Task 3

Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) was a mathematician at Oxford; he is also known to be the author of the famous tale of Alice in Wonderland. According to Woolf (2010) the first book that was published in 1865 was called Alice’s Adventure Underground, and a year after that an extended version of Alice’s Adventure Underground was published and it was called Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In 1871 Lewis Carroll had also published a sequel which was called Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There. The tale of Alice in Wonderland has been popular ever since it was first published in 1865. The tale has also influenced many famous artists such as Salvador Dali, Walt Disney, Ralph Steadman and many more including the award winning film Director Tim Burton. Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland happens to be the latest version so far of at least 20 other film versions and TV shows, all inspired from Lewis Carroll’s original novel.

Woolf (2010) states the tale of Alice in Wonderland was based on the dean’s daughter Alice Liddell, a child that Lewis Carroll knew. Many have wondered about Lewis Carroll’s relationship with the 10 year old girl to whom he first told the story to. Carroll also was a portraitist and also took pictures of Alice Liddell. Out of the 3000 pictures that he took throughout his life half of them were of children and 30 of them happened to be of girls in the nude and seminude. Now a days having nude photographs of children is something socking, In addition to this BBC News Magazine (2012) also states that “to many modern minds, a man who regularly formed friendships with young girls is inherently suspicious”. However Woolf (2010) states that in the Victorian times this was rather normal and that the Victorians “saw children as a state of grace; even nude photographs of children were considered pictures of innocence itself” According to Woolf (2010) Alice was Carroll’s first and most favorite and although there is no strong evidence it has been said that Carroll had an unhealthy attraction towards Alice. However BBC New Magazine(2012) states that although the story was based on a little girl that Carroll know does bring out some taught but the fact that he photographed girls in the nude does not help his case for the modern mind. But it cannot be forgotten that Lewis Carroll lived in a period “were childhood innocence was being forged, influencing how children were represented in the 19^th century literature aimed at them”. In addition to this BBC News Magazine (2012) adds that many experts that analyzed his case states, that Lewis Carroll might have had a desire for little girls, but these desires were not necessarily sexual. Jenney Woolf who wrote the article “Lewis Carroll’s Shifting Reputation” for Smithsonian Magazine in 2010 and the author of “Mystery of Lewis Carroll” also agrees with this theory.  

According to Woolf (2010) in 1960’s during the Countercultural Movement this was a protest movement that was led by American youngsters who were forming a culture of their own. During that period Lewis Carroll’s work had been associated with drugs. However BBC News Magazine (2012) states that although Carroll’s work does have drug influences within the text especially when “Cheshire Cat disappears leaving only the enigmatic grin behind. Alice drinks potions and eats pieces of mushroom to change her physical state. The caterpillar smokes an elaborate water pipe. The whole atmosphere of the story is so profoundly disjointed from reality”. In addition to this this was the period were opium was legal, but there is no evidence that Carroll was on drugs when he wrote the story. This association had be done during the 60’s 70’s and 80’s this was the period were LSD and other hallucinogenic drugs were very common.

Alice in Wonderland has been interpreted many times by several artists in diverse media such as animation. In spite of the fact that the very first set drawings that had been made for Alice in Wonderland were the ones done by Sir John Tenniel, many of us think of Walt Disney’s version of Alice in Wonderland of 1951. According to What a Wonderful Dream (N.A) Although Carroll was the kind of person who was very hard to please which made it very hard for Tenniel to work with, Lewis Carroll’s story and Tenniel’s art work were a perfect match. Tenniel’s Illustrations in black and white and was made through rough sketches which formed the basic shapes. Later Tenniel would adjust further and include detail by using ink and Chinese white before the final illustration goes onto the block wood. Phantomwise (N.A) although the tale of Alice in Wonderland is based on Alice Liddell the character with in the story was not meant to be Alice Liddell. The girl in Tenniel’s illustration was blonde in addition to this Carroll did suggest two blond models for Tenniel these models were Mary Hilton Badcock and Beatrice Henly. However Tenniel did not use a model for the illustrations but his Alice was defiantly a blond. It is also noticeable that Tenniel’s illustrations of Alice tend to have an expressionless face in most of the scenes. 

