Animation

Animation is a filmmaking way to make pictures look like they are moving. Artists show many pictures very fast, and it looks like the pictures are alive.

In traditional animation, artists draw each picture by hand on special clear paper. These pictures are then taken with a camera and shown on film. This way of making animation has been popular for many years. It has helped bring favorite characters and stories to life.

Today, many animations are made using computers. This is called computer-generated imagery (CGI). Computers let artists create whole worlds and characters with digital tools. This opens up new creative ideas and visual effects. Another type of animation is stop motion. In stop motion, objects like clay figures are moved a little bit between each photo. When played back fast, they look like they are moving.

Animation is sometimes mixed with live action in movies. This means real actors and real places are combined with animated parts. As technology gets better, it is easier to add 3D animated effects to movies. This makes the scenes more fun and realistic for people to watch.

General overview

Animation is a way to make pictures look like they are moving by showing them one after another. There are many ways to create animations. One way is computer animation, which can create detailed 3D scenes or flat 2D pictures. Another popular method is stop motion. In stop motion, objects like paper cutouts, puppets, or clay figures are moved a little bit between each photo. When played back quickly, they look like they are moving.

Animated cartoons, often called cartoons, are short funny films. They often show animals, superheroes, or silly characters doing funny things. The word toon became popular in the late 1980s and 1990s with shows like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Tiny Toon Adventures, and Animaniacs. These shows introduced many loved cartoon characters.

Etymology

The word animation comes from a Latin word. It means "bestowing of life." In English, it first meant "liveliness" before it came to mean moving images.

History

Main article: History of animation

Before cinematography

Main article: Early history of animation

Long before animation as we know it, people enjoyed moving characters using puppets, automatons, shadow puppets, and lanterns. In 1832, the phenakistoscope was invented, showing how we can trick our eyes into seeing motion. Later tools like the zoetrope and flip book worked in similar ways to create moving pictures. By 1876, animation started showing up in theaters.

Silent era

When movies became popular in the 1890s, animation took some time to catch up. The short film The Haunted Hotel (1907) by J. Stuart Blackton helped make stop motion well-known. Émile Cohl’s Fantasmagorie (1908) is regarded as the oldest known traditional (hand-drawn) animation. Other early animators like Ladislas Starevich and Winsor McCay also created important work with puppets and hand-drawn styles.

Animation production across the Globe

American golden age

Main article: Golden Age of American animation

In the 1910s, animation became a real industry in the United States. John Randolph Bray and Earl Hurd invented the cel animation method, which changed animation for many years. Characters like Felix the Cat, who first appeared in 1919, set new standards for cartoon looks. In 1928, Steamboat Willie, featuring Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse, added sound to animation and made Walt Disney a top name. This time, called the golden age of American animation, lasted until the 1960s. During this time, studios created loved characters like Goofy, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny, and Tom and Jerry.

European History of Animation Production

Polish artist Ladislas Starevitch used stop-motion in films like The Cameraman's Revenge (1912). Alexandre Alexeïeff created pinscreen animation in France. Lotte Reiniger from Germany made the oldest surviving animated feature film, Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed (1926), using silhouette animation.

Asian History of Animation production

Animation Production in China

In 1941, Tieshan gonzhu became Asia’s first animated feature film. Later, Fengzheng (The Kite) (1944) mixed Disney-style animation with Chinese stories. Many other important films were made during this time across East Asia.

Features before CGI

In 1917, Quirino Cristiani created the first feature-length animated film, El Apóstol. In 1937, Walt Disney released Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, which was a big success. Other studios tried to make animated movies too, but many had trouble during World War II. After the war, more studios began making animated features. Countries like the Soviet Union, China, and France also grew their own animation industries.

Television

Animation became very popular on TV starting in the 1950s. Shows like The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo were big favorites. Hanna-Barbera Productions helped move animation from movie theaters to TV. In the 1990s, shows like The Simpsons and SpongeBob SquarePants brought back higher-quality animation. Many nations made their own TV cartoons, sometimes using styles like stop motion or working together with studios in Japan.

Switch from cels to computers

Main article: History of computer animation

Computer animation started in the 1940s and grew in the 1970s. The Rescuers Down Under (1990) was the first movie made completely with computers. Pixar’s Toy Story (1995) showed how fun 3D animation could be. By the 1990s, most studios switched to computer animation, making it easier and opening up new ways to create films that still looked hand-drawn.

Economic status

The animation market has grown a lot over the years. In 2010, it was worth about US$80 billion, and by 2021, it had grown to around US$370 billion. Animated films have done very well, making more money than other types of films. Animation is an important and successful part of the entertainment industry today.

Main article: gross margins

Main articles: film genres

Education, propaganda and commercials

Animation is a great way to teach and share ideas. It can make complex topics easy to understand.

