Professor Kari Juusonen: “In animation, anything is possible”

What is the core focus of your professorship?

“Animation means bringing something to life, and that’s what matters most. The tools or techniques used are secondary. At Aalto, you can do everything from stop-motion animation to computer animation and anything in between.

My own background is in puppet animation. In that process, each frame is built and filmed separately to tell the story. In AI-assisted production, on the other hand, you can ask the AI to generate an entire sequence of events.

Digital AV production is now an established field – that means all kinds of computer-assisted image creation. As a counterbalance to this, there seems to be a growing interest in analogue production. In a way, we’re going back to the roots.”

How did you end up doing animation, and what still interests you about the field?

“I started making animations in 1994 after attending film school. I had seen such impressive animations that I became interested in the field and wanted to try it myself.

For my thesis project, I made a stop-motion animation film. What appealed to me was the total control: every step of the process was in my own hands and I could change anything. I was interested in set design and world-building and there were plenty of challenges involved.

Even though I could control everything myself, it still felt like the end result was never quite what I wanted. That’s precisely where the appeal of animation lies – there really are no excuses for why you couldn’t do what you want.

With animation, you can achieve almost anything. In principle, there are no limits, although in practice, of course, you encounter various challenges. That’s why animation is a freer medium than film. You can achieve great things with a single work, both in terms of content and form, sometimes with very little effort. In art, I’m particularly interested in experimentation.”

How do you see the role and significance of animation in contemporary culture?

“Animation is increasingly overlapping with live-action films these days. As the boundaries blur, animation has an undeniable place as an extension of reality and an alternative way of seeing the world in an artistic context.

Animated films are incredibly wonderful, and games are also a powerful medium when it comes to entertainment, storytelling, and world-building. The importance of animation is certainly not waning.”

What interests you most right now as an artist or creator?

“I’m increasingly interested in the stories and sequences of events told through animation – their content and concepts. Lately, I’ve been writing more for animation.

My work emphasizes simplicity: the less I use and the more room I leave for the viewer’s imagination, the better.

Right now, I’m particularly interested in the idea of moving from a spectacular, rich world to something almost opposite – the idea that an animated world could be created with just a few lines and a couple of colors.

Spectaculars borrow heavily from film in terms of form and content, which doesn’t interest me as much personally. If a city looks completely realistic in an animation, it can be wonderful and even more impressive than realism. Still, the way they’re filmed is often very close to big-budget film production. I think more about what kind of impression the work leaves behind.”

What does the future of animation look like and what role does artificial intelligence play in it?

“The future of animation lies, above all, in creators with a distinctive voice and personality. It has been thought that AI democratizes filmmaking and animation, since in principle anyone can make them. But if anyone could use AI to make, say, a sci-fi film in the style of big-budget movies, what kind of content would it actually offer?

What do you consider to be the most important lesson you want to pass on to your students?

“I think it’s important for everyone to find their own unique way of doing things and their own reason to be passionate about what they do.

Authenticity is key: realizing what you have to offer and finding your own perspective and way of approaching the topics that matter to you. Enthusiasm and motivation are major factors in that.”

What inspires you outside of work?

“Sports and music inspire me. I play the drums, and I’ve also played the guitar and bass. These days, I play the drums just for fun and am learning to play online at my own pace. When it comes to exercise, I play various ball sports and go running.”