Fictional Alice from the original manuscript

                                                       A sketch of sketch of Liddell

Tenniel drew Alice in a blue dress, white pinafore and blond hair. This look had been widely used and became well known in later works of Alice in Wonderland such as Disney’s 1951 Alice in Wonderland. According to Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site (N.A) the idea of Alice in wonderland had started back in the 1920 this was when Walt Disney had produced “The Alice Comedies”. In 9133 Walt Disney bought the rights to Tenniel’s Illustrations the reason for this was so that they will use Tenniel’s illustrations as the basis of the characters for the live action remake. According to Kate Lismore (N.A) it was Al Perkins who was the storyboard artist at the Disney studio and the director David. S Hall who first proposed Alice in Wonderland. However, according to Pickavance (2011) their concepts for the live action remake had been rejected by Disney because their concepts visually resembled the works of Sir John Tenniel. In addition to this Lenny’s Alice in Wonderland Site (N.A) states that their concept art had the visual style of Tenniel’s because the animators use Tenniel’s work as a starting point and to as the basis for the characters as Walt intended. Mark Pickavance (2011) also states that “The modernist look of Wonderland, was created by background artist Mary Blair, was dramatically enhanced by exceptional use of colour, which is much more striking than the previously muted pastel shades that audiences had experienced with Dumbo and Bambi”. Although Al Perkins and David. S Hall’s concepts had been rejected due to having the visual style of Tenniel’s illustrations, by looking at both Tenniel’s and Disney’s illustrations of Alice in Wonderland one can notice many similarities in the characters.

According to Frost (N.A) When observing Tenniel’s Illustrations and compering them with Disney’s illustrations one can notice many similarities such as Cheshire Cat “the cat is occupying the same bodily position, but despite being slightly more caricatured, he appears very much the same.”

Dodo is another example where a lot of similarities can be noticed. According to Frost (N.A) Disney’s Illustration of Dodo have the same body form as Tenniel’s illustrations of Dodo in a way this may be the possibility that “Disney’s illustrators stayed true to Tenniel’s illustration then the Disney writers did to Carroll’s text.”

Disney Dodo Model Sheet

The same goes with the Tenniel’s illustrations of Tweedledee and Tweedledum and Disney’s illustrations. It is hard not to notice that Disney’s illustrations have been drawn upon Tenniel’s illustrations.

Although there are many similarities within Tenniel’s and Disney’s Illustrations, Tenniel’s illustrations are rather simplistic while Disney’s illustrations are bright, colourful and Alice was given a mainstream face. Other artist who illustrated Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland had their own interpretation of it. These interpretations were done depending on the style and astatic of their time. According to Lismore (2014) unlike Tenniel’s illustrations, Ralph Steadman illustrations tend to bring out a surreal feel to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. This is portrayed in the way the characters look because just like Tenniel’s illustrations Ralph Steadman illustrations are rather simplistic. Lismore (2014) also states that although Ralph Steadman’s Illustrations happen to fall in a dark atmosphere Steadman’s illustrations are quite appropriate. When comparing Steadman’s Illustrations with the illustrations of   Marjorie Torrey 1955 one can notice the contrast between both styles. Lismore (2014) states that Marjorie Torrey’s illustrations are more natural and the way Marjorie Torrey illustrated Alice with brown hair brings out the original Alice Liddell.   

Reference list

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].

Woolf Jenny, 2010. Lewis Carroll's Shifting Reputation. [online] available at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/lewis-carrolls-shifting-reputation-9432378/. [Accessed 14 December 2014]

Frost Erin, n.d.

Anon, n.d. Sir John Tenniel.[online] available at: http://aliceinwonderland.evanderweb.co.uk/tenniel.html. [Accessed 10 December 2014]

Anon, 2012. Is Alice in Wonderland really about drugs?. [online] available at: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-19254839. [Accessed 05 Decemver 2014].

