A Brief History of Early Animation 1890 -1950

As any cliché artist would say, “I started drawing a lot when I was younger;” but not me –I can’t remember when I started to enjoy the arts. I have always been driven to create and express myself. I painted scenery to calm my nerves, draw intricate objects to focus on details, and draw dynamic poses to allow development of my eye. The mountain of used sketchbooks fills its’ own bookcase, dating back to early elementary years when I would create little stories much like a comic book. Despite my deep love for the arts, I always loved animation much more. Animation is the perfect blend of drawing and creating visual aid, while elaborately designing a storyline and plot to engage the audience –animation lets the average audience member to feel

In many people’s opinions, animation means funny and humor and designed for children. The content of the animation is nothing more than fairy tales, legends, fables, etc. Animation even becomes a symbol of Disney cartoon. However, if we re-examine the animation from another point of view, we will find that it has grown out of a single commercial mode constraints. Some of the animations are complicated, obscure and abstract. Variety kinds of visual images in it stimulate the audience's optic nerves. This is the salient features of experimental animation. Experimental animation belongs to the field which between film and pure art. Innovation is the soul of it. In the production process, the

What images come to mind as you reflect on your childhood? Playgrounds, blackboards, and soccer balls may be among the warmest of memories. Yet for many mermaids swim their thoughts, princesses get swept of their feet, and lions roar to their loyal place in the animal kingdom. There is no doubt that today’s entertainment has most of its touch using classical influences. Walt Disney has produced animated films that have captured the heart and imagination of audiences of all ages around the world through the magic of storytelling and imagery. Many of us appreciate the imagination and magic that Disney puts into its animations with out knowing they are based off of classical and traditional storylines

Aside from basic two dimensional art, I have always been fascinated with the unique stories told through film. The way that a picture is painted through film is something that one cannot find in just any art form. Film is unique and fascinating, so I sought to find a way to unite the two worlds of film and the 2D art that I enjoy so much. My findings were that digital animation combined the artistic style that I love and the storytelling of film in a way that intrigued me beyond any other career I had researched.

During the 1940’s America was fighting battles both at home and overseas, both on-screen and off. The reason being, World War II changed the possibilities of animation. Before the war, animation was only used for comedy and entertainment. Animation were these shorts played with color, music, and storytelling both hand drawn and computer animated. The attack on Pearl Harbor was a turning point in this form of entertainment because never before has the movie industry and nation been so aligned with interests and goals. To explain, “Film studios used animated characters to spread propaganda and educate Americans about their enemies. And the animators themselves were employed to make insignia for military units and equipment” (Stillich). In brief,

Animation these days is about the bigger picture. It’s about the idea of not losing faith. It’s about how powerful a tool ‘hope’ is, and that anything is possible if you believe in it. It’s about how people are equal and they all have the same opportunities,

In 1942, Walt Disney and his crew created the animated film, Bambi. Although the movie was not a success at first the popularity of picture has certainly grown over time. In all of Disney’s works he was not only able to attract the eye of the children, but also attract the compassion of adults. Essentially, he used animation, featuring appealing characters and clever events, to symbolize the issues that were around the world. In essence, while children were in awe of the story that they believed was cute and fun to watch, adults could relate to the symbolism and stereotypes throughout the film.

For longer than anyone can remember, we have created and performed stories for each other. Plays, puppet shows, and other forms of moving stories. Something to pass the time. But then there came the world of animation; pictures, presented one after another, so that it looks like a moving picture.

During the Modern American Era (1980-present), filmmakers started using CGI or computer-generated imagery to go from 2D animations to fully 3D animations, which were similar to stop motions. In 1984 the first short film created fully this way was “The Adventures of Andre and Wally B”.

Walt Disney created one of the most iconic characters in the world Mickey Mouse which earned him millions of dollars. Additionally earning the most academy awards than any other person in history, and yet he came from almost nothing. Walt Elias Disney was born December 5th of 1901 in the city of Chicago, Illinois. In addition his family had grown up with almost no money, but Walt never gave up. Even though Walt earned money for his family with his brother Roy, he still failed over and over again and had to ask many times for help. In contrast though Walt did in the end succeed tremendously (shsmo.org). Walt Disney is inspiring because of what inspired him, the obstacles he faced, and the things he achieved.

Animated films have come a long way over the years. Advancements in technology have provided film makers the ability to create anything they visualize in their head. Walt Disney films in particular, have partnered with Pixar Studios for a number of movies and have raised the bar in animations. Pixar Studios and Disney created the first completely computer generated animated feature film Toy Story in 1995. The visuals were entirely generated from computers, creating a dramatically realistic 3 dimensional world utilizing lighting, shading, and textures, that included real toys in supporting roles.

The first motion picture that is considered as the first editing is the Race Horse created by Eadweard Muybridge in 1878. This was created by arranging twelve cameras along a track at Stanford’s estate and as a horse sped by, it tripped wires connected to the cameras, which took several photos in a fast succession. When the pictures were developed in the frames and put together it created an illusion of motion. But Muybridge did not stop there, he kept taking hundreds of photographs of people and animals in motion and displayed them in lectures and also invented a device to display them in called ‘zoopraxiscope’. The zoopraxiscope projected those images rapidly in sequence onto a screen and once you spin it, it produces the illusion of motion.

In a world where technology is rapidly developing and evolving, it is sometimes hard to keep up with the changes that are made. When looking back on changes that are made it is particularly interesting to look at the development of animation over history. Today when one thinks about animation it is impossible not to think of Disney and their major motion pictures. The Shreck films, Finding Nemo, and Happy Feet, to name just some of the dozens of animated films Disney has produced, raked in million upon millions of dollars at the box office, and have been hit films with people in all age groups.

The technological factors in the animation industry are not really favorable. Though there are several supportive technologies, there is constant rapid change, resulting in quickly obsolete technologies. Consequently, keeping up with the dynamism of animation technologies becomes difficult.

When one thinks about the cartoons of the past, like TigerSharks, ThunderCats, and G.I. Joe, one will remember the rich story lines, the wild character profiles, and the inspiring battle cries of "Yo Joe" and "Thunder, Thunder, ThunderCats, Ho!!" With technology changing every day, a new form of animation has arisen. This new form is called "Japanimation" or "Anime." It is slowly becoming a part of this culture just as much as hamburgers and pizza. It still has a long way to go, but it is slowly creeping into the American genre of animation.