History of Animation

Comments for post 12

2005-12-11T15:23:00.000-08:00

Post #12 The Last Class :(

2005-12-07T20:05:00.000-08:00

Today, sadly, was the last day of this class and we watched The Nightmare Before Christmas. I remember when I was in the first grade this movie came out in theaters. I did not understand how scary ghosts and goblins could possibly be related to Christmas, and being scared of scary movies in general, I never opted to watch it. The movies was bizarre but interesting as well. I would say it falls into every category including comedy, romance, fear, and a typical Christmas carol/movie. It was a good movie, nonetheless, but I don't think I would have even understood it if I watched it when I was that young. I think that the story is more for an older audience than it is for little kids because even I was a little scared.

The visual effects and the claymation were amazing. The characters were all lovable and each had their own distinct and unique personalities. Sometimes some characters looked like real human people, like the Boogy Man. It looked like someone was dressed up in a costume and acting around. Some characters were kind of bla and insignificant even thought they were a main character, like Sally. I didn't like her very much. For the first half of the film, I thought her hair was a scarf or a headpiece that nuns wear. Her hair wasn't parted at all and it wasn't until the end that I realized that was her hair. I liked the other characters including the two-faced mayor and the Jack's dog that was ghost. The musical numbers were also very nice. My favorite song was "What's This?" when Jack, the Pumpkin King, first saw Christmas Town. Danny Elfman, the voice of Jack, has an amazingly beautiful voice, and the tune of the song was very catchy.

In general, I thought that the mix of two opposite holidays was very interesting, but it made me feel weird becuase you never mix those two holidays together ever. Nonetheless, it was a very entertaining flim and very appropriate for the timing we are in now. This was a great class and I'm glad I got to take it!

Comments for post 11

2005-12-01T16:53:00.000-08:00

mike's post

ryan's post

Post #11 Toy Story 2

2005-11-30T20:01:00.000-08:00

Comments for post 10

2005-11-12T14:10:00.000-08:00

joshua's post

dina's post

Post #10 Pocahontas

2005-11-09T18:06:00.000-08:00

Today in class we watched the Disney movie Pocahontas. Tonight was the first time I have ever seen that movie and I thought it was great. Back when it came out in 1995, I had no interest in watching it because I thought it was a serious and boring movie. The fact that it was an animated cartoon movie wasn't even enough for me to go see it. I didn't even watch Mulan either (which is probably a good movie too). Every aspect and feature of Pocahontas was phenomenal, from the beautiful and vibrant colors to the great songs, especially "Colors of the Wind."

The animation of the movie was absolutely gorgeous. My favorite scene was John Smith's first encounter with Pocahontas at the river/waterfall. The scene was so beautiful with the streaming waterfall and blue river, and then Pocahontas emerges out of the mist and looks stunning. John is just mesmorized by her beauty and is in awe. It was a very well done scene perfect for what was going on. I also liked how every time the wind blew around her pink and orange feathers and leaves would by flying around her. It gave a calm and serene and peaceful feeling.

The songs in the movie were very beautiful and the lyrics were very meaningful as well. The animals were very adorable as well. They provided the comic relief for the movie because it was a drama. Every scene Meeko, the raccoon, was in was hilarious. He was so cute and sweet and lovable. I thought Flit, the hummingbird was irritating.

Even though the movie was historically incorrect, it was nonetheless a spectacular film. The love story between John Smith and Pocahontas was so sweet and powerful at the same time. It was like Romeo and Juliet because they were two lovers from rival backgrounds. The ending was so sad because they made a realistic decision by not being together. Pocahontas was a different animated film in the sense that it wasn't a typical fairy tale with a nonrealistic happy ending. However the movie does a good job of conveying a positive image to children about the British and the Native American Indians.

After doing some light research on Pocahontas, as well as learning in class, I found out some interesting facts about Pocahontas. The song "If I Never Knew You" wasn't in the original because it wasn't finished in time, but was put in the special 10th anniversary edition. Pocahontas was the only Disney movie inspired by fact (sort of, non-accurate facts). Pocahontas was the first to have the first on-screen death of a human character in a Disney animated film (when Kokoum got shot by one of the soldiers).