Anon, n.d. WHY IS ALICE BLOND AND/OR WEARING A BLUE DRESS? SHOULDN’T IT BE YELLOW?. [online] available at: http://still-she-haunts-me-phantomwise.tumblr.com/post/38633527006/why-is-alice-blond-and-or-wearing-a-blue-dress. [Accessed 20 December  2014].

Anon, n.d. About Disney's "Alice in Wonderland" movie. [online] available at: http://www.alice-in-wonderland.net/alice1c.html. [Accessed 13 December 2014].

Article Summery

Article Summery 

Old Vs New “Alice in Wonderland” by Adrianna Chandler

In this article Adrianna Chandler who is a third-year writer for the entertainment section of the Prospective newspaper will be discussing both Disney classic of Alice in wonderland and Tim Burton’s live action remake 

According to Chandler (2013), both Disney and Tim Burton’s version of Alice in Wonderland are biased on the actual Louis Carroll story. Tim Burton’s version happens to be to go more into the darker side and it blends well with “Through the Looking Glass”. On the other hand the Disney version resembles “Alice’s Advantures in wonderland”. Chandler (2013) also states that unlike the Tim Burton’s remake the classical version of Alice in wonderland by Disney brings out the original nature of the story with its bight, coloured characters.

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 but none of the characters were prominent enough except for Cheshire Cat and the queen of Hearts

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

Animation from pencil to pixel by Tony White Summery

Animation from pencil to pixel by Tony White

Chapter 2, Chapter 6 &  Chapter 14 

The book is written by an award winning animator Tony White the book consists of classical techniques used in animation as well as information which is relevant to today’s technology. According to White (2006) although the script of an animated film is one of the main important things when it comes to animation, The character with in animation also plays a very important role as it is just like having a real life famous actor. Characters in any kind of animation need to have personality, emotional qualities and humanistic behaviors. White (2006, p.30) states 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”  White (2006) also states that it is very easy for a character design to fall in a visual stereotype especially in movies that have heroes and villains. There is a tendency that all heroes look very attractive and the villains look hideously ugly. But this habit had been broken in the Movie Shrek where both leading figures were actually very ugly and this was something very refreshing for the world of animation.  

2D animation was still at its starting point back in the beginning of the 20^th century and the film industry was dominated by what is call the “Rubber Hose Characters” White (2006, p.31) states that theses “characters had limbs that were rubbery, twisty, and able to squash and stretch in length”. Since animation was evolving Disney also had to evolve away for the rubber hose characters and convincing characters had to be created for the audience. From then Disney characters started to have an actual skeletal structure. Unlike 2D animation, 3D animation does not require the stretch and squash like the one used in 2D animation but 3D animation does require a skeletal structure. However the squash and stretch technique can still be achieved and this is by knowing how to move the joints and limbs accordingly.

Toys Story was one of the first movies created in 3D and it is known to be one of the finest 3D animation that has ever been done. It opened the door for 3D animation. White (2006 p.33) states “ As with 2D animation before it, 3D has yet not conquer the human form in a way the characters can act naturally and not in look like plastic models or wooden sculptures…..” in character design when  it came to comics the characters are usually draw in proportion but when it comes to other kinds of animated cartoon characters some might have a very large heads compared to their bodies and this is used to show exaggeration and of course the character will look more cartoony. According to White (2006) to ensure that the character design is being understood it in important to know what the character will look like from every angle and view point this is usually done on a model sheet. The model sheet will give a sense of what the character will look like from every angle along with facial expressions. This is done for the character to be approved before it is finished.  White (2006) also states that it is important for the character and the background to complement each other and that it is important to test the background and the character to see if they really do complement each other. When creating background it is also important that the colours used complement the storyline as some colours suggest specific moods and it is very important that the colours complement the phases of the story.   

Just like character design and background colouring, now a days story boards play a very important role in animation especially in the film industry. According to White (2006) story boards can be anything from rough sketches to highly detailed drawings. Although story boards are highly used now a day it was not always like this. It all started at the Disney studio where animators used to pin up their work on the walls to discuss their ideas. Then these sketches became known as story boards. White (2006) states that when creating a story board it is much easier to read the script a couple of times to help understand what the filmmakers ideas better.  Story board usually presents an action in each frame and that a full colour story board is recommended when it comes to presenting it. White (2006) also states that using the same shot for different scenes will be ideal as this will avoid redrawing the scene each time tracing is also acceptable. Numbering the frames may also be ideal as this will make thing easier if there will be the need to add more frame in between.  

