Watching Abel Gance’s Napoleon at the Paramount was an experience I still think about more than ten years later. Great live music—and the three-screen “Polyvision” ending was unforgettable! Then again, it’s hard to beat Buster Keaton. Buster and Felix the Cat was a great pairing. Oh, but what about Laurel and Hardy …? It’s hard to pick one. And until you see these films with a live audience, you don’t really understand so many decisions made by these filmmakers. Hats off to the SFSFF!
PETE DOCTER is an original member of Pixar Animation’s Brain Trust and is the Oscar-winning director of the animated features Up, Inside Out, and Soul.