History of Animation

Extra Blog Post: Nightmare Before Christmas

2005-12-07T12:24:00.000-08:00

The Nightmare Before Christmas takes place in a world in which all holidays are created and organized by the inhabitants of different towns. There is a Halloween town, a Christmas town, an Easter town and so on. The story follows the adventures of Jack the "Pumpkin King" of Halloween Town, where the residents annually prepare Halloween for the mortal world. Jack is depressed because of having to prepare for the same holiday every year. When Jack discovers Christmas Town while wandering in the woods he is immediately cheered up, and longs to "have" Christmas for himself. Jack sets out on a mission to create Christmas with the help of his fellow resident of Halloween Town but unfortunately not everyone fully understands Christmas including Jack himself. Jack engineers a diabolical scheme in which Santa is kidnapped, and Jack himself plays the role of Jolly Old St. Nick, while his helpers manufacture presents.

What I liked best about the Nightmare Before Christmas is the feel of the movie. The Gothic darkness of the movie gives an air of eeriness which transfixes you to the movie. What I also liked was the way the movie really captured sadness and angst through the characters expressions. The mournful spiritual relationship of Jack and Sally are touching. The Nightmare Before Christmas was created utilizing stop motion animation, which can be seen as a parody relating to children's made-for-TV Christmas movies which were created in the 1960s and 1970s, also featuring this animation technique. Two examples of these are Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964) and The Year without a Santa Claus (1974). The Nightmare before Christmas can be seen as the next generation in genre of this type. It is also shown on television around the same time the other films are shown. Some children may not appreciate other types of stop motion animation this therefore helps to keep it popular.

Comments for Blog post #12

2005-12-06T09:37:00.000-08:00

This week I commented on Sarah's #12 and Josh's blog #11

Blog Post # 12 Top 3 Animated Love Stories

2005-11-30T13:11:00.000-08:00

Through the years of animation many stories of love have been presented before us these for are my top three favorites.

1. Cinderella
2. Little Mermaid
3. Shrek

Cinderella is a story of unjust oppression/triumphant reward, which received literally hundreds of tellings before modern times. Cinderella was one if the first and a classic love stories in which a girl who is treated harshly by her step-family overcomes such obstacles and is rushed away by her prince. What littel girl can resist such a tale.

The Little Mermaid is the story of a headstrong sixteen-year-old mermaid named Ariel who is dissatisfied with life under the sea. Ignoring the warnings of her father, King Triton Ariel often sneaks up to the surface of the ocean. Ariel knows that contact between the humans and merpeople is forbidden, but she longs to be part of the human world. Ariel falls in love with Prince Eric when she rescues him from the ocean during a storm. This is a story of forbidden love in which Ariel will do anything for a chance to be close to the one she loves.

Shrek has been one of the best love stories in recent memory. The story tells how the ogre Shrek is forced by Lord Farquaad to rescue Princess Fiona from a dragon for Farquaad to marry. Along the way, Shrek befriends a talking Donkey, and falls in love with Fiona. Fiona herself is under a curse of which she turns into an Ogre every night. The only way to break the curse is to be kissed by her true love. When Fiona finally does kiss Shrek her true love she does not turn back into human being instead she stays Ogre. When Fiona says that the kiss was supposed to turn her beautiful, Shrek says that she was beautiful. This ending stresses the relativity of beauty, thus lending the allegory its moral.

Comments for Blog Post #11

2005-11-28T12:27:00.000-08:00

This week I commented on Travis Blog Post #9 and Laurn's Blog Post #10

Blog Post #11 : The Boondocks

2005-11-28T11:43:00.000-08:00

The Boondocks originated as a comic strip and now has been converted into a animated series on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim. The Boondocks reminded me of Southpark but not as good. In the cartoon the kids -- 8- and 10-year-old brothers Riley and Huey Freeman -- have been moved by thier Granddad from the South Side of Chicago to the suburbs. The Boondocks takes on racism by sending up ignorance and extremism rather than moralizing about them. It asks us to laugh at our hang-ups about race with fearless glee. I personally don’t agree with it and don’t see how anyone from African American community can watch such a show that represents them with such stereotypes.

