logo
Oscar-winning stop-motion filmmaker devoted his life to storytelling

Oscar-winning stop-motion filmmaker devoted his life to storytelling

Canadian animator Jacobus (Co) Hoedeman almost didn't make the short film that won him an Oscar at the 1978 Academy Awards ceremony.
As a full-time animator at the National Film Board, Mr. Hoedeman needed the approval of a committee of NFB filmmakers before starting work on his 13-minute stop-motion animated film The Sand Castle. According to his 2021 autobiography Frame by Frame: An Animator's Journey, his whimsical story idea initially received only lukewarm support but after much debate 'the project was accepted, and I would happily play with sand for the next year or so.'
After filching a supply of sand from a local farm, Mr. Hoedeman built a set at the NFB's Montreal studio and created a cast of sand characters who frolicked on a dune, dancing and shapeshifting before finally banding together to build a castle. His puppets were sculpted from a foam rubber mattress, given internal wire 'skeletons' and then soaked in latex before being coated with sand. He worked on the film full-time for more than a year and faced several setbacks, including a weekend theft of half his puppets and a pungent assault on his film set by a cat that used it as a litter box. In his autobiography he called it 'my perfect film.'
His hard work was rewarded with the Oscar for 1977's best animated short film, 25 years after the NFB's previous Academy Award for Norman McLaren's stop-motion documentary short, Neighbours. (Minutes after The Sand Castle's win, the NFB won another Oscar for I'll Find a Way in the live-action short film category.)
Mr. Hoedeman, an internationally renowned animator with 32 short films to his credit, died in hospital on May 26 after an eight-year battle with multiple myeloma. He was 84.
Jacobus Willem Hoedeman was born on Aug. 1, 1940, in Amsterdam, less than three months after Nazi Germany invaded the Netherlands. Like their neighbours, his parents, Anna-Maria (Holtkamp) and Gosen-Jacobus Hoedeman, a tailor, faced five years of brutal military occupation that included constant threat of forced-labour camps, strict curfews, and near starvation during the Hunger Winter (Hongerwinter) of 1944-45.
At age four, young Co was in poor health, so he, his twin brother, Ferry, and older brother, Jos, were taken 85 kilometres east by bicycle to live in the countryside with different relatives. Mr. Hoedeman did not return to his family in Amsterdam until the country was liberated by Canadian troops in May 1945.
As a youngster in peacetime, Mr. Hoedeman spent long hours with his grandfather and father at their tailor shops, doing simple jobs and playing with scissors and leftover fabrics. Those sewing chores served him well later as he designed puppets and built props.
Uninterested in academics, Mr. Hoedeman left school at 15 and entered the film business as a junior animator in the 'trick-film' department of Multifilm, a multi-faceted movie studio that later grew into Cinecentrum. Here he learned stop-motion animation, where still objects were painstakingly moved infinitesimally and filmed a frame at a time; he used the technique in television commercials and movie title sequences, and as special effects in documentaries.
Eager to explore his new trade, Mr. Hoedeman devoted his evenings and weekends to film and photography studies that continued through his obligatory two-year stint in the Dutch army where he was posted to a military film unit. But after returning to his old job, he became restless and dreamed of escaping the constraints of commercial work for the sort of experimental animation being produced in Canada by the NFB, whose films he had studied as a student.
With his new wife, Dukke van der Werf, and a 35mm-reel of his animated clips, 25-year-old Mr. Hoedeman sailed to Montreal in November, 1965, to apply for a job at the NFB's sprawling, factorylike headquarters. He was hired within a week and eventually settled into the French-language animation department even though he barely spoke French. The newly formed French unit — which used music and sound effects rather than dialogue to better reach large audiences — attracted many immigrant filmmakers including Mr. Hoedeman's Dutch friend Paul Driessen, a cartoonist from Cinecentrum's puppet department.
'The French unit was full of inventive people who used imagery instead of language,' Mr. Driessen says. 'We never sought advice or connection with the English department. The French [animators] wanted to learn to do things their own way ... [we] were separate worlds.'
It was a perfect place for Mr. Hoedeman, who developed new skills as he worked with different materials and camera technology. 'Co was one of the top people who went from one technique to another. He could improvise very well and was passionate about learning new things,' his old friend says.
By the 1970s, the young couple had three children and after a few years in Hudson, Que., moved in 1974 to a rundown 100-acre farm near Alexandria, Ont., that nudged the Quebec border. Together they raised their son and two daughters, and tended a menagerie that included pigs, two horses and a cow, learning essential farm skills as the need arose.
'The farm was for fun,' recalls youngest daughter Anouk Hoedeman, now 55, who remembers her father as playful and a joker. 'But the chores started at 6 a.m.'
She recalls how her father applied the same skill set on the farm as in the animation studio. 'He had patience and an innate ability to figure things out in almost an instinctive way. ... How to run the farm, the tractor, fix the baler.' Chores did not always go smoothly – a fall during a roof-patching job left Mr. Hoedeman with a broken jaw and several missing teeth.
Maintaining a rustic back-to-the-land vibe, the family had no television. Movie nights were courtesy of a borrowed NFB 16-mm projector and his family had to visit a neighbour's house to watch the 1978 Academy Awards ceremony.
Ms. Hoedeman chuckles at the memory of seeing her father on the small screen wearing a tux. 'I didn't know what the Oscars were and wondered what was going on the next day at school when all the teachers were very excited about it.'
During the 1970s, Mr. Hoedeman became fascinated by Inuit culture and travelled to the Arctic several times to research traditional stories, enlisting Indigenous artists and carvers to craft characters for his stop-action films. They worked with soapstone, skins and paper, and often stayed with his family when they travelled south during production of his four northern films.
After his Oscar win, invitations poured in from around the world to attend conferences, give workshops and judge international competitions. His travels included Czechoslovakia, China, Japan, the United States, Mexico and Venezuela as well as across Canada, where he taught master classes and worked with novice filmmakers. In 2003, Cinémathèque québécoise presented a retrospective of his films.
After divorcing Ms. van der Werf in the 1980s, Mr. Hoedeman moved back to Montreal and later married artist Joyce Ryckman, who joined him as a writer and artistic consultant for most of the films he made after 1989, including his 2011 passion project 55 Socks. The 55 Socks film, set to a gentle poem about the Hongerwinter in the Netherlands, came at the end of a difficult three-year contract with private producers to turn his successful short films about Ludovic the teddy bear into a 26-episode television series. Convinced that Ludovic was losing his charm to crass commercial considerations, Mr. Hoedeman battled with scriptwriters, producers and broadcasters, giving up his director role early in the three-year process.
By contrast, 55 Socks allowed him to work with a new media – black silhouettes inspired by a Dutch tradition of shadow play called schimmenspel.
Mr. Hoedeman worked with the NFB for half a century, continuing his relationship with the agency as a freelancer and independent producer after being laid off in 2004. He made his final film, The Cardinal, in 2016, fronting all its costs himself. A cancer diagnosis the following year inspired him finally to retire.
Chris Robinson, director of the Ottawa International Animation Festival, notes that 'Co's films exemplified his commitment to pushing the boundaries of animation, ... [balancing] themes that resonated with both children and adults, never shying away from complex topics.'
'His works ... invited viewers into seemingly whimsical worlds that, upon closer inspection, offered deep reflections on the human experience.'
Mr. Hoedeman leaves his wife, Joyce; former wife, Ms. van der Werf, and their children, Nienke, Nathan and Anouk; stepdaughter, Jessica; five grandchildren, and five of his eight siblings.
You can find more obituaries from The Globe and Mail here.
To submit a memory about someone we have recently profiled on the Obituaries page, e-mail us at obit@globeandmail.com.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

