In addition to his film work Paul has taught animation at the Kassel University in Germany and has won more than fifty international prizes and awards for his films, including the Life Achievement Awards at both Ottawa and Zagreb animation festivals. His film 3 Misses earned him an Oscar nomination in 2000, and his students have gone on to win two Oscars themselves.

Marc Glassman and Ton Gloudemans, in their book Paul Driessen: Images and Reflections give the layman a good idea of what Driessen’s world is all about. It’s a world “populated with ravenous, vulture-like birds; immense spotted cows; a wide variety of aggressive cats; ships that always seem to list and capsize; huge and very nasty fish; annoying flies; spiders; and blob-like, romantic but sexless men and women."

Although Paul’s films are often slapstick, and therefore regarded by many people as fundamentally comic works, the whimsical, philosophical note which colours many of them shouldn’t be ignored. It’s his wry commentary – slight and subtle but never insubstantial – which is central to his work.