The show goes after white people who are clueless and white people who think they have a clue, including a rich white kid who portrays himself as a gangsta but then The Boondocks also gives black people a hard time in a way that is normally avoided, such as a butler who despises ambitious blacks such as Granddad. In the episode that I saw granddad meets an escort who is trying to scam her pimp and falls in to her sway. Granddad is determined to “turn a ho into a housewife” as Heuy says and the boys wait out his obsession. I found it ironic in that the granddad moved the boys to the suburbs to save them from the wrong crowd while he himself had fallen in with not the best company.

I suppose there would be an uproar if this show was running in a prime-time TV slot, but the kind of people watching Adult Swim on Sundays at midnight are the ones who will most appreciate this kind of humor. Personally I didn’t find it that funny I was expecting it to be more edgy instead of just saying the n word all the time or saying that Jesus was black and Ronald Reagan was the devil that just doesn’t have a impact now a days. The previews for future episodes look like they will be stepping it up though by making fun of celebrities such as R Kelly and Bobby Brown.

Comments for Blog Post #10

2005-11-09T12:10:00.000-08:00

This week I commented on Gabrielle's Post #9 and Nghihn's Post #10

Blog Post #10 Chicken Little

2005-11-08T13:25:00.000-08:00

As you may recall the classic fable Chicken Little caused widespread panic when he mistook a falling acorn for a piece of the sky. In this movie a pice of the sky actually falls. Now the young chicken is determined to restore his reputation but just as things start to go his way a real piece of the sky land on his head. During the movie suspense chaos and plenty of laughs ensure as Chicken Little and his friends, which included Abby Mallard (aka Ugly Duckling), the runt of the litter and the fish out of water attempt to save the world without sending the town in to a whole new panic.

I liked Chicken Little it was cute to look at and had some funny gags through out the movie. But the problem with it is that it like two different movies together in one. The first half is a gentle fable about a misfit who can't seem to bond with his dad, Buck Cluck. There is lots of talk of closure between the two and the film stops occasionally so they can share their emotions. The movie comes toa dark side when the friends suddenly realize their town is on the verge of being overrun by alien robots with long, whippy arms ''Chicken Little" introduces a cute, fuzzy alien baby to help this go down more easily but the fact remains the movie has gone dark in a hurry. An overly fast wrap-up only adds to it. I was disappointed in chicken Little and was expecting more from such a interesting topic. It is defenetly not close to a Pixar film

Comments For Blog Post #9

2005-10-31T12:39:00.000-08:00

For this weeks assignment I commented on Laura's extra blog and Mike's Blog Post #8

Blog Post #9 Futurama

2005-10-31T11:53:00.000-08:00

Futurama is an animated American cartoon series created by Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons) and David X. Cohen (also a writer for The Simpsons). Set in "New New York City" in the year 3000. Unfortunately it was only on the air on Fox Network for about 4 season between March 28, 1999 and August 10, 2003. you can now find it in syndication on the Cartoon Network and the TBS Superstation . The series begins with Philip J. Fry, A slacker from New York City who is accidentally frozen on New Year's Eve, 1999. Fry is defrosted one thousand years later on December 31, 2999 and finds himself in New New York City. Fry's is assigned a to mandatory job assignment as a delivery boy and is hired on at Planet Express, a small intergalactic package delivery company run by his distantly descended nephew. The Planet Express ship is helmed by Leela as captain and pilot, Bender as cook, and Fry as delivery boy. Amy and Dr. Zoidberg join the crew as needed. Nearly every mission that the Professor gives to his crew is dangerous or quickly degenerates to a suicide mission. Each episode is a science fiction adventure. They discover new worlds, and Fry will continually try to get used to the 31st century. In my opinion Futrama was cancelled because of it’s poor time slot it was often on early Sunday night but would unfortunately be missed due to Football or Baseball games being on. If the show would have had a better time slot it would of developed a deeper following therefore preventing its cancellation.

