A Forum for Classical Hand-Drawn Animation

Animator Chris Doyle has started a new forum for the discussion of classical hand-drawn animation:

Classical Hand-Drawn Animation

Check it out.  Jump in and participate in the discussion. 

In one discussion related to the post down below about  "A Day for Hand-Drawn Animation" celebration in Turkey,  animator Tahsin Özgür makes a very good distinction about the place of hand-drawn animation:

"Today is Nov. 21st, three days already since the Hand Drawn Animation Day held at Maltepe University in Istanbul.

We called it,  in our quaint Oriental tongue,  Çizgi Film Bayrami, which clumsily translates as "Line-Film Holiday" or something ... "Line-Film" being what we call this kind of film. English lacks a direct equivalent, and the more generic term "animation" might have even facilitated the CG takeover ("it's all animation, isn't it?") 

Think of our concept of "line film" as closer to the French "dessin animé" ("animated drawing") -  it's French, language of culture, so it probably has more weight in the argument. Which argument?  Why, that hand drawn animation is a distinct art form, and not simply a step on the way towards something else. "

That is a good distinction and I wish the English language had such a term as "Line-Film"  or  "le dessin anime" to denote animated drawings.

I usually try to make the distinction by using the terms "traditional animation" or "classical animation" , or "hand-drawn animation". The one term I do not care for as much , but seems ubiquitous now is "2D Animation" . Animation can be completely CG , but also be 2D (such as vector-based animation in Flash or ToonBoom) .   For better or worse the Academy of Art University has designated our department as the "2D Animation Dept." , so that's the term I have to work with for now.  (hence, I am the Online Coordinator of 2D Animation at AAU ).

But what we're really talking about here is animation that is expressed through drawing.  That's not at all to disparage CG animation or Stop Motion puppet animation, etc.   However,  the ascendancy of CG animation has unfortunately led to the widely held  perception that Tash mentions:   that hand drawn animation is "simply a step on the way towards something else" rather than being a distinct art form in and of itself. 

Milt Kahl scene -- where does it come from ?

A small mystery :

I found this Milt Kahl scene from "The Rescuer's" posted on YouTube.  My question in the title -- "where does it come from?" -- doesn't refer to the film ; I know it's from "The Rescuer's".

But as far as I can see this shot is not in the final version of the film, but it feels to me like I remember seeing it  (in color) in the original theatrical release of the film.  But this scene is NOT in the DVD release of the film.  Was it cut out for some reason or is my memory playing a trick on me and this shot was never actually in the theatrical version of the film ? 

Does anyone know when or why this scene was cut out of  "The Rescuer's"  ? 

(there's no sound in the clip posted on YouTube. What are they saying ? Anyone know ? )

Here is another very similar set up , from the work-print of the sequence included on the extras of the Frank & Ollie documentary. This scene is in the final film .



(does anyone else see the one-frame camera shooting mistake on Medusa's hand at the very end of the scene ? That was fixed before the scene went to final color.)

A Day For Hand Drawn Animation

*UPDATE:  Jeff Treves dropped by and left this comment below:

 "The festival was great! We are trying to make it even bigger for the next year. Here are some photos for those who are interested. " --

A Day For Hand-Drawn Animation Festival Photos

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I enjoyed seeing the photos.  Jeff and some others may enjoy seeing this photo of Tahsin Özgür taken at Sheridan College in 1982 .  (not that long ago , right , Tash ?) 

(click the photo to see it larger)

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"As in previous years we at Anadolu University and Maltepe University are observing Nov. 18th, anniversary of the release of Steamboat Willie, as a day to celebrate traditional hand-drawn animation.  

This year our special theme will be Frank and Ollie, since Ollie Johnston passed away since our last celebration. Please join us in our celebration."

-Tahsin ("Tash") and Lale Özgür

My friend Tashin Özgür has reminded me that he and his wife Lale have started a tradition at Anadolu University and Maltepe University to observe November 18th (anniversary of the release of Steamboat Willie) as a day to specifically celebrate traditional hand-drawn animation. An excellent idea and one that I heartily endorse . Hopefully this will become an international movement among all who cherish the art of hand-drawn animation.

