It All Started With a Mouse - The History of Disney Animation

It All Started With a Mouse

Below is 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 withstands close scrutiny today. 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 OK. It runs an hour and a half, and is an excellent introduction to the medium of animation.

---Alex

 

Jack Kirby Makes Disney and Marvel Blink

Next Monday, the Supreme Court of the United States was to announce whether it would hear an appeal from the Jack Kirby estate over the estate's copyright claims.

Today, Marvel and the Kirby estate jointly announced that they have reached a settlement.

“Marvel and the family of Jack Kirby have amicably resolved their legal disputes, and are looking forward to advancing their shared goal of honoring Mr. Kirby’s significant role in Marvel’s history.” 

I hope that more details emerge.  From my perspective, I hope that Jack Kirby receives co-creator credit on the various comics he spearheaded with Stan Lee.  Furthermore, I hope that the estate receives royalties on Kirby reprints, Kirby designed merchandise and the flood of superhero movies that are being made using characters that Kirby designed and co-created.

There are people who are constantly commenting on various news sites that Kirby's children and grandchildren had nothing to do with creating the work and so don't deserve anything.  My response is that Robert Iger and the stockholders of the Walt Disney company had nothing to do with it either, yet they're making money from it.  Why do their rights trump Kirby's family?

I congratulate the Kirby family for their persistence.  If Jack and Roz Kirby were alive, they would be very proud that their family stood up to one of the largest entertainment conglomerates on the planet and made them acknowledge the value of Jack Kirby's work. 

It's nice to get a happy ending.

Disney's CG Jungle Book Cast

Director Jon Favreau has pulled together an incredible cast that not only includes Christopher Walken and Giancarlo Esposito, but also Scarlett Johansson, Idris Elba, Lupita Nyong'o, Ben Kingsley and newcomer Neel Sethi. 



In the new Jungle Book, Giancarlo Esposito will lend his voice to Akela, the leader of the wolf pack who takes in the abandoned Mowgli.



Lupita Nyong'o, who broke through with her debut role in 12 Years a Slave to Oscar accolades, will play Mowgli's adopted mother, a wolf called Rakcha.



Ben Kingsley will channel his intensity into the role of the black panther Bagheera, whose voice in the orginal book is described as "as soft as wild honey dripping from a tree."



In an unexpected but clever move, Scarlett Johansson was cast as Kaa. Voiced in the animated movie by male voice actor Sterling Holloway, the hypnotizing snake will have an added and sultry appeal coming from the actress who sold Her with her voice alone.



Idris Elba will bring his thunderstorm of a voice to the cunning and killer cat of the jungle Shere Khan, a role voiced by George Sanders in the animated movie.



And last but not least is little Neel Sethi as Mowgli, the hero of our adventure, whom was voiced by Bruce Reitherman back in 1967.



There's one notable absence in the cast so far: Baloo the Bear. Originally voiced by Phil Harris, the character was spun-off into his own series TailSpin, and became a much-beloved character for kids of the '90s, as well. So where is he? We'll give you more on The Jungle Book's casting as it develops. 

The Illusion of Life - the Original Animation Bible

The original animation bible

The Illusion of Life was first published in the 1970s. It caused a sensation among animators, because it represented for the first time in print the accumulated wisdom of the Disney studio - set out in detail for anyone who cared to learn. The 1970s were a lean time for animation; Walt Disney was dead and the revival that would come with Who Framed Roger Rabbit? and The Little Mermaid was still far in the future.

The Illusion of Life was written by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnstone, two of Disney's so-called "Nine Old Men", two of his top animators who had been with him since the early days and whose work had much to do with the development of the Disney style. Between them they created some of the most memorable moments in Disney animation.

Frank Thomas (centre) and Ollie Johnstone (Right)

The last film they worked on was The Fox and The Hound, not by any means a great film, but better than the next one that Disney would release - The Black Cauldron. By the 1970s Frank and Ollie were doing less animation, and focusing more on their book. The idea was to create a "bible" for future generations of animators, an authoritative reference work that make sure that the craft of animation developed under Walt Disney's benign leadership would not disappear. At the same time, they would tell the story of the Disney Studio.

The book is really two books in one. Around 10% of it is a manual of methods, a how-to guide for the aspiring animator and film-maker. The rest is the story of the Disney Studio - and a compelling story it is too. So good in fact, that it easily distracts the student from their purpose - to learn the nuts and bolts of animation.

