Production

One second of animation takes 24 drawings. The average animated feature is 80 minutes long. That would be 460, 800 total drawings to make a feature length film. To produce animated features, animators, artisits, and filmmakers must team together to work at creating a quality film. These are the jobs and tasks required to produce an animated feature:

Stylist/Backgrounds

Alice in Wonderland by Mary Blair

            A stylist is responsible for creating the look of the film. They would spend hours painting and drawing unique designs that would excite the audience or give the film a particular flavor. The most well known Disney stylist was Mary Blair, who produced concept art for Disney for most of the Silver Age of Animation.

            The concept art would become the basis of the film’s sets and background: “Pictorial scenes or establishing shots require the background to dominate the characters since the scenic picture is more important than the action. The animator must make his drawing fit the background. The preliminary sketch on the left established the color and treatment for the final painting right” (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 248).

Storyman/Story Sketch

Aladdin Storyboard

            A storyman is another term for storyboard artist. Since animation as well as film is a visual medium, a storyman is responsible for translating the story ideas, characters, business, continuity and relationships visually. Storyboarding allows animators a rough idea of how they want scenes to play out by drawing them and presenting them in the form of a comic strip. Sometimes they approach the idea from many angles so they can get the best representation of the story’s action.

Director

            The most notable job in any film production, a director’s is to pick the pieces being offered many different people and finding how they can fit together into a cohesive product.

Recording

            Before animation production begins, the film’s roles are casted and recorded, considering animation takes at least three years to complete. To an animation studio, finding the right performer is essential:

We learned to be very careful about choosing voice of a fine performer if it did not sound entirely natural and casual. An outstanding stage voice, or even straight voice, gave the animator very little visual help. Similarly, the phony voice or fabricated voice of the imitator proved to be a problem because it never had sincerity. In a parody or a satire the “put-on” voice works well, but it fails to convince an audience where believability is required. The straight voice will keep the character dull, and the phony voice will lose the audience. (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 206)

In today’s people assume voice acting is the easiest job there is. However, professional voice actors, like Billy West, will contend to that assumption. It’s not easy, it’s not like simply reading the lines and you’re done. No, you have to give a convincing performance with only your voice and not your body to help aid in emoting. Sadly animation studios keep giving voice acting parts to celebrities instead of professionals.

Assistant Director and Cutter

             An assistant director is neither an assistant nor a director. His duties involve record-keeping and ensuring technology runs smoothly. Every frame of the cartoon is controlled and perfectly in-synch with the voice track, music, and sound effects. A cutter helps keeping and marking the sound and voice synchs.

Character Model Department/Handout

Link

            It takes 24 drawings to produce one second of animation, if a studio is to produce an 80-minute film on time, a studio must assign a team of animators for each character that appears on film. In order to this, the Character Model Department hands out model sheets or sculptures to help aid an animator to animate the character consistently. Model sheets entail the dimensions, size, shape, movement, idiosyncracies and other little details.

Story Reel

            Similar to storyboarding, a story artist combines the storyboards with the voice tracks, music, and sound effects into a movie. It’s sort of like watching the “rough draft” of the film. The director would look at story reel and pinpoint areas that could be refined.

Layout

Link

            The layout man is responsible for the appearance of the picture, scene by scene. Kind of like an architect for animated films: “He works with the director on the staging and dramatization, building on the ideas of the story sketch. He designs the backgrounds, suggests the pattern of action for the animator, indicates camera positions for the most effective shot and the cutting that will tell the story in the most interesting way” (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 212). In live action films, editors have the luxury of editing a film a certain way once all the material has been filmed. Animated films don’t have that luxury and everything must be planned out beforehand. This is a list of things layout men consider when working:

1.     One quick look is all the audience gets – keep it simple, direct, like a poster; it must sell and idea.

2.     Fancy rendering at a later date cannot save a poor original conception.

3.     Always keep screen directions clear.

4.     Keep informed on: art is history, architecture, costumes, landscapes.

5.     Keep informed on: styles, mediums, textures, surfaces, composition, drawing.

6.     Keep informed on: technical information – effects given by different lenses, ground glass, filters, gels.

7.     Mood can be established by timing and movement. For example, sad or quiet – long scenes with slow moves on pan, trucks, and characters. Happy or excited – short scenes, fast cuts, quicker moves on camera and characters.

