Educational Media Reviews Online

Relative Orbits is a compilation of eight short animated films that Joanna Priestley has created over the past twenty years. Priestley has been a renowned leader in independent animation and teaches college level courses on the subject in the Portland, Oregon area. The topics demonstrate Priestley’s personal and social views on such topics as the current system of incarceration, romance and relationships, women’s issues, and her own maturation as a woman. Her animations are fresh and exciting and unlike anything you would see on a typical Saturday morning perusal of cable channels. Instead they are a combination of sketches, line art, live action and brilliant color come to life. Occasionally entertaining and usually thought provoking, Relative Orbits is comprised of the following titles:
Voices - Priestley discusses how fear and worry can overtake our lives, but only if we allow it to happen.
She-Bop - Rediscovering the forgotten feminine in all areas of creation.
All My Relations - A condensed version of the personal relationships in the creator’s life, how they have developed, and how she has dealt with them.
Candyjam - Fun and entertaining look at candy, and how it has a certain power over some of us.
Pro and Con - Animated documentary encapsulating opposite points of view of our penal system and what it is supposed to accomplish versus what really happens to people who are locked in prison.
After the Fall - Considers the aftermath of negative relationships between ourselves and other people and possibly society, and nature and the impending isolation that often results.
Hand Held - A unique look at rebelling against an omnipotent oppressor.
Grown Up - How one artist views herself through time, but more importantly accepting the person she has grown up to be.

Finally, there are two documentaries included in the bonus tracks of this DVD. Both offer a personalized inside glimpse of Joanna Priestley and her unique work and neither is to be missed. She discusses her inspirations and variety of artistic methods used in the creation of these shorts. Animation is serious work, and Ms. Priestley draws on both talent and dedication to produce her films.

Awards
Each of the shorts on this DVD have been entered in and won several distinguished awards at the time they were originally released.