If you can't sit down to re-read "The Illusion of Life" this week, at least put in the DVD of the movie "Frank & Ollie" .
(but if you haven't read "The Illusion of Life" lately, make a point to pick it up again. I guarantee you that you'll find something new and exciting that you missed before ... at least that's how I have found it each time I've returned to this foundational tome).

(click on the image to see it larger)

Ollie Johnston - Glen Keane : On Teamwork , Collaborating

If you haven't heard this little snippet of Glen Keane's remembrance of Ollie Johnston at the Ollie Tribute , then you should really drop everything you're doing and listen to this now: 

Glen on Ollie 

And take a look at this too: 

Eric Goldberg Interview Part 2 - Animation Podcast

Clay Kaytis has posted part 2 of his interview with Eric Goldberg on The Animation Podcast .

Eric Goldberg Interview on Animation Podcast - Part 2 

Listen and be inspired by Eric !  (and if you missed the first part , check it out and the other great interviews on the Animation Podcast  -- Eric Goldberg Part 1  )

Also, Eric now has an official website connected with his new book "Character Animation Crash Course"  with sample pages and movies from the animation in the book:

Goldberg Character Animation Crash Course website .

Making of Princess Mononoke - Hayao Miyazaki

An extensive documentary film (with English subtitles) on the making-of Hayao Miyazaki's animated film "Princess Mononoke" has been posted online .  This is an excellent overview of the making of a major animated film.  Watch it while you can.  Sometimes these things don't stay up for long :

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

By the way, did you know that Miyazaki's newest animated film "Ponyo on a Cliff by the Sea"  is the most successful film in Japan for 2009, having already made ¥14.2 billion yen = $134.6 million dollars as of September 28, 2008 ? (that is in Japan alone) .  Ponyo is slated for release in North America in 2009 by the Walt Disney Co.

The Chestnut Tree - Hyun-min Lee

Another fine piece of hand-drawn animation for your edification and inspiration . Story and Animation by Hyun-min Lee. This started life as a student film and was finished up with some support from Jennifer and Bert Klein, and Don Hahn.

A film about a girl revisiting her memories of her childhood spent with her mother. Hand drawn animation set to piano music by Chopin

Inspiration - Fred Moore's dwarf scenes

Pedro Daniel Garcia has kindly posted a reel of most of Fred Moore's animation of the Seven Dwarfs from Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs".

Sometimes you will read things about Fred Moore that are written in a slightly condescending tone, like "oh, yeah, poor old Freddy, he was good for his time ... a little rough around the edges,  not sophisticated enough to "keep up" with the better animators at Disney "   etc.    





As though Moore's animation was kind of simple but charming work that doesn't really hold up compared to what came later .
But really now ... look at this reel of animation and tell me if you've seen much contemporary animation that comes anywhere close to the level of work that Fred Moore is doing here ? (this was done in 1936 folks , and is the stuff we're doing today better than this for the most part ? )  How much Disney animation of the later years resonates like this ?   I don't know ... maybe I'm just simple and unsophisticated, but I find that I respond on a gut level to these Fred Moore scenes a lot more than I do to some of the so-called "sophisticated" animation that came later.

Check out Jenny Lerew's blog "The Blackwing Diaries" for some great Fred Moore artwork. 

Animator's Demo Reels - Jen Hager

One of the things I like about YouTube is finding great animator's demo reels.  An animator whose work is new to me is Jen Hager. 

This is her demo reel of hand-drawn animation done as a student at Cal Arts. This is really good stuff ! 

I would say that if you're an animation student and you want to know what level you should be aspiring to this is it.   This is the kind of reel a review board at a studio looks at and says : "Give that person a job !" 

Remember this is student work.   Wow.

Jen Hager is now working at Disney Animation Studios.

The Pumpkin of Nyefar - beautiful animated short !

Wow !