Here are also four ways to plan and make layouts:

1.     Thumbnails. Gather whatever ideas being offered from the storyboards, later on they might become the basis for final layouts, cutting, and staging.

2.     Traditional. Devote time and thought into visualizing the actual layout so that there is consistent planning. Little changes are expected like extending the drawing so a slight pan move can be used, or moving furniture to make room for another character.

3.     Multiple choice. Visualize the scene from every angle to give the director and animators opportunities to pick the staging and layout they liked best.

4.     Long shot or establishing shot. Works similarly to backing shots in live-action film.

Experimental Animation

            When voices are recorded and the story sequences are approved, it’s then time to start experimental animation. Experimental animation is the period in which the supervising animator tests how the character will look, behave and what personality may manifest in rough animation. A perfect example of this would be the video I posted earlier featuring the experimental stages Disney took in creating Tarzan (see Technology and Techniques).

 Supervising Animator

            The supervising animator is the lead animator, responsible for the work done by the animators under him: “The supervising animator would talk to them about the character they were doing, exchange ideas on how to keep him consistent in appearance, suggest business that might fit into their section of the picture, or discuss further ways they all might develop the character. He might also commiserate when things went wrong or try to defend his animators if they were unjustly criticized” (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p 224). The supervising animator also does the key poses in a sequence, then they are handed to his or her team to complete the motion. 

Assistant Animator

            Animators also known as inbetweeners. Their job is to clean up the animator’s rough key poses, details are consistent, the animation is always on model.

The Work Reel

            Like the story reel, where it’s storyboards compiled into movie format, the work reel is a compilation of rough animation. A popular term for this is “sweatbox,” in which the director, layout men, etc. review an animators work in a small heated theater.            

Effects Department

            When an animated film calls for a special effect, it goes to a branch of animators who specialize in them. If the film required things like fire, water, wave splashes, lighting and moving shadows, the effects animators would study the elements’ movement and behavior for inspiration. Then they would animate and caricature the effect needed for the film in layers. Fun fact: The Little Mermaid beat out Fantasia for most special effects used, attributed to the number of bubbles the film used.

Color

            Color is the most difficult aspect in an animated film. Johnston and Thomas (1981) reported: “Every color system on film has its own strengths and weaknesses that somehow must be mastered by the craftsman who wants to put his color theories on the screen. It is often an annoying and frustrating gamble but it is worth the effort if one is at all concerned with the appearance of the product” (pp. 268). Color is selected to add realism to the film, however, some choices may conflict with the background. For example, Johnston and Thomas (1981) noted that Captain Hook’s black hair blended in the shadows of the background, making him look like he was bald. In fact, Princess Ariel’s iconic color scheme of red, green and purple was chosen to avoid these issues. Ariel was originally imagined as blonde, the animators changed her hair for two reasons: 1. To avoid comparisons from the movie Splash, which featured a blonde mermaid. 2. Red hair was less taxing to shade or find alternate colors for different lights, especially since Ariel goes from underwater to the surface.

Ink and Paint

Link

            When animation is complete, the drawings go to the Ink and Paint department where they will be traced over with pens on one side, then the insides are colored in. The result is a complete animation cel. Overtime the process, especially the ink one, was really time consuming. The ink technique was done away with new Xerox technology, which allowed animators to ink their drawings with efficiency and retain the graphical designs that was usually overshadowed by the old technique. It was beneficial by the time Disney was making 101 Dalmatians which allowed the animators to efficiently create 99 Dalmatian puppies, especially because spots were hard to animate. Unfortunately, pencil marks and scratches were notoriously picked up by the Xerox process, which gave the resulting animation a very scratchy quality that was persistent throughout the 60s and 70s. This was done away when Disney began digitally inking and painting their animated features with the coloring CAPS system in the 90s, which allowed the graphic and efficient quality of the Xerox, but retained the beauty and elegancy of the old techniques.  

Works Cited

Johnston, O., & Thomas F. (1981). The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. New York: Disney Editions.  

