Animation : The Development Of Animation And The Silent Age

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

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.

Walt Disney started out by producing short animated films in 1922 and in 1928 introduced Mickey Mouse, the world most famous cartoon character shown in Figure 4 below (Olsson 1996; Kramer 2002). Following this breakthrough, Kramer (2002) found that Disney proceeded innovatively with new film technologies of sound and colour that resulted in the first successful animated feature Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937.

Animation is just another medium to tell stories. Actually, scratch that. Animation is more than just about telling stories. It can be about anything. Wherever your imagination takes you. There is no right or wrong in animation.

The dream started in 1923 with the creation of Disney’s first cartoon Alice’s Wonderland. Disney moved from Arkansas to California to create a series of cartoons about an adorable little girl Alice. The first cartoon, became a pilot for a series called Alice Comedies by M.J Winkle, a New York distributor on October 23, 1923. This day is a historic day in the film industry - when the Disney magic began. Disney’s amazing talent of drawing and the techniques he learned at the Chicago Art Institute, combined with his attention to detail caught the eye of the industry. Walt, with his brother Roy, created Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio to make a name for themselves.

Animation is the technique of photographing successive drawings or the positioning of models to create illusion of movement in the movie. Animation is all around us. Animation is in our homes, schools, and workplace. Films that used animation were mainly Disney movies. Disney movies used animation in cartoons every since mid 1900s.

There have been many animated movies that were very popular during the 1940’s and 50’s. Some are still watched and have been recreated in today’s times: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Pinocchio, and Dumbo. Although not the first animated movie to be created, Fantasia (1940) was the first movie to connect classical music with animations.

Marking the first use of Disney’s multiplane camera, the film also incorporates realistic depictions of animal behavior, dynamic lighting and color effects, depictions of rain, wind, and lightning, ripples, and reflections, and the use of timed sound effects to produce specific dramatic, or emotional overtones. All of these advanced animation techniques learned in producing The Old Mill would subsequently be incorporated into Disney’s feature-length animated films. Walt Disney had a vision to fulfill. While Disney did not pioneer cartoon animation, he did broaden what animation can be – feature-length films to American audiences.

Anime and cartoons had very similar origins. Gertie the Dinosaur from 1914 is considered the first American cartoon. Japan’s first anime is not as clear, but many believe it to be 1917’s An Obtuse Sword. Both of these animated features were short, silent, and black-and-white. Their rise in popularity and introduction of the style of animation seen in the modern world did not begin until their “Golden Age” of animation. In the US, the “Golden Age” was from the 1920’s to 1960’s; this was when Walt Disney created his own animation studio and began to put out longer cartoons with sound and color. Snow White from the late 30’s was Disney’s first big feature film hit. In the

in Hollywood. If their business were successful, it would be the first studio in the city strictly for producing animation. Walt and Roy got their studio up and moving within a few weeks and hired several animators. They first produced a mini-series called Alice that played in the previews of movie theatres, but they knew it wouldn’t compare to Felix the Cat. Walt felt something was missing at their studio and realized a need for a master animator.

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.

Walt took classes at the Chicago Art Institute three nights a week. When summer finally rolled along, Walt worked for his father at the post office. Of course, even when working, Walt made drawings.When school started back up again, Walt was seventeen years old. He dropped out of school then to try and fight in the war. He got denied to fight because he was too young. So Walt lied about his age, and he got a job as an ambulance driver for the American Red Cross. The Red Cross sent him to work in France, and of course in his free time, Walt drew cartoons. When he came back he didn’t want to work for his dad again, “I want to be an artist.”(Walt Disney) So he moved to Missouri, and when he finally found a job, it only lasted for six months. During those six months, Walt met a man named Ubbe Iwerks. The two men decided to go into business together. They wanted to make animations, or pictures that move. To make money to help make the animations, Walt and Ub made short films, which were about a minute long. Their first production was, “The Alice Comedies.” Walt wanted to make loner movies though which were about seven minutes long. He longed to make fairy tales. Walt and Ub finally came out with the production of Little Red Riding Hood. It took six months. Both men quit their day jobs, and opened a company called Laugh-O-Gram

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.

The Disney brothers began drawing cartoons long before moving to Hollywood. The Missouri natives spent the majority of their lives imagining characters to which to introduce to the world. Along with the