Walt - The Man Behind The Myth

Sometimes it's time to down tools and learn a bit about the history of animation. The pioneering giant upon whose shoulders all animators stand was Walt Disney. To understand why Disney was such a transformative figure in the history of the animation industry, watch "Walt – The Man Behind the Myth" -  a biographical documentary on the man who founded the Walt Disney Studios.  The documentary was narrated by Dick Van Dyke and directed by Jean-Pierre Isbouts.

History of Pixar

Above is an excellent short film about the history of the Pixar studio. It's a promotional piece, but also a great introduction to the history of the modern medium, the second "Golden Age" of animation. Among the impressive insights into the story-telling process at Pixar are John Lasseter suggesting that "every Pixar film at one point in time was the worst motion picture ever made". Why? Because "it's a process". In other words, it's not the doing of the thing, it is the re-doing of it that really counts.

Edward Muybridge - The Animator's Photographer

Edward Muybridge

Sooner or later all students of animation come across the work of Edward Muybridge.  Muybridge was a pioneering English photographer who spent much of his life in California, photographing studies of human and animal locomotion.

Muybridge's work, now in the public domain (i.e. the copyright has expired) is still of great importance to animators, despite having been done more than 100 years ago.

For almost any kind of animal locomotion, Muybridge is still very useful for life-action analysis, even in the era of YouTube. 

Muybridge was the first person to figure out the precise details of horse locomotion, proving that in a full gallop there was a period in the horse's stride where all four feet left the ground - something that was impossible to detect with the human eye.

Walt Disney Biography at PBS

Walt Disney at PBS

PBS has just broadcast a major new documentary on the life of one of the greatest Americans - Walt Disney.  If you missed the original broadcast you can now catch up at the PBS website here.

Why should animators learn about Walt Disney?  Because he was the founder of our industry, and the man who above all others defined the medium we work in today.  His methods have never been surpassed and even today animated films are still made essentially the same way he made them - though with better technology.  The PBS download is absolutely free.

History of Animation!

Gertie the Dinosaur - the first animated character with a personality

Every animator should know at least a little about the history of animation. Follow this link for an excellent free web-based history of the medium.

It starts at the very beginnings of attempts to capture motion, and finishes in the modern era.

When you've a has a close look, take our free online video History of Animation Quiz to see how you've done!  And, to see more about the history of animation (there many free videos at YouTube that we recommend), follow this link.

Walt - The Man Behind The Myth

Walt - The Man Behind The Myth is a 90 minute documentary about the life of the legendary animator who is, more than any single individual, responsible for the medium that we work in today. Why watch the documentary? Because it's important to know the history of our medium; we all stand on the shoulders of giants and no-one in our industry was bigger than Disney. Watching documentaries like this one helps all of us to improve our own work, by taking inspiration from the pioneers of animation, such as Walt Disney and the incredibly talented team that he put together.

Chuck Jones - Extremes and In-Betweens

Above is a wonderful documentary about the legendary Warner Bros animation director Chuck Jones. Chuck died a few years back but his influence on our medium is immense. His comic timing is hard to beat, and the characters he helped to create - Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd and Daffy Duck - still endure today.  Watch this video not just for a better understanding of the history of animation but also to see a great film-maker reveal his secrets. The sections where Chuck talks about how he timed out the jokes to the musical score are especially fascinating. Chuck Jones was a great animator, a great director, and a great comedian.

It All Started With A Mouse: The Disney Story

Students of animation can never know too much about the history of our craft. Fortunately, there are tons of great (free) resources online, including this one: It All Started With A Mouse: The Disney Story, now available at YouTube. Why study the history of our medium? Because it gives you credibility in an industry which, as much as any other, builds upon the achievements and talents of the pioneering animators of the past. Learn from the masters at Disney, polish your craft - and aim to do even better yourself. To watch the video, follow this link, or paste this into your browser: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlnpGiEjxN0

Cutting Edge Technology - In 1976

Lyon Lamb Video Animation System - a Revolution

Recently Disney producer Don Hahn posted a nostalgic piece at the Disney FaceBook Group about some cutting edge technology from 1976: the then brand-new Lyon Lamb Video Animation System. It was an astonishing development - you could shoot your animation and see a pencil test immediately instead of sending it off to the rostrum camera dept to be filmed, and then having to wait for the developed film to come back the next day. Nowadays all animators take real-time playback for granted. Until the Lyon Lamb, the only real-time playback was in the imagination of the animator. So, how did the animators do it? How could they possibly know in advance how their work would come out?

It All Started With a Mouse

It All Started With a Mouse

Below is a link to an excellent documentary on the History of Disney Animation, titled It All Started With a Mouse.  It was broadcast in 1989 - so it does not include anything from the digital era - but much of what the Disney Studio achieved is timeless, and still holds up well today. Think of classics like The Jungle Book - still great entertainment 40 years later. In short, this is an excellent documentary on the history hand-drawn animation at the studio up until the late 1980s.  The video is hosted at YouTube (for some reason I can't embed the video here) but if you follow this link you'll find it. It runs an hour and a half, and is an excellent introduction to the medium of animation.

---Alex

 

From Pencils to Pixels - the History of Animation

 

From pencils to Pixels by Alan Yentob

From Pencils to Pixels - In this excellent 2003 documentary, Producer Alan Yentob tells the story of how animation went digital. It's very thoughtful hour-long introduction to the medium by one of the BBC's most experienced Producer-directors. If your knowledge of the History of Animation could use a little polishing, this is a great place to begin. Don't forget that most animation studios are well-staffed with enthusiasts who seem to know everything about animation - including what Walt had for breakfast. Knowing the history of the medium helps single you out as a fellow animation fan, someone who has a good bit of knowledge of how the industry came to be the way it is today. All of which will help you at your next job interview.

Think You Know Your Animation History? Test your Knowledge with our QUIZ!

Call yourself an animator? Think you know the history of animation? Remember that plenty of studios want to know not just that you know how to animate, but that you have a decent general knowledge about the industry you work in. Can you tell the difference between a Merry Melody and Looney Tune? We think of animation as a modern medium, but in fact it has a long history going back at least to the ancient Chinese. So, it's time to sharpen your pencil, get yourself a piece of paper, and test your knowledge with our Animation History Quiz! The story begins 18,000 years BC....

Why Should Animators Watch Charlie Chaplin movies?

The Little Tramp. Photo: Wikipedia

Why should animators watch Charlie Chaplin films? Nancy Beiman, former supervising animator at Disney Feature Animation and now one of the key professors at Sheridan College in Toronto, thinks she has the answer.

It's because animators are, in the end, pantomime artists, and Chaplin was the greatest pantomimer of them all. At the 2014 SAS (Society of Animation Studies) conference in Toronto, Nancy explained how animation and silent film comedy developed together, inspiring one another to perfect the art of physical comedy.