Edison & Leo

The mad scientist, who has only been able to hear through his teeth since a mysterious train accident as a child, is on the verge of his greatest invention: a viable electric light bulb. He hurriedly enlists his son Leo in the experiment, unaware that it will lead to disaster. Leo is electrocuted and can no longer touch anyone without receiving a deadly electric shock. The two eccentric characters are left alone in the world of the living—until one day the beautiful Zella enters their lives. Their lives are turned upside down... Set in a surreal nineteenth-century fantasy world called Pickerton Park, Edison & Leo is made all the more extraordinary by the fact that it is an animated film. Using dynamic stop-motion animation, director Neil Burns and a team of animators have crafted a noirish, gothic fairy tale based on a story by George Toles, Guy Maddin's long-time screenwriting partner. It comes replete with Oedipal revenge, mysterious First Nations tribes and a robotic dog named Pickle. The sinister, striking landscape is matched by stunning character designs, including Edison's high, dual-tipped coif and large, slightly crazed eyes. Edison & Leo never fails to surprise, and at times its realism is unnerving, with more violence and disturbing moments than typically found in North American animation. "A film about theft in many forms – cultural, personal and spiritual – 'Edison & Leo' is a groundbreaking achievement both for its visual splendour and its mature thematic content. A culmination of years of work and decades of Canadian animation history, this is a completely original achievement that extends the genre to its boundaries, and then pushes past them." (Neil Burns, tiff08.ca) Jesse Wente Neil BurnsNeil Burns worked in stop motion animation for the CBC series What It's Like Being Alone and the Disney series Jojo's Circus as well as on portions of Aaron Woodley's feature Rhinoceros Eyes (03). He has directed several shorts, including the stop-motion animated film The Nose (08). Edison & Leo (08) is his first feature film.