Futarama was extremely creative due to the fact that it was set in the year 3000. The show is creative in creating a futuristic world for example, Futurama's showcases numerous technological advantages that have been developed by the year 3000. Wheels used in transportation have been made obsolete by hover technology, to the point that 31st century characters do not know what a wheel is. The show's vision of the future is very similar to the present in many ways: the same political figures and celebrities that we know today survive as heads in jars, the Internet is still slow and filled with pornography, and problems such as global warming, inflexible bureaucracy, and substance abuse are still pressing issues. Religion has changed quite a bit since the year 2000. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have all merged into one Amalgamated Church. There is some form of Space Catholicism, led by the reptilian Space Pope (Crocodylus pontifex) and based upon a platform of discouraging love between robots and humans. Robot religions exist as well, with the most popular being the quasi-Christian religion of Robotology, which has its Hell located in an abandoned New Jersey amusement park.

While Futurama ended after its fifth broadcast season, there were actually only four production seasons. Due to numerous preemptions and other schedule shuffles, Fox had enough new episodes backlogged for another full year of shows. The 72nd and final episode, called "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" aired August 10, 2003. The episode was not a true series finale however the final episode was in no way a clear "conclusion" to the series. The last line of dialogue, aptly enough, was "Don't stop playing, Fry... I want to see how it ends". At the title screen of this episode, though, the words "See You On Some Other Channel" were shown.

Comments for Blog Post #8

2005-10-24T11:15:00.000-07:00

For this weeks assignment i commented on Noah's Blog #7 and Laurn's Blog Post #7

Blog Post #8: X-Men

2005-10-24T10:28:00.000-07:00

The X-Men are one of the original groups of comic book superheroes featured in Marvel Comics. They are mutants, which are humans born with superhuman abilities. The X-Men and other Mutants like them are often hated by regular humans out of prejudice of those different from their own and also a fear that mutants are destined to replace humans. In 1992, the Fox Network launched X-Men animated series which included Beast, Cyclops, Gambit, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Professor X, Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine, Bishop and Cable. X-Men were one of the most excellent depictions of a comic book that was transformed to a animated series.

X-men had a message of accepting others for their differences whether it was for superhuman powers or the color of ones skin. The X-Men have become famous for their wide cultural and ethnic diversity. A good example of this is one of my favorite characters Storm who was one of the first female African American superheroes. Storm has powers of Earth such as wind and lighting. It’s refreshing when animations have such strong Heroines such as herself. Professor Xavier and the X-Men’s main goal was to live in peace with mankind and protect then from those who threaten it such as Magneto. Some have made comparisons of the mutants in such metaphors for racial, religious and other minorities that face oppression - including, specifically, the struggle of African-Americans, discrimination against homosexuals, Anti-semitism, and the case of the Red Scare.

X-men was such a great animated series because it was for younger viewers as well as adult ones. It had a well developed storyline and many of interesting characters. The X-men series last showed new episodes in 1999. It was followed by the release of two movies X-men and X2 as well as another animated series X-Men: Evolution, which portrayed the X-Men as teenagers attending regular high school in addition to the Xavier Institute. Plans are currently in works for a third X-men movie as well as several spin offs

Comments for Blog post #7

2005-10-17T12:58:00.000-07:00

This week I commented on Noah's Blog Post #6 and Sarah's Blog #6

Blog Post #7: Wallace and Gromit the Curse of the Were Rabbit

2005-10-17T12:04:00.000-07:00

This past weekend I went to go see Wallace and Gromit the Curse of the Were Rabbit. Little did I know that Wallace and Gromit is a popular cartoon from Britain. They were featured in three animated shorts between 1989 and 1995. I was pleasantly surprised that I liked this movie it is a clay animation just like the Corpse Bride. It is always refreshing to have a change from the computer animated animation you see all the time now. I learned that it took them five years to create the movie and I thought it was well worth it. The tone, although darker than that of the average American animated movie, is still perfectly appropriate for family viewing. The story line is a little bit complicated but I think most kids can follow it plus I think must parents would like it.

Wallace and Gromit contain good characters, excellent morals and and some good laughs. Wallace is an inventor living in a small village in Great Britain. His only companion is his dog Gromit. In the opening of the movie they have formed a friendly animal removal service called "Anti-Pesto.. It's their job to ensure that everyone's carrots, squashes, peppers, and melons are ready for Lady Tottington's annual Giant Vegetable Contest. Just when Wallace and Gromit seem to have everything under control, there is a new problem a were-rabbit. This is a vicious rabbit that will destroy all the vegetables. Wallace and Gromit devise a trap and plan to peacefully remove the rabbit.