Years ago, I took my copy of the book to a Xerox machine and copied all the bits that were relevant to the study of animation, so that I would not get distracted by the rest. It worked, but the original book is still a much more beautiful thing to take down from the shelf and enjoy.

Like The Animator's Survival Kit, The Illusion of Life is a book that should be on every animator's shelf.

---Alex

To find out about what it's like to study with us at Bucks New University, come and visit us at one of our Open Days,  take a virtual tour of one of our animation studios, check out what our students think of our course, and see why we're ranked in the top 12 creative universities in the UK. Find out why we're giving free laptops to all our students, and why we give all our students free access to videos at Lynda.com. Also, see what financial assistance might be available to you. Learn which is better for animation, a PC or a Mac? Get hold of a copy of a map so you can find your way around campus, and learn about motion capture at Bucks. And find out about how our online video tutorials work.

Big Hero Trailer 2

in case you live under a rock and haven't seen this yet

T Dan Hofstedt explains The Secret of Animation

T. Dan Hofstedt - animation supremo

My old friend and former kumrad at Disney animation, T Dan Hofsted, recently posted at Facebook a reply to a student asking how to become an animator. T Dan is one of the best animators I know, a veteran of countless Disney hits including The Lion King, Pocahontas, Hercules and Mulan, so he ought to know a thing or two about how to make it as an animator. Here is what he wrote:

"I recently received a letter from an aspiring animation student asking me how to become an animator. I have been asked this question many times over the years. I myself asked that very same question when I was first starting out, so I try to give back and offer some kind of guidance that will hopefully give them some insight.

I also get asked by friends and relatives who have a friend or son or niece or nephew or grandchild who shows some talent and interest in animation. Here is one answer...

T Dan brought Mr Arrow to life in Treasure Planet

"THE SECRET OF ANIMATION"

"There is no "secret formula" other than good old fashioned hard work and dedication. The more you do something, the better you will get.

Drawing is the foundation of all good animation, even if you are working mainly on a computer. Therefore, make a habit of carrying a sketchbook and drawing the world around you. People, pets, buildings, zoo animals, athletic events, dancers, bus riders, people in meetings, actors off the television, etc. Draw draw draw.

Getting the acting right. Photo: Wikipedia

How do I choose acting shots? There are so many possibilities, it is difficult to choose. But a simple contrast of emotions is a good place to start. A character going from happy to sad, or tired to awake, or from concerned to relieved, or from confident to scared. Anything that shows that the character is experiencing a change in emotion that the audience can believe and identify with has the potential to be a strong animation scene.

My last tip for you is what I used to tell all my students at Animation Mentor. I call it "The Secret of Animation."

What is animation? The word animation means to "give life" or "be alive," or as Frank & Ollie's famous book describes it, "The Illusion of Life." So, LIFE is at the core of what animation is. By definition, anything that is alive is animated, right? You, your family, your friends, your pets, the animals at the zoo, the grocer down the street are ANIMATED because they are living and breathing creatures. They possess life. So, the art of animation is to portray LIFE in the characters you draw or manipulate in the computer. Living creatures possess the ability to experience life around them through their 5 senses: Seeing, Hearing, Tasting, Touching and Smelling (you can add a 6th sense of inward intuition to the list). Only living creatures possess this ability to see, hear, taste, touch and smell.

The Five senses. Photo: Wikipedia

So, when you animate something, the only way to convince your audience that your characters are alive (truly animated) is to show them experiencing their world through their senses. If they see something, show them seeing something eye direction, attention to the object, etc. If they hear something, show them hearing something. If they taste something, show them tasting something. If they touch something or are being touched by something, show that clearly. And if they are smelling something, show them smelling something.

But that is only the start. After you show them experience their world through their senses, your character must then have a reaction to what their senses have just experienced. What they think and feel about what they are experiencing is the rest of the job.

This is the Secret of Animation. Only living creatures possess the ability to experience their world through their senses, and only living breathing conscious creatures can have reactions to what they experience. These reactions reveal their personality. And then you have a truly ANIMATED character.

Anything you put on your reel should be your best work, and anything that shows a character with convincing portrayal of life is a good scene, in my opinion.

So, good luck with it."


To see more of T Dan's excellent work, visit www.t-dan.com.  For practical advice on careers in digital media, read about what our graduates had to say at the recent Graduate Panel. Check out this post on how to set up an small business. Also learn about your first client project, read out our post on Portfolio Careers, and read this piece on Survival as a Freelancer. Study the nuts and bolts of freelance life by reading our guide to invoicing clients, and our guide to freelancers and taxes.  For more on careers in general, check out our guide to animation careers here, and also take a look at this map of digital studios - a great place to start your search for work in the business. Finally see our article on the jobs page at awn.com

Supreme Court to Rule on Jack Kirby Case?

