12 Pixar's Lesson of Life

Blog #12

There is one undeniable theme in all of Pixar's films and it is that growing up is inevitable.
Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Bug's Life, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, and the Incredibles make up the list of feature films that Pixar has released. All of them contain the overwhelming theme of growing up is a part of life.
Today in class we watched Toy Story 2, which showed Andy ripping Woody's arm and leaving him behind while he went to cowboy camp. During Andy's time away Woody is stolen and introduced to his Roundup gang, which includes Jesse. Jesse used to be owned by a loving little girl until that little girl started growing up and doing more typical girl things, which caused Jesse to be discarded. Woody is then put in a situation where he must deal with the fact that Andy will one day grow up and discard him.
The same can be seen in Monsters Inc. when Sully, aka Kitty, comes across Boo. Boo is a young child who is still afraid of monsters in her closet and winds up entering the world of the monsters. At the end of the film Sully must return Boo to her room and when he does she goes to open the door again to see him but he isn't there, there is only her closet. She is no longer afraid of the monsters in her closet.
Finding Nemo, is not so much the child growing up the parent coming to terms with thier child growing up. Marlin must accept that Nemo is growing up and can do things on his own, even with his "lucky fin." In the Incredibles, it is Mr. Incredible that must grow up. He is stuck living in the past and it is not until his family is at risk that he realizes he must face reality and deal with his "normal" life and not daydream of his super life.
I think it is the lesson or theme of growing up that really pushes Pixar past other animations. They don't try to sugar coat it, not to say it isn't a happy lesson, but they present it in a way that makes it seem more realistic. Although talking toys and super heros are not all that realistic. But that is the beauty of animation, it can be incredibly real but at the same time incredibly unrealistic. After seeing Toy Story for the first time I went home examined any toys in the house. I was intrigued by the notion that they could be alive and I still am. I tend to take care of old toys now, to make sure I don't throw them under my bed or break them.

11 Recycling and Exploring New Territory

Blog #11

After watching Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron, an interesting point was made about the similarities between the cartoon and other Spielberg films. The same point was also brought up last week with Pochontas and how Disney borrows aspects of other films as well. Has film, cartoon or live-action just become one big recycling bin?
Spirit is a Dreamworks production, which is Spielbergs production company, so naturally there are ties in the film to him, almost like tributes to his work. One particular scene is the one brought up in class of the chase through the canyons, looking very similar to the same scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Another comparison between those two movies has to do with the horses behavior. In Raiders, during the opening scene when young Indiana steals the cross he goes to jump on his from an elevated spot. His horse seems to understand but just as he jumps the horse moves away causing him to land on his butt. The horse was toying with him. The same thing is seen in Spirit when Little Bird or Eagle (thats how memorable the movie was) trys to mount Spirit, it seems that Spirit understands and is waiting for him to jump on, but just as he does Spirit backs off and causes him to fall on his butt.
For Pocahontas last week it was clear to see one particular similarity in Disney films. Radcliffe, the fat obnoxious man, looked very much like Captain Hook, only much larger. I feel that Disney films are continuously borrowing from one another simply because the animators are the same. I also thought that grandma willow looked an awful like Mufasa and grown up Simba from the Lion King.

Spirit was memorable in one aspect for me, and it was also brought up after viewing the film. The way it was animated and brought to screen was done as if it was a live action film. The shots were very cinematically correct. Dealing with a lot of long shots, especially in the beginning sequence when the eagle is soaring through the canyons and land. The music was also created in the same way. Without the music it would be hard to follow the movie (do not mean the lyrical music by Bryan Adams) The music lets the audience know when the horses are happy, sad, scared, or in love, just as a live action films score would do.
I also found it interesting that when dealing with the Native American character in Spirit the music did not take on a stereotypical Indian drum beat, like you heard in Pocahontas.

10 Art of Animation

Blog #10

While working on my animation for class I was suprised at how much work it actually takes to create an actual animated piece of work. I knew to make an animated film it takes years of hard work developing the project and bringing it to the big screen, but I had no idea making a short little animation would take this much time. I guess I should have known better...
From class I have learned that animation is the process of taking still picture and turning it into a moving picture. It is done by flashing a series of images before the eye in rapid succession. The individual drawings used are called cells, and the individual photographs used are called frames. The more images used, the smoother the animation will be. Most cartoons use about 12 cells per second.
Of all animation techniques, the flipbook is one of the easiest and most familiar. A flipbook is a booklet containing a series of images that, when you thumb through quickly, become animated. Like the thaumatrope, the flipbook also works on the principle of persistence of vision. A thaumatrope is a small disc, held on opposite sides of its circumference by pieces of string (Thaumatrope). On each side of the disc an image is drawn and is placed in such a way that when spin the disc, the two images appear to become superimposed. The faster you spin the disc, the clearer the illusion comes. It appears that the thaumatrope is creating an animation but it is not, it is simply creating the illusion of animation through the persistence of vision principle. "Persistence of vision is the eye's ability to retain an image for roughly 1/20 of a second after the object is gone" (Thaumatrope). Your eye continues to see the two images on either side shortly after each has disappeared. As the thaumatrope spins, the series of quick flashes is interpreted as one continuous image, thus creating the illusion of animation.
Now back to the flipbook...I remember being in love with flipbooks when I was younger. Disney used to make flipbooks of their movies, shorter versions of course, but I loved them. They usually put two movies together like Snow White and The Little Mermaid or The Fox and the Hound and Lady and the Tramp. It was a great gift to get because if you could watch the movie you could just pull out your flipbook then turn it over and watch another movie. Each flipbook was in color as well, with the exceptions of the classics. There were a few Mickey flipbooks where one animation was in color and the other in black and white.
I miss the good old days when I could be entertained by colored paper that seemed to come to life with the flip of my thumb.

