This paper presents a preliminary study on the unique surrealist qualities of Estonian animation director Priit Pärn, distinguishing his approach from that of André Breton and Jan Švankmajer.
Pärn began work on animated films in the 1970s during the Soviet era. His works are frequently labeled as absurdist or surrealist. His unique narrative structures have won him grand prizes at many international film festivals, and he has served on many juries. He received the Lotte Reininger Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2024 Emile Awards, part of the prestigious European Animation Awards. His achievements have established him as a formidable creative force in Estonian animation. The absurdity in his work is evidently shaped by his background as a caricaturist operating within Soviet society. However, the origins of his surrealist tendencies warrant further investigation.
Pärn has remarked on surrealism, “Compared to drawn animation, puppet animation can more easily convey a surrealist impression because it uses tangible objects.” (1) He added, “Everything in the real world is according to the laws of nature. If you see a flying cow in this ordinary environment, it is surrealism.” (1) A drawn animation portraying a flying cow would render the cow universalized. If a film depicts flying cows from the outset, the audience quickly accepts this reality, and the sense of wonder diminishes, as anything seems possible within the established world. In contrast, if a film begins with a realistic framework and later introduces the sudden image of flying cows, it creates a striking sense of surrealism. This observation is informed by Pärn’s insights. Surrealism derives its power from its connection to reality and coexistence with objects. Consequently, in the case of drawn animation—where biological forms, spaces, light, and time are constructed from scratch—the intensity of surrealist expression is inherently weaker.
Pärn has the opinion that, about Švankmajer’s works, those that consciously use existential ready-made objects are surrealism, but “Dimensions of Dialogue” (fig. 1) is not in that the work uses objects created for the creation of animations. Whereas Breton’s drawings in the 1960s and later years were an interlocking of forms (fig. 2). This is a kind of play that gives movement to the drawing and is similar to a metamorphosis, one of the expressions of drawing animation. If there is a drawing animation with the intensity of surrealism, it might be said to be there is a metamorphosis.
Fig1. Jan Švankmajer, Aniamation “Dimensions of Dialogue,” 1982
Fig2. André Breton, Drawing “Cematoulanpié,” 1966: pl. André Breton, je vois, j’imagine, Galimard, 1991
To better understand Pärn’s surrealism, it is necessary to briefly examine the historical trajectory of surrealism in Estonia.
In 1966, Andrei Hržanovski’s Жил-был Козявин was deemed unacceptable by the All-Union State Institute of Cinematography (VGIK) on the grounds that it was “too surrealist.” However, Soviet film director Sergei Gerasimov, seeking to integrate it within the framework of Soviet artistic culture, coined the term “socialist surrealism.” Two years later, Hržanovski’s Klaasharmoonika featured animation by Estonian artist Ülo Sooster, who later became a leading figure in the Tartu Circle, an early, unofficial avant-garde art group that introduced surrealism to Estonia. However, Sooster and Pärn never directly interacted.
During the stagnant period of Soviet-era Estonian art, the term “surrealism” was largely taboo, prompting the invention of alternative terms such as “associative art. (2)” Other vague terminologies like “retro-surrealism,” “neo-surrealism,” and “para-surrealism” also emerged, reflecting the uncertain status of surrealism in Estonia. It was only after Estonia’s independence that art critic Raivo Kelomees formally introduced surrealism in the Estonian language through his book Sürrealism (1993), arguably marking its first official recognition in Estonia.
In 1986, Pärn founded <<TALLINNFILMI>> sürrrealstide grupp (TFS), an avant-garde art group that explicitly identified itself as surrealist (3). Most of its members were animation artists affiliated with Tallinnfilm, and many had prior experience as caricaturists (4). During its three-year existence, TFS held two exhibitions, positioned between Pärn’s films Aeg Maha (1984) and Eine murul (1987), though the group did not achieve a definitive breakthrough (fig. 3).
One of Pärn’s TFS works, Maailma esimese lendava monumendi kavand, became the group’s emblem (fig. 4). The artwork bears striking resemblance to André Masson’s Signe (1939) and Salvador Dalí’s The Eye (1945). Pärn himself commented, “I had the imagery of Un Chien Andalou in mind. For the eye, I drew a warped clock reminiscent of Dalí’s painting. (5)” However, Pärn and his contemporaries did not draw direct conceptual, thematic, or methodological influence from Dalí; in Estonia, surrealism arrived decades late and was perceived as an outdated movement. Nonetheless, surrealism and Dalí symbolized artistic freedom and innovation.
Fig3. Priit Pärn, Animation “Eine murul,” 1987
Fig4. The emblem of <<TALLINNFILMI>> sürrealstide grupp
As surrealism scholar Masao Suzuki argues, surrealism is a shared language of spirit and action rather than a limited set of images or techniques (6). While multiple interpretations and analytical frameworks for surrealism exist, defining surrealism in animation might involve criteria based on Breton’s notions of “conceptual ambiguity” and “anxiety.” For instance, dépaysement—the visual incongruity that unsettles the viewer—can manifest through unexpected developments in animation’s visuals, movement, narrative, and sound, producing a distinct sense of strangeness. However, Pärn’s creative process is highly deliberate and logical. Unlike Breton’s surrealism, it lacks elements of chance, improvisation, or unconscious encounters.
This study has sought to explore Pärn’s surrealism through historical and comparative analysis, though definitive theoretical discourse on the subject remains undeveloped. Nevertheless, it is crucial to recognize that Pärn’s surrealism differs fundamentally from that of Breton and Švankmajer.
Many avant-garde artists have borrowed surrealist imagery, materials, and techniques as forms of political and social protest. In contrast, Pärn depicted absurd events and phenomena directly from his surroundings, observing reality with an unfiltered gaze. At the time, daily life in Estonia was already so surreal that it rendered dreams and the unconscious unnecessary. While surrealism often carries undertones of foreign imitation, Pärn’s ethnographic creativity emerges as a uniquely Estonian form of surrealism. The essence of animation—its ability to render impossible realities tangible—merged with the absurdity of Soviet society, generating a surrealist narrative distinct from traditional surrealist paradigms.
References:
1. Interview with Priit Pärn, 14 November 2016
2. Ilmar Malin, “Rehabiliteerime sürrealismi!,” Sirp ja Vasar, 20. Jan, 1989
3. The exact spelling of the group name: It includes three “r”s. While there should be an “i” after the “l” in “sürrrealstid,” its omission reflects the group’s official spelling.
4. My doctoral degree thesis, “Ethnographical interpretation on animation in Soviet Estonia: it places the perspective in ‘absurdity’ of Priit Pärn,” Tokyo University of the Arts, Graduate school of Film and New media, 2019
5. Interview with Priit Pärn, 19 September 2017
6. Masao Suzuki, Michio Hayashi, To Talk About Surrealist Art, Suiseisha, 2011
Akira Arimochi is a professor of New Media & Image at Aichi University of the Arts. He had been a visiting researcher at the Estonian Academy of Arts for two years from 2012, and in 2019 he obtained a Ph.D. from the Tokyo University of the Arts. His research focuses on the history of animation and comparative art studies while specializing in Estonia. He has presented his research at Animafest Scanner Ⅺ (Zagreb, 2024), an international symposium on contemporary animation studies, and is doing joint research with several university professors on a history of animation and surrealism.