Literature Review

Literature Review

Carolyn Vella

It may be hard to imagine, but animation existed long before television. The first kind of animation was seen in cave painting 25,000 years ago in the caves of southern Europe. Walt Disney gave animation a whole other meaning. According to Thomas and Johnston (1981) Walt’s aim was to entertain. On the other hand the animation that was found in caves was a form of communication. When people hear the word “animation” they associate it with cartoons. It is mostly associated with Cel animation were still images that are displayed in sequence give the illusion of movement.

According to Thomas and Johnston (1981) unlike the early cartoons, Walt was the first to give cartoon characters emotion. These characters with human like emotions and behavior helped the audience feel connected with the characters. For the first time in some cases it brought tears into people’s eyes. In addition to this, White (2006) also states that the character must have personality and human like behaviors to help the audience communicate better with the character. White (2006 p. 30) also states that that “it is always easy to create insects, robots and aliens that will fight out a fantasy adventure script but, it is extremely difficult to design humoresque hero or heroines that have to sensitively deliver dialogue and convey subtle emotions”.

Looking back at Disney animation according to Thomas and Johnston (1981) Walt’s attempt to film- making had failed several times but his first completed film was called Alice’s Wonderland  in addition to this Pickavance(2011) also states that Disney attempted to produce the Alice in Wonderland film several times but had failed every time. Pickavance(2011) also states the Disney 1951 Alice in Wonderland was an inspiration of that Alice’s comedies. The Disney version of Alice in Wonderland was produced in 1951 this was when the Golden age was fading out. According to Pickavance(2011) this was the age when “inventions such as the multiplane camera, multiple exposure shots and rotoscoping was progressing in the art of animation”. Thomas and Johnston (1981) stated that the animators at the Disney Studio also made use of the rotoscoping technique. This technique was used to produce the animation of Disney’s 1951 Alice in wonderland. The background artist Mary Blare gave the Alice in Wonderland film a modernist look with bright colours scheme that she used to create the scenes. Although the film was bright and colourful Pickavance(2011) states that many people were disappointed with the film as it did not do justice to Louis Carroll’s story.

On the other hand Chandle (2013) suggests that the Disney version of Alice in wonderland brings out the original nature of Louis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland story with its bright colours and bright coloured characters. On the other, hand Chandle (2013) states that Tim Burton’s version resembles Louis Carroll’s novel “Through the Looking Glass” rather than “Alice’s Adventure. In addition to this, Pickavance(2011) also states that in Tim Burton’s version of Alice in wonderland there are characters which are taken form “Through the Looking Glass” and that these characters did not bland in well with the story. However , Its art meg (n.d) states that Tim Buston’s version is based on Louis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Chandle (2013) states that Tim Burton’s version blends in with “Through the Looking Glass” because Burton’s version has a darker atmosphere. This is projected through the characters and the colour scheme that has been used. Burton’s version emphasizes on the colours red and black. Similarly Ortiveztm (2010) states that the red and black in the movie brings out the feeling of “terror and dread that is associated with the red queen”.  Moreover,  according to Its mats megs (n.d) Tim Burton’s aim was to create something completely different to what has been created before. Burton wanted to change the whole idea of “Wonderland” and instead he called it “Underland”, and got rid of that bright and lively place that we know of as wonderland. Unlike Disney’s animated version were everything was done using the rotoscoping technique, Burton’s characters were done in CGI. Its art megs (n.d) states that these amazing characters were created using a mixture of visual effects techniques and shot against the green screen. However Ortiveztm (2010) states that the fact that Tim Burton gave a twist to the story was refreshing enough but the use of CGI has been overly used in the movie. In addition to this Chandler (2013) states that although Tim Burton did an impeccable job with casting his version of the film and chose great actors for the job especially Johnny Depp with his role as the Mad Hatter none of the characters were prominent enough except for Cheshire Cat and the queen of Hearts with her oversized head. 

Reference list

e-books

Frank.T and Ollie.J The Illusion of Life Disney Animation  [e-book] kickasstorrents. Available at : https://kickass.so/disney-animation-the-illusion-of-life-pdf-t91626.html. [Accessed 23 October]

Tony. W Animation from pencil to pixel [e-book] avaxsearch. Available at: http://avaxsearch.org/?q=Animation+from+Pencils+to+Pixels%3A+Classical+Techniques+for+the+Digital+Animator. [Accessed 30 October  2014].

Websites

Adriana Chandler, 2013. Old Vs New “Alice in Wonderland”. [online] available at: http://prospective.bryantschools.org/?p=3675. [Accessed 10 December 2014].

Pickavence Mark, 2011. Looking back at Disney’s Alice In Wonderland: refining the animator’s craft. [online] available at :http http://www.denofgeek.com . [Accessed 13 December 2014].

Alice In Wonderland : Behind the Scene. 2014. Alice In Wonderland : Behind the Scene. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.itsartmag.com/features/alice/. [Accessed 14 December 2014]

Ortiveztm . T, 2010. A refreshing animated version of alice in wonderland [online] Available at: http://blogs.adams.edu/thepawprint/movie-review-alice-in-wonderland/. [Accessed 14 December 2014].