During World War II, studios like Warner Bros. and Disney used animation to share messages about the war. This continued into the Cold War era. For example, the 1954 animated movie Animal Farm by George Orwell shared an important message.

Animation is also popular in television commercials. People enjoy the funny and colorful drawings, which help them remember products. Some animated characters, like Snap, Crackle and Pop for Kellogg's cereals, have been stars in ads for many years. In 1966, Tex Avery created the first Raid commercials.

Other media, merchandise and theme parks

Many cartoon characters become popular not just in movies and TV, but also on lots of products and in other fun places. Animation often works with comic books, with characters moving between comics and animated shows. Ideas from video games and movies also influence each other.

The Walt Disney Company is a great example of this. Since 1929, Disney's Mickey Mouse and other characters have appeared on many products. Disneyland opened in 1955 and was so popular that it led to many more Disney theme parks and resorts. Often, Disney makes more money from its theme parks than from its movies.

Awards

Main article: List of animation awards

Animation, like other types of media, has awards to celebrate great work. Many of these awards are part of bigger film award programs. For example, China gives the Golden Rooster Award for Best Animation starting in 1981. There are also special awards just for animation, such as the Annie Awards from ASIFA-Hollywood, the Emile Awards in Europe, and the Anima Mundi awards in Brazil.

Main article: List of animated feature films nominated for Academy Awards

The Academy Awards have special categories for animation, like Best Animated Short Film (since 1932) and Best Animated Feature (since 2002). Animated movies can also be nominated for other awards, such as Best Original Song and Best Original Score. The film Beauty and the Beast was the first animated movie to be nominated for Best Picture in 1991. Later, Up in 2009 and Toy Story 3 in 2010 also received Best Picture nominations.

Production

Making animation for films takes a lot of work and costs money, just like making regular movies. In animated films, every extra scene needs more effort because artists must draw each one by hand. To help, studios use storyboards—drawings that show what happens in each scene—before the animation starts. This helps all the scenes fit together well.

Animated films need to look the same even when many artists work on them. Special artists decide how the world and characters look before animation starts. They make guides showing how characters should look in different positions and expressions. In animated movies, actors often record their voices separately. This lets famous actors be in the same film even if they are not in the same place at the same time.

Techniques

Traditional

Main article: Traditional animation

Traditional animation is the way most animated films were made in the 1900s. Animators draw each picture by hand on paper. To make it look like things are moving, each picture is a little different from the one before it. These drawings are traced onto clear sheets called cels and painted in colors. A rostrum camera takes pictures of the cels one at a time against a painted background.

Today, animators often draw on computers instead of paper. They use software to color the pictures and make it look like the camera is moving. The old style of animation is still used, and animators' work hasn't changed much in 90 years.

Examples of old animated films include Pinocchio (United States, 1940), Animal Farm (United Kingdom, 1954), Lucky and Zorba (Italy, 1998), and The Illusionist (British-French, 2010). Films made with computers include The Lion King (US, 1994), Anastasia (US, 1997), The Prince of Egypt (US, 1998), Akira (Japan, 1988), Spirited Away (Japan, 2001), The Triplets of Belleville (France, 2003), and The Secret of Kells (Irish-French-Belgian, 2009).

Full

Full animation makes high-quality animated films with detailed drawings and smooth movement. Films can look very real, like those from the Walt Disney studio (The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King), or more cartoon-like, like films from Warner Bros. animation studio. Many Disney animated features are full animation. Other examples include The Secret of NIMH (US, 1982), The Iron Giant (US, 1999), and Nocturna (Spain, 2007). These films need many drawings for each second of film.

Limited

Main article: Limited animation

Limited animation uses simpler drawings and less smooth movement. It uses fewer drawings and is cheaper. It began at the United Productions of America studio. It is used for TV shows and Internet web cartoons, like Gerald McBoing-Boing (US, 1951) and Yellow Submarine (UK, 1968).

Rotoscoping

Main article: Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping is a way for animators to copy real-life movement frame by frame. The film can copy actors' outlines, like in The Lord of the Rings (US, 1978), or use it in a creative way, like in Waking Life (US, 2001) and A Scanner Darkly (US, 2006). Other examples include Fire and Ice (US, 1983) and Heavy Metal (1981).

Live-action blending

Main article: Live-action animation

Live-action/animation mixes hand-drawn characters with real-life scenes. One early example is Koko the Clown. Walt Disney made the Alice Comedies (1923–1927), where a live-action girl enters an animated world. Other examples are Allegro Non Troppo (Italy, 1976), Who Framed Roger Rabbit (US, 1988), Volere volare (Italy 1991), Cool World (US, 1992), The Pagemaster (US, 1994) Space Jam (US, 1996) and Osmosis Jones (US, 2001).

