Bonnie's History 389

#12 I am out of things to write about!

2005-11-30T22:27:00.000-02:00

Unfortunately, giving up is not an option. So I went to my trusty GOOGLE and typed in "animation". Interestingly, the third or fourth entry was the PIXAR site, http://www.pixar.com/index.html. I think PIXAR has made the most incredible animated movies, and their website was equally impressive.

On this page there is a link titled "how we do it". It is very interesting and I encourage you to go look at it. Here are some of the things I learned:

- When the storyboard artists are given the scripts, they are also given the emotional changes each character will go through. This enables the artists to see the "big picture", much like an actor asking what his motivation is. It almost seems like this makes the artists actors, in a sense.

- For the first phase of production, a 'scratch voice' (voice of a PIXAR employee) is used. This voice may be used for as long as a year or even much longer. Near the end of the process, the voices of professional actors are substituted. Occassionally a scratch voice is so linked to a character, it is used in the final production.

- Sometimes the characters are created by computers, but sometimes models are hand-sculpted and scanned into the computer. How amazing is that! See #7 on the website for a picture of the sculpting of Sully and Mike from Monsters, Inc (one of my personal favorites).

- #10 is a description of how the movie is animated. I did not understand really, but computer graphics people would.

- #11 and #12 are descriptions of the shading and lighting that is used. This is something that I would take for granted, but after reading about it I understand that it makes a huge difference in making the scene look real.

Though some of the information in the website is over my head, it still made me appreciate the amount of work and detail that goes into making a PIXAR movie. Again, let me say that I think PIXAR makes incredible movies. They are nothing short of magical. They do, in fact, put Disney to shame!

#11 I am sick today!

2005-11-16T21:06:00.000-02:00

I am sick today, so I am having a little writers block. So I decided to fall back on something that interests me. I am a Psychology major, so I searched Psychology journals to see what they say about animation. Here are some things I found.

According to an article published in Educational Psychology Review titled, Animation as an Air to Multimedia Learning (Mayer and Moreno, 2002), the following are facts about animation:

- Researchers believe that animation, combined with verbal teaching, can enhance a student's learning, but it is dependent on how it is used.

- Some people are visual learners and some are verbal learners. Students do best when allowed to chose which style is best for them.

-According to one theory, people learn best when there is a pictoral representation of the words they are hearing. This is because pictures and words are processed by two separate parts of the brain. If the brain is processing the information in two separate places, it should be easier to recall.

- When there is only verbal representation, our minds have to work harder because we must create our own pictoral images.

- Words written on a screen must be close to the pictures they represent. If they are far from each other, cognitive capacity is wasted in trying to match the words to their corresponding picture representation.

- Irrelevant words and pictures should be left out. This just uses up memory space and is not necessary.

- Animation and spoken words are more effective than animation and written words. The mind must work harder if people have to read instead of hear the words.

This is just some of the information on animation and how it affects learning. I have taken Nyquil and must sleep now:)

#10 Pocahontas: What does a 7-year-old think?

2005-11-09T21:44:00.000-02:00

We all had our opinions about Pocahontas, but let's face it. Disney made this movie for children. So let's hear what a child thinks.

Following is an interview with my 7-year -old daughter, Alexandra.

Me: Alex, how many times have you seen Pocahontas?

Alexandra: Lots.

Me: Do you like the movie?

Alexandra: Yes, I do.

Me: If you give movies that you love a 10, and movies you hate a 1, how much would you give Pocahontas?

Alexandra: Somewhere in the middle, maybe a six.

Me: What movie would you give a 10?

(Long pause)

Alexandra: Oh, I know, Lion King.

Me: Who is your favorite character in Pocahontas?

Alexandra: I loved the dog, the racoon and the bird. They are so funny the way they fight all the time.

Me: They were very cute. What is your favorite part of the movie?

Alexandra: I liked the part where she is in the boat singing about what it would be like if she had to marry Kocoum (I finally figured it out, she was talking about Just Around the Riverbend).

