Animation

5 More Myths About Animation

Animation /

This morning while perusing my feeds, I stumbled across a post on the Topic Simple blog entitled “Top 5 Myths About Animation“. It’s a nice post that’s short and simple and focuses on the process of animation more than anything else and is well worth reading.

However, animation is so much more than just the actual nuts and bolts. It’s a wonderful technique that creates fantastic moving art for all to see. So here are 5 more myths about animation that go above and beyond the five in Topic Simple’s post.

1. Animation is a genre

Plenty of awards, stores and lists make animation out to be a genre. If this were true, then every animated film would be the same, which blatantly isn’t the case. There are all kinds of animated films, from musicals to horror and everything in between. Animation is far from a genre, but is sadly often treated as one.

2. Animation is just for kids

This myth may have held more ground in perhaps the 1930s, but not any more. There have been times when adult-friendly animation has been scarce, but it has always existed, ever since The Flintstones first popped up on TV. Today, there’s a wide range of animation that’s geared solely towards adults, and it’s all broadcast friendly too!

3. Hand-drawn animation is dead

Toy Story (and Pixar in general) are normally noted as being the film (and studio) that wrote the death warrant for traditional, hand-drawn animation. Again, this is far from the truth. Yes, Disney shuttered their unit, only to open it up again. CGI has been a hit with audiences, but it remains to see how long its legs are. Traditional animation has evolved to take advantage of technological progress with the likes of Toon Boom, etc. providing plenty of software that can be utilised to enhance hand-drawn animation. Don’t bury this technique just yet, it’ll be around for a long time to come.

4. Only the big studios make animation that’s worth watching

In fairness, the big studios do have an advantage in terms of scale and budgets, but that doesn’t mean that anyone with a great idea is relegated to the rubbish heap. Great animation has always been made on a shoestring budget, from the early TV stuff put out by Hanna-Barbera to Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley. Meanwhile blockbusters with massive budgets like Sinbad the Sailor crash and burn. Cost and quality are not as joined at the hip as this myth would have you believe.

5. Animation is not a viable career choice

This myth is one of the more prevalent ones among those not in the know, i.e. not working in the industry. A career in animation is just as viable as any other. Oh sure, it has its pitfalls just like any other, but at least artistic skill is easily carried an highly transferable, unlike say, civil engineering; which is more secure, but whose technical skills aren’t very transferable at all.

Animation is a fine career choice, provided one is willing to work hard to achieve success, just the same as one would want to be  in any career.

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Grading The Disney Princesses on Magazine Covers: Part 1

3 Comments / Animation, Disney /

You may have already seen these floating about the internet recently. Created by (I presume) whoever runs the Petite Tiaras tumblelog, they’re quite an interesting collection.

Are the magazine a good fit for the characters though? This 3-part weekly series of posts aims to find out.

Snow White in Vogue

Vogue is described on the official Conde Naste site as:

America’s cultural barometer, putting fashion in the context of the larger world we live in- how we dress, live, socialize; what we eat, listen to, watch; who leads and inspires us.

From its beginnings to today, three central principles have set Vogue apart: a commitment to visual genius, investment in storytelling that puts women at the center of the culture, and a selective, optimistic editorial eye.

Vogue’s story is the story of women, of culture, of what is worth knowing and seeing, of individuality and grace, and of the steady power of earned influence. For millions of women each month, Vogue is the eye of the culture, inspiring and challenging them to see things differently, in both themselves and the world.

So does Snow White fit into that kind of magazine? Perhaps not. She is not really a cultural figure per se and her story is far from the usual high-society gossip that one would expect from the pages of Vogue. The cover itself is good, but it does completely neglect any aspect of the fashion scene for which Vogue is [in]famous for.

Overall: B-

Cinderella in ELLE

Surprising enough because she’s facing away from the reader, Cinderella is the cover girl for ELLE magazine, whose mission is:

…to influence women’s whole lives, helping them to be chic, smart, and modern. With intelligent, in-depth writing and a razor-sharp curation of fashion that is at once aspirational and accessible, ELLE’s readers and users are building not just personal style, but personal power.

Cinderella does fit this, for the most part. The stories touch on aspects of fashion with a strong emphasis on the women behind them. Cinderella herself is an aspirational story, as she overcomes the difficulties of being imprisoned in her own house to marrying the prince.

Overall: A-

Tinkerbell in InStyle

Tinkerbell is one of the most well-known Disney characters and has endured and progressed far beyond the original Peter Pan movie.  Featuring on InStyle magazine, which according to the official description has:

…emerged as the world’s premier media brand in celebrity, style, fashion, beauty and beyond. InStyle takes a uniquely fun and inviting attitude towards celebrity style in all its forms including its flagship magazine which reaches an audience of 9.6 million readers each month.

Tinkerbell is most certainly a celebrity in this day and age; being a merchandising powerhouse for Disney and a star in her own movies. InStyle is a good fit for her. She’s a fun character with a positive attitude and it is fair to say that she’s more than just a little bit sassy. This magazine cover is fairly accurate, with a “53 Great Outfit Ideas” article, a few personal articles and even a recipe guide to round it out.

