Chuck Jones Animation Tutorial

In this excellent 13 minute animation tutorial, actor and director Ron Howard introduces the work of animation legend Chuck Jones, the creative master behing the Road Runner and Bugs Bunny. There are other great voices here too - such as Disney animation stars Glen Keane and Eric Goldberg (the latter the author of the excellent "Character Animation Crash Course" - one of the books on our rstudent eading list).  The video is a great introduction to the basic principles of animation, such as anticipation, squash and stretch, secondary action and overlapping action. We're recommending it to all our students.

Master Animator Glen Keane Introduces Nephtali

Ever wondered what master animator Glen Keane has been up to since he left Disney back in 2012? "Nephtali" is what. In this beautiful short film combining live action with animation, Glen shows why he is regarded as one of the best animators alive. I was lucky enough to have worked with him on Pocahontas back in 1994, and the animation notes he distributed for newbies like me are still among the most valuable training materials I use in the classroom today.  In this film, Glen shows us why traditional 2D animation still matters.

Planning Animation - Fagin Thumbnails by Glen Keane

Oliver and Company

The secret of great animation is in the planning. Open up a copy of Maya, the leading 3D software, and you just get a blank screen. With CG animation you get nothing for free; you must fill the blank space with creative, entertaining animation. 

The secret of doing great work is to thumbnail - that is to say, to plan out your work with sketches and scribbles - drawings which create a kind of road map of where you want to go.  

In the video below, I show how master animator Glen Keane approaches the business of doing animation thumbnails.

Thumbnails by Ruben Aquino for The Little Mermaid

The secret of great animation is in the planning. Open up a copy of Maya, the leading 3D software, and you just get a blank screen. With CG animation (or indeed any animation) you get nothing for free. So how do you fill this blank space with creative, entertaining animation? The secret of good work is to thumbnail - that is to say, to plan out your work with sketches and scribbles which create a kind of road map of where you want to go.