history of animation

12/7 Blog 12

2005-12-07T12:13:00.000-08:00

Before watching Toy Story 2 I never the heated battle that Disney and Pixar got into. I didn't know that the competetion was so intense. How 's Pixar is clearly stated after Disney. I do enjoy tons of work from Pixar but I never thought of who Pixar was associated with. I guess I always thought that Pixar was with Disney.
I would have to agree that Toy Story 2 was one of the best anaimations ever. If I had to pick between the two of Toy Story one or Toy Story 2, I don't think I could becasue they were both amazing. I think I like the plot of Toy Story 2 better than the first one. What I enjoyed most about this movie was that the animation applied to all ages. Although it might have been a movie for kids, I think any audience would enjoy this movie. It had jokes that applied to every age group, which made the movie amazing. I spent the majority of the flim laughing. The animation did a great job relating to everyone. I thought the stupid jokes were just as funny as the jokes that most of the older audience would catch.
In general the animation was so creative with the 3d design. I was watching for little details. I noticed when woody was getting thrown away in his dream, it showed him falling down through the floor. It showed him falling through many things like the floor, and the cards. I just thought the detail of that sceen was really cool. I also noticed the close-ups of the characters. That gave the audience a feeling that you were at the toys level relating to what they were doing at the time.
The characters were all so fuuny. They had such defined personalitys which made them each so funny. They each also had such unique voices. It was fun trying to guess who was doing each of the characters voice. I think becasue each of the characters were so different it made the movie that much better. Like for example when there was two Buzz's going to find Woody. Although they were the "same" they were different. I think my favorite character was Mr. Potato Head, and his wife. Mr. Patato Head had such great jokes, along with his silly voice. I noticed that the old guy who was fixing Woody was the same character from Jerry's Game. It made me wonder if they used other characters like that from some of their previous animations from Pixar.
Seeing this animation brought me back to my childhood, and made remember what toys meant to me when I was young. The animation talking about the eternal life museum of toys, and the how the toys will be hand me downs. I think that was creative trying to figure out where the toy was going after the kids grew up. I also wonder if after kids saw this movie, if it made them feel different about playing with their toys. I think that both the kids and adults can agree that the music is really good. The song "you got a freind in me" will always make me think of Toy Story.
I thought this animations was so creative on many levels starting with animation in general. The humor, music and characters were also such an impact on the animation. It's unlikely that you find a sequel that is just as good, if not better.

11-30 Blog #11

2005-11-29T14:13:00.005-08:00

Pocahontas was one of my favorite Disney movies when I was younger. I really enjoyed the music to the movie. Now when I actually listen to lyrics they were pretty random. Although, when I was youger I didn't really understand the history lesson behind the movie. In this film the amimals didn't talk, except for Grandmother Willow who was a tree. Meeko and Flit were two of the main characters and they didn't talk at all. They used their communications through their facials and movements. The aniamls were good at being over dramatic with their movements. I thought those two characters were the best part of the movie, becasue their humor made the movie better.
The way the based the scenery on was was really pretty, but it's funny that in the real history the land looked nothing like that. The use of colors with the leaves, and when the wind was blowing it blew everything that was invloved in the scene. In general I thought the motion was interesting to watch. For example the waterfall, and swift movement of Pocahontas.
I thought that Pocanhontas was portrayed as a indian barbie doll. The image they gave John Smith was also a perfect "white man" ken doll image as well. I could see the other movies beig used in this movie. Like how John Smith looked like Aladdin, and Rad Cliff was Hook. I was starting to pick up on the familar traits as I knew more about the history of the film. In general watching this film when I was older was a good review. However, it was funny watching and trying to pick out what was irrelevant to the real history story.
Spirit was a film that I thought was really boring. I didn't really enjoy it as much as the other films. Maybe becasue it was told through horses. There were no talking with the horses, just a lot of horse noise. This was another movie where the music was so weird with crazy lyrics. I really like the drawings of the scenes, and of the horses. I thought seeing scenery was the neatest part of the movie. The horses really stressed their gestures becasue they did not talk. The horses used their ears, and eyes. They always had crazy noise, that you could always tell how the horse was feeling. Although the horses didn't talk I could understand what they were trying to say or how they were feeling. The colors were cool, becasue it was more western approach. If I saw this movie when I was younger I would be so board, and loose interest real fast. I wouldn't know how to pick out the lesson behind the movie. I'm glad that moive came out after Pocahontas.