Updated at the bottom.

Readers of this blog know of my interest in creator rights and the work of Jack Kirby.  Kirby was one of the most prolific comic book artists of the 20th century.  It's not just that he turned out an enormous amount of work, it's that he created more characters - both heroes and villains - than anyone else.

At the time he did his work, the comic book business was run by people with questionable ethics and business practices.  As a result, Marvel does not have a clear title to the characters Kirby created and Kirby's children have fought in court to recover the copyrights to their father's work.  So far, the courts have ruled in Marvel's favour.  However, the issue is not yet resolved and the Supreme Court of the United States will soon decide whether to hear the latest appeal.  In the corporatist time we live in, I'm skeptical that the court will rule against Marvel and Disney, but there is still a chance.

The Hollywood Reporter has the latest on this case and it is worth reading.

If you create material that you pitch to broadcasters or studios, you own the copyright to your work.  While the thrill of a sale can be overwhelming, don't lose your copyright without fully understanding the repercussions.  It is the single most valuable part of your creation.  If Jack Kirby owned the copyright to his characters, his life would have been very different and each of his four children would be multimillionaires.  Instead, Disney is not paying the estate when they reprint Kirby's work or when they make blockbuster movies featuring Kirby's characters.

Creative people need to understand what happened to Jack Kirby (and Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, and Bill Finger) in order to prevent it from happening to them.  Educate yourself.

Update: The Hollywood Reporter says that the actors, writers and directors unions are filing briefs in support of the Kirby case being taken up by the Supreme Court.  The article points out that the case could have repercussions for the music industry as well.

Tissa David and John Canemaker

John Canemaker has generously shared a lengthy video interview with the late Tissa David. It is part autobiography, part nuts and bolts instruction and part philosophy, illustrated by clips of Tissa's work for John and Faith Hubley, Michael Sporn, R.O. Blechman and others.

I knew Tissa when I was beginning my career and it's remarkable how little she changed physically in 30 years.  I also realized when watching this that there are things I'm teaching my students that I learned from Tissa. 

Tissa rarely had the opportunity to work on projects with large budgets.  She was a fantastic draftsman, but she was always conscious of how to get the maximum effect from each drawing.  Her animation was forced to be limited in the sense that she was only allowed a limited number of drawings, but her art and acting were so strong that there was no limit to the expressiveness she could communicate.

It's wonderful to have this video available as a record of her thoughts and work.  Not enough animators write autobiographies, but this lengthy visit with Tissa is the next best thing.

John Canemaker's generosity doesn't stop with this video.  May has been a banner month for John, with the release of an updated version of The Art and Flair of Mary Blair and two new books.  Magic Color Flair: The World of Mary Blair was created to accompany an exhibit of Blair's work at the Disney Family Museum.  The Lost Notebook: Herman Schultheis and the Secrets of Walt Disney's Movie Magic is an annotated version of a manual put together by an early Disney special effects artist.  Cartoon Brew has published samples from the book and Jerry Beck has reviewed it at Cartoon Research.

The Contradictions of Copyright

The success of Disney's Frozen highlights the contradictions of copyright.  Salon has an article called, "How Disney Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Copyright Infringement."  YouTube is full of covers of Frozen's "Let it Go."  While I haven't bothered to wade through them all, searching for "Let it Go" on YouTube turns up 2.5 million videos.

As Salon reports, Disney is turning a blind eye to this as they have determined that it's free advertising.  The problem for me is how arbitrary Disney is with regard to copyright infringement.

This 1990 article from the Gainesville Sun in Florida details that Disney sued over a thousand people for copyright infringement over a four year period.  Yet now, people who could be charged with infringing the copyright on Frozen are being ignored.

The whole point of law is to establish clear rules for what is permitted and what is not.  The government's legal monopoly on force is used as a deterrent to discourage lawbreakers and punish, by fine or imprisonment, those who do break the law.

When laws are sometimes ignored, it leads to injustice.  The current drug laws are a perfect example.  Those who are poor and members of minority groups are more likely to spend time in prison than those with money or white skin who commit the same offense.

The enforcement of copyright laws are not based on economic status or ethnicity; they are based on economic advantage to the copyright holder.  If the copyright owner deems something to be economically beneficial, it is ignored.  If it is seen as economically detrimental, either by doing damage to the copyrighted item or by siphoning profits from the copyright holder, the violator will be prosecuted.  The problem is that it is impossible to know how a copyright owner will view a "tribute" or "fan fiction" at any given moment.