The Nine Old Men

The term “Nine Old Men” is ubiquitous in the world of animation and Disney animation alike. It was the moniker given to Disney’s core group of animators, who’ve worked with the company for roughly fifty years. In addition, they’re credited for refining the twelve principles of animation. The Group consisted of Les Clark, Woolie Reitherman, Eric Larson, Ward Kimball, Milt Kahl, Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnson, Johnny Lounsbery,  Marc Davis:

Les Clark

Link

            Walt Disney hired Les Clark in 1927, originally unsure how long Clark would last and believed that would last only as a temp. Clark worked for Disney until his retirement in 1976. Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (1981) noted Clark’s skill:

His drawings had appeal, were always gentle and warm and likable, and his timing was always sensitive. He quietly went ahead perfecting what he did best, constantly at art class working hard to improve and to learn. There was much adoration for this quiet, thoughtful man, who came in with no art background yet through sheer determination and desire not only kept up but helped advance the art with his refinements of many fundamentals. (pp. 168)

Clark was responsible for animating Mickey Mouse in Fantasia’s “Sorcerer’s Apprentice” sequence as well as the Sugar Plum Fairies in the “Nutcracker Suite.”  
 In addition, he was appointed Sequence Director on Sleeping Beauty.

Woolie Reitherman

            Wolfgang “Woolie” Reitherman was described by his peers as, “the most physical of the group­ – with a compulsion to stay young and to squeeze in everything before it is too late” (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 169). Reitherman’s work includes Monstro from Pinocchio, the crocodile from Peter Pan, and directed all of the Disney films after Disney’s death as well as responsible for animating and directing Goofy in the Goofy shorts. According to Thomas and Johnston (1981), “his timing, staging, texture, pacing, desire to do something different, good gag sense, knowledge of whether it was entertaining (and the ability to think of something else if it was not), all carried over into his directing” (p. 169). He was a ball of boundless energy that always provided fresh, new material.

Eric Larson

Link

            Eric Larson was talented at animating pantomime, Figaro from Pinocchio and the pegasi from Fantasia’s “Pastoral Symphony.” In addition, Larson worked on the rogue stag and the Old Owl in Bambi. Because of his history animating birds or flying creatures, Larson became known as a “bird-man” for being able render flying creatures with expertise.

Ward Kimball

            Ward Kimball originally started in character animation as well as animating beloved character Jiminy Cricket. However, he felt it was too stifling for his talent. Kimball found his true calling as the joker of the team:

Link

                        He was an excellent draftsman, with the rare ability to make funny drawings equally as well as serious ones. He had a better design sense than most and thought imaginative ways of doing things. He never did what was expected, and to the consternation of at least one director never did the assignment the way it was handed out. His staging was tops, his timing unique, and he could show what was funny about a situation. He had a knack for picking out the special, little noticed traits in almost everyone around him, and from then on that person would have a label on him. (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 171)

Link

Milt Kahl

            According to Johnston and Thomas (1981) Milt Kahl’s greatest asset, “lay in his drawing ability and his conviction that animation drawings were really two-dimensional and should work in that plane – clear, simple, easy to read and understand” (pp. 171). Kahl was the most talented at being able to animate human figures without relying on live-action or the support of reference material. In addition, Kahl was noted for his eye in design, being responsible for Sir Ector and Kay in The Sword in the Stone and Madame Medusa in The Rescuers, the latter being his answer to Cruella de Vil and the final character he would animate before his retirement.

Frank Thomas

Link

            Frank Thomas, co-author of the book The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation, and fellow Old Man. Thomas is not as talented as an animator, nevertheless, he has been noted to have an analytical eye:

                        Like the rest of his fellows, Frank gave time to help others. His advice was sought on music, layout, background, and story as well as the animation. On the last few features, Frank would spend anywhere from six months to a year helping develop the story structure and situations, sharpening up and defining the characters and  their dialogue – and then he would animate on those same sequences with a fresh eye. (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 174)

Thomas was also famous for his decades long friendship with fellow animator, Ollie Johnston.

Ollie Johnston

Link

            Ollie Johnston, co-author of The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation and fellow Old Man.

Colleagues agreed that Ollie carried acting and the feeling of the characters to the highest point. He had a sensitivity for good picture, imaginative layout, what the character should be doing, and how to arrange the scenes for the best effect. His knowledge of what was needed in a voice made him valuable in dealing with the difficult decisions of whether the vocal talent was giving the performance he must have to make the character think and act. (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 174)

For example, Johnston was involved in animating the Queen of Hearts and trying to find that right balance between pompous ruler and violent womanchild, yet nevertheless finding the comedy and entertainment value out of it. In addition, Johnston was also famous in the world of animation for his decades long friendship with Frank Thomas.