The Forks to host 11 days of programming culminating in Canada Day celebration
The Forks to host 11 days of programming culminating in Canada Day celebration

CTV News

time39 minutes ago

  • CTV News

The Forks to host 11 days of programming culminating in Canada Day celebration

An art display at The Forks on March 24, 2025. (Daniel Halmarson/CTV News Winnipeg) The Forks is gearing up to host 11 days of programming, stretching from National Indigenous Peoples Day to Canada Day. According to a news release, this year's events fall under the theme 'Many Nations, One Heartbeat' and are aimed at celebrating the many cultures that make up Manitoba and Canada. 'From National Indigenous Peoples Day to Canada Day, we honour truth and celebrate coexistence by uplifting the voices of those who have always – and who now – called this land home,' Kíwétinohk Consulting co-owner and event collaborator Victoria Perrie said in a news release. 'Each day is rooted in ceremony, education, and joy, drawing us together through the rhythm of drums, the stories of Elders, and community.' It all begins on June 21 on National Indigenous Peoples Day with Indigenous performers, Inuit games, skateboarding demonstrations, a Kookum fashion show, a handmade market and more. The Forks will co-host alongside the Treaty Relations Commission of Manitoba. Events between June 21 and July 1 will each focus on different treaty regions in Manitoba, uplifting language, traditions and teachings of Indigenous nations while recognizing shared stories of all who live here today. Celebrations culminate on Canada Day when The Forks hosts a family-friendly day of events, including dance battles, a basketball tournament, food trucks, a handmade market, critters from FortWhyte Alive, and a wide variety of performers.

‘We lost completely everything': PEI Music teacher loses home and livelihood to fire
‘We lost completely everything': PEI Music teacher loses home and livelihood to fire

CTV News

time41 minutes ago

  • CTV News

‘We lost completely everything': PEI Music teacher loses home and livelihood to fire