All in all I thought Pocahontas was a great film. I really enjoyed it and I'm glad I got to watch it!

Comments for post 9

2005-11-06T22:38:00.000-08:00

tom's post

dina's post

Post #9 Beep! Beep!

2005-11-02T15:35:00.000-08:00

Who doesn't love the classic endless chase between Wile E. Coyote and the Road Runner? Growing up, one of my favorite cartoons to watch was Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner. Created by Chuck Jones for Warner Brothers in 1949, it became part of the series of Looney Tunes and Merry Melodies. According to Jones, the graphic design as well as speed and gravity were the major components that contributed to the success of the show.

In every episode the setting was always a vast and arid desert with canyons and cliffs. Every episode consisted of Coyote concocting some great scheme to capture the Road Runner. However, in every episode, he would always fail to capture Road Runner. He relies on ACME products that never work to cath Road Runner. Coyote doesn't talk and Road Runner only sneaks up behind him and goes "Beep! Beep!" but they never speak to each other. In devising all his plans, Coyote always manages to get hurt. Most of the time it is self inflicted, whether he falls off of a cliff or gets hit by an anvil. However many failed attempts he has, he never gives up.

My favorite part of the cartoon is Wile E. Coyote's facial expressions and his hand held signs. I love how his eyes can tell you his emotions. He's always so persistant yet stubborn. He is an intelligent character, but he just has bad luck. He always has such bad luck, that I feel sorry for the poor guy. I'd love to see him catch the stupid bird, but I guess that would mean it's the end of the show.

Comments on Post 8

2005-10-26T21:35:00.000-07:00

Here are me comments for Dina's post

Here are my comments for Laura's post

Post #8 Rocky and Bullwinkle

2005-10-26T19:33:00.000-07:00

Today in class we watched a couple of episodes from the animated cartoon show Rocky and Bullwinkle. While growing up, I never liked this cartoon at all. I thought it was stupid and boring and I was never able to get the jokes. As a 19 year old watching it today in class, I thought it was by far one of the best cartoons I've ever seen. Because I am older now I can actually understand the jokes and laugh at them. Watching it from a whole new perspective makes all the difference. Thier adventures are so random, and they actually keep you interested and eager to know what he outcome will be. The jokes and puns are corny, but they're witty and funny at the same time.

The best feature of Rocky and Bullwinkle is how it mixes mini little cartoons with completely different characters into the show. The characters are great and each have their own distinct personality and are very amusing. Every cartoon usually starts with one specific character and then it evolves into the main character having many friends. Rocky and Bullwinkle started out with just Rocky and then just Bullwinkle, but now it's Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends. The "Friends" are one of the funniest parts of the show. First, you have the villains which are two Russian spies, Boris and Natasha, that are always trying to "keel the moose." Then you have completely separate mini cartoons within the show including "Fractured Fairy Tales" and "Peabody's Improbable History."

The "Fractured Fairy Tales" were hilarious, comedic reenactments of traditional fairy tales. We watched Rapunzel and Puss'n'boots in the Fractured Fairy Tales episodes we saw today. The Fractured Fairy Tales made fun of the cliches of traditional fairy tales. For example, in the Rapunzel episode, when the prince tells Rapunzel the reasons as to why he came to her (because he heard her singing and she's so pretty), she responds by saying, "Okay, I like you too." The fractured fairy tales also seem to have a modern age twist to them. Half of them look like they are set in the fifties and the other half set in the olden times.

"Peabody's Improbably History" was about a witty, talking dog named Mr. Peabody who happens to be genius with a Harvard degree. He adopts a boy named Sherman and they go back in time in his "Wayback Machine." They encounter many historical figures from the past and have funny adventures with them. Whatever they do when they go into the past happens to affect the real outcome of every event in the future. Then the episode ends with Mr. Peabody saying a pun related to some event, whether it be current or from history.