Wallace & Gromit has a lot of good-natured fun lampooning conventions from old horror movies . A scene where lightning punctuates every pronouncement is one of many examples. In an attempt to fit in with mainstream animation they include double entendres. There was an Austin Powers-inspired scene with a pair of melons and an amusing note ("May contain nuts") on the side of a carefully positioned crate. This is a g rated movie that is only about an hour and half long and well worth it. My favorite character would have to Gromit. He never talks the whole time (he is a dog) but still manages to convey humor. His expressions, actions and intent give him a place I my heart.

Comments for Blog Post #6

2005-10-05T12:16:00.000-07:00

Here are the links for my comments for this weeks assignment: Luaren's Post #5 and Travis post #5

The Flintstones Post #6

2005-10-03T14:05:00.000-07:00

The Flintstones is set in a town called what else Bedrock in the Stone Age era, but with a civilization similar to that of the United States in the mid-to-late 20th century. They use Technology equivalent to that of what we have today through the use of various animals. For example a brontosaurus is used for a crane (how hilarious) or a when the characters take photographs with an instant camera, the inside of the camera box would contain a bird carving the picture on a stone tablet with its bill (it’s a living). The Flintstones was one of the first truly successful series of animated TV shows and has been re-run ever since.

The series was initially aimed at adult audiences and resembles that of a popular sitcom the Honeymooners. Fred Flintstone and his wife Wilma are modeled after the Kramdens while Barney and Betty Rubble are modeled after the Nortons. This technique of a cartoon that resembles a sitcom is often used in early animation another example would be the Jetsons. The show also had ongoing gags such as during the closing credits, Fred tries to "put the cat out for the night" but winds up getting locked out and yelling for his wife to come open the door: "Willllll-ma!" Although the cat, Baby Puss, was seen in the closing credits of every episode, it was rarely actually seen in any of the storylines. Other gags include the "its a living" line that most the animals on the show say about thier occupations.

The Flintstones has been aired in over 15 different languages from Polish to French. And is still has cultural references for today for example Barney Gumble from the Simpson’s is based on Barney Rubble. The Flintstones Also still have their own line of products including cereal and vitamins

Comments for Blog Post #5

2005-09-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Here are the links to the comments made as part of this week's assignment: Travis Blog Post #4 and Clayson's Blog Post #4

Care Bears Post #5

2005-09-28T14:34:00.000-07:00

The Care Bears was one of my favorite cartoons as a little girl. I had the stuffed bears and the lunch box with their picture on it. One of my earliest memories is getting up on saturday mornings and watching the Care Bears which was followed by My Littel Ponies (another one of my favorites). The Care Bears first started to air in 1985. The show continued through network and syndicated reruns until 1990, from which point Disney Channel picked it up for its morning schedule and ran it thus for the next few years until 1997. In April 1998, its sister station, Toon Disney, re-ran episodes up until 1 September 2002. The Care Bears live in a faraway place up in the clouds called Care-a-lot, which constitutes a part of the Kingdom of Caring. With the help of the Cousins and their Buddies, they go all around the world on Missions in Caring. The Care Bears is a excellent example of what younger children should be watching with love and kindness prevalent in every episode.

The Care Bears keep watch over the earth to keep bad feelings at bay. Whenever a kid is feeling down, they are there to help bring a smile to the child's face. Their cousins live in the Forest of Feelings. The Care Bears Cousins leader is Braveheart Lion. Each bear and cousin has a special power, related to the symbol on its tummy. When they unite, they can use the Care Bear Stare to beam good energy at their enemies, such as No Heart, Professor Cold Heart, Shrieky, and Beastly. The bears have two modes of transportation, Cloudmobiles and Rainbow Rollers, which they fly down to earth on whenever there is trouble. They are alerted to problems by the Care-O-Meter.

I know some people don’t like the Care Bears and think their a little over the top I can understand why they don’t. I don’t know if I would watch a full episode now even if I did find it on TV. but it is a great role model for children and would recommend to anyone with kids.

