Affection for the Art of Animation

Here's my 'A' post of the A-Z challenge!

When I was in high school, I had a talent for recreating stills of animated movies.  I could pause a tape (yes, VHS tape!  No DVD player in 1994-1999!) and advance it frame by frame in slow motion until I found the image I wanted and then draw it.  The magic of a few lines on paper coming to life has always fascinated me.  The entire animation process, from storyboarding an idea to fine tuning the characters and recording the vocals that would later bring them to life, is completely enchanting and amazing to me.

I pursued animation as a career for some time, even majoring in Graphic Design in college and taking every animation class they had to offer.  But it was not to be.  I'm content to not have become an animator.  I would have had to leave GA for CA and as much as I enjoyed my visit to Los Angeles in 2001, I don't think I would ever want to live there.  (If you are reading this and you live in California, I'm not dissing it.  I just love Georgia and would miss it!) :)

I still love animation, though I'm not as much of a trivia nerd about it as I was some years ago.  I was actually banned from playing Disney Trivial Pursuit with my husband's family because not only did I know all of the answers, I actually found 2 mistakes. (One of them: "Name Cinderella's two ugly stepsisters." The answer printed on the card was "Anastasia and Cruella".  The answer is "Anastasia and Drizella". Cruella is the villainess in 101 Dalmatians.)  I know nearly every character from every Disney movie, from Snow White all the way up to The Princess and the Frog.  I can recite most lines and dialogue exchanges and sing ALL of the songs! :)  (Which proves, beyond any doubt, that I had entirely too much free time on my hands when I was a teenager and into my early 20s.  Just sayin'.)

Here are a few of my favorite animated Disney characters in no particular order:

Stitch of "Lilo and Stitch"

Dumbo

Frost Fairies from the original 1940s "Fantasia"

Sprite of Spring from "Fantasia 2000"

Tantor from "Tarzan"

Of course, not all of my favorite animation is by Disney.  I'm a huge fan of Chuck Jones' style of animation, namely Rikki Tikki Tavi, Mowgli's Brother's, The White Seal, and A Cricket in Times Square.

Chuck Jones also directed and influenced a number of Warner Bros Looney Tunes cartoons.  This is by far my favorite:



There are other animated shorts that I love.  This one is a beautiful example of "live line" animation, which means the rough sketch has been animated and the drawings appear to "wiggle" a little bit.



And then there is the entire other creature of computer animation.  I love traditional 2D, sketch animation the best, but there is a lot to be said for computer animation and the brilliance of such animators as the people at Pixar Animation Studios.  Partnering with Disney to create films = best corporate decision EVER!  Here's my favorite Pixar short:



And finally, here is one of my favorite computer animated shorts, which won the 2009 Best Animation Award.  Enjoy. :)