11-30 Blog #11

2005-11-29T14:13:00.003-08:00

11-30 Blog #11

2005-11-29T14:13:00.002-08:00

11-30 Blog #11

2005-11-29T14:13:00.001-08:00

11-30 Blog #11

2005-11-29T14:13:00.000-08:00

11-9 blog #10

2005-11-09T18:05:00.000-08:00

I can't remember understanding American Tale when i was younger. I really didn't understand what the point of the movie was, but I do remember loving the song "Some Where Out There". I remember thinking it was really sad, and I enjoyed watching the little mouses.
I am so glad that I got to watch the movie becasue it really gave me a new prespective on the movie and the history behind it. It really gave me a great history lesson and it was really enjoyable to watch. Taking place in 1885, and having the Russian Mice trying to find the "American Dream" all makes so much more sense to me now. I really realized that the imigration was in such a high demand back then. Espically when the mice thought that there was no cats in America, and things were picture perfect. Having this movie fit into the "perfect image" of what America is and what it should be. It makes total sense to me of what people from Ellis Island came over expecting.
The way the animation was shown was very creative becasue it was all at a mouse's view. With everything being the correct size and seeing things from their point of view. For example when we could only see the humans legs, and the lower half of the cars. Also all the use of colors becasue it was taking place in mouse holes. The lighting was either really dark or light. It was more draker colors rather then lighter I think because of the where it was and what the mood was the majority of the movie.The facials on the mice were really good. The animation stressed the ears and that really explained the way they were feeling. The lows ears and when the would stick straight up. They really didn't stress their hands so it was important to notice the ears.
The whole thing about being able to free in America was really interesting to see becasue they couldn't say "Cat" out loud. That's funny to me because in America you should be able to have free speech and say anything you want. It really made me think about how things have changed in todays society. I really enjoyed watching how things were so tiny in the film, meaning how the animation was on a mouse's level. I also loved the voices in the different characters. They were accents from everywhere because most of the characters were from different places. The cats were funny with how aggressive they were, but I got most my laughs from the fat big cat who was so nice. I thought it was creative for all the different animals to join forces at the end, and see the mice work together. I really enjoyed watching because I understood so much more.

Blog #9 11-2

2005-11-02T10:41:00.000-08:00

Learning about what was going on in the times of 1950-1960. Eisenhower was for president and the freedom and power, and what makes us tick was all part of the 1950's. There were several adds for Eisenhower for president. The one's that we saw we really borning and drawnout. The one for GE was super long and it was very hard for me find what the point of the add was. The adds for Eisenhower were a little more creative and it was interesting for me to compare and contrast the adds back then and the ones in todays society.
We saw animations on the Cold war with Rocky and Bullwinkle. It was great because I have never seen the orginal one where you get to know all the characters and their personalitys. I like all the different animations they tie into all together. The fairy tail of Rapunzel was really funny to me, and I have seen many versions of that fairy tale. That was the best that I have seen. I enjoy all the funny characters, colors, and voices. Mr. Peabody and his boy was also so funny. The creative time machine, and in general the boy being adopted by the dog is original. The time machine gave a history story that made a lesson become so easy to understand. I think that had to benefit both kids and adults, and made it something that people enjoyed watching and learing at the same time.
I think in general the cold war had to be a rough time for people to try and understand. having the Rocky and Bullwinkle series probably made people see things in a different light. Especially because the Cold War was about weapon making and math and science. In the series there was alot high vocab with Mr. Peabody, and their was alot of modern art that was done in the 50's. I thought it was odd because of the odd shapes, and how different animation was back in the 50's compared to now. The effects we different becasue there was lots of the bombs, blowing up things, and things crashing. They way the characters ploted things were so fuuny, and also their accents were different in all the characters.
If I grew up in that generation of the Cold War, I think it would be weird to adjust to things. I would love to learn more about what was happening through these Animations, becasue it wouldn't bor me to watch, and it would keep my attention.