9 An American Tail

Blog #9

An American Tale is one of my all time favorite films, not just animated films, but any film. I am also a huge Spielberg fan as well. In class today you made a point to say that An American Tale is not a Spielberg film, but a Don Bluth film. I could not agree more. In fact I had no idea, until recently, that Spielberg was involved in the film. After watching it and knowing he directed I could see his direction in it. But being that Bluth animated the film it does make it his own. I still don’t really associate the film with Spielberg; I refer to it as a Bluth film.
In class we were discussing how accurate the film actually was at depicting immigration in its historical context. I am in complete agreement with what was said in class about immigration and how it was not glorified on film. Being that the immigrant mice are not coming to America for money but for freedom. I also think the film did a good job at illustrating the class structure. There are the immigrants that are generally associated with the poor class and then the up tight snoody mice that are part of the upper class. During the town hall gathering with they are deciding what to do about the cat situation some of the upper class audience members say something like ‘I’m rich I can say what I want.’ This is also a true depiction of the time and the class structures in America.
On a side note the film did a good job at depicting history and immigration accurately but geographically they slacked off a little bit. At the end when the Mousekewitzes look back at the Statue of Liberty we see the front of the statue, and behind it we see Manhattan and Brooklyn. That would have the statue facing south, but the Statue of Liberty points east so if they we're looking at the front of the statue they should be looking at New Jersey. I don't know why but I always notice the off things, but I know I'm not the only one because other people in class noticed the baby mouse disappeared half way through the film.

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8 I'm the Late Girl

Blog #8

Yes in case anyone was wondering while we were told we had tonight to get in last weeks blog, it was because of me. I have been in Hawaii for the past week for a lacrosse tournament.
I made sure to keep an eye out for Hawaiian animation, but there was really no where i went that had cartoons. A couple of bars had little cartoon mascots, Tikis or Pineapples, but none animated. It was a strange thing though because being in Hawaii was like being in a different country. Before boarding the plane to come home I was watching Sponge Bob Square Pants. The title of the episode was "Scaredy Pants", in honor of Halloween. Throughout the episode SpongeBob is commented that he is not scary enough and can not seem to scare any one. Patrick and he discuss it and they decide he does not scare any one because he is square. So Patrick gives him a sponge cut and makes his head round. They then go around and scare everyone, or at least try to. Round or Square head it does not matter, no one was scared of him. I was watching it with one of my teammates, a twenty-seven year old, and she was laughing hysterically. In past blogs I have mentioned how cartoons are captivating older people and I was able to see it up close and person. The funniest thing is that SpongeBob is a children’s cartoon, with no intent for adults to watch the show.
While watching the episode I found myself laughing, but I think it was more because my teammate was. I have never really seen the appeal of SpongeBob, the theme song is annoying and once you hear it, it will be stuck in your head for days. However the animation is done well and the use of colors is really good. The cartoons takes place underwater which usually mean blue will be seen everywhere, but in SpongeBob I don’t notice that blue is the dominant color, because you have a yellow, purple, and red character, not to mention a pineapple and Tiki house. And if you didn’t know they are both huge in Hawaii. Tikis are everywhere and pineapples are as well, not to mention you can drink out of them. SpongeBob is strange to me though because they are underwater yet they wash dishes, take showers, and swim, but what is the point everything is wet already.