Stop motion

Main article: Stop motion

Stop motion is animation made by moving real objects and taking pictures one frame at a time. There are many types, named after the materials used. Computer software can also create this kind of animation.

Stop motion often uses puppet figures with an armature inside to keep them still. Examples include The Tale of the Fox (France, 1937), The Nightmare Before Christmas (US, 1993), Corpse Bride (US, 2005), Coraline (US, 2009), films by Jiří Trnka, and the TV series Robot Chicken (US, 2005–present).

Puppetoons

Created by George Pal, these are puppet films that use a different puppet for each frame.

Clay animation or Plasticine animation

(Also called claymation). It uses clay or similar materials. The figures may have an armature inside or be made entirely of clay. Examples include The Gumby Show (US, 1957–1967), Mio Mao (Italy, 1974–2005), Morph shorts (UK, 1977–2000), and Jan Švankmajer's Dimensions of Dialogue (Czechoslovakia, 1982). Films include Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Chicken Run, and The Adventures of Mark Twain.

Strata-cut animation

A type of clay animation where a clay "loaf" is sliced to show movement inside.

Cutout animation

Uses paper or cloth pieces to make animation. Examples include Terry Gilliam's work in Monty Python's Flying Circus (UK, 1969–1974), Fantastic Planet (France/Czechoslovakia, 1973), and South Park (1992).

Silhouette animation

Characters are shown as silhouettes. Examples include The Adventures of Prince Achmed (Weimar Republic, 1926) and Princes et Princesses (France, 2000).

Paper craft animation

Uses paper or card to make animation.

Model animation

Combines stop-motion with live-action scenes. Examples include Ray Harryhausen's work in Jason and the Argonauts (1963) and Willis H. O'Brien's work in King Kong (1933).

Go motion

A type of model animation that adds motion blur. It was used in Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Dragonslayer (1981).

Object animation

Uses everyday objects instead of special ones.

Graphic animation

Uses photos or clippings to create movement.

Brickfilm

Uses Lego or similar bricks to make animation.

Pixilation

Uses live people as stop-motion characters. Examples include The Secret Adventures of Tom Thumb and Angry Kid shorts.

Computer

Main article: Computer animation

Computer animation is made using computers. 2D animation works with flat images, while 3D animation builds whole worlds. 3D animation can look very real.

2D

Main article: 2D computer graphics

2D animation is made on computers using flat images. It includes old animation techniques done by computer, like interpolated morphing, onion skinning, and interpolated rotoscoping. 2D animation is used in many places, like analog computer animation, Flash animation, and PowerPoint animation. Cinemagraphs are still photos with a small part animated.

Final line advection animation lets animators change the look of the animation. When making game animations, skeletal 2D animations are often used to save space and reuse images.

3D

Main articles: Computer animation and 3D computer graphics

3D animation is made by animators using digital models. The model starts as a 3D shape with many points connected by lines. Sometimes, it has a digital skeleton to control movement. This is called rigging.

Other effects like gravity, hair, fire, and water can be added. These are called 3D dynamics.

Terms

• Cel shading mimics old animation with strong colors. Examples include Skyland (2007, France), The Iron Giant (1999, U.S.), Futurama (1999, U.S.) Appleseed Ex Machina (2007, Japan), The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2002, Japan), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (2017, Japan)
• Machinima – Films made by recording gameplay in video games. It started in the 1980s and became popular with Quake in the 1990s.
• Motion capture copies real actors' movements onto CG characters. Examples include Polar Express (2004, US), Beowulf (2007, US), A Christmas Carol (2009, US), The Adventures of Tintin (2011, US) kochadiiyan (2014, India)
• Computer animation tries to look real but stylized. Examples include Up (2009, US), How to Train Your Dragon (2010, US)
• Physically based animation uses computer simulations.

Mechanical

• Animatronics uses machines to look alive.
  • Audio-Animatronics is robotics combined with animation, used in Disney parks. They can sit, stand, and make noise but cannot walk.
  • Linear Animation Generator uses static pictures in a tunnel to create motion.
• Chuckimation is a type of animation where characters are thrown or moved by unseen hands.
• The magic lantern projected moving images using mechanical slides.

Other

• Musical fountain: a show with water, lights, and sometimes lasers.
• Drawn-on-film animation: images are drawn directly onto film.
• Paint-on-glass animation: uses oil paints on glass to make films.
• Erasure animation: uses traditional media and photographs over time.
• Pinscreen animation: uses a screen of pins to create shadows.
• Sand animation: moves sand on glass to make each frame.
• Flip book: a book with pictures that seem to move when flipped quickly.
• Character animation
• Multi-sketch animation
• Special effects animation
• 2.5D Animation: A mix of 2D and 3D that looks like it has depth. It started in the 1970s but comes from older Japanese stage shows.