Animation.
-Shows multiple decades of animation up until now, starting with 08-
Something most of us have grown up with whether it be through the tv shows
we watched or the movies our parents have taken us to see in theaters.
Animation has integrated itself into our lives, yet where did it start?
For that, we have to go all the way back..to 1908. (show a timeline going back to
1908 the way the cool people do it)
It’s not for certain if this even happened, but it’s rumored, according to the
Atlantic, that Emile Cohl noticed his artwork stolen and used as a movie poster.
Clearly, he was furious, so he took it up with the manager of the studio that had
done such a heinous thing. Instead of the manager just taking it down and
agreeing to figure out another movie poster, Emile left with a job as a scenarist
and the opportunity to work on what would become the first ever fully
animated film known as Fantasmagorie. Despite being only about a minute and
a half the film showcases traditional animation with a hybrid of human
interaction with the drawings.
This would bring animation to a full front, true filmed animation was officially
being showcased which brings us to the 1910s.
I could talk about the countless animated films the 1910s brought but I’m
going to focus on one of the first of that decade and that’s Little Nemo by
Winsor McCay. The film was released in 1911 and the animation seen is already
so smooth, in color and hit the 2 minute mark. While you can’t get a full story
from the film, it still showcases the talent that McCay had to understand what
animation was as well to color each frame..though I am curious about the
popularity of clowns during this time.
From now on, animation was in the limelight and thrusts us to the 1920s as
well as the 1930s and the most popular of animation that almost everyone
knows of. Disney.
Of course Walt wasn’t the only person animating during this time, yet Disney
is such a huge pioneer in animation that it’d be crazy to not talk about the huge
inspiration that Disney had on the animation world. And how else to do so than
by showing off Steamboat Willie of 1928.
-show steamboat- Something to note about Steamboat Willie was the use of
sound technology, something that was starting to be used within this time
period leading into the 1930s. The entire animation is just filled to the brim
with sound and music that, while showcased in such a silly manner, has the
viewer feeling the joy that the film is trying to showcase.
While not the first full movie length animated film, that title goes to El apostol
of 1917, which is now considered lost media, Snow White being one of the first
few is considered a pioneer in animated film. It’s fully colored, there’s sound, a
concrete storyline. Now, of course comparing animation from a few decades
before isn’t the greatest but just seeing the evolution from when color was
foreign and now sound within the movie, along with the greater resources and
crew to make these animated films, it’s crazy to see how much that evolved
over 30 years. People went from animation barely being able to surpass a few
minutes to being able to create films that surpassed the length of human films.
Since then, animation has grown and improved using the film aspects that
caused them to as well as the ever growing interest in animation. From
photography being put together to being hand drawn frame by frame to now
having CGI and 3d programs to use for animation to get textures not being able
to had before.
Animation is thought of as just a thing for kids when it’s far from the sorts,
adults and children alike can enjoy animation, adults are the ones making
those animations after all.
Fantasia, pinocchio, cinderella, peter pan all have such growing animation
quality. Human and animation being able to interact like in Mary Poppins and
Who framed Roger Rabbit. Mascots being formed and beloved by many such as
Snoopy and Pink Panther. Books you’ve read as kids as a part of a mandatory
class being turned into full animated films like Charlotte's Web, Anime being
showcased and put on such a high pedestal from its unique look and beautiful
stories like with My Neighbor Totoro and Akira. Claymation and stop motion
are also such unique forms of animation that you can see the hours and hours
of work put into the work.
Animation kept being creative and it is still to this day one of the most creative
forms of media that someone can view. While there are a bunch of tools at our
disposal to create animated films such as the aforementioned 3d softwares,
digital art programs, 3d printing, figurines, anything you can think of.
Animation will forever be one of the greatest parts of film, you can’t replace it.
