C ARTOONING & A NIMATION

H ISTORY /O RIGINS Animation is a graphic representation of drawings to show movement within those drawings. A series of drawings are linked together and usually photographed by a camera. The drawings have been slightly changed between individualized frames so when they are played back in rapid succession (24 frames per second) there appears to be seamless movement within the drawings. ml The term has evolved over time. The original meaning was in fine art of the late Middle Ages and Renaissance, where it referred to a preparatory drawing for a piece of art, such as a painting or tapestry. In the 19th century, it came to refer to humorous illustrations in magazines and newspapers, and in the early 20th century it was sometimes used to refer to comic strips. In modern usage, it commonly refers to single-panel drawings (also known as gag cartoons) and animation for film and television. Information from:

T ECHNOLOGY Animation technology has sky rocketed in the last few years. From pencil drawings and photographs, to computer animated programs invented to create cartoons. One of the three Oscars Avatar won, was for best visual effects. Animator James Cameron had to wait for the technology to be invented before making the film. Whereas Snow White was made by using pencil drawings. Which were then placed onto a clear like plastic so they could get a 3D cartoon effect on the images when they laid them on top of each other – like a staggered effect. After this, every single drawing was coloured in with paint and then singly photographed and put into a film. Information from:

3D 2D & 3D All the characters are made from moulded plasticine modelling clay on metal armatures, making them 3D and filmed with stop motion clay animation. Wallace and Gromit are the main characters in the British short animated films, created by Nick park from Aardman Animations. Yhttp:// Y – Here is a short video of the making of Wallace and Gromit created my Nick Park from YouTube. 3D animation is digitally modeled and manipulated by an animator, whereas 2D animation can be a drawing. On the right hand side you can see a fish character from ‘Finding Nemo’ and how the simple pencil drawing has bin developed into a 3D image.

W ELL KNOWN CARTOON CHARACTERS Mickey mouse is a cartoon character who has become an icon for the Walt Disney company. Mickey mouse was created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. Felix the cat is a cartoon character created in the silent film era. His black body, white eyes, and giant grin, coupled with the surrealism of the situations in which his cartoons place him, combine to make Felix one of the most recognized cartoon characters in film history. Felix was the first character from animation to attain a level of popularity sufficient to draw movie audiences. This information is all found from Wikipedia.

W ALLACE AND G ROMIT Wallace and Gromit uses the Stop-Motion technique. After detailed story boarding, set designs and plasticine modelling construction, the film is shot one frame at a time. Each frame the characters body will slightly move and their facial expressions change, so that when it all comes together the final product looks fluid like a humans movement. Creator Nick Park original used the idea as a project, calling it ‘A Grand Day Out’ it became a huge success so after this, he developed it into a short half an hour series; The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, and A Matter of Loaf and Death. In 2005 they released a feature long film called ‘The curse of the Were-Rabbit’ It took 5 years to create. As each working day they only produced 1 second of film (30 frames). Information from: wallaceandgromit.wikia.com/

A NIMATED FILM STUDIOS DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. Is an American animation studio based in Glendale, California. In the past they have created a total of 22 feature films including Shrek, Madagascar, Kung Fu Panda and How to train your Dragon. Pixar Animation Studio is one of the most well known studios in the world. It is in California and is mainly recognised for its popular films such as Bugs life, Finding Nemo, Monsters Inc and Toy Story. It began in 1979 as the Graphics group. It was then bought by the Walt Disney Company in Information from:

P IXAR Pixar Animation Studios, commonly referred to as simply Pixar is an American computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globes, and three Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments. Pixar has produced twelve feature films, beginning with Toy Story in It was followed by A Bug's Life in 1998, Toy Story 2 in 1999, Monsters, Inc. in 2001, Finding Nemo in 2003, The Incredibles in 2004, Cars in 2006, Ratatouille in 2007, WALL-E in 2008, Up in 2009, Toy Story 3. Information from:

E MILE C OHL By 1907, the 50-year-old Émile Cohl, like everyone else in Paris, had become aware of motion pictures. How he actually entered the business is shrouded in legend. Cohl made "Fantasmagorie" from February to May or June This is considered the first fully animated film ever made. It was made up of 700 drawings, each of which was double-exposed (animated "on twos"), leading to a running time of almost two minutes. Above is a link on YouTube showing Fantasmagorie which was made from stop motion technique on a chalk board. Information from:

B OB C LAMPETT Robert Emerson Clampett (Bob) was an American animator, producer, director, and puppeteer best known for his work on the Looney Tunes animated series from Warner Bros., and the television shows Time for Beany and Beany and Cecl. Animation historian Jerry Beck lauded Clampett for "putting the word 'looney' in Looney Tunes.“Clampett worked for a time at Screen Gems, then the cartoon division of Columbia Pictures, as a screenwriter and gag writer. Clampett died of a heart attack on May 4, Information from:

A VATAR According to James Cameron, Avatar had been delayed since the 1990s because the technology simply wasn't created. The director planned to make use of photorealistic computer-generated characters, created using new motion-capture animation technologies he had been developing in the 14 months leading up to December The method allows the filmmakers to transfer 100% of the actors' physical performances to their digital counterparts. ILM was responsible for the visual effects for many of the film's specialized vehicles and devised a new way to make CGI explosions. Information from: