Early animation - themes to consider

Transcription

1 4 An Animated History

2 Walter Elias Disney ( ) Born in Chicago, moved to Marceline, Missouri at 5, lived there until 11 (often seen as Disney s basis for main street, USA at Disney theme parks) Father was raised as Christian fundamentalist - known to often beat his kids. Later in life, Disney would refer to this as his motivation for not insisting on any single religious path for his kids. Father also socialist - pro-worker, anti-establishment - influenced Disney s ideas of work, class, and wealth. Early years

3 Patriotic - tries to join army at 16 (WWI), rejected for being too young, so lies about age to join Red Cross and serves in France for a year as ambulance attendant. Starts art school upon his return (meets Ub Iwerks there) - does own animation initially, later turns art job over to Iwerks and others, keeping overseer position Starts own animation company in Hollywood with brother Roy starts producing own animated shorts immediately. Early years

4 Early animation - themes to consider Who were the early animated shorts made for (who was the intended audience?) What were Disney s (apparent) attitudes towards: violence; sex & gender; nature; work? What was the basis of Disney s comedy?

5 Alice in Wonderland ( ) Alice in the Wooly West (1926) To distinguish his animation from others, Disney proposed the idea to combine live action with animation - a technique he would use again in Mary Poppins, and later Disney artists would use elaborately in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Combining live action and animation blurs the boundaries between fantasy and reality - laying the groundwork for more ideologicallyoriented works. What is the basis of the humour here?

6 Oswald the Lucky Rabbit ( ) Innovative play with the animated subject - rules of nature suspended in favor of a good gag. Idealized and emulated by other animation studios. But - Oswald copyright not held by Disney - when Charles Minz, owner of distribution company, took it away from him, Disney had to start over with a new character This incident credited with instigating Disney s fervor (to put it mildly) to control use of his characters/films/licensing)

7 Mickey Mouse ( ) 1st animated Mickey Mouse cartoon - Plane Crazy (1928) created in 2 weeks following loss of Oswald. Animated by Ub Iwerks - looks/acts pretty identical to Oswald. Humour based on standard formula - physical gags, body humor, no real plot, characterization, etc.

8 Steamboat Willie (1928) First ever sound cartoon - synchronized soundtrack, with actions of cartoon characters integrally related to the music. Groundbreaking, exciting - huge response. The tiny Disney crew had discovered the miracle of talking pictures.

9 Silly Symphonies ( ) Skeleton dance (1929) - a mood piece - 1. No familiar characters; 2) no story slapstick comedy; 3) designed from the ground up to match the musical composition. Result? it remains one of the best short cartoons ever made. Preoccupation with darkness and death?

10 Silly Symphonies Flowers and Trees (1932) - first full color film. Wins academy award - best short subject. Animism?

11 Silly Symphonies The Three Little Pigs (1933) Introduction of characterization - differentiation of each pig - Up until this point, silly animals were pretty much interchangeable. Afterwards, Disney cartoon characters (and, consequently, other animation studios such as Warner brothers) had their own identifiable temperaments. Music and color used to help define character Disney s first hit song Who s afraid of the big bad wolf - setting the trend for today s emphasis on music tie-ins. What is the moral of this film?

12 Feature animation Depth/realism - Disney s Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) first ever animated feature-length film. First animated film to use multi-plane camera - invented by Disney Studios. Introduction of 3 dimensions - leading to (or as a result of) emphasis on realism. Wins best animated film (new category created to honor Snow White)

13 Disney s art piece Fantasia (1940) Disney wanted to show the power of combining animation with music - to get away from gag-based humour, to show the potential of animation as art. Fantasia NOT a commercial success. Credited with causing Disney to choose safe (ie, sentimental) topics for films from then on - the dumbing down of Disney?

14 Realism extraordinaire Bambi (1942) - called Disney s original Circle of Life, - attempt to portray realism in animation. No sight gags, no playing with fluidity of form - animation studies bemoans Disney s turning to the dark side. Does Bambi represent a betrayal of animation as an art form? Or does it represent something else - an attempt to communicate, as realistically as possible, an ideological message? What might that message be?

15 Disney the Propagandist? Der Fuehrer's Face (1943) ( Donald s adventures in Nutzi land ) - winner of the 1943 Oscar for best animated short film. Song Der Fuehrer s Face spent 16 weeks on top 40 music charts, topping out at #3; free copy of song on 45 disk for anyone who invested $50 in war bonds earned gov t $60,000 in two days (equivalent to almost $800,000 today). Popular urban legend that Disney was anti-semitic may find its roots here, from those who misinterpreted the film to mean Disney supported the Nazis What sacred themes are violated here by the nazis?

16 Disney in Televisionland One Hour in Wonderland (1950) - Disney does 1st television special - garners 90% of television viewing audience. First Hollywood producer to cross boundary between theatrical productions and television strikes deal with ABC to do a series - Disneyland - paid $50,000 per episode (unheard of $$) - Disney s condition: ABC must contribute funding to planned Disneyland theme thirty-four seasons, it became the longest-running prime time network series in history Intro d Davy Crockett: King of the Wild Frontier - earned $300,000,000 in merchandising revenues

17 Live Theatrical Releases Treasure Island (1950) - 1st completely live action Disney film Diversification of Disney theatrical portfolio Resulting from England s post-war restrictions on foreign profits - all money earned in England must be spent in England To be followed by string of adventure films (ie 20,000 Leagues under the Sea (1954), etc.)

18 Disneyland Disneyland(1955) "To all who come to this happy place - welcome. Disneyland is your land. Here age relives fond memories of the past and here youth may savor the challenge and promise of the future. Disneyland is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams, and the hard facts that have created America... with the hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to all the world." Walter E. Disney, July 17, 1955