Andrew Wallenstein writes in Variety,

If it chose, Disney, or any other studio for that matter, could scrub YouTube clean of any content that didn’t come from the company. YouTube’s own Content ID system, and firms that specialize in online content monetization like Zefr, empower copyright holders to monitor any unauthorized appropriation of its content, and to collect audience data. A content owner has the choice of removing what it doesn’t like, letting it remain, or taking the next step — imposing ads on it that yield revenue.

...

The balancing act that content owners have to do with regard to YouTube — as well as other fan-friendly platforms like Tumblr — is a tough one. On the one hand, corporations must loosen their grip on their own product for their promotional benefit. On the other hand, ceding control can be a scary thing.

But erring on the side of a long leash is the right call. The DIY ethos of YouTube means allowing a mashup culture to blossom even if that impinges on fair use and brand values. The tight rein that studios typically keep on their intellectual property simply doesn’t fly here.

The copyright laws, as written, don't work.  Copyright holders are simultaneously loosening their hold and tightening it through secretly negotiated trade agreements like the Trans Pacific Partnership.  Maybe this loosening will force the current laws to crumble, but the potential for a corporate backlash is there.  Rather than have it both ways,  it would be in everyone's interest for the law to be reworked so that it can be applied consistently.  Instead, it encourages fans to create based on their favorite copyrighted works, until such time as it doesn't.

Imagineers Bring Full 3D Audio-Animatronics to Life

Book Review: Creativity, Inc.

Most managers have holes in their knowledge.  Some people are promoted to management based on their skills.  They're the best at what they do in the company, so they are put in charge of other people.  The problem is that these managers have no training in how to handle people.  This is as true of assembly line managers as it is of college presidents.

Other people study management in school, but are ignorant of the processes they are managing.  They are in charge of people who know more than they do, though sometimes they won't admit it.  The world is full of MBAs who are incapable of producing any part of their company's product or service.

This is why there are so many books on business management.  The usual approach is to list things that should be done: Do this and you'll be successful.  Business books often differ in their recommendations, but the authors are convinced that their advice is sound.

Ed Catmull, one of the founders of Pixar and now President of Pixar and Disney Animation, takes a different approach in Creativity, Inc.  As he started out in computer science writing software, he is analytical about solving problems.  However, rather than declare the right way to do things, Catmull instead writes about things to beware of, including things that are unknowable.

Don't measure people by their current skills, but by how much they can grow.  Don't be afraid to hire people smarter than you are.  Understand the reasons behind a disagreement rather than focusing on the disagreement itself.  Try to find the causes of fear in an organization and root them out.  Don't believe you can prevent all errors by planning.   Don't punish failure or no one will try anything new.  Don't measure people by their mistakes, but by their ability to fix their mistakes.  Don't let the organizational structure prevent communication between departments and people.  Don't let one department's agenda override other agendas.  Don't confuse the process with the goal.

Catmull writes about the above using examples from his own career and from Pixar.  On the surface, it reads as if Pixar has managed to overcome problems common to large organizations and has found ways to encourage the staff to focus on the success of the company.   But while Catmull is not shy about Pixar's failures and close calls, I think that there's a gap between the Pixar of this book and the Pixar of reality.

For instance, Catmull talks about having to keep product moving through the pipeline in order to use the staff efficiently, but the need to "feed the beast" in his words often results in going with the tried and true rather than taking chances on new ideas.  As an example, he mentions The Lion King 1 1/2.  "This kind of thinking yields predictable, unoriginal fare because it prevents the kind of organic ferment that fuels true inspiration."  However, Pixar is as invested in sequels these days as any other animation studio.

At times, Catmull is disingenuous.  He implies that Pixar's influence was responsible for the crew of The Princess and the Frog taking a research trip to Louisiana, when in fact Disney had been making research trips for earlier films like The Lion King and The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  He gives credit to a Pixar developer for giving his crew time to pursue personal projects at work, while Google was widely reported to have been doing this for years.

Catmull praises Steve Jobs' design of Pixar's building, saying that it was constructed to force people from different departments to interact with each other.  Yet he also discusses a 2013 internal event called Notes Day, and one of the emails Catmull received after it was over said, "I met new people, got completely new points of view, and learned what other departments struggle with and succeed with."  Clearly, the geography of Pixar's building was not enough to fulfill Jobs' intention.

