Born in Waverly, New York in 1943 JOHN CANEMAKER animated his first film while still in his teens. Since then he has gone on to become undoubtedly one of the key figures in American independent animation. An Academy Award® winning animator in 2005 for his film The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation, Canemaker is also an internationally renowned animation historian as well as a teacher and author. Having taught at several colleges and universities throughout his career he remains most closely associated with New York Univerisity's Tisch School of the Arts, where he completed his MFA and also began teaching in 1980. During his career he has also written nine books on animation in addition to essays and articles for publications including The New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Canemaker's diverse work in animation is described as having a distinctive personal style emphasizing emotion, personality and dynamic visual expression.