze and give up 101 00:09:53,250 --> 00:09:57,890 cigarettes and be right on deck. If somebody gives me some fucking money, 102 00:09:57,890 --> 00:10:03,690 cannot do anything, anything at all, without the power of money. 103 00:10:18,190 --> 00:10:23,410 I got like about, you know, $10 in my pocket, which is, to me, like a really 104 00:10:23,410 --> 00:10:24,410 happy experience. 105 00:10:25,710 --> 00:10:29,570 But to most people, they spend $10 every 15 minutes. 106 00:10:31,290 --> 00:10:32,810 I can't believe it, man. 107 00:10:33,970 --> 00:10:36,610 What possessed me to bring that subject up? 108 00:10:38,510 --> 00:10:41,630 I look at you, and I see a lot of things about my mom. 109 00:10:45,230 --> 00:10:46,470 You're the brilliant woman. 110 00:10:46,890 --> 00:10:49,850 I look at you, and I see a lot of things about my mom. 111 00:10:50,110 --> 00:10:57,030 I see the way that she went downhill, and I see 112 00:10:57,030 --> 00:10:58,990 the way that you've come to this point. 113 00:10:59,990 --> 00:11:02,710 Failure. We see things. 114 00:11:20,080 --> 00:11:25,400 I thought that if I was silent, there's nothing for them to steal anymore if I 115 00:11:25,400 --> 00:11:29,000 present myself as being just a jerk on the street. 116 00:11:29,900 --> 00:11:36,900 But I'm still acquiring and enjoying human behavior and putting 117 00:11:36,900 --> 00:11:38,000 it back into my work. 118 00:11:49,100 --> 00:11:50,100 Let's pray a little change. 119 00:11:50,580 --> 00:11:51,580 Hey, thanks, man. 120 00:11:52,280 --> 00:11:53,280 Let's sit down. 121 00:11:55,620 --> 00:11:57,120 Let's do it. Let's pray a little change. 122 00:12:22,890 --> 00:12:23,890 Spirit change. 123 00:12:25,050 --> 00:12:26,050 Thank you, sir. 124 00:12:27,970 --> 00:12:28,970 Spirit change, sir. 125 00:12:29,770 --> 00:12:31,630 Thank you, sir. Spirit change, sir. 126 00:12:35,070 --> 00:12:36,070 Spirit change, sir. 127 00:12:37,290 --> 00:12:38,510 Thank you, sir. 128 00:12:38,710 --> 00:12:39,710 You're very kind. 129 00:13:36,270 --> 00:13:37,670 Thank you.