DISNEY!!!....and Pixar, Anime and Manga.

In our last lecture we looked at Disney, Pixar, Anime and Manga animation with Bambi being the chosen Disney movie. We talked about how much of a breakthrough Disney was in film, with real foliage and live deer being brought in so that the artists and animators could observe and perfect all the specific movements and details. They also used the same process for The Lion King. Such time and effort was put into creating these movies (the stampede scene in The Lion King took 3 years to animate). Growing up watching Disney movies, they, to me, represent perfect animation and stories.


Since it began in 1979, Pixar has taken animation to a whole new level. I remember seeing Monsters Inc (2001) for the first time and being absolutely amazed by Sully's fur!

The way it looked and moved was so realistic. It blew me away. The detail was astonishing and I remember wondering at the time what else they were able to achieve. The possibilities were infinate.

And of course they didn't disappoint. Take the film Up (2009) for example. A brilliant film with characters that are extremely human-like. Everything from their appearance to their emotions and mannerisms.

This was another film where I instantly thought 'wow' when seeing it for the first time. The similarities to real humans was uncanny.

My first experience of anime was Pokemon. I didn't really 'get' this type of animation as its a world away from what I was brought up on. The characters are very different and seeing anime and manga for the first time with its edginess and the shapes and angles they used for the characters seemed very alien to me. I still find it slightly difficult to connect with the characters.

 

Its very clear that English and American animation differs greatly from Japanese. As I mentioned previously, English and American animation takes inspiration from real life, bringing in animals to draw from. With Japanese animation however, it seems to be the other way round. Japanese animation seems to be inspiring people reather than taking inspiration.

For example, special contact lenses are now available in Japan to give you the large eyes you see in the characters. They were also featured in Lady Gaga's video for Bad Romance.

                              

By looking at how animation has progressed you can see not only how far the animators have come by creating characters that greatly resemble humans, but also how it has gone on to effect its audiences. The fact that women in Japan are going crazy for this fad says a lot about how influential animation is in today's culture.