Overall: A

More to come next week in part 2, including Aerial, Princess Aurora and Belle

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The Four Animated Movies of 2012 That I Can’t Wait To See

Animation /

I’ve used Cartoon Brew’s list as a guide for this:

  1. The Secret World of Arriety – The latest offering from Studio Ghibli; goes without saying
  2. Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax – The future missus wants to see this because Taylor Swift is in it. I’m not going to object.
  3. Brave – Pixar’s latest, how will it’s Scottishness hold up nest to HTTYD
  4. Hotel Transylvania – The concept art is awesome and Genndy Tartakovsky is behind it. This should be good

 

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A Look At The Hub

Animation /

Rounding out this week’s look at the main US kids channels is newcomer, The Hub, which if it feels I’ve already covered it, you aren’t far wrong. I recently wrote a post on the channel’s biggest hit, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic.

The Hub is basicially a reincarnation of Discovery Kids and is a joint venture between Discovery Communications and toy maker, Hasbro. Interestingly enough, no content was carried over, so The Hub really is having to prove itself in the tough world of kids programming.

Surprisingly enough, it seems to have done quite well in the year and a bit it’s been around. Good quality content including MLP, Strawberry Shortcake and Transformers have helped there. Yup, they’re all toyetic, but are also much, much better than their former 1980s incarnations.

The only handicap is that Discovery Kids was carried on relatively few cable and satellite systems, and not at all on  basic packages. The house I’m staying at has Time Warner Cable and it places the Hub waaaaay up in the 130s along with Disney XD and the other Nick channels. Having said that, word of the shows has gotten around and the channel has more than made its goals for the first year.

The Hub does seem to skew more towards girls and is the only channel out of all of them that makes this noticeable. In that respect, it can be seen as a bit of a balance to the boy-scentric channels like Disney XD. All a good thing in my opinion.

Admittedly enough, its surprising that someone would launch a new channel now, just as internet viewing is starting to really kick off. The Hub required a masive investment and while it will surely pay off for Discovery/Hasbro, one can’t help but wonder if it’s the last of a dying breed.

We’re unlikely to see a brand new kids channel launch again, and it remains to be seen whether or not kids are capable of utilising the internet for viewing. They seem to be able to work iPads fairly well, so perhaps the next big breakthrough will be a child-friendly interface for watching shows.

Overall, the Hub is OK. Yeah, the shows are good, and I’m dead happy for the likes of Lauren Faust and the gang of awesome artists she’s kept employed as a result. The only faults I could find is the proximity of the shows to established toys (although that it probably a given, seeing as who’s funding it all) and the fact that as a channel, it remains to be seen if it can follow up it’s initial hits with others.

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A Look At Nickelodeon

Animation, Nickelodeon /
Sorry Viacom, as someone whose getting ever closer to becoming an old fart, I have a tough time accepting change for the sake of change.

As a joke, I thought about titling the post, “The SpongeBob Channel” but that wouldn’t be completely accurate even if it is uncomfortably close to the truth.

The yellow one has done well for the channel and it is still quite hard to believe that he’s been around for a full 10 years. He seems to remain fairly popular but it must be said, he’s drifted dangerously close to the cabre of shows that use “DVD specials” to stick around past their best by date.

Of course Nickelodeon does have a lot more programming than SpongeBob, and like Disney, it utilises multiple channels to broadcast them. Besides the main channel, Nickelodeon also has ones for the pre-schoolers (Nick Jr.), the teenagers (Teennick) and it’s library of old cartoon shows (Nicktoons).

Focusing on the main channel, Nickelodeon shares an idea with Cartoon Network in that its programming changes in the evening. The difference is that Nick at Night is aimed at a far broader audience than [adult swim].

Like Disney, Nickelodeon airs a mixture of animation and live-action. Current shows include T.U.F.F Puppy, The Adventures of Fanboy and Chum Chum, Winx [check] and more than one offshoot from a DreamWorks film (think Penguins of Madagascar and Kung Fu Panda).

Nickelodeon was (until very recently when it lost to the Disney Channel) the clear winner when it comes to audience numbers and it managed to do so by not chasing any particular segment. It didn’t go exlusively for boys or girls but it has played safe with programming that appeals to both genders and laughed all the way to the bank.

Nickelodeon also has huge brand recognition that even Disney can’t match and they have been very good at having their well-oiled marketing and merchandising machines continually backing up hit shows.

The only area where Nickelodeon has been a bit weak is getting their older content out on DVD or even streaming. That is changing as I see more and more old shows work their way onto services like Netflix. They’ve also improved access to more recent stuff too, T.U.F.F. Puppy is now available to stream or buy via Netflix and Amazon.

Overall, Nickelodeon may have lost the crown, but it is still the best overall network. They may not have as much animation as Cartoon Network or the vast libarary of Disney to draw on, but they more than make that up with the quality of their shows. Something they are surely aware of, and work hard at as a result.