10-26 Blog #8

2005-10-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

In the fisrt flim we watched in class about the Muratti German Flim was really interesting to me becasue it was linked to much advertising. I think it interesting to see what was going on with the whole communist perspective back then, and what the Germans took of it. The whole communist perpestive seems very abstract to me. I didn't really reconize all the details like the classical music, and how it ties into art.
Private Snafu: Spies 1943 was really funny to me. Knowing that it was based around communist and the Nazis made it fuuny to watch. It was also good for me to watch because I had no idea what was going on back then. The Walt Disney "On The Fron Lines" told the public why they were fighting, and that was a good animation to follow. I'm sure that kept alot of people involved with what was going on at the time of all this communist action. If I grew up in that generation I would to watch that only becasue it would make it more interresting to watch and follow. It prbably was better for most people to understand aswell. Like with "Donald Gets Drafted" that was also funny about getting inlvoled with a war. "Fall In-Fall" Out was about a scary dream, and how bad would be to a communist and how good we have it to be an American. I can see that making a huge impact on society becasue I know personally I would never wish that on anyboby. Seeing that animation probably had alot to do with propaganda and made a huge impact on what people thought about the war at the time. Escpically trying to stress that war was a good thing at the time.

10-19 Blog #7

2005-10-19T19:43:00.000-07:00

I remember watching Snow White when I was younger, and thinking it was very scary because of the Queen (the evil stepmother). I just thought they way she looked was very evil, especially when she was the old scary women at the end. The Queen had such a profound look to her that made her so creative. It was like she was beautiful but chilling at the same time. Also her voice was so striking becasue she was so evil.
Princess (Snow White) was they typical girl becasue it was the 1930's. She was always cooking and cleaning and doing girl things like singing and she was very naive. She was always so cheery and happy all the time. She was very good with communicating with the animals and the dwarfs. She also made a impact on Grumpy, which is a huge deal. She was so sweet and graceful.
The seven Dwarfs were all so different, and they each had unique personalitys that made them easy to remember. They were all somewhat challanged with their personalitys in some way or another. Dopey was good at the fun games, Grumpy the tought know it all, Doc wants to be the leader, Bashful always blushing, Sleepy sneaks in his Z's anywhere, and last but not least Happy who is always so cheerful. Just the look alone of the Dwarfs was so creative because they had their own look. Big ears and eyes. Their voices were so amusing because they matched the personality of the Dwarf so well.
The animals also had very exaggerated features. The had more motion then most of the other characters. Their motion was more realistic. When the evil scenes we going on with the wind, and all the darkness, I thought the sacry eyes in the tree's and in the wind was orginal. The magic mirror was also something that caught my eye becasue of the evil reflection and voice. There was very cleaver becasue it showed true evil emotion. There was also tons of rapid hand movment. The Prince was typical because he didn't have anything major going on with him...except saving the princess. Well I guess he was kinda a big deal, but I didn't notice anything extraordinary . This film is such a classic that some day my kids will be watching it, and I don't think it can ever get old.

10-12 blog #6

2005-10-11T15:23:00.000-07:00

I just rented the movie "Team America" with the writers of "South Park" and I thought it was so good. It was first of all completely inappropriate however, it was really funny. The animation of it was amazing to me. I thought it was very creative because of the puppet theme. I have never really seen the puppet animation done before not to mention in a full movie. I thought it was very entertaining just watching the puppets interact and do stunts. I'm not sure the movie would have been as funny if it weren't for the puppet animation. The animation was fascinating to me becasue everything was realistic, but with the puppet characters. I loved the colors, and the music and voices were so funny becasue it was all so different. I thought the animation in general was very appealing to watch.
In class we watched Mickey Mouse "Steamboat Willie" and it was very old. It had really no sound at all, and it was in black and white. All the noises were very unclear, but you could tell by the expression's on the characters what was going on in the animation. It was funny, and I enjoyed the seeing the orginal animations becasue I was brought up with the newer Mickey Mouse.
I really enjoyed the "Silly Symphonies" becasue they were so different and funny. I could see why those animations were classics becasue of how creative the are. I liked the music and dancing and the synchronized movement. The stroy lines were also interesting to follow.
The 1950's "Three Little Pigs" is one my all time favorite animations. I love the music and characters and the story in general. That's one animation that I would never forget becasue it just sticks in your mind. I think that every child was brought up of the story of the "Three Little Pigs".
Another one of my favorites is Warner Brothers. "Duckamuck" was so funny. All the characters in the Warner Brothers animations are so unique because you remember them because they are all associated with something. I liked the real people being invloved in the animation, and interacting with the characters. The Porkey Pig one, was kinda random. I really didn't understand the point of the animation, but it kept me watching because it was so different. The Opera animation was really funny. The singing with their voices, and the story line it self was amazing. The shawdows were funny to see with the little characters. I like how things were exaggerated. The "Rabbit Of Seville" was cool becasue of the famous songs. It was also very humorous. I feel like some of these older animations are comical then recent Warner Brother animations.