There is also a bit of a Pollyanna attitude.  While there are undoubtedly personal and legal reasons to avoid speaking about some staffing issues in specific terms, the pain and disruption of firings and layoffs is glossed over.  With one exception, the fate of the crew of Circle 7, the studio Disney created to do its own Pixar sequels, goes unmentioned.  There's nothing about the opening and closing of Pixar's Vancouver studio, either.

Catmull implies that directors are only replaced when stories are not progressing or when a director loses the confidence of the crew.  While no replaced directors are mentioned by name, it leaves a shadow over the heads of Jan Pinkava, Brenda Chapman and others who are criticized by implication, but without specifics and without the ability to refute the charges.

Catmull talks about personally delivering bonus cheques to each crew member on Tangled, talking about how important it was to acknowledge each person's contribution to the film.  And yet, after Frozen, now the most financially successful animated film in Disney history, those people laid off after completion have been denied bonus cheques though they contributed as much to the film as the people who were retained.  Disney will undoubtedly rehire some of these people in the future, and their commitment to future projects will be tempered by a knowing cynicism.  So much for team building.

There is much that is valuable in this book.  However, the contradictions in this book underline that no company is perfect and no matter how hard managers try to avoid or eliminate problems, there will always be some.  Catmull is to be praised for acknowledging this, but like everyone else, he's unaware of some of his own mistakes and blind spots.

The Art of "Frozen" comes to London on 28 April

The Art of Frozen is being showcased by Disney in London on April 28th. For full information see this link here: http://www.disneyanimation.com/events/item/28 Here at Bucks we strongly recommend that our students do their best to attend events like this if they can - you will always learn something new about the animation industry and - who knows - you might even meet someone looking to hire an animator.

Curzon Soho - in the heart of London's West End

Panel discussions with the creative talent behind leading films like Frozen also provide an opportunity to ask questions about how movies get made, and how you might go about finding work with companies like Disney. You won't regret going.

---Alex

Frozen- Shot Progression

Frozen- Shot Progression from Bobby Pontillas on Vimeo.

Who Will Succeed Robert Iger at Disney?

The names Jay Rasulo and Thomas Staggs don't mean much to animation professionals or fans right now, but the Los Angeles Times speculates that one of them may be Robert Iger's successor when he retires in 2016.

I wonder if they would consider Jeffrey Katzenberg.  I'm not joking about that.  While Robert Iger has been using Disney's money to buy everything in sight, Katzenberg has been building an organization from scratch and diversifying it so that it is stable enough to survive any problems.  Katzenberg also has his own record of success at Disney.  There are many worse candidates out there.

With the exceptional profitability of animated features, combining Disney, Pixar and DreamWorks makes sense from a business standpoint, if not an artistic one.  Who knows?  Since Robert Iger is running out of things to buy, maybe DreamWorks and Katzenberg are already on his list.

Making of Frozen at Gnomon March 20th 7:30-10:00 PM

Gnomon presents a behind-the-scenes look at Walt Disney Animation Studios' Academy Award® winning film Frozen. Please join Steve Goldberg, Visual Effects Supervisor, and his team as they lead a lively discussion on how visual development and production design informed and inspired an icy palace, truthful performances, and more snow than the polar vortex. Seating for this event is first-come, first-served so please arrive early for the best chance to get a seat!

An Aspect of Disney Films You Had Not Considered

The public thinks of Disney movies as entertainment.  Artists may think of them as inspiration.  Ron Suskind describes how Disney movies were the key to his autistic son overcoming isolation and learning to deal with the world in an excerpt from his book Life, Animated, to be published April 1.

The story is inspirational for watching someone overcome obstacles, but it's a reminder of the power of communication.  We don't consider what we're communicating in animation often enough, but Suskind's story should remind all of us that what we're communicating matters.

Go read it.  You won't be sorry.

Wolf Girl for Disney

Wolf Girl for Disney animation from pedro conti on Vimeo.

Disney's THE FOX AND THE HOUND

The very center of this was never completely revealed 

but this 99% completed B/G was too gorgeous not to share...

Disney's THE WISE LITTLE HEN (1934)

1934 was early in the game 

but Disney's artistry was in full flower 

as they geared up for SNOW WHITE. 

One word comes to mind with these backgrounds, 

especially the pan B/Gs - 

LAVISH!

The chicks refused to budge!

Isn't this a wonderful stage for Donald? Very theatrical!

This Unusual Instrument Is Responsible For The Early Disney Music