Watch this great animated short posted on Cartoon Brew TV:

The Pumpkin of Nyefar

The Pumpkin of Nyefar (2004) is a short directed by Tod Polson (El Tigre, Another Froggy Evening, Poochini). The story was co-written by Maurice Noble (1911-2001), who began his animation career at Disney in the 1930s, and eventually designed many of Chuck Jones’s classic Warner Bros. cartoons including Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century and What’s Opera, Doc?. The film is narrated by June Foray (the voice of Rocky in Rocky and Bullwinkle). Below is a some background information about the film from its director Tod Polson. Tod will also participating in the comments section and looks forward to your comments and questions.

“In 1994, Maurice Noble began training a group of young designers at Chuck Jones Film Productions. A lot of us were working on our own personal short projects, several of them based on ethnic folktales. Maurice thought it would be a great idea if the group of us could develop a series of shorts inspired by stories from around the world. We called this series “Noble Tales,” and we, his trainees, became known as the “Noble Boys” (which also included a few girls). Many of us traveled around the world and developed and together designed several dozen idea. “The Pumpkin Of Nyefar” was one short idea Maurice and I wrote while visiting Turkey. Our first morning in Istanbul we came downstairs to the dining room and around the table were twenty belly dancers and a lot of pumpkin dishes. All the girls of course were smitten by Mr. Nobles charm. Ha ha… I can still see him grinning from ear to ear.

 Afterwords we talked things over, and decided to write a story about a prince who could marry any beauty in his kingdom, but instead chooses to wait for true love. As fate would have it, the prince finds true love in the form of a pumpkin. While I was supervising a TV show in Thailand, James Wang (Wang Film) invited Maurice and I to use his Thai studio to make our short. Maurice underwent surgery so that he could make the flight to Bangkok. Unfortunately he died a few weeks later. I came to Thailand a few months later to work on the short myself. But my friends didn’t leave me to do the film alone. Soon after, my pal Mark Oftedal, came to town for a visit. His short vacation, turned into a several year working holiday, He became so involved with the project, that I just made him the co-director of “Pumpkin:. Other friends from America helped out too. June Foray donated her voice to the film. Ben Jones, and Lawrence Marvit both did short stints in Bangkok to help get things going. Sue Kroyer did a lot of inspirational character design as did Roman Laney. Jules Engel looked over a lot of the early design and color. Aaron Sorenson, Dave Marshall, Dave Thomas, and Mike Polvani all donated time to the project.

It was really a great collaboration of friends, just the way Maurice had dreamed about: doing a short film together, everything donated, just because they wanted to do it.”

Now that's the spirit ! 

Sherm Cohen's Sponge Bob drawing tips

Hey , Kids !  What time is it ? 

Time to talk about more fundamentals.   (never get tired of those , because we all need to remember this stuff and use it in our work) .

Ace storyboard artist Sherm Cohen has posted some good stuff about Line-Of-Action,  Contrasting Shapes, Silhouette, and all that jazz on his blog Cartoon Snap : 

Sherm Cohen's Animation Drawing Tips

Take a look .   Good examples of these foundational principles.

(click image to view it larger. More images on Sherm's blog.)

Bacher's Back !

Good news for all students of animation:

Hans Bacher is blogging again !   This is one to add to the bookmarks: 

Hans Bacher Blog

Hans' book "Dreamworlds" on production design is a must-have.

Check out this great post where he analyzes the color palette in these beautiful background paintings from "Bambi"  --

(click the image to view it larger)

Eric Goldberg's 'Character Animation Crash Course'

Master animator Eric Goldberg's long-awaited book has finally been released.  



Character Animation Crash Course  is now available at your local bookstores (check Barnes & Noble or Borders , or online at Amazon.com) 

I have treasured my xeroxed copies of Eric's lecture notes from animation lectures he gave us at Disney several years back and now I am so glad to have all of this material , plus some new material that Eric has added to expand his notes, all bound together in neat little package , including a CD which has Quicktime movies of many of the animation examples he shows in the book. 