Johnny Lounsbery

            Johnny Lounsbery was originally instructed by original Disney animator Norm Ferguson himself. However, Johnston and Thomas (1981) noted in more ways than one of the student surpassing the master:

Link

His better drawing and bigger concept, not limited by old vaudeville acts,   brought the bold, crude approach to new heights, using more refinement , more dramatic angles, more interest, and all without losing the main idea. His simple staging, appealing characters, good taste, strong squash and stretch, and controlled anticipations and follow through made a big bold statement, but they never lost believability. Hardly subtle, his characters were always fun to watch. (pp. 176)

Lounsbery’s favorite character he animated wa Ben Ali the alligator from “Dance of the Hours” in Fantasia. Lounsbery was noted by his peers to be an introvert though it never stopped him from asserting himself in key decisions. Also, he was very good in working with live-action and capable of blending it with cartoon action without losing the subtleties of either medium. Lounsbery passed away during the production of The Rescuers which he was serving as sequence director.

Marc Davis

Link

            Marc Davis slowly rose in Disney animation, starting with clean up and delicate drawings on Snow White to designing and animating Disney’s greatest villains, Maleficent and Cruella de Vil. Despite this, Marc was described, “a very gentle person, but with strong convictions that he holds to tenaciously” (Johnston and Thomas, 1981, p. 177). Johnston and Thomas (1981) note Davis’ tendency to the dramatic”

…the flamboyant Cruella de Vil made use of everything from her bony elbows to her posturing through her erratic movements….Maleficent, he showed a flair for the dramatic based more on powerful shapes in his design and strong use of color than on broad action. He had a feeling for the importance of a good layout and never overlooked the value of props such as the raven and the staff and made sure they were part of the overall picture. (pp. 177)

Works Cited

Johnston, O., & Thomas F. (1981). The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. New York: Disney Editions.  

Introduction

For the past eighty years animation has held the image of a genre that caters to children and the young at heart. I disagree with this sentiment, animation is a medium. It’s a common misconception to assume animation and cartoons are strictly for kids, thanks to big animation studios like Disney, Pixar, and DreamWorks saturating the market. However, like the medium of film, which can tell a wide variety of genres and stories that can be told and appeal to a wide audience, both young and old; so can animation. For example, even though their work is geared towards children, Pixar still conveys enough material for adults and artists to enjoy. The films they’ve created feature timeless stories, they’ve delved into mature thematic material regardless of their audience, and scenes and characters that we find ourselves emotionally invested.    
As famed animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston (1981) once said:

What you as an animator are interested in is conveying a certain feeling you happen to have at that particular time…. Conveying a certain feeling is the essence of communication in any art form. The response of the viewer is an emotional one, because art speaks to the heart. This gives animation an almost magical ability to reach inside any audience and communicate with all peoples everywhere, regardless of language barriers (p. 15).

            However, getting a viewer to respond and emotionally invest in a character is tricky. Animators look at expressions, symbols, and signifiers that an audience member can identify with:

We start with something they know and like. This can be either an idea or a character, as long as it is familiar and appealing. It can be a situation everyone has experienced, an emotional reaction universally shared, a facet of someone’s personality easily recognized, or any combination of these…. The audiences will make our little cartoon character sad––actually, far sadder than we could ever dram him––because in their minds that character is real. He lives in their imaginations (Johnston & Thomas, 1981, p.19).

They then go into detail that for an animated cartoon character to be real, he must have personality, and preferably an interesting one. For example, the earliest cartoon character with a distinct personality would be Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay.  
 It was believed McCay used a cat for reference when animating Gertie, given that the dinosaur displayed cat-like tendencies like pawing or kneading the ground. Nonetheless, Gertie conveyed shyness, stubbornness, and a fragile self-esteem: traits that mark a distinct personality. Later, Thomas and Johnson use Donald Duck, who is known for his explosive temper, best represented when he’d break a golf club in half in frustration.

            Animation is a medium, not a genre. It is the art and science of bringing imagination to life:

The illusion of life is a rare accomplishment in animation, and it was never really mastered anywhere except at the Disney Studio. Of all the characters and stories and exciting dimensions of entertainment to come from that incubator of ideas, this is the truly unique achievement. This is what must be examined and explained, understood and appreciated, taught to others and passed on to the animators of the future (Johnston &Thomas, 1981, p. 25).

That is what the purpose this blog shall be. I will “examine and explain, understand and appreciate, and to teach others” the art of animation.

Works Cited

Johnston, O., & Thomas F. (1981). The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation. New York: Disney Editions.