10-5 blog #5

2005-10-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

In the first part of class we watched "Trip to the Moon" music video by Smashing Pumkins. I really enjoyed it becasue of the new animation it had, and of course the music. It was so different from the original one, but I think the music had a lot to do with that. Ohh and probably becasue the orginal one was made in 1902.
When watching the Betty Boops animation I was trying to remember if I had watched any when I was younger. I don't ever remember watching the show, but I knew it was really old. Looking back on it today, I just remember that I saw tons of the apparel. Watching it was new for me, but it seemed very old to me. I couldn't understand a lot of what Betty Boop was saying. It seemed like the sound was unclear. I thought her imitations were funny however, I didn't know who she was making fun of. The music and signing were all in tune with each other. I also thought that adding the real people into the mix of the animation was cool. The music was cool becasue it was the late 1920's and it was jazz and blues. I really didn't know that was the Great Depression when Betty Boop was going on. It was interesting to think about that when watching the animation.
The next animation we watched was Popeye. I really enjoyed Popeye becasue I thought it was a great animation with tons of humor. When watching it in black and white and color, I thought it was still amazing in both views. Although the sound was still hard to understand I'm thinking it was just becasue it was so old. Ali Baba had more music and I thought it was more creative. Popeye seems like he is always talking and there is no silence which cracks me up. I just thought in general Popeye was more intresting to watch because of the humor. I also like the little details in the animation, and the color added to it. The little detail added to the humor becasue you could see the antics happening.
Starting watching the first Superman in color which was the icon in the 1930's. Seeing how everything has changed from the comic book to the orginal Superman, and the Superman today is very interesting. The one we watched, Superman looks like he came straight out of the comic book. There was more motion and and cloesups. It was pretty serious for the most part, with the only joke at the end, with the people not knowing who Superman really is. It crazy to think that in the animation Superman changes what he fights for becasue of the time period.

9-28 Blog #4

2005-09-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

The movie about Lotte Reiniger was very interesting to me. It had so much history involving many different people. It was kinda hard to follow becasue there was so much information coming through. Knowing that the movie was so old I got more information out of it.
The Animation of the Silhouette film was more interesting to me. It was easier for me to follow becasue it had more animation going on in it. I really enjoyed ithe music and all the fun colors. The big movements by the characters hands really made a big impact. The staging had very percise movement. Also they characters were more defined. Also as the scenes went on they became more complex. I really enjoyed following how each movement changed form scene to scene. I love the silawet in the animation, because I haven't seen much animation like that.
I enjoy seeing how the eurpean animation began becasue everything is different. Knowing where they started and how they got their idea's is very intriguing to me. I wonder if animation is as big as it is here, and if it has the effect that it does on our scoiety. I am looking forward to picking out the principle's of animation in more of the color animation.

