It is no secret that when we talk about Animation, we first think about the top companies such as The Walt Disney Company, Illuminations, and Japanese Anime. What makes a person strive to watch a certain cartoon? What is the secret in a successful animated cartoon? With having unforgettable characters that we know and love, the first question is where did they all start?
HISTORY
Believe it or not the art of animation was first introduced in the late 1700's to mid 1800's With the start of the Egyptian pottery bowls and burial murals to the magic lantern; a series of stop motion pictures... these historical artifacts were in deed the start of animation.
LOVABLE CHARACTERS:
Much progress had continued on for years with the use of puppetry and animatronics, however the groovy 60's was a time where little to no limitations was set. With having cartoons that showed influence of violence, drugs, and inappropriate behavior, the use of television propaganda was a tool the companies and artists would used to voice out what they wanted to say and or sell. The 60's is o one of my favorite past times that shared many of my favorite cartoons such as The Flintstones, Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, The Jetsons, Bugs Bunny, Scooby Doo and The Yogi Bear Show. Most of theses have been produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions, where the company was at it's peak with animation and cartoons.
KNOW YOUR AUDIANCE
One thing that made these cartoons so well known was the likeness and personalities brought into each character. For example, Rocky and Bullwinkle, a friendship between a flying squirrel and moose while getting themselves into crazy adventures all while trying to escape their enemies; Natasha and Boris, 2 Russian spies who try to eliminate the pair. Crazy plot yes, but it worked because there was this cat and mouse game. Yes, there was unnecessary high strong violence influence in the cartoon, but as a child, we did not focus on the actions taken place. Hanna Barbera was good at focusing on their main target; children. With colorful pallets, intriguing storylines, and a sense for adventure, these 3 elements were a key part of their success, even to this day because now as adults, we riminess on our beloved characters and introduce them to our children.
REALTABLE/STORY
Another great reason why Disney is notorious for high amount of success in the box offices, is their character's story. The journey from start to finish is what Disney likes to put their audience's perspective. We are always introduced to the main character and we learn about them through their personality therefore we learn to love the character. Making a more personable character will help the audience feel more sympathetic. By using emotions and things that we can relate as humans and relay them in the character, it is pretty much impossible to unlike a character like Woody and his love for Andy or a sister's love with Anna and Elsa. The emotions that these characters have and go through also take on an affect on how they are drawn.
These are all prime examples of the tools we use today in how we create our character animation. From the start of simple movement to stop motion to puppets to fully functional character rigs, there is one thing that is important to remember ... use your refence. By thinking about the what, when, why and where... we can fully understand more about the character's purpose of the story.
Resource used: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_animation#Early_approaches_to_motion_in_art
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