Marc DesRoches and his cat Tchai who has been missing since the house fire. (Source: Marc DesRoches) A Prince Edward Island couple is rebuilding their lives after losing nearly everything in a devastating house fire — including a lifetime's worth of musical instruments. Marc DesRoches is a private music teacher, second oboe with the PEI Symphony Orchestra, and the creator behind Brass Glow Co., a business that turns broken instruments into beautiful home décor. Last week his entire home and studio went up in flames. 'We lost the entire thing,' DesRoches said in an interview with CTV Atlantic's Katie Kelly. 'We lost completely everything. It's burned straight to the ground.' Marc DesRoches' living room Pictured is Marc DesRoches' living room after the house fire. (Source: Marc DesRoches) Among the losses were multiple oboes, an English horn and three pianos. His partner Glen Gamble an avid plant enthusiast, also lost more than 100 meticulously cared-for houseplants. Perhaps most painful is the uncertainty surrounding their cat Tchai, who has been missing since the fire. 'Probably the biggest potential loss is my cat,' DesRoches said. 'We're still continuing the search for her.' The day after the fire, the couple launched a GoFundMe campaign with a goal of $10,000. Within days, donations poured in — surpassing $28,000 as of this week. 'The response has been incredible,' DesRoches said. 'I can't even put into words how much it means to us.' The money will help DesRoches replace his instruments so he can return to teaching and hopefully rejoin the orchestra this summer. 'In the meantime, I'm not picky,' said DesRoches. 'If I can find an instrument to borrow, I'm happy as a clam.' He says while much remains uncertain, he's staying hopeful — and grateful. 'We're feeling very, very blessed.' Gamble echoed that sentiment, expressing deep appreciation for the outpouring of support from friends, strangers, and fellow Islanders. 'It's humbled me in so many ways that I didn't even think were possible,' said Gamble. 'I can't be any more thankful.'

Juliette Powell, a former MuchMusic host and first Black Miss Canada, dead at 54
Juliette Powell, a former MuchMusic host and first Black Miss Canada, dead at 54

CBC

timean hour ago

  • CBC

Juliette Powell, a former MuchMusic host and first Black Miss Canada, dead at 54

Juliette Powell, a former MuchMusic host and the first Black woman to be crowned Miss Canada, has died at the age of 54. Powell, who was born in New York but moved to Montreal as a child with her French Canadian mother, died unexpectedly on June 3 after falling ill with acute bacterial meningitis, according to an obituary posted online. She became a VJ for MusiquePlus, the French-language counterpart to MuchMusic, in 1992 and hosted the channel's the weekly dance music show Bouge de là! while she was a business student at Montreal's McGill University. Powell then moved over to the English channel to host its popular Friday night dance music show Electric Circus from 1996 to 2000 and the Francophone music show French Kiss. She was an economics student at the University of Toronto during her time at MuchMusic. WATCH | Juliette Powell on MuchMusic's Electric Circus: Former colleagues remember Powell Her former MuchMusic colleagues remembered her on social media Tuesday after news of her death emerged. Former host Master T said he was "blessed" work with Powell. "Your bouncy positive energy will be missed. Rest easy, Juliette Powell! Gone too soon!" he wrote in a post on his Instagram story above a photo of Powell sitting on a control room desk with a smile on her face. "Rest in a peaceful celestial party," Sook-Yin Lee, another former VJ and former CBC Radio host, said in an Instagram story post. "Before I was a VJ, I was a fan. Watching MuchMusic as much as I could. Juliette was so cool, so French cool. I enjoyed her range of roles, especially on Electric Circus. Such sad news here," Jennifer Hollett, a former VJ and executive director of The Walrus, wrote on X. After MuchMusic, Powell started as a business reporter for Toronto news channel CP24 and also founded a media and consulting company that led her to produce feature interviews with a range of prominent people, including Nelson Mandela, Steven Spielberg and Janet Jackson. Powell broke ground in beauty pageant world Prior to her being a fixture on Canadian television, Powell broke ground in the beauty pageant world when she was crowned Miss Canada 1989, in October 1988, then represented Canada in the Miss Universe pageant the following May. Her obituary says she was "motivated by a desire to challenge racial biases in beauty pageants." At the time of her crowning, Powell said she was proud to be the first mixed race person to win the pageant. She said that she would "gladly serve as a role model for both white and Black Canadians" and that her win was "a great proof of multiculturalism in this country," according to an article by The Canadian Press published by the Montreal Gazette on Nov. 1, 1988. When she crowned her successor a year later, Powell said the best part of being Miss Canada was seeing how much she had "developed and gained" during her reign. WATCH | The moment Juliette Powell becomes first Black Miss Canada in 1989: A new career path Powell's interests in technology and ethics led her on a new career path after her time as a television host and reporter. She worked in advisory roles for the United Nations, World Bank and World Economic Forum. She studied at Columbia University and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts in sociology. She joined New York University's telecommunications faculty in 2021 and co-founded the New York-based consultancy firm Kleiner Powell International in 2024. She was a keynote speaker as well as a commentator, appearing on CBC News, NBC, BBC and other Canadian and U.S. networks, sharing her expertise on issues like privacy, cybersecurity and unconscious bias in technology. She had two books to her name: 2009's 33 Million People in the Room: How to Create, Influence, and Run a Successful Business Using Social Networking and The AI Dilemma: 7 Principles for Responsible Technology, which she co-authored in 2023. But beyond her career, her friendships were where she had "the most impact," her obituary reads. "Juliette had a magical way of drawing people in with her infectious enthusiasm, and her brilliant intelligence and gorgeous smile lit up every room she ever entered. Her loss is devastating and she will be deeply, painfully missed by so many."

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into the world of global news and events? Download our app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store