Me: What is your favorite song in the movie?

Alexandra: Dream of All the Colors of the Wind.

Me: Do you remember how it ends?

Alexandra: You mean when he has to go away on the boat because he is hurt?

Me: And she stay behind with her family. Did you get sad?

Alexandra: I did get a little sad at the end.

Me: Remember when he asked her to go with him?

Alexandra: Yes.

Me: Do you think she should have gone, or do you think she should have stayed with her family?

Alexandra: I think she should have stayed with her family because that is better. But he can get better and come back to her.

Me: That is a great idea. Now, go to bed!

So there you have it. The optimistic view of a 7-year-old! She liked the movie, but not too much. She liked the animals, no surprise there. Overall, it was a mediocre performance. But still it made her happy.

#9 Don Bluth: An interesting Guy

2005-11-02T22:30:00.000-02:00

Before tonight's class I had never heard of Don Bluth. So I decided to do some research.

According to http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Cinema/7100/index5.html, Don Bluth is a very busy man. He worked for Disney for awhile, helped create Sleeping Beauty, quit Disney. Went back to Disney; this time helped create Robin Hood, Winnie the Pooh, the Rescuers, and Pete's Dragon. Left Disney, started Don Bluth Productions with two other gentlemen, and created Banjo the Woodpile Cat (I admit I have never heard of this one), The Secret of NIMH and Xanadu. Next he and his partners tried their hand at video games which was not a good move because they went bankrupt.

But that is not the end. In 1968 he partnered up again and created An American Tale. Then came Land Before Time, All Dogs Go to Heaven, Rock-A-Doodle, A Troll in Central Park, Thumbelina, Pebble and the Penguin.

I also found the Don Bluth website, http://www.donbluth.com/index.html, with contains a page titled "academy" that gives a great explanation of storyboarding. Before I started this class I had never heard the term storyboarding. After looking at this website I understand the process. This is an excellent website and if you are like me and do not always understand what this is all about, I encourage you to go to this site. I have not read it all, but I have bookmarked it for future use!

By the way, Professor Petrik, "Somewhere Out There" was nominated for an Academy Award in 1986, but was beat out by "You Take My Breath Away" from Top Gun. Once again, sex sells. (I believe the song was played during a rather steamy love scene between Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis). Oh, well.

#8 What I Know as a Parent

2005-10-25T22:26:00.000-02:00

I have been reading the very informative blogs that various members of the class have been writing on censorship. I have learned a lot and I am very glad that I am better informed on the subject.

One thing that keeps surfacing in the blogs and the comments is that censorship should only go so far. The parents must be the ones to monitor and protect what their children view. I agree completely, but let me give you a parents point of view.

An animated movie comes out. For weeks, maybe months, before the release of the movie it is advertised on television. Usually the movie paraphernalia is even out before the movie. Your kids get excited. They cannot wait to see the movie. All of their friends go to see it. But you have done your research and find out there are some things you do not like about this movie. Maybe there are veiled sexual comments and some bad language. No big deal, right? But do I want to take my 7-year old? She is starting to understand what some things mean. Or at least she knows enough to be confused by it. Then there is my 5-year-old. Any comments in the movie that are questionable will no doubt go over his head. But he loves to repeat lines in movies. He is more likely to repeat words or lines that he doesn't understand because they are curious to him.

I love to take my kids to the movies and I love to watch them as they see the amazing animation that is out there today. But I just do not understand this trend to put adult themes in kids movies, especially animation. Is it so that parents will enjoy the moves more and therefore take their kids to see them? Probably. But I just wish that they would take the high road and keep the adult themes out of animation that is geared toward kids.

Yes, it is my responsibility as a parent to monitor what my kids watch. But it is a little more complicated than that!

#7 Anything they can do, I can do better...

2005-10-20T00:31:00.000-02:00

So, we heard that Hitler likes Disney, but what did he think when he saw such movies as Der Fuehrer's Face?