Overall, Rocky and Bullwinkle definitely proved to be a very funny show to me after watching it now that I am older. Watching it in class today has interested me into possibly catching more episodes of it because I got a good laugh out of all the characters in all the episodes.

Post #7 Garfield The Movie versus the Cartoon

2005-10-18T23:27:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love the lazy, lasagna loving, adorable and orange, fat cat who loves to sleep? Garfield started out as a comic strip created by Jim Davis and soon evolved into a television cartoon show. The cartoon revolves around Garfield and his day to day adventures. He loves lasagna and loves to sleep and get his "z's", constantly daydreaming about the two. He makes fun of his owner, Jon, all the time about how he has no game when it comes to women, plus he plays tricks on Odie, the dog, whenever he gets the chance. His sarcastic humor and his hatred for Mondays makes him such a lovable feline. I grew up watching Garfield the cartoon, and I absolutely loved the cartoon. When I saw commercials for the live-action, computer generated film Garfield: The Movie, naturally of course, I wanted to see it. I actually never got a chance to catch it in theaters and heard it got bad reviews. I did however, catch it on HBO Family the other night and watched the entire film. Much to my disappointment, it didn't live up to my expectations at all. The highly anticipated animated Garfield The Movie wasn't as good as the cartoon.

Being a big Garfield fan, I expected Garfield to be more cute in the computer graphically animated way than in the cartoon, however he was not. He looked raggedy and old, not soft and bright and furry and cute as he was portrayed in the cartoon. His voice was done by Bill Murray, who did a good job playing Garfield. Even his attitude was off a little, you just didn't feel like it was the Garfield that you love. Jon was played by Breckin Meyer, who didn't suit the part of Jon well at all. Odie was played by a real dog, which was annoying because he couldn't really respond to Garfield, not that Odie ever did talk to Garfield, but he would still kind of react to Garfield in some way. Even the other cats Garfield interacted with were real...and weird. Garfield's witty sarcasm and blunt comments were practically non-existent in the movie. I also thought the fusion of real life and animation wasn't done well in the movie because Garfield didn't seem to stand out as much. He kind of just looked bla and something out of the ordinary. In general, Garfield The Movie seemed to be more geared towards toddlers rather than to an adult audience. The story line was dull and predictable and there were very few laugh out loud parts, if any. One can conclude that the producers probably just wanted to make a family friendly film because the real Garfield is too risque for people out there ? Who knows....

Comments on Post 7

2005-10-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

Here are my comments on Ryan's post

Here are my comments on Lisa's post

Post #6 Snow White and the Seven Dwarves

2005-10-12T20:43:00.000-07:00

Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was one of Walt Disney's first feature length animated films. After doing some light research on the making of Snow White, I found out that it took a whopping six hundred artists in three years to make the animated film. The creators even had to go through hundreds of names before they picked the seven names for the seven dwarves. The songs in the musical also became classics, such as "Whistle While You Work" and "High Ho." All that work and effort put into it was well appreciated because Snow White ended up winning an academy award for its advanced animation. Snow White and the Seven Dwarves combined many different elements to make itself a classic that is still viewed by today's generation.

It's funny how when you get older you see all these details you never noticed when you were watching these Disney movies while growing up. I thought that it was extremeley funny that all the dwarves were handicapped in one way or the other. For example, Doc had a stuttering problem, Sneezy had a case of permanent allergies, Dopey was mute, and you could even say that Sleepy was narcoleptic. Grumpy even seems to be a shovenist throughout the time Snow White was staying with them. He says women are evil and they're "poison." Whatever.

Another interesting aspect of Snow White was how the animals were doing so much work in the beginning of the movie when they first entered the dwarves' home. For example, the squirrels dusted with their tails, the birds hung clothes and picked flowers and put them in a vase, and the deer carried clothes with its antlers. In a sense, the animals were given human capabalities i.e. the ability to "clean", however they were still limited to their animalistic capabilities (like how the sqirrels used their tails to dust or how the birds used their beaks to carry things). The animals were all so shy and cute too. Overall, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves was a very sweet movie because of the way all the characters were, except the evil stepmother, of course.

