Animation's "Sketchy" Past

12 Pixar's Lesson of Life

2005-11-30T18:46:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-09T07:54:00.000-08:00

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

2005-11-02T20:57:00.000-08:00

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.

Comments for November

2005-11-02T18:45:00.000-08:00

Comments on Alisha's Music in Animation Blog!
Comments on Noah's CGI versus Hand Drawn Animation Blog!

Comments on Lisa's The Landscape of Spirit Blog!
Comments on Will's Which is better Simpsons or Futurama Blog!

Comments on Ryan's Did You Know Blog!
Comments on Jesse's Snowman Blog!

Comments on Sarah's Blog 9!
Comments on Issac's Doug Funny/ Quailman Blog!

8 I'm the Late Girl

2005-11-02T17:56:00.000-08:00

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

2005-10-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

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.

Comments For October

2005-10-11T17:52:00.000-07:00

Comment on John's Adult Language in Cartoons!
Comment on Joshua's Blog # 8!

Comment on Lisa's Environmentally Friendly Cartoons!
Comment on Voltairia's Blog on Snow White and the childhood dream of being a Princess!

Comment on Ryan's Final Fantasy Blog !
Comment on Abraham's More on Tim Burton Blog !
(link takes you to the main page where you have to click on comments to view mine, my comp was acting weird and would not let me copy comments address)

Comment on Joshua's History of Animation Blog!
Comment on Diana's Cartoon within a Cartoon Blog !

6 Snow White

2005-10-11T17:48:00.000-07:00

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

2005-10-04T23:24:00.000-07:00

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.

Commets for September

2005-09-28T19:28:00.000-07:00

Comments I made on Travis's Blog on Pinky and the Brain!
Comments I made on Phillip's Blog on Mighty Mouse!

Comments on Phillip's Blog about Superman Cartoons!
Comments on Scott's Blog about Disney Animation!

Comments on Travis's Blog on Who Framed Roger Rabbit!
Comments on Mike's Blog on School House Rocks!

Comments on Emmanuel's Blog about Technology!
Comments on Travis's Blog on Captain Planet!

4 Animation Mistakes

2005-09-28T13:40:00.000-07:00

Blog #4

Animation has come a long way from Gertie the dinosaur to Final Fantasy. The technology of animation is a clear indication of how far, but one thing that has remained is human error. Researching for another class I came across a website that listed movie mistakes. I was suprised to see full length animated films on the list. The amount of work and detail that goes into making an animation is huge so I was not expecting there to be many mistakes.
Being that Snow White was the first full length animation, I was not suprised to see it on the list. The one big animation mistake that was noticed is when the seven dwarfs exit thier mine when the audience is first introduced to them. You hear them singing and then they appear, but already half way out of the cave. A few cels are missing that show them exiting the dark cave into the forest. Another mistake in the film has to deal with sound; when Grumpy hits his head on the bridge we hear the sound of metal, but the bridge is made of wood.
Fantasia, another Disney movie, had a few continuity mistakes as well. In the Sorcerer's Apprentice piece, Mickey starts waving his hands and fingers at a broom to make it come to life. In one shot, you can see that his sleeves slide forward and cover his hands. In the next shot, the shadow of his hands on the wall shows that his sleeves are on his wrists again and his fingers are waving fine. There was no time between shots for this to have happened. Not that I'm strictly focusing on Disney movies, they just happen to be the first two I saw on the list.
In the 2005 movie Madagascar there is a scene when the animals are being transported on a ship, but then fall off. When the crates containing the animals falls off the ship, you see the crates become completely submerged. There are holes in the crates so the animals can breathe, but no water whatsoever gets into the crates. You then peer out of one of the holes through the eyes of one of the characters and see waves, but if the crate was underwater then you would not be able to see waves.
Once I thought about the mistakes that are made accidentally I started to think of the freedoms the animator has in making a cartoon, whether good or bad. I will save those liberties for another blog, but feel free to comment on any that you have seen. (Disney films always seem to slip one risque element into the movie.)

3 The Cathedral

2005-09-20T19:48:00.000-07:00

Blog #3

In class last week we watched The Cathedral and I was impressed at the detail and the quality of the animation. However it was the discussion that followed that really spiked my interest. The question was raised about what the animator was trying to say, if anything. The general concensus was that of ambiguity and that there was not one main theme, that it was open to interpretation. This is where this blog really comes to a point.
Initially when The Cathedral started I thought about outter space and aliens, but once "the cathedral" was introduced those things drifted from my mind. The dark atmosphere illustrated on screen really set the mood for the animation and how it was going to go. The human character coming to the cathedral then walking through it slowly and trying to take it all in reminded me of someone venturing into a new part of life they were unsure of. Then the faces of people in the cathedral columns were of people who have been in his position before and anxiously awaiting to see if he is embraced by the cathedral the same as they were. The eyes of the first column opening to see the new visitor and the smirk on the next column hint at something of the unknown. As did the constant movement of the other planet moving over the sun throwing the cathedral into total darkness. When the visitor comes to, what seems like the edge of the cathedral there is anticipation of what will happen next. Then the light begins to emerge again and the cathedral is slowly, yet forcefully thrown into light, which is illustrated beautifully by the characters in the columns throwing their heads and sheilding their eyes from the light. The visitor stands untouched by light for a second before the cathedral claims him to. His insides seem to explode out of him creating a another magnificent column.
I do not believe he is the last column, more will be added as other visitors arrive at the cathedral and are captivated by its beauty. Since the animation has the title of The Cathedral it automatically carries a religious connotation to it. In whole I believe the animation is illustrating the lives and souls that make up the foundation of the cathedral. The lives that were and are continually sacrificed for the greater good.

2 Disney Rocks!

2005-09-13T18:56:00.000-07:00

Blog #2

I do not know what I would do without the genius of Walt Disney. I could be in the worst mood and pop in a Disney movie and feel better. After reading Chapter 2 in Maltin's book I have a new appreciation for the Disney Corporation and all the hard work Walt and his animators had to go through in the early years. The hardships he was dealt when he first started off especially in dealing with the distributors was interesting to learn.
Distributors are a pain in the butt and the fact that Mintz gave him an choice between doing what he wanted or showing him the door. The fact that he would rather start over again then change how he worked shows a lot of character. The creation of Mickey after losing the character of Oswald to Mintz was a little bit of luck I feel. Not many people in that situation would come out of it that good, but it just proves Disney's and Werks tenacity.
Another tidbit I learned when reading was that storyboards were first used with Disney cartoons. I was suprised to learn that cartoons first established the use of storyboards. Storyboards are used in almost every film, whether or not its animated or not. I have used them in several of my video classes and I would not have gotten much work done without them, at least not as efficiently as i did with out them.

1 Silent Animation

2005-09-06T22:04:00.000-07:00

Blog #1

Who knew silent animation would be so entertaining? Obviously Winsor McCay and John Bray did. They were two pioneers in the animation industry, if you could really even call it that at the time. Bray came up with a number of new methods that are still used today in some way, shape, or form.
When I first signed up for this class, I won't lie I thought I knew animation, but there is a whole animation world outside of Walt Disney that I had no clue about. I took the technology for granted and it was not until I started reading the first chapter that I understood how far the world of animation has come. Bray's "assembly line" method saved cartoonist a lot of time in drawing and his method of adding gray tones created a new element to cartoons. His other countless creations paved the way for cartoonist today.

Welcome

2005-09-01T17:41:00.000-07:00

Welcome to ChaheeLax Blog Page. On this page you will find blogs discussing the History of Animation. Please Enjoy!