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A Look at Cartoon Network

Animation, Cartoon Network /

Via: Wikipedia (yes, I’m old school)

Today’s the turn of Carton Network, a channel that I used to watch religiously at my friend’s house back it had a lot of Wacky Races on it.

There’s a few hardcore folks out there who feel that calling it “Cartoon Network” is now false advertising considering that it has live-action as well as animation on it. That’s missing the point though, because when compared to the other networks, it still has by far the most and broadest range of animation of the lot.

While there are the channel’s current offerings in Adventure Time, Regular Show and the Amazing World of Gumball, it’s somewhat dismaying that the network seems to banish slightly older shows like Billy and Mandy and Foster’s from the schedule. They then remain in limbo before they’re considered ‘old’ enough to be broadcast on sister channel, Boomerang (which by they way, features the likes of The Secret Saturdays and Johny Test if that didn’t confuse you enough already).

In fairness, there’s nothing particularly ‘wrong’ with the network, it just seems to be all over the place when it comes to the programming. I mean, who are they targeting? Yes, they’re gunning for 6-14 year old boys but how well do they compete with Disney XD, a channel created for and devoted solely to, boys? My guess is they’re coming up short.

They had a massive hit in the original Ben 10, but they’ve been riding that horse for years now with nothing similar appearing to replace it. On top of that, there was/is the bizarre situation where the network is in the same corporate family as Warner Bros. and DC (comics) yet the content of those divisions are more often seen on other channels owned by competitors!

That doesn’t make an awful lot of sense as CN could be leveraging those libraries, and those that it owns; think Looney Tunes and Tom & Jerry. Yes, there is the new Looney Tunes Show, but that simply updates the characters to the modern era in a manner that keeps the characters alive but in no way endangers the viewing numbers with Baby Boomer content.

Cartoon Network has been lurching from hit show to hit show as of late but in fairness to them they’ve been on the ball for Adventure Time when it comes to merchandise, an area they’ve traditionally been spectacularly weak in.

It would be nice to see some more cohesion between shows as well as a more robust lineup that doesn’t skew so hard towards different tastes.

Overall, Cartoon Network remains the best choice of all the channels for animation, but it has been slipping of late, and it is still uncertain how far that will continue.

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A Look At The Disney Channel

Animation, Disney /

Via: TV With Thinus

This week, I’m sequestered in lovely Western New York; a quiet part of the country where not a lot happens in the winter because of the snow. So that’s a pefect excuse to stay warm indoors with some TV, and while there is a lot a Top Gear on BBC America, there is also the four kid’s cable channels: The Disney Channel, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and newcomer, The Hub.

So using this extended time off, I figured I would write an overview of the four channels. Today, it’s the turn of the Disney Channel.

Started by Ron Miller back in the 80s the channel is unique in that it carries no  commercial advertising whatsoever. Although you should not construe this a as no advertising whatsoever, as the channel still has breaks where shows from other Disney channels, Disney films and misc. things are presented to the viewer.

The range of animation is a bit more limited than it used to be. As of right now, besides the pre-school shows, Phineas and Ferb and Fish Hooks take up the majority of the animation aimed at older kids. However, where the Disney Channel excels is that it can draw upon the vast, vast, vast library of the Disney Company and it regularly broadcasts movies that are rarely seen anywhere else, such as Snow White, Aladdin and pretty much all the Pixar films.

A direct comparison with its competitors is a bit unfair though, as Disney recently nixed Toon Disney in favour of starting a new channel aimed at boys, hence Disney XD and its own share of animated programming (namely Kick Buttowski).

Overall, the Disney Channel isn’t perfect, but it isn’t completely horrible either. It would just be nice to see more time for animation and less for mind-numbing kidcoms that burn through their child stars at a faster rate than I go through delicious Tim Hortons coffee.

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Six Traditional Pieces Christmas Animation

2 Comments / Animation /

Following on from yesterday’s post, here are some traditional forms of Christmas animation.

Christmas means different things for different people. American’s generally rate A Christmas Story as their top film, but it is completely unknown in Europe (a situation that resulted in some near heart attacks in more than one house I’ve visited). Naturally there are reciprocal films, but thankfully animation seems to be fairly neutral in that regard with Christmas favourites being shared across the Atlantic.

So here are six most loved Christmas specials/films for all to enjoy:

The Snowman (a true classic from the moment it aired, although a recent, shocking announcement suggests a new version is coming with new animation and updated music)

Via: Wikipedia

Mickey’s Christmas Carol (Disney’s take on a classic tale sparked Mickey’s first outing in more than a decade)

Via: Wikipedia

Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer (more so an American tradition, it is nonetheless well-known abroad)

Via: The Enchanted World of Rankin/Bass

Frosty the Snowman (another Rankin-Bass creation, our version we taped from the TV had not one, but two apologies for the poor quality of the sound!)

Via: Christmas Specials Wikia

A Charlie Brown Christmas (this one goes without saying)

Via: TV Guide

How the Grinch Stole Christmas (so does this one)

Via

And for Irish people everywhere, it’s not animated, but it isn’t Christmas without it:

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