Comments on Post 6

2005-10-12T13:11:00.000-07:00

Here are my comments for Bryanne's post

Here are my comments for John's post

Post #5 Looney Tunes

2005-10-05T20:15:00.000-07:00

Today in class, we watched a couple of early Looney Tunes cartoons starring Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, and Porky the Pig. All of them were very amusing and down right hilarious. I loved the cartoon entitled "Duck-A-Muck" in which Daffy Duck is being tormented by the animator, who ends up being Bugs Bunny. It was so funny to see how frustrated Daffy would be when every scene was changing for him. He adopted to the changes pretty well in each scene. For example, he quickly changed from being one of the three musketeers to a farmer and then to a skiier in a matter of 60 seconds without complaining. However, in the end, he was very fumed and angered and threw a huge tantrum, but it was all in good fun. I really enjoy animations and even real television shows that incorporate the director of the show into the actual show or animation. In cartoons especially, you get the sense that the character is an actual real celebrity with feelings and everything. It's very amusing to see a cartoon character talk to its creater let alone yell at them.
We also watched another cartoon with Daffy and Porky and the Pig entitled "You Ought To Be in Pictures." It was a very cute and funny episode where Daffy tries to convince Porky to leave the cartoon business and pursue movies. This cartoon was an early example of the integration of animated cartoon characters with real life people in motion. It's always fun to watch animations that are incorporated into live motion pictures such as Roger the Rabbit and Space Jam. It is especially amusing to see cartoon characters talk to real humans because that is obviously fake and unreal.
One of my favorite characters that we watched tonight was Bugs Bunny. We watched a couple of cartoons starring him as well as Elmer Fudd. I love how he so easily fools Elmer whenever he dresses up as a woman or any way for that matter. Bugs is a very genuine character because he is so slick and clever and just so darn cute. He also does the craziest things to Elmer, that one would think he would get caught and killed on the spot, but somehow the wabbit manages to get out everytime. Overall, the characters of Looney Tunes have captured people's hearts from the beginning because of their adorable humor and their realness.

Blog Post #4 Betty Boop

2005-09-30T13:16:00.000-07:00

She represented the good times of the roaring twenties. With her short skirts and voluptuous figure, she was the perfect flapper. She represented the spirit of the age with her love to party and flirtatious personality. Created by Max Fleischer, Betty Boop was the first international adored animated superstar that had something no other cartoon character had: sex appeal. Her cartoons in the twenties were like modern day jazzy music videos. She was very charming and easy to fall in love with, literally. In practically every episode someone or something would be chasing her.
One enjoyable episode was a rendition of Disney’s Snow White. Fleischer crammed such bizarre elements into the six minute skit. The old witch/stepmother turned into many ugly things throughout the cartoon. First she turned into just an ugly witch, but by the end she was a hideous dragon like animal with ducks coming out of her head. Thankfully, Betty and the other characters managed to escape her wrath. At the end, they all sang and held hands in a circle. How can anyone not love this adorable woman?
Another episode we watched in class was the one where she did a series of impersonations. She sang and danced, and changed her outfits accordingly. In one scene, she was a hula dancer, dancing away on the beach in her hula skirt and her lei which was the only thing covering her top. She rubbed black ink over her face to give herself a Hawaiian tan and danced seductively into the sunset. I thought that was the cutest impersonation and she was a good dancer too! Betty Boop’s combination of childlike innocence and sex appeal made her an enchanting and lasting animated character.