7 The Magic of Sound

Blog #7

The magic of sound...ahhh what a wonderful thing. Sound, aka music, can create a place where you can escape and break free of reality or keep you firmly planted where you are. For one of my Communications class I had to watch the film Fantasia, a Disney cartoon. While watching the film I was suppose to listen primarily to the music and see how it helped convey a story. Being that it was Fantasia there were a number of stories and sections of music, so it was hard to concentrate. Once I got into the film though I was able to hear the music and see how beautifully the animators managed to sync up the animation with the music.
Then today in class we watched that German documentary on the history of German animation. There were a few different animations that were set to music, classical music just as Fantasia was. The only difference was that Fantasia told a story and used characters to illustrate the music but the German animations were simply lines or shapes that appeared with each note of music.
Now this is the point where my blog starts to go off the subject of animation. Sometimes when I'm listening to music I imagine different actions to go along with it. Sometimes I put the music to cartoons in my head and let it play out and the characters do crazy things like a heavy woman in a pink tutu dancing a silly ballet with a stick thin man. I can see the woman dancing and flopping all around then the music changes and the man comes in weakly dancing then there is an eruption of music and I imagine the woman jumping up in hopes that the man will catch her. He does catch her but only for a moment until he crumbles under her weight. There is no rhyme or reason for these images to play in my head.
I wonder what goes through the heads of animators when they listen to music and if any of there imaginations materialize into their drawings. I like to think that it does.

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6 Snow White

Blog #6

Today in class we watched Snow White, the first full-length animated film, the first in a long line from Disney. After class, while struggling for a blog topic, I decided to research Snow White online. Most of the sites were advertising the release of the movie on DVD, but then I got a hit. A site that discussed the animation aspect and what the story was based off of.
On the site, in one paragraph, it mentioned that the story of Snow White was adapted from the Brothers Grimms Fairy Tales. It went on to say that it was adapted from the fairy tales "but in a bowdlerized or sanitized version, without overt sexual references or violent content." The site is right in saying that there were not overt references in the film. After watching the film in class I picked up on a few things that I had not noticed before. There were no sexual references that stood out besides one, but it is a small one. In the scene where the dwarfs go up to the bedroom to confront the monster in the bed and discover it is the princess and Grumpy is telling Doc what to say. "Who are you and What are you doing?" Doc like always fumbles it and says "What are you? And Who are you doing?" It is not the biggest sexual reference but it could be seen as one. However, there were a few violent references that were kind of scary handle if I was a little kid I would be scared. Two of the first few scenes are violent. For instance when the queen tells tells the huntsman to kill Snow White because of her beauty and to bring her dead heart back to her for proof. Then the scene in which the huntsman trys to kill Snow White but cannot bring himself to do it. The dead heart of a princess, can you imagine? That is violent. Not to mention the dwarfs chasing after the witch with clubs. Granted without any of these the film would not have been as effective.
The actions are not what make the film effective though, as we touched on in class today as well. It is the animation and characterization of the animal characters that give Snow White a little something extra. I think the unsung hero of the film is the slow little turtle. He works hard to get to one spot only to discover he has to go right back where he started from. Going up stairs seems like a simple task for a deer or chipmunk but not for the turtle. On his first attempt he flips over backwards and has to bite his tail to right himself and then uses his mouth to grasp on to the stairs, where he bites his way up. It is clear to see, especially in Snow White, the difficulties animators had with humans and their actions then with the animals. It takes a crazy person or a genius to think that a squirrel would wash a dish with his tail or that a turtles under shell could be used as a washboard. It is these little characterizations that make Snow White what it is today, (I guess some credit should be given to her and the whole story of being dead but not really, just waiting for a kiss from Prince Charming.)
The dwarfs are another issue. Seven little men. Seven completely different personalities. Not an easy feat unless you think to give them each a specific personality trait, such as Happy, Sneezy, Grumpy, Sleepy, etc. Each one is uniquely different in appearance and personality. Watching some of them though made me think one or two of them would have been better off being named Boozer.

5 Bubbles Bubbles My Bubbles

Blog #5

The title of my post should be familiar to those who have seen and loved Finding Finding Nemo. When Finding Nemo came out to theaters I was a skeptic and did not think a cartoon would be able to entertain my intellectual mind. Well I am strong enough to admit it when I am wrong. Once Finding Nemo came out on DVD I was so tired of hearing how good it was I simply went out and bought it. (I have issues with impulsively buying movies but that is a whole other blog).
I do not know why I did not expect Finding Nemo to be entertaining, especially after I had seen Shrek and thought it was extremely clever. Of course I did not pick up on all the humor the first time I saw it, but after the second and third time I was in stitches. Shrek was a cartoon but was appealing to both kids and adults. The jokes told in the film are garnered more towards adults. Being that I liked Shrek it is odd to think that I would not be thrilled to see Finding Nemo but I was skeptic because it seemed to be garnered to kids. I do think Finding Nemo was more of a kids movie and that the jokes, although funny to adults were not targeted towards them. It was simply a well animated funny film.
I've gotten a little off topic I know, in fact I do not know what the point of this blog is. I watched Finding Nemo the other day and my mind went into overdrive. I began thinking about recent animated films and how they are not strictly for kids anymore. Production Companies are targeting an older generation while still maintaining the younger generation. Look at The Incredibles, kids loved the movie, but it was the parents that kept going to see it and passing the word along that it was good. In recent years the idea that cartoons are not just for kids has become evidently clear and will continue to do so.