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Animation Appreciation
- Thread starter Dangerous Duck
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Quite so I am, Angler. I'll jot down a reply to TB's message, as an appetizer to my soon-to-be-finalized main course for the thread:
Although the term "sketchy" has been popularized when in reference to the 1960s, 70s and 80s of Disney animation-- more commonly and formally pegged as The Bronze Age (with the exception of One Hundred and One Dalmatians, The Sword in the Stone and The Jungle Book which are debatably of The Silver Age)-- this era is in actuality the result of a process known by name as "xerography".
For those of whom that aren't familiar with the xeroxing photocopying method, essentially, it allows the animators' pencil drawings to be directly sent off to be colored and put to film on cels, completely eliminating the tedious and costly process of hand inking. This process was proposed and tested by one of the earliest animators at the studio, Ub Iwerks, in an attempt to cut costs on Disney's animated productions after the devastating box office bomb of Sleeping Beauty, a massive artistic undertaking and, at the time, their most expensive picture yet. It even surpassed Fantasia and Pinocchio in this regard, both notorious for failing hard commercially in spite of going far over-budget.
This extreme departure from the elegance of Sleeping Beauty was first utilized to it's fullest extent on One Hundred and One Dalmatians, a departure in and of itself from Disney's previous pictures in terms of storytelling, setting, and music; nevertheless, the film was a desperately-needed success for the studio after their previous pictures of the past decade had been met with what was, quite frankly, an ambivalent reception, and offered a fresh experience for the animators.
However, even with it's "cheap n' easy" corporate appeal, xerography wasn't without it's technical cons; Most notably, due to the lack of hand inking and clean-up, animators' stray lines and the restriction to the pencil's rough, black lines resulted in what uneducated consumers often view as lazy and unpolished. On the contrary, the animators were smitten at the prospect of seeing their pencil strokes directly on the big screen-- Milton Kahl in particular has raved on this topic extensively-- and, myself, I couldn't agree more. The restriction to thick, black lines and simpler aesthetic may have limited the emotional and tonal range of Disney's features during this time, however, xerography also opened up an experimental art style and demeanor all it's own, one that allowed their productions to journey further into the territory of zany fantasy, oftentimes pushing one's suspension of belief to great extents; for example, Marc Davis' Cruella de Vil, pictured below.
Would this character remain believable when placed within the environments of Golden or Silver Age features? Absolutely not. This is precisely what gives the era of xerography it's eccentric, yet believable aroma.
Concerning caricature and exaggeration-- the defining elements of animation-- The Bronze Age is quite possibly the epitome of Disney, visually; it boasts some of the most extraordinary pieces of experimental and broad animation *cough* Madame Medusa *cough*, not only confined to the Disney canon, but in the animation medium as a whole, furthermore as an art form.
In conclusion, I toast to The Bronze Age, an under-appreciated time in the history of animation. Cheers!
I will now proceed to list my favorite character from each of The Bronze Age pictures (with the exception of Oliver and Company because I haven't viewed the film in ages) and the first three xeroxed productions.
Why?
...Why not?
Cruella de Vil, Marc Davis, One Hundred and One Dalmatians
NOTE: Marc's final and greatest assignment at the studio before becoming an Imagineer. The amount of expressions and emotions Cruella runs through in this one shot is but one incredible example of Marc Davis' bold work on the character.
Archimedes, Milt Kahl, The Sword in the Stone
Colonel Hathi, Eric Cleworth, The Jungle Book
Edgar Balthazar, Milt Kahl, The Aristocats
NOTE: One of my favorite Milt Kahl characters, and that's saying quite a lot considering his resume. Love the facial design and expressions, especially the saggy skin.
Sheriff of Nottingham, Milt Kahl (again), Robin Hood
NOTE: This specific piece of animation is stunning; personality in every single broad movement of the character, articulated flawlessly. In fact, I don't mind that it's recycled and looped excessively throughout the film because it's just so gorgeous to look at. Fantastic design, too.
Tigger, Milt Kahl (yes, again), The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
Madame Medusa, Milt Kahl (YES, AGAIN), The Rescuers
NOTE: My absolute favorite piece of animation, an utter masterpiece, Milt Kahl's Medusa. I'll save my ravings for that upcoming "main course" post as mentioned above, so for the moment, I'll leave the impeccable pencil test above for your viewing pleasure.
...Did I mention that I adore Milt Kahl's work?
Bear, Glen Keane, The Fox and the Hound
Horned King, Rick Farmiloe, The Black Cauldron
Professor Ratigan, Glen Keane, The Great Mouse Detective
NOTE: Phenomenal example of properly blending the voice performance with the character, in this case, Glen Keane's fantastically designed and animated Ratigan, paired with Vincent Price, a favorite actor of mine. Wonderfully creative and exaggerated mouth shapes.
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Really hard for me to pick out favorites. I like consistently funny characters like Buster, Binky, Mr. Ratburn but there also some well written sympathetic characters like George that don't pop up as often. They're all well written aside from the inconsistently written but usually entertaining DW.
On a related note to some of what's already been said...how sad is it that Hanna Barbera's properties nowadays are limited to being a platform for WWE to just shoehorn itself into?
This is the first Jetsons thing since the 1990 movie and it's a stupid WWE cashgrab.
This is the first Jetsons thing since the 1990 movie and it's a stupid WWE cashgrab.
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Haha, I like how the Big Show was actually frozen in his tights, like as if he just wears them on a regular basis, haha.
I actually feel bad for these wrestlers, though. Being forced to do these horrible crossovers like that. Id feel kinda ashamed if I had to ruin a classic cartoon by doing something like that : (
I actually feel bad for these wrestlers, though. Being forced to do these horrible crossovers like that. Id feel kinda ashamed if I had to ruin a classic cartoon by doing something like that : (
All this Scooby Doo talk has got me remembering that Scooby Doo has to be the one show with as many series and reboots ever. Wonder if people actually like Scooby Doo or if it's just easy to make a cartoon about them. In any case one of my fav ones is a pup named scooby doo especially since the monster designs look very NES era Castlevania. Fun stuff, wonder if anyone else remembers it.
that's actually not the case, but "just" being bizarre WWE crossovers would be infinitely preferable
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What do people think about cool world, it's not quite " Who framed Roger Rabbit " it definitely is weird. Trying to have that odd animation style that some of the 90's filmed had like Anastasia. Watched this movie a few years ago thinking it might be something as interesting as Who framed Roger Rabbit but it more or less felt like a shitty version. Did other people enjoy this? Or were they just drawn in with how weird and blotchy I suppose the animation felt.
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I remember that film from when I was a kid. I wanted to watch it, but my mom and grandma wouldnt let me, so I had to watch it through the glass patio door on the back porch, not able to hear anything : p
Now that Im an adult and all that, I should actually watch that film. Though Im sure they had a good reason to not let me watch it, haha.
Now that Im an adult and all that, I should actually watch that film. Though Im sure they had a good reason to not let me watch it, haha.
It's a very strange movie, like a more mature I guess with content than who framed roger rabbit. About the same cast of some jumbled bobblehead and his crew always follows the MC it can get really annoying if you just want to see more interesting goofballs like them weasels in roger rabbit. The ending is quite funny with " Holli Wood " weird cartoon pamela anderson chick, I say out of curiosity you might want to check it out.