Of course we cannot know for sure what his reaction was to this movie. But according to the website, http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2004-05-17-disney-WWII-cartoons_x.htm, Hitler was sure that the Germans could do animation as well as Americans. We should not be surprise; wasn't his belief that Germans could do EVERYTHING better? So they set out to do propaganda cartoons.

According to http://www.cyranos.ch/animat-e.htm, the Germans copied some of the Disney techniques. For example, their characters, just like Disney characters, only had four fingers. But the characters were not so good and the dream of Hitler to make animation as good as the Americans never really came to fruition. When the Nazi's fell, so did the push for new animation.

In war and in cartoons, America prevails!

# 6 Snow White: Who was her Singing Teacher?

2005-10-12T11:53:00.000-02:00

Did anyone else cringe when Snow White sang in her movie? I could not believe how horrible she sounded! I am not sure why they chose this voice to represent such a sweet, gentle person, but it was definitely bad casting!

We have come a long way when it comes to the music found in animation today. And some pretty big names are associated with Disney. We have Elton John singing "Can you Feel the Love Tonight?", Phil Collins singing "You'll Be in My Heart", Linda Ronstadt and James Ingram singing, "Somewhere Out There", just to name a few.

I think somewhere down the line someone decided that kids had an ear for music just as much as adults. Thankfully! Poor Snow White's screaching is a good reason for me to never watch the movie again!

#5 OOPS

2005-10-05T10:45:00.000-02:00

Some of the funniest lines I have ever heard have come from cartoons. I heard many of them in Rabbit of Seville and What's Opera, Doc. But there are many more. And Bugs Bunny had more than his share. Here are some of the best I found...

"There, you're nice and clean, but don't your face look like it has just gone through a ma-chine", Bugs to Elmer in Rabbit of Seville

"O mighty warrior of great fighting stock / Might I inquire to ask, ehh, what's up Doc?" , Bugs to Elmer in What's Opera, Doc

" [sung] I dream of Genie, she's a light brown hare", Bugs Bunny in Bugs Bunny's 3rd Movie: 1001 Rabbit Tales.

"Can you imagine anything so ridiculous as majority rule?" Daffy Duck in Daffy Duck for President

"Yum, yummy! My favorite vegetable: duck" Casper Caveman in Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur

"The only two things a pirate'll run for is money and public office." Yosemite Sam in Daffy Duck's Movie: Fantastic Island

"Just call Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, paranormalists at large. Spooks spooked, goblins gobbled, UFOs K.O.ed, aliens alienated, vampires evaporated, and monsters remonstrated." Daffy Duck in Daffy Duck's Quackbusters

Interestingly, all of these lines are completely lost on the audience they were meant to attract. How ironic that kids love cartoons but don't really get the lines. We seldom watch cartoons, but understand them completely. Life...what a paradox.

(All quotes were found at http://www.imdb.com/Sections/Quotes/)

#4 Popeye the Sailor Man: Big, Goofy and My Hero

2005-10-02T23:24:00.000-02:00

I love Popeye; I always have. Why? Because he is a good guy. He is not terribly smart, but he always wants to do the right thing. And he loves Olive Oyl inspite of the fact that she arguably may be the ugliest woman on the face of the earth. He doesn't seem to even notice.

So I decided to take a look into his past and see what I could come up with. I found a great website with some very interesting information: http://www.kingfeatures.com/features/comics/popeye/about.htm. Popeye made his first appearance in January of 1929 in a comic strip titled "Thimble Theatre" which was about Olive Oyl's family. He soon became popular and other characters were introduced around his character.

But here is a very interesting fact: his first appearance in a movie was in a Betty Boop cartoon titled "Popeye the Sailor". Isn't that interesting? Professor P, did you know that when you taught these two characters on the same night?

