Now let’s get some discussion going on these features:  

A good portion of the films are, I hate to say it, throwaway films. Some I’ve never heard of, some unfortunately won’t make it to theatres in the U.S., and some are pretty little jewels that a couple of rising independent studios have contributed. The mainstream gems that will probably get the most consideration are Coraline, Ponyo, Up, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and (I’m assuming despite the fact that I haven’t seen them yet) The Princess and the Frog, and Fantastic Mr. Fox. The two independent films I’m rooting for are Mary and Max (which I had the extreme pleasure of catching at the Ottawa International Animation Festival; it was an utterly delightful stop motion animation) and The Secret of Kells (which is looking to be an absolutely stunning 2D animation; I really need to figure out how I’m going to get my hands on it).

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now, I know Tony wanted me to talk a little bit about the different kinds of animation. I’ll use these feature films as examples.

Let’s start off with 2D. 2D is, to me, the classic form of animation. You can animate traditionally, which means hand drawing each frame to create the illusion of movement (usually using paper and pencil), or you can use a 2D program such as Flash or Toon Boom which can create an animation quicker. A lot of animators look down on programs like Flash because it uses shortcuts and doesn’t create the beautiful movement of traditional style, but there are a lot of us who consider them two separate styles, both wonderful in their own way. Disney is famous (for at least used to be) for its traditionally animated feature films, thus creating a great prestige behind the form of traditional 2D animation. Ponyo and The Princess and the Frog are both animated traditionally in 2D. The Flash form of 2D usually creates a far more colorful and bouncy style of animation, very suitable for television. An example of non-traditional 2D animation is Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and The Secret of Kells.

3D is the most common animation style seen today. Pixar is famous for its 3D films, as is Dreamworks, Sony, Blue Sky, and even Disney. 3D animation is created completely within the computer, the most widespread program being Autodesk Maya. With 3D, there is a lot of preparation before animating can take place, such as modelling the scenes, props, and characters, as well as a a lot of time devoted to rendering. Believe it or not, a lot of programmers and engineers get involved with 3D animation because of its technical aspects. Up and Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs are both examples of 3D films.

Another aspect of 3D animation is the technique called “motion capture,” which uses sensors on actors to pick up how those actors move. It cuts out a good portion of the animation work and thus gets the film finished quicker. Unfortunately, motion capture usually has very stiff character animation (motion would be a better word, actually). Many artists in the industry are very opposed to motion capture for this reason. Why take shortcuts if the product is going to be so…emotionless? Examples of motion capture include The Polar Express and Disney’s A Christmas Carol.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Last but not least is “stop motion” animation, which uses physically built puppets and sets to create animation. For me, stop motion takes the most precision and patience. You must move the puppets very slightly, take a picture, move it again, take a picture, and repeat that about 10,000 times. Because of the process of stop motion, there are not many in the industry who practice this style, but those who do can really create beautiful animation. Coraline and Mary and Max are two examples of stop motion, as are The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Corpse Bride.

With that knowledge, I’ll leave you with a funny little story. My professor told our Storyboard and Layout class about a nightmare he had once back when his wife was pregnant. The professor is not exactly the biggest fan of 3D animation or anime. He dreamt that his wife gave birth to two baby girls, and she named them Maya (the popular program for 3D) and Anna May (sound it out). He woke up extremely troubled and told his wife the nightmare. She thought he was crazy.

I guess that’s an animator’s joke. Well, I laughed.

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It’s been quite awhile since I’ve written my first entry. Sorry! I could have written a whole essay about how wonderful Ponyo was, but some how I got caught up with the closing of summer and the beginning of the school year.

The animation line-up for the year is looking good, especially with Disney’s first 2D film in five years, The Princess and the Frog. There are a few films being released this year whose origins can be found in children’s books, including Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Where the Wild Things Are, and The Fantastic Mr. Fox.  

Everybody and their brother is beyond excited for Where the Wild Things Are, whether it’s because of the beloved book, the exciting visuals from the film, or the fact that they paired a great Arcade Fire song with the theatrical trailer. And although I’m slightly confused by the clunky, old-fashioned stop-motion style of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, I’m generally anticipating that film with excited intrigue as well.

Anyway, today I finally got to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I was a little nervous, since there have been a couple of animated 3D films which looked hilarious but were a let down (Monsters vs. Aliens for one). I’d like to use the word “awesome” to describe Cloudy (go see it, you’ll know what I’m talking about). The style of the film is supposed to resemble the old UPA animations and also The Muppets. What a great combination for character design! The wavy limbs of the characters as well as the main character’s father’s mustache and uni-brow are wonderfully Muppet-like. And the shapes used to build and create the characters in the film are great tools to borrow from UPA.

I went with a big group of friends, most of whom were animators, and we were all laughing loudly for a majority of the film. I have a weakness for crying when things are extremely adorable, and I was tearing up at the beginning of the film. The film is jam-packed with puns and jokes of every kind. It has a lot of silly visuals, including quite a number of shots where something quite obviously doesn’t make sense. But it uses the “nonsensical” element to its advantage in a perfect manner and creates massive amounts of humor.

The number of overly dramatic shots is also a great source of laughs. I was able to connect with every character in the film except for Brent, the “popular guy” with the upper hand on Flint, the nerdy main character. Brent (in my opinion) had too big of a part towards the end of the film and his character didn’t really learn anything, he just became dumber. I believe he was meant to be a comic relief as we enter the climax of the film, but Sam and Flint do just fine keeping the humor and laughs rolling on their own. Yup, Brent was my only beef with the film, so to speak.

Even the credits were wonderful, switching over to 2D to show colorful and picturesque epilogue scenes as the trend with a lot of current 3D films seems to be. The designers also must have had a thing for rainbows, since they popped in whenever possible: a rainbow title, rainbow-sparkled spray-on shoes, a huge rainbow of candy, and a credit sequence spilling over with rainbows. Due to my severe love of all things colorful (especially rainbows), this obviously went over well with me.

Click here to view the embedded video.

In conclusion, go see it. It’s a great laugh and full of eye candy. I hope you’ll enjoy yourself as much as I did. Next up, the Ottawa International Animation Festival!

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