According to White (2006) in some cases just looking at a storyboard may seem too brief and may not get the idea right away so forming into an animatic may be best. It will appear different, although it is not the same as viewing a film but it is very similar and the viewer will get a better understanding. Creating an animatic take very little effort all that need to be done is a scan of the art work and imported onto Adobe Pramier.  White (2006, p.175) states that is the story board has a good structure the Animatic should too.

The world of animation as evolved tremendously in the past few decades According to White (2006) paperless animation has been talked about for quite some time before it actually arrived. Paperless animation helps the animator to draw directly onto a computer and saves a lot time and avoids having piles of paper around. Although many animations today are being created by paperless animation, and the use of the Cintiq, the animator still has to have good drawing abilities to work with the Cintiq no matter what miracles the new technologies is able to make.  

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].

The Illusion of Life Disney Animation Book Summery

The Illusion of Life Disney Animation

Book Summery

The Illusion of Life Disney Animation by Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston covers everything that one need to know about Animation. It covers history, how the Disney animations are made, techniques and principles that were used to create the actual animation, the animators of the Disney Studio etc…

Although animation was born 25,000 years ago in cave painting, it does not have the same meaning that we have for it today. The animation that was done 25,000 years ago in cave paintings was a way of communication in other words it was a language. But Walt Disney gave animation a whole other meaning; Walt’s aim was to entertain. Walt introduced animation with such powerful characters that made the viewer’s feel connected with the characters within the animation. This was because the characters were given emotion. Unlike the early cartoon animation where the charters lacked emotions theses charters could smile, cry, laugh and all the other emotions that humans feel.

As it already has been mentioned Walt’s aim was to entertain that’s how the Disney Studio came to life many talented artists would go there and animate but According to Frank and Ollie (1981) the artists at the Disney Studio had the tendency to hide their work and not show it to anyone. Walt tried everything in his power to break this tendency and by doing so the works of the animator and improved because they would learn from each other’s mistakes, not only that each generation of animators benefited from what the previous animators learned. There is no doubt that the Disney Studios is a perfect example of a learning organization.   

At the Disney Studios the principals of animation were discovered. Some of these principals were the squash and stretch which is known to be one of the most important principals in animation. The squash and stretch is used to give the face expression of the character weight and volume this technique also gives more exaggerated movement to the object in motion. The Overlapping is another principal discovered at the Disney Studio. This gave complexity and fluidity to the scenes when actions don’t overlap the movements tends to look robotic and mechanical. Although these techniques gave animation a more realistic feel the animators at the Disney studio were still in search for better methods for relating the drawings to each other and through these searches principals such as Anticipation, Staging, Straight ahead action, pose to pose, follow through, slow in slow out, arcs, secondary action timing exaggeration, solid drawing and appel were discovered.

Although the animators at the Disney Studio were supervised by Walt, Walt had very little understanding of the mechanics of animation.  Especially when it came to animation techniques Walt had no clue. On the other had Walt had a very good understanding on that to do with the scenes and what the action should be like. But unfortunately Walt could not sit at a desk and draw his ideas; he was always forced to rely on others when it came to drawing. In fact Frank and Ollie (1981) states that Ben Shapsteen claimed that “Animation was developed into what it is because of the animators them self’s and not by Walt”.  But on the other hand Les Clark states that “animation developed because of Walt’s insistence and supervision”.

According to Frank and Ollie (1981) by 1933 the animators at the Disney Studio had learned all the principals and the basics of animation and were able to produce animated films. The animated film was The Three Little Pigs and by that time Walt had already started to look further into entertaining ideas. This was a new era for Disney animation and by 1936 things started to take a step forward in animation. Things started to become possible and technical skills were advancing, in the meantime the new camera was being built and this was very promising. “The Pencil Test” Frank and Ollie (1981) states that the pencil test was a technique which gave the animator the chance to study the actions drawn and make corrections this was viewed by having the drawings filmed and obviously this was done before the scene was sent to be inked and coloured. There was also a huge development when it came to animate rain, clouds and thunder until subsequently and gradually the improvement was significant. Even the colours that were used, the shads were more vibrant and brought life to the scene.