Comments for Blog Post #4

2005-09-26T14:08:00.000-07:00

Here are the links to the comments made as part of this week's assignment: Ryan's post #4 and Travis Post #3

Tiny Toons Blog # 4

2005-09-26T13:10:00.000-07:00

Tiny Toon Adventures (a.k.a. Tiny Toons) is an animated series created by the Warner Bros. animation studio. The series premiered in 1990. It revolved around a group of young cartoon characters training at Acme Looniversity to be the next generation of Looney Tunes characters. As a result most of the characters were designed to resemble younger versions of classic Warner Bros.' most popular cartoon stars. Major characters included Buster Bunny and Babs Bunny (no relation) modeled after Bugs Bunny, Plucky Duck modeled after of course Daffy Duck. Fifi La Fume a female version of Pepe le Pew and Elmyra Duff a young girl who loves animales but unintentionally harms them based on Elmer Fudd to name a few. Tiny Toons had an edginess that made it quite unlike many other cartoons of the day. It often contained "gross out" humor dealing with bodily functions as well as sophisticated political and entertainment satire.

Babs and Buster bunny were my favorites. Babs is a hyperactive pink bunny, a female performer who will do nearly anything for a laugh. She is good at improvisational comedy. I always liked Babs because you don’t always see girls or young female bunnies for that matter in many comical roles. Buster Bunny is the leader who had to deal with the machinations of rich kid and local bully Montana Max and the advances of crazed and dippy animal lover Elmyra Duff. They were like Bugs Bunny in their theatrical mannerisms, their general confidence in themselves, and in their ability to work well with other headline characters. They were unlike him in their naïveté, as they were kids after all. Also, they tend to seek adventure, rather than wait for it to be thrust upon them.I also always loved Plucky Duck especially when their was flashbacks as him as toddler. (Elevator go up Elevator go down). Tiny Toon’s is a good example of how to give a old cartoon a makeover for a younger generation. Unfortunately Tiny Toon’s only aired for three seasons and was removed form Nicktoons earlier this year and has not been seen on any other network since.

Comments for Blogs Post # 1 and 2

2005-09-19T13:06:00.000-07:00

Here are the links to the comments for blogs 1 and 2: Travis's Post #1 also on Arc's Post #1. Also for week two Matt's Post #2 and Sarah's Post #2

Comments for Post #3

2005-09-19T12:52:00.000-07:00

Here are the links to the comments made as part of this week's assignment: Ezekiel's Post #3 and Issac's Post #3.

Princess's of Disney Post #3

2005-09-19T12:22:00.000-07:00

Throughout the years Disney has portrayed their heroines as young, virginal, pretty, sweet natured and obedient. Starting with Snow White who when faced with danger runs away falls into a weeping heap. Then she finds shelter in a home and proceeds to clean it. She eventually eats the poisoned apple which puts her in a comma until her sweet prince comes to awake her with a kiss. It’s prototypical Disney. Young women are natural-born happy homemakers who lie in a state of suspended animation until a man gives them a life. Older women are the enemy, especially if they seek power. And the working class are there to serve the rich and privileged, never questioning subordinate position.

Although the Disney team made use of different fairytales over the years, the basic formula for telling women’s stories through animated features changed very little from Snow White to Cinderella (1950) to Sleeping Beauty. A example would be Ariel form the little mermaid, Ariel will do anything to have the handsome Prince fall in love with her. She’ll disobey her stern but loving father, King Triton. She’ll even make a bargain with Ursula a sea witch. Who gives Ariel a set of shapely legs, but takes her voice in trade. Illustarting how she is literally silenced by her desperate need for male approval. Ariel does gets her voice back and she gets the guy. But she is nevertheless forced to abandon completely her sea world (her family and friends) for the land-locked kingdom of her Prince. In the end, Ariel is a woman without a social support system, investing her entire life in a romance.

Even more interesting is how it seems to always be the same princess who seem to get all the attention Snow White, Cinderrella and Bell are always prevelant. I went to Disney last summer and saw plays and actors for all three of them and a few others like Ariel and Princess Aurora (Sleeping Beauty) but never once did I see a Jasmie, Pocahontas or a Mulan. Throughout the years the skin of the female characters of Disney's films may be different and the marketing more sophisticated But underneath all the buckskin and the scales they're still happy homemakers looking for a man

Walt Disney's Impact on Animation Blog Post # 2

2005-09-12T14:01:00.000-07:00

Walt Disney has dramatically changed animation through his talent as a genius director and teacher. Even thirty years after his death he is not only remembered but we still continue to struggle to grasp his ideas and creations. Disney was truly inspiring and was able to inspire everyone who came into contact with him. He pioneered the fields of animation, and found new ways to teach, and educate. Walt Disney has had one of the most important impacts on the development of animated cartoons.

