Goofyposter
Director of Farmland Defense
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2001
- Messages
- 2,388
The Illusion of Life
By Nancy Beiman
E.B. White said that the world decorates its tragedians with laurel, and its wags with Brussels Sprouts.
Animated cartoonists are the mushrooms of the arts; we absorb, transform materials taken from life...
And sometimes, we make the mushrooms dance.
ANIMATOR means 'bringer of life'.
Animators communicate through body language and expression. We speak all languages and communicate instantly with anyone who can see a drawing.
Most animators would be on the stage if they were not more comfortable sitting in dark rooms arguing passionately about how hard a rabbit falls on its tail.
Animation is an art for the fifteenth, not the twenty first, century.
Leonardo da Vinci attempted to draw moving water in the fifteenth century. In 1938, Ugo D'Orsi successfully did this for THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE.
It was an absolutely preposterous idea to create a feature motion picture entirely of drawings - this was said not in 2004, but in 1938; like the bumblebee, SNOW WHITE should never have flown.
Indeed, Animation is one of the most successful film genres; it is a potent tool for education and propaganda, and the characters can take on a life of their own and become beloved friends.
If an actor is known by her roles, then I am a strange mix of
Daffy and Donald Duck, Goofy, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Tigger, Snoopy, Billy Bones, and Fate.
My own fate has been tied up with the arts since childhood. My father is a musician and my mother is an arts librarian. It was expected that I would choose the arts as a profession and considered an honor to be an artist. Most American families would view such a career choice as a mistake at best.
We did not have money for toys or luxuries. I discovered early on that the toys and fantasy worlds I could not buy were right there at the end of my pencil.
In 1975 I was given a full scholarship to the first character animation school in the USA, and was employed as an animator at a major New York studio before I graduated.
I studied and worked with some incredibly talented artists. They are my best memories of this profession. Some of the most remarkable painters, draftsmen, character designers, and directors of all time have worked in animated film.
Most were remarkable characters in their own right.
You do not know us, but you have seen our work.
We have a strange compulsion to draw funny creatures, and draw creatures 'funny'.
They are entertaining trifles to you. They are living beings to us.
I've worked in six countries with wonderful artists from around the world, many of whom are still friends with me today. And we argue, in many languages, about how hard a rabbit can fall on its tail.
This was originally by choice. It is now by necessity. For the art of cartoon animation is dying. It is not a natural death; people have not tired of watching hand drawn movies. It is the taste of the backers that has changed.
The past few years have seen a catastrophic cutback in the staff of the major studios in the USA and elsewhere. Entire studios, once industry names, are no more.
It is not that hand drawn animation is expensive - its materials are less costly than the computers. But it costs more in time spent in production and takes a high level of skill to produce consistently. The returns are tremendous, but film companies would rather work quickly on computer than take the time to turn out a good, well made cartoon film.
It is not that computer animation is better, or worse. It is just different. I manipulate a pre-formed object on a machine. I am retraining and do not find it unpleasant, but the joy of exploring the possibilities of a character's action disappears when there are constraints on the character and on the artist. You lose the magic and joy of creating a living being with nothing more than pencil and paper.
So Farewell my Lovely. It has been a charming quarter century, sadder in recent years than formerly. The screen has gone dark and we are waiting for the next show.
I hope that, wherever and whatever I and my profession become after this, I will be able to continue to make people laugh and imagine worlds where the mushrooms dance.
By Nancy Beiman
E.B. White said that the world decorates its tragedians with laurel, and its wags with Brussels Sprouts.
Animated cartoonists are the mushrooms of the arts; we absorb, transform materials taken from life...
And sometimes, we make the mushrooms dance.
ANIMATOR means 'bringer of life'.
Animators communicate through body language and expression. We speak all languages and communicate instantly with anyone who can see a drawing.
Most animators would be on the stage if they were not more comfortable sitting in dark rooms arguing passionately about how hard a rabbit falls on its tail.
Animation is an art for the fifteenth, not the twenty first, century.
Leonardo da Vinci attempted to draw moving water in the fifteenth century. In 1938, Ugo D'Orsi successfully did this for THE SORCERER'S APPRENTICE.
It was an absolutely preposterous idea to create a feature motion picture entirely of drawings - this was said not in 2004, but in 1938; like the bumblebee, SNOW WHITE should never have flown.
Indeed, Animation is one of the most successful film genres; it is a potent tool for education and propaganda, and the characters can take on a life of their own and become beloved friends.
If an actor is known by her roles, then I am a strange mix of
Daffy and Donald Duck, Goofy, Bugs Bunny, Mickey Mouse, Tigger, Snoopy, Billy Bones, and Fate.
My own fate has been tied up with the arts since childhood. My father is a musician and my mother is an arts librarian. It was expected that I would choose the arts as a profession and considered an honor to be an artist. Most American families would view such a career choice as a mistake at best.
We did not have money for toys or luxuries. I discovered early on that the toys and fantasy worlds I could not buy were right there at the end of my pencil.
In 1975 I was given a full scholarship to the first character animation school in the USA, and was employed as an animator at a major New York studio before I graduated.
I studied and worked with some incredibly talented artists. They are my best memories of this profession. Some of the most remarkable painters, draftsmen, character designers, and directors of all time have worked in animated film.
Most were remarkable characters in their own right.
You do not know us, but you have seen our work.
We have a strange compulsion to draw funny creatures, and draw creatures 'funny'.
They are entertaining trifles to you. They are living beings to us.
I've worked in six countries with wonderful artists from around the world, many of whom are still friends with me today. And we argue, in many languages, about how hard a rabbit can fall on its tail.
This was originally by choice. It is now by necessity. For the art of cartoon animation is dying. It is not a natural death; people have not tired of watching hand drawn movies. It is the taste of the backers that has changed.
The past few years have seen a catastrophic cutback in the staff of the major studios in the USA and elsewhere. Entire studios, once industry names, are no more.
It is not that hand drawn animation is expensive - its materials are less costly than the computers. But it costs more in time spent in production and takes a high level of skill to produce consistently. The returns are tremendous, but film companies would rather work quickly on computer than take the time to turn out a good, well made cartoon film.
It is not that computer animation is better, or worse. It is just different. I manipulate a pre-formed object on a machine. I am retraining and do not find it unpleasant, but the joy of exploring the possibilities of a character's action disappears when there are constraints on the character and on the artist. You lose the magic and joy of creating a living being with nothing more than pencil and paper.
So Farewell my Lovely. It has been a charming quarter century, sadder in recent years than formerly. The screen has gone dark and we are waiting for the next show.
I hope that, wherever and whatever I and my profession become after this, I will be able to continue to make people laugh and imagine worlds where the mushrooms dance.