Norman Ferguson, Hamelton Lusky, Fred Moore and Vladimir Tytla were the four men chosen by Walt to supervise the animation of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. According to According to Frank and Ollie (1981) these were also the four men that took Disney animation to a higher level however According to Frank and Ollie (1981) states that according to Dave Hand, Walt what have reached the same achievement with or without these great animators.

According to Frank and Ollie (1981) at the Disney studios the storyman was the person who wrote the script but the ideas that the story men wrote were most of the time changed into something completely different in other words the ideas that were given out by the storymen were tossed around and sometimes given a good beating. At the Disney studios it was preferred that the story was presented visually rather than words, so sketches were pinned up onto a wall to help visually communicate with the story better and that’s when story boards stared to be used. The storyboards became the biases for the final layouts which showed the animator where his scene fits into. The storyboard was developed by Ken Anderson and Wilfred Jackson.

At the Disney Studios background painter were to experiment too but in their case they were to experiment with different mediums. As for the background painters it was important that they knew their medium very well, and they had to know how to achieve the same style but in different mediums. Although background painters share the same talents as the easel painters that we know of they are not the same. Frank and Ollie (1981) states that background painters should not only understand colour but being able to handle their medium extremely well. At the Disney studios background painters were given instructions to follow such as there shouldn’t be anything behind the character as it will distract the viewer’s attention. Having too much details or too much eye catching forms and colour will conflict with the figure and it will become confusing and disturbing for the viewer.

According to Frank and Ollie (1981) before 1932 no one had seen cartoons in full color besides the comics that were found in the newspaper. When it came to colour Walt had a problem with the Technicolour as they were not giving him the right colours. The colours were looking odd 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 2014]. States that the “colours started to get lighter shades and bleached out quickly, white eyes looked like headlights and soft foam on water looked like popcorn. But this was until everyone at the studio realized that It was not the technicolour it was the colour system in the film itself that was too crude to control to such fine degree”

According to  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 2014].  The first type of camera that was used to create animation was connected to a wooden frame and It was pointed down to the drawing table to capture the image. As ideas expanded, filmmakers found the need to move the camera in other directions so that they will come closer to the scene. When it came to cameras Walt always wanted to improve to allow more flexibility. Then came the rotoscope the mechanism that used for transferring live action film into animated cartoon through tracing this process involved the projection of a single frames of film onto a drawing surface for tracing. Re-photographing the sequence of drawings results in very life like animation. The Rotoscoping technique was also used with animating animals but when it came to animals wearing  costumes, instead of animals they made use of the human figures wearing the costume. By the 1960’s cameras had improved they could almost do anything the animators could do. The question was whether it was worth having the camera or to have the animators do the work?

After the Rotoscoping technique Disney animation continued to develop especially in combining live action and cartoons, animated designs and sound. During the world war two Disney also produced educational films for the government agencies Frank and Ollie (1981) states that animation is particularly well suited for teaching because of its ability to get into people’s minds as well as inside any object or subject its conveying.

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 2014]. 

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].

1914 Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor Mc Cay

Gertie the Dinosaur is known to be one of the first cel animated films by Winsor Mc Cay, who was an American cartoonist and animator. Mc Cay is well known for his comic strip Little Nemo and of course Gertie the Dinosaur.

 Motion Pictures were something new for the 18^th century and people were still getting used to the idea of drawings coming to life. Although it is known that Gertie the Dinosaur is the first animated cartoons, before Gertie Mc Cay worked on 2 other animations. The very first animation that Mc Cay worked on was called Little Nemo this was a very experimental piece in fact the animation had no story line and consisted of 4000 drawings  which were hand coloured by Mc Cay himself. According to Van Eation “the animation was quite precise and the effects very dreamlike.”

The comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland is considered McCay's masterpiece (July 22, 1906)

The other film Mc Cay worked on was called “The Story of a Mosquito” this animation was about a mosquito that ran into a drunken man. It took Mc Cay one whole year to complete this animation which made a big hit at the theatres, but since motion picture were new for that time it was said that Mc Cay was playing some tricks with wires. And that’s when Mc Cay started working on Gertie the Dinosaur, his aim was to prove that his drawing really did move. 

Gertie the Dinosaur consisted of 10,000 drawings, and with the help of John A Fitzsimmon, the drawings were produced. Fitzsimmon traced the backgrounds on rice paper while Mc Cay did the drawing of Gertie. To produce the animation Mc Cay only had his experience to relay on as he has on guidance from any one. To check the work Mc Cay would put the drawings in a machine which flipped the drawings and helped him view the movement, like a flip book but in a form of a machine.

According to Van Eation “Mc Cay precisely animated details such as particles of dirt falling, and water dripping. He gave Gertie personality and emotions. We see her eating, drinking, playing, and even crying.”

In February 1914 Gertie the Dinosaur debuted in Chicago as part of McCay's vaudeville act and that’s when Mc Cay explained to the audience how the animated film was made, photographed and projected. 

Reference 

A BRIEF HISTORY OF GERTIE THE DINOSAUR. 2014. A BRIEF HISTORY OF GERTIE THE DINOSAUR. [ONLINE] Available at: http://vegalleries.com/gerthistory.html. [Accessed 19 November 2014

Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo » Madinkbeard | Derik Badman. 2014. Winsor McCay’s Little Nemo » Madinkbeard | Derik Badman. [ONLINE] Available at: http://madinkbeard.com/archives/winsor-mccays-little-nemo. [Accessed 19 November 2014].

Century Film Project | Celebrating the movies our ancestors loved. 2014. Century Film Project | Celebrating the movies our ancestors loved. [ONLINE] Available at: https://centuryfilmproject.wordpress.com/. [Accessed 19 November 2014].

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. 2014. Gertie the Dinosaur - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. [ONLINE] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gertie_the_Dinosaur. [Accessed 19 November 2014].

Change Before Going Productions. Gertie the Dinosaur (1914) - 1st Keyframe Animation - Winsor McCay, 2013 - YouTube. [ONLINE] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGXC8gXOPoU. [Accessed 19 November 2014].

The first type of Animation

Cave paintings 

Animation dates back to Paleolithic a time which is over 35,000 years ago when attempts were made to capture motion in drawings. The cave paintings of that time depict animals in super imposed positions these were drawn with an aim of conveying the perception of motion.

In cave paintings across France, animals appear to have multiple limbs, heads and tails, but according to the archaeologist and film maker Marc Azema of the University of Toulouse Le Mirail, who spent over two decades studying the phenomenon, the paintings are actually primitive animations. When these animations are viewed unsteady light or flickering flames the image appears to move.

The Egyptians and The Greeks 

Byrne (2008, p.9) states that although the phrase "cartoon" is very recent, cartoons goes back to the Ancient Greeks and the Egyptians where they used imagery to tell a story and decorate their vases as for the Egyptian hieroglyphics some consider these to be to be the first type of comic strips. (John, B., 2008., need to know? Cartooning. London, HarperCollins)

In 1600 BC the Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses built a temple to Isis. The temple had 110 columns on it and, on each column, was a progressively changed image of Isis. People on horseback riding by would perceive Isis moving.

The Ancient Greeks sometimes decorated pots with figures in successive stages of action. Spinning the pot would create a sense of motion!

The images below are a good example of Disney’s influences for instance the Muses from "Hercules", is inspired by the art found on Greek vases and urns, among the other art from Greece. And how they based the "Lion King's” villain, Scar, from African art. One can notice the similarities of the eyes. 

John, B., 2008., need to know? Cartooning. London, HarperCollins

Animation. 2014. Animation. [ONLINE] Available at:http://www.slideshare.net/Ravit4/animation-14251091. [Accessed 9 October 2014].