9-21 Blog #3

2005-09-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

Learning about the principles of animation has really made me watch for certain details in animation. It really makes me watch for detail that I would have never noticed, or even thought about when watching animation. The old animation is where I have noticed I have caught the most things missing. I think it also it depends on the animation is presented. It could be certain animation, so naturally several principles would be missing.
When watching "The Cathedral" I was trying to think what of the prinicples was missing. I loved watching "The Cathedral" because it was intresting to me. Although it was animation without a story line it was still so intringing for me to watch. I loved the music because it really set the mood of the animation. How it was intense and then you could here church hims when he was in the church. What ever the scene was the music matched it very well. I also enjoyed the color. It was so bright yet so dark at the same time. There was so much detail in the movie, like when you can see faces in the church. I really enjoyed just trying to figure out what was going to happen next, or what the point was at the end.
Gertie the Dinosaur was really good too. It was older, but it was amazing for how old it was and how they created it. The colors were dull, and the drawings were simple, but it was still very entertaining to see. The humor was communicated by the words which made the animation good to follow. It was also really funny to see the "Krazy Kat" series, and Felix. It's so old, but it makes me laugh becasue it's so different from the Felex that we watch today. Seeing it in black and white is so different from color. I think the color adds more to the animation. I think the black and white is really missing the appeal to the animation.
Getting to know more about the principles of animation, it makes me always wonder what's missing in what i'm watching. I think it's harder to find missing principles in the newer animation rather than the old. When I am watching the old Simpson's i can really see how much the show has improved in general. The newer Simpson's has better color, sound, action, and appeal. I really enjoy learning about this because now watching a simple cartoon is so different.

9/14 #2

2005-09-13T19:41:00.000-07:00

Watching all the animations in class last week really opened up my eyes to old animation and new animation. Also seeing simple animation seemed so interesting to me. The first animation that we watched with the balloon, was so simple yet so creative. Having barley any sound or action it was so funny to me. Although, the same thing with the rattle, and balloon kept happening, it still kept my attention. Going further into the animations, "Trip to the Moon" was very interesting to me. Until now I thought the Smashing Pumpkins Video was the only version of the film. On top of that I had no idea what it was about. Seeing the orginal video with the voice in the background explaining what was happening really gave me new insight to the animation. Seeing that animation was made in 1902, that was such a huge deal. Having the different outfits, and backgrounds really gave the video meaning. Comparing that to the other animations that we watched it was more creative, because the others were so simple. Like what Miles George, or J. Stuart Blackton creative was all so different. How they just took a camera of random things, then further on added staged actions. It was also interesting to see the non-staged events like how people lived back then, and what they wore to work, or what they did for fun back then.
Walt Disney began so young and went too far with all of his creative animation. It's amazing to look back on how got the ideas to create all these characters, and films. Starting in 1919 going straight into being a "workaholic" really paided off for Walt Disney and all his success. Some of my all time favorite movies are Disney movies. Disney movies have made a huge impact on todays society. Growing up, most kids admire a Disney character. For me it was Ariel from "The Little Mermaid", or Bell from "The Beauty and The Beast". I don't remember the early stuff that Disney started with. Alice's or Felix was way before my time. I do remember when Mickey Mouse was on, and when it was in black and white. Still being a classic created in 1932. It seems like forever ago that "The great Mouse Detective" was creative. However, it was in 1986. I enjoy the movies and shows in color well, becasue it's more my generation. It's amazing to see what was created when, and how long it took to be a success in the Disney generations.

9-7 post #1

2005-09-07T20:09:00.000-07:00

It is very interesting for me to think how far animation dates back. I haven't ever really thought about this till class. When I was younger it never even occurred to me what was new and what was considered old. I never thought about how many of my ultimate favorite movies and shows are animation. The entire classic's like Disney movies, The Simpson's, Family Guy, and all the kids show's on the cable stations. I'm pretty sure the animation TV's shows and movies were all I was watching till I was in middle school. I mean who can honestly say they hate the Lion King?
I am so exicited to learn more about how animation became what it is today. There are so many different types of animation including pictures with sound, no sound, stick figures, drawings, colors, black and white, etc. The list can go on forever. I also never thought about the equipment/technology they had to form the animation. I always wonder what the inspiration is behind creating a character, or picture behind the animation.
Going back to the Lion King, I was just thinking about how much detail is really in that movie. It seems like a world's difference from the one's back in the 1870's. Everything from the color, music, voices, picture, and theme was so much more advanced. I can't wait to learn how animation grew from then until now.

history of animation

2005-09-03T10:45:00.000-07:00

just making sure everything works...