Eric is one of the best animators working today . This book will perfectly compliment the Richard Williams book . Some of the material will overlap , but Eric's approach to the material has a different flavor than Richard Williams' approach , so you'll get something new from Eric's book , even if you have the Williams book .

At Academy of Art we're not yet using this as a Required Textbook for any of our animation classes since it was just published over the summer,  but I can say without any hesitation to all of my students: This is a must-have book for any animator, student or pro.

The website Animated News and Views has a recent interview with Eric where he discusses the book:

Interview with Eric Goldberg on "Character Animation Crash Course"

Another Academy of Art animation blog - Spungella

My fellow teacher at The Academy of Art ,  Jean-Denis Haas, reminds me that he also has a blog for animation students at the Academy : 

Spungella - Soak Up the Animation

Head over there for more animation art and inspiration.

Michael Sporn DVD's Marzipan Pig and Abel's Island

Check out Michael Sporn's always interesting blog where he notes that several of his animated shorts are receiving new DVD releases.  These are delightful films so definitely worth picking up:

Michael Sporn's  "The Marzipan Pig" and "Abel's Island" . 

I hope Michael doesn't mind me lifting a few images from his blog to peak your interest here.  Click on the link to Michael's Blog to read more about it.

(click images to view them larger)

Here’s a character from The Marzipan Pig. Tissa David animated the entire film, herself, and did a caricature of herself with this woman whose purse is stolen by an owl.

This shows Tissa's rough and the final drawing as it was hand-colored and mounted on a cel. 

Stephan MacQuignon colored the drawing and Robert Marianetti added shading. Christine O’Neill did the cut and paste on the drawing to cel operation.

Princess and the Frog teaser trailer- so it begins !

First look at Disney's return to hand-drawn animation:

Teaser Trailer for The Princess & The Frog

(You'll have to click on the link . Couldn't embed it.

On the Disney site you have the option to watch it as a high-quality Quicktime movie)

New online classes at Academy of Art

Have you checked the  Academy of Art Online Course Catalog lately ?

We have three new online traditional animation classes launching  for the Fall '08 semester. (not too late to sign up) 

ANM 380 Stop Motion Animation 1 - taught by stop-motion animator and author Ken Priebe. Ken is the author of the noted book The Art of Stop Motion Animation . This is a unique course in that is one of the few classes in traditional stop-motion puppet animation offered online by an accredited university. Ken will be following up this class with Stop Motion Animation 2 . (The Academy of Art also has several other Stop-Motion and Puppet Making classes in development for launch online in the near future.)

ANM 261 Introduction to Effects Animation - taught by Kathleen Quaife . Kathleen is a veteran effects animator having worked for Don Bluth, Disney, Warner Bros. Feature Animation , and many other places. She is one of the most skilled and knowledgeable effects animators in the business and has been very successful in applying her traditional effects skills to digital production using Flash and ToonBoom. See examples of Kathleen's work here: Kathleen Quaife reels


ANM 375 Maquette Sculpting - taught by former Disney artist and sculptor Jason Peltz. Examples of Jason's work may be seen on his website: Jason Peltz maquette examples

Master Rough Animation Drawings

The always interesting blog of animator/director Michael Sporn is featuring some great screen grabs, storyboards, and rough animation drawings from the Disney feature "Sleeping Beauty" .

Michael's blog is a daily stop for me and if it's not in your bookmarks it probably should be.

This coincides with Danish animator/director/Disney historian Hans Perk's posting of the sequence and scene drafts from Sleeping Beauty. Hans's blog is another must-read for me. The scene drafts are studio documents which give a scene-by-scene breakdown of the films and shows who animated which scenes. This is fascinating behind-the-scenes material.

These great roughs and much more inspiring artwork is currently on Michael Sporn's site. Check it out.

(click any image to see it larger)

King Stefan rough animation drawing by John Lounsbery:

The unnamed comedy-relief "Lackey" character , rough animation drawing by John Sibley :

Another great rough animation drawing by John Lounsbery, this one of King Hubert :

A sample of a Disney scene draft . Many more like this on Hans Perk's invaluable blog :