Animation Without Disney

Disney Has revolutionized so many aspects of animation. Through means of new techniques, styles,
principles and inventions, Disney has become the backbone of the medium of entertainment that is
animation. This is what makes the question of, "What would ani mation be like today if it weren't for
Disney?" so hard to answer.

Techniques

Story Sketch which was a pre-animation sketch that was set up the same as a comic with separate boxes
for movements and captions with characters' lines. This is very similar to the way that comic creators
make their art and due to most animators once being comic creators, it came naturally. Without Story
Sketch, the process of creating story driven animation could have been confusing and disconnected.
When making large scale animated stories, many animators would create the different segments. If the
end of one animator's segment didn't line up perfectly with the next in terms of story, it would start to
become incoherent. So, one use of the Story Sketch was to organize the process for large scale projects.
Styles

In order to capture the goofy and unrealistic nature of an animated character, Disney created the
Rubber Hose Animation style. This style incorporated arms and legs that moved as if they had no bones.
A common effect this style would bring is that of a kind of zany goofiness and general unrealism that
brought a unique charm to the characters.

Disney has also gone away from the regular animations before and has fused live action and animation
together. A popular example of this is the 1964 movie Mary Poppins. In which there are live action
scenes with animated elements and characters.
Principles

Squash & Stretch is used whenever a character or object moves. In order to make a movement seem
more lifelike, the picture will distort.

The principle of Anticipation is used to bring emphasis to an action or movement. Common examples
are aiming before punching/kicking and stepping back before starting to run.

The third principle of animation is Staging. This keeps the character's emotions and personality in every
action and movement.
The fourth principle is less of a rule and more of a choice of methods that is known as S traight Ahead &
Pose to Pose. Straight Ahead is used when the animator draws each frame, one after another. This
forces a much more creative and interactive process. Pose to pose is used when the animator will draw
the beginning and end of each action, then have their assistant draw the inbetweens. This method is
much more efficient but lacks the creativity of straight ahead.

The fifth principle is follow through & overlapping action. When two actions are in quick succession, the
animator will always combine them. If the start of a new action and the end of a previous action are
separate, the animation will look robotic and lifeless.
The next rule, Slow In & Slow Out, is the sixth principle. In order to draw attention to specific extreme
frames, animators will have more frames and drawings closer to the extreme, and less the farther from
the extreme.

The seventh principle is Arcs. They are used in every action to create a fluid motion. If the action is
straight movements, the animation becomes robotic.

The eighth of the twelve principles of animation is Secondary Action. It conveys characters’ emotions to
make them more lifelike.
The ninth principle of Timing is very important. The faster the movement, the less frames it will have
between the extreme drawings and vice versa.

The principle of Exaggeration, the tenth principle, is used to make animated characters more animated.
This is done by multiplying expressions and movements in actions.

The eleventh principle of Solid Drawing is similar to the fourth where it is more advice than a rule. In
order to have a good animation, the animator must be able to draw their characters in every position
and angle.
The twelfth and final principle is Appeal which is used to draw the viewer's attention to a specific action,
object, moment, or character and is achieved mostly through other principles.

Inventions

The Multiplane Camera was invented in 1933 by Ub Iwerks, a Disney animator and director. This
invention made the creation of tracking shots much easier. By combining layers of drawings under one
another, it made each layer down farther and farther from the front of the frame. This then caused
layers farther back to be more out of focus while the front layer stayed clear.

Big Question

Disney has changed many aspects of animation. It could be argued that Disney is the reason animation is
so popular today. But why is that? What would animation be without Disney? Well, animation would still
be a popular medium of entertainment. The main differences would be the loss of appeal to wider age
groups and the process of animation. Disney showed that animation wasn't a genre, but a medium of
entertainment. While yes, Disney's animations would typically be aimed at a younger audience, but
 Disney showed that anything could be in animation form. The effect on the process of animation would
be immense. Disney made so many rules and inventions that changed the process of animation. It has
become easier, more fluid, more creative, more passionate, Disney used that passion and turned a genre
into an art.

Works Cited