Want to know more about Popeye? According to Bud Sagendorf in his book titled Popeye, the First Fifty Years, the book he wrote to celebrate Popeye's 50th anniversary, the following are facts about Popeye: he is 5'6", 158 pounds, and was 31 years old when he first appeared. He was born in 1898 and hasn't seen his "Pappy" since he was born. It appears our hero had a good mother that taught him to be a good man without the help of a father!
(http://www.math.pitt.edu/~bard/bardware/popeye/faq.html)

But without a doubt, my favorite things about Popeye are his famous sayings. One that rings especially true for me right now is "I've had all I can stands, I can't stands no more." Another good one is "I yam what I yam", his way of telling us, I believe, that he knows he is not handsome or smart, and he may not be good at social graces, but he is not apologetic for this. Love him or leave him. I love him.

So you see, Popeye may not be an obvious hero, but he is a hero none the less!

#3 Staying With the Theme of Tonight's Class...

2005-09-21T21:30:00.000-02:00

Although the animation was quite primitive compared to what computers produce today, wasn't it fascinating to see what Lotte Reiniger created with her own hands and her remarkable mind?

Because I had this on my brain, and because I saw a story about Mickey Mouse in a 1927 cartoon last night on MSN (something I would not have noticed before taking this class), I decided to look at some early cartoons a little closer to home than Europe. I went to my favorite website, Google, and immediately found a great website. "The Encyclopedia of Disney Animated Shorts", http://disneyshorts.toonzone.net/index.html. There you will find Disney's work from 1922 - 2004.

I had such a good time looking through these old animations. I looked at the oldest, which look a lot like some of the stuff we have seen in class. It looks sort of like Felix the Cat. Then I looked at the ones from the year I was born. Then the years each of my four children were born. It was fascinating to see how far animation has come. It was also interesting because I had forgotten how different animation was when I was a kid. Logically, I knew it would look different. But I was surprised at how different!

Once again, it was a walk down memory lane. We are so used to the computer generated graphics of today. But it is so great to be able go back in time and see the evolution.

What could be more fun than watching Scooby Doo???

2005-09-14T00:11:00.000-02:00

I was just watching my son play a Scooby Doo computer game, which always makes me smile. I think it is so funny that he is watching the same cartoon that I watched 40 years ago. It is pretty incredible that it has lasted the test of time.

With this on my mind, I decided to do some research into the original cartoon. Here is what I found:

The original cartoon aired from 1968 - 1994. It was on CBS on Saturday mornings at 1000. Of course all cartoons were on Saturdays back then (how times have changed!) The show boasts such guests as Mama Cass, The Harlem Globetrotters, and Sonny and Cher to name a few. You can see it now on Cartoon Network, and of course you can find Scooby Doo movies at your local Blockbuster!

I like Scooby Doo better than most of the cartoons on Cartoon Network. It is cute and harmless enough. Besides, it makes me feel nostalgic...

I'd rather be empty than full of nothing good....

2005-09-07T23:19:00.000-02:00

This has nothing to do with this class, I just saw it somewhere and thought it was worth passing on.

I have a 5- and 7-year old. When they like a movie they watch it over and over again. They will watch it everyday for a month until it gets buried under the stack and they forget about it. They won't watch it for a year, then find it and discover all over again how much they love it.

This is the case with The Fox and the Hound. The story is about a young fox named Todd and a hound dog named Copper. They are owned by two neighbors. Todd's human is a sweet, lonely old lady who loves him very much. The two animals become friends and love to play. In a sad turn of events, the hound's owner decides Todd is bad and threatens to kill him. As much as the old woman does not want to lose her only friend, even more she wants Todd to be safe. So she takes him to the woods and leaves him there where he will be safe from the hound's owner.

The story goes from there and tells about Todd's adventures. It is a wonderful story, both sad and heartwarming. The animation, in my untrained opinion, is nothing like what we have today. The film was made in 1981, and we all know how much things have changed in the last 20 years. But in spite of that it is a story I enjoy watching almost as much as the kids.

My first Blog

2005-09-04T19:53:00.000-02:00

I have never seen/used a Blog and I am not sure what I am doing. This is a test