Walt Disney affected animation profoundly through the ways in which he advanced the art of animation. Disney synchronized sound and music with his cartoons and was one of the first to advance in color animation. Through the years he found other areas of improvement by the institution of the pencil test as well as the multi-plane camera just to name a few. Walt Disney has not only affected animation through his technological advances but through his characters as well. His most famous character Mickey mouse is known the world over. Starting with Steamboat Willie, Mickey Mouse has been cherished for generations. Within two years of Mickey Mouse's debut he had become a "National celebrity with a bigger screen following than nine tenths of Hollywood" (Maltin p. 36).

Walt Disney has been hailed as "the Father of Animation" and I couldn't agree more. He brought us his vision which ultimately transformed the entertainment industry. Walt Disney's worldwide popularity was based upon the ideals by which the man lived. His imagination, his optimism, and his self-made success is a symbol of the American dream. Through his animation he brought us closer to the future, while telling us of the past and will forever be remembered and loved.

(1) Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. Penguin Books, New York 2005. Page 36

Family Guy Post # 1

2005-09-06T10:20:00.000-07:00

The Family Guy is cartoon created by Seth Macfarlane. "The show originally aired on Fox in 1999 but was cancelled in 2002 after pressure from the FCC, but after unprecedented positive response to both DVDs and reruns on Cartoon Network, production of new episodes for FOX resumed in 2005". (Source 2) I myself am a fan of Family Guy and have been watching it on Cartoon Network where it airs late at night. Family Guy currently airs primetime on Fox Sunday evenings at 9:00pm. However much I like it, I still do not think it is a appropiate show for prime time televison where young influential viewers may be watching.

Family Guy contains very mature content and subject matter which includes but is not limited to such topics as recreational drug use and addiction (for example, cocaine and cannabis as well as alcoholism are prevalent on the show.) The show also dwelves heavily into the hot topics of sexism, homosexuality, people with disabilities and racism. Religion also is the blunt of many jokes. In one episode Peter kidnapped the Pope in order to convince his father he was a good son. The same episode also contained clips of Jesus shooting people. Sex is also prevalent in Family Guy and animated nudity is not uncommon and due to the controversies within the show many foreign nations have banned Family Guy.

The show itself has evolved since the first season where the gags were much tamer and the cultural references merely included Joanie Loves Chachi, Star Trek, Calvin Klein perfume commercials, Speed Racer, and Kool-Aid commercials. By the third season, however, the show became extremely racy. The writers had apparently assumed no one was watching because their jokes become especially edgy with more adult content. For Example in the episode “Ready, Willing & Disabled” Peter helps his paraplegic policemen neighbor Joe Swanson win a wheelchair race by dissolving steroids in a glass of water. "Gee, Peter, this water tastes kind of funny," said straight-arrow Joe. "You mean like hah-hah Jerry Seinfeld funny?" asked Peter. "Or Elaine Boosler-God-bless-her-she's-trying-funny?" (source 1)

I myself am not against the show I just believe it should stay on Cartoon Network during the time frame of Adult Swim where it airs at an appropriate time and place. The show can be deceiving due to the name “Family Guy”. Even the opening theme song sounds kid-friendly to those who are not educated about it’s content. Not to mention it airs after other family friendly cartoons such as King of the Hill and the Simpsons, which most parents consider acceptable for their children to watch. There is only a brief warning about graphic nudity and a rating of tv-14 before the show comes on which is when most Parents aren’t even in the room. I myself do watch Family Guy but would never let a child under the age of 15 (at the least) watch the show including my own kids.

Sources (1) Planet Family Guy. Ready willing and Disabled. http://www.planet-familyguy.com/pfg/subtitles.php?a=episode&id=44
(2)Devin Gordon. Newsweek. Family Reunion. April 1 edition 2005

Test Post

2005-09-01T20:11:00.000-07:00

Just making sure I did this right. LOL. Stay tuned...