Post #3 Finding Nemo

2005-09-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Yet again Disney and Pixar take us on an adventure, this time through the tales of the deep blue sea in the East Australia Current. Finding Nemo is a wonderful colorfully animated movie with great characters, sentimental themes, and witty and funny dialogue. We are introduced to many leagues under the sea, the main character being Nemo, a shy and humble clownfish. He is his father’s beloved and most protected son. One day when Nemo decides to be a little rebel, he finds himself in a difficult predicament. He is scooped out of the deep blue sea and thrown into the fish tank of an Australian dentist’s office. From there, the movie is dedicated to the arduous journey of his father, Marlin, and a fellow lady fish friend, Dory, trying to find him. The combination of brilliant animation and humorous dialogue contributed to the success of Finding Nemo. The bright and sharp, computer generated animation made watching Finding Nemo very pleasurable to the eye. The advanced lifelike motion and imaginative artwork made Finding Nemo a true unique original. The alternating patterns of light and color used to depict the underwater world helped make the animation look very real. The creators paid great attention to every little detail, from the reflective glass of the scuba diver’s goggles, to the build up on the fish tank. They even managed to make the fish show emotion. That is amazing in itself because you have to consider the fact that the fish only have eyes and a mouth. With the impressive imagery and loveable characters, Finding Nemo instantly becomes a classic.

Post #2 Gertie the Dinosaur

2005-09-14T21:19:00.000-07:00

Gertie the Dinosaur, created by Winsor McCay, was one of the most fascinating cartoons when ealry cartoons had come out. McCay used thousands of drawings to create the animation of a living, moving, breathing, and eating dinosaur. The cartoon itself looked amazing for a basically manually and hand drawn cartoon. Gertie would dance along with the background music and ate just about everything in sight. She even devoured a whole tree. She also showed emotions such as joy by smiling and sadness by crying. In short, she had a personality. To show this kind of movement and emotion in an animation was very advanced for the time it was done in. It was one of McCay's greatest achievements.

What is so fascinating about this cartoon is that it was hand drawn. It was a very long cartoon, so you could only imagine how many drawings he had to have made. Another interesting aspect of the cartoon was how McCay would tell Gertie what to do. It was also very interesting and nice to see in the ending, how Gertie lifted Winsor and mounted him onto her back. It was as if he was her tamer or trainer or master, and it also kind of showed how important they were to each other. McCay obviously put a tremendous amount of effort into creating the cartoon, so naturally, he wanted to incorporate himself into the cartoon as well. Gertie the Dinosaur proved to be a well animated trained dinosaur.

Post #1 South Park

2005-09-14T21:07:00.000-07:00

South Park is a witty animated series that airs on Comedy Central on Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. It is about four young boys living in the small town of South Park in Colorado. South Park is an extremely unique cartoon because of the raw and crude humor used by the young boys. The jokes are funny as well as the charcters themselves. The jokes, the plots, the way the characters are drawn, and even their voices make South Park a hilarious animated comedy.
All of the characters are all very funny to watch because they have really funny personalities. They also look very funny because they are so cute. They are always bundled up in coats, hats, gloves, and scarves, and even one kid, Kenny, is bundled all the way up so you can olny see his eyes. The plots are always very random and seem to not make sense, but in the end, there is always a moral and lesson learned. The way the show takes place around these four little boys makes it even funnier. Sometimes you cant believe the crazy things they do. Their personalities and humor is what makes the show so funny. The kids of Southpark dont seem to be scared of anything and will try everything even without knowing what it is.
Although South Park may seem childish it discusses and brings to light very important things that occur in both our everyday life and in the world. Some examples of the issues discussed in South Park are wars, such as the war on Iraq, presidencies such as the appointment of President George Bush, natural disasters such as The Tsunami. Other examples include celebrity gossip such as the “Michael Jackson trial” and “Jennifer and Brad Pitt’s break up.”
The characters of South Park spend endless amounts of time criticizing each other and making fun of each other. They stop at nothing to humiliate and embarrass each other using as much profanity and vulgar language as possible. They seem to not understand the meaning of holding back or respecting one another.
Some of the titles of certain episodes are “Cartman gets an anal probe,” “Weight gain 4000,” “Volcano,” “An elephant makes love to a pig,”and “Cow days.” This is to give you a feel about how random and raw the humor in South Park can be. It’s also very interesting to see and watch what the new generation is watching and being able to relate to. This is a good example of how television has evolved especially animated television over the years.

this is just a test

2005-09-14T11:57:00.000-07:00