DVDizzy Forum

i've been really going through all the animated classics and i am very attracted to the stories that have the stunning animation to go along with. one's i'm not to fond of, it's because the animation looks very rough, like still in sketch form-not cleaned up. the ones i'm reffering to include aristocats, robin hood, and sword and the stone. there might be mroe that affect me that way but mainly those ones. don't get me wrong, i like the stories involved but the animation just doesn't look up to par to me. it got me thinking about i read somewhere that disney basicly forced out don bluth and although i like the secret of nimh and all dogs goto heaven- the animation has that same rough look. i don't know maybe it's just me, but does anyone else feel that these particular films were a low for disney in the animation department?

The Jungle Book has this, I'm pretty sure 101 dalmatians and perhaps even the rescuers where made this way too. My theory is that this was the current trend in animated film. The backgrounds for instance isnt detailed at all. But if you look at a roadrunner cartoon from the 60's it's done in the same way.

I agree this anination-style isn't my favorite either. I've never seen nimh or any other bluth-films actually, exept for "small one" But I don't remember it being in the same style as The Jungle Book, but It was a few years since i saw it.

Yeah Some Of Them DO Have Stunning Animation .

I have never been a fan of the way those films were animated either, and have expressed my dislike for them here, on several other occassions before. The style comes from an animation technigue called Xerox. It was a quicker and cheaper way of animating, and allowed artists to pretty much use their pencil scketches or something... yadda yadda, I really have no idea what I'm saying, but basically it stems off from the company having financial troubles after Sleeping Beauty and the Xerox technique was quicker and cheaper, and thank god that ended!!!! All though a bit of it is even present in the Little Mermaid....

Well that's my view on that...

Prince Phillip wrote:I have never been a fan of the way those films were animated either, and have expressed my dislike for them here, on several other occassions before. The style comes from an animation technigue called Xerox. It was a quicker and cheaper way of animating, and allowed artists to pretty much use their pencil scketches or something... yadda yadda, I really have no idea what I'm saying, but basically it stems off from the company having financial troubles after Sleeping Beauty and the Xerox technique was quicker and cheaper, and thank god that ended!!!! All though a bit of it is even present in the Little Mermaid....

Well that's my view on that...

Yeah, they used a Xerox technique to transfer their sketches directly to the cels, thus avoiding some extra work. According to reports, Walt wasn't too crazy about the technique at first either, but it did grow on him after a while. Some people like it because it preserves the purity of the original drawing, some people don't like it. Its not my favorite, but I think it is an interesting change of pace. I prefer the traditional style more, but would mind a film using it here and there where its appropriate. For example, 101 Dalmations couldn't have been made at that time without using that technique.

This comments are all about:

The Rescuers

It was always said that the animators and the rest of the crew hadn't given too much attention to the making of The Rescuers , that's the way I felt too, until for the first time, I saw this film in my computer. Then, since I could see much better, I could see a lot of details and come to think that there was a lot of effort put into most of the animation in The Rescuers, but not so much into the backrounds.

I always defended this film, not because of its great animation, but more because of its strong plot line and music, but today i added animation into that department since it is really good. The problem with the film is that the backrounds are low quality, which make the rest of the animation seem just as bad.

One of the most criticized parts of The Rescuers is the opening credits, which is one of my favorite parts of the movie. I think that the way they combined all those pieces of art with the sinister song "The Journey" made an attractive opening for the film.

It is said that the animators that worked in The Rescuers put a lot of effort into the character of Madame Medusa, but in my opinion, I think she, together with Mr. Snoops are the worst animated characters in the film, specially Medusa's hair, hands and Mr. Snoops clothing.

What is interesting is that it seems, the worst animation comes at the beginning of the film, specially in the automobil scene, but you can tell the animation starts getting much better as we approach the end of the movie. The cave scene is one of the most memorable and best created scenes, the music and sinister events added a lot of tension into this part.

I also noticed that the clouds in the film, in the "Tomorrow is Another Day" are extremely well drawn.

<<i've been really going through all the animated classics and i am very attracted to the stories that have the stunning animation to go along with. one's i'm not to fond of, it's because the animation looks very rough, like still in sketch form-not cleaned up. the ones i'm reffering to include aristocats, robin hood, and sword and the stone. there might be mroe that affect me that way but mainly those ones. don't get me wrong, i like the stories involved but the animation just doesn't look up to par to me.>>

The animation is the acting and the movement. You're talking about the Clean-up and the inking. The "animation" isn't bad -- it's the method used to bring the animator's drawings to the celuloid for ink and paint. This was called "Xerography", where a drawing was Xeroxed onto a clear sheet of celluloid to be painted, thereby eliminating a step in the production process.

Don't feel bad -- Walt Disney hated it, too. The man who pioneered it, Ken Anderson, said that he thought Walt never forgave him for coming up with it.

heres an example of what i'm talking about. i guess you guys explained it pretty good. anyway,

LIKEY:


NO LIKEY:

Exactly.

The failure of 1959's Sleeping Beauty at the box office almost killed Disney animation -- Xerography made it economically viable, but the clean line of classic Disney animation was sacrificed in the process.

Incredibly, it was another box-office failure - The Black Cauldron - that pioneered a new approach to ink-and-paint. Called APT (Automatic Photo Transfer), a more "clean" version of Xerography was achieved. APT was used for every animated feature moving forward, until the CAPS system was invented in the late 80's. A single shot of The Little Mermaid was used to test the CAPS system. The next film, Rescuers Down Under, was filmed using the CAPS system exclusively, and in the process, the 1990 film restored the look of Disney animation to it's Golden Age techniques. [/i]

I have to say, although not as visualy beautiful as films like "Pinocchio", "Fantasia" or "Bambi" the animation in those films from the 60's and 70's is alright. I think the Xerox style animation is so perfect for "101 Dalmatians" and then it works fine enough for all the other films.

As I've said before, I can't get over being annoyed by the sketchiness and un-finished look of the 60s & 70s films. I can understand how some would be fond of it, but I just don't like the style, and find animation out of the 40s to be the most visually pleasing. The 50's and recent animation have a good look to them to, but that ethereal, story book quality of the films of the 40s hasn't really be achieved since, and that's my favorite.