Classic Animation Book Online

The Hollywood Animation Archive has posted a complete copy of an excellent book on animation. It's called 'Advanced Animation' and it was written by Preston Blair in 1947. Blair used the characters he had been working on for Disney and MGM to illustrate his examples. He goes through all the requirements for animating, from drawing heads, hands, and complete characters to animating walks, runs, dialog and emotions. It's amazing. You can follow along and draw all the sketches yourself and you end up having taken a complete course in animation!

Go see it here.

Badgered - An Oscar-Nominated Animation

'Badgered,' a film by Sharon Colman that was nominated for an Academy Award is done in a simple illustrative style. It tells the story of a badger who just wants some quiet time but can't seem to find it.

The film takes its time telling its story and has a very effective audio track.

Watch it here.

The Big Win - CG Animation

Studio AKA made this 1-minute CG animation that is supposed to be a commercial for the lottery in the United Kingdom. It's called 'The Big Win.' It is a really gorgeous little movie about a guy who gets a duffel bag full of smiles and plasters them on other people. It was directed by Marc Craste, who made a short CG film called 'Jo Jo in the Stars.' Thanks to Cartoon Brew for the tip.

Astérix Feature Animation

Here's a feature animation that looks like a lot of fun. It's called 'Astérix and the Vikings.' It was produced by A Film in Denmark. They have put together an English-speaking cast but, so far, there is no release scheduled for the U.S.

Astérix is a very popular French comic book character, created in 1959 as the hero of a series of volumes of comic books by René Goscinny (stories) and Albert Uderzo (illustrations). Uderzo has continued the series since the death of Goscinny in 1977. Astérix is a small but fearless warrior who lives in a village of ancient Gaul, surrounded by Roman legions. He gets superhuman strength by drinking special potions brewed by a Druid. The comics contain humor that appeals both to children and adults.

The movie has a great web site (all in French) with lots of pictures. You should try watching the really cool trailer for the movie. If you want to know more about the Astérix comics, check out the official Astérix web site.

The Heron and the Crane - A Russian Fairy Tale

This 1974 animation is by Russian animator, Yuri Norstein. It uses paint and cutouts for its characters. Norstein also used painted glass panels that he could move in order to give a feeling of depth to his scenes.

You can find a Norstein DVD for sale here.

Machinima Film of 'Dracula's Guest'

I had to do it. This is my movie of Bram Stoker's Dracula's Guest. It uses the technique called 'machinima.' That's when you use the graphics engine from a computer game to make the scenes for your movie. This movie was hard to make because it has a lot of shots that needed to fit seamlessly together and it uses a subtle sound track that had to be made from scratch. I hope you enjoy it. I'm posting it here mainly because I love the way the YouTube service streams the video so easily.

Musical Animation Combines Puppetry and 3D

Here's a fun little movie that combines puppets with computer animation to create a sort of old-timey, musical movie that just revels in itself. It's called Graveyard Jamboree with Mysterious Mose. It was made by an animation company called Screen Novelties.

First American Animation from 1906

In 1906, James Stuart Blackton created 'Humorous Phases of Funny Faces,' the first animated American film.

Blackton, along with his partner, Robert E. Smith, had already started the first motion picture studio, Vitagraph Pictures, when this animation was made.

It uses a simple chalk-board technique, but provides an excellent glimpse into the excitement and experimentation of the time. And, frankly, it is so early that it completely avoids the overbearing Disney invention known as 'squash and stretch.' There is so much about 'squash and stretch' that obliterates all attempts at seriousness and artistic expression. It is interesting to watch early animators who had no knowledge of that technique. Try, if you will, to imagine how animation might have developed if it had bypassed Disney.