When you begin to think about what you would like to do in life and start to seriously consider a career choice, it is good to begin reading about that career. For example, someone who wants to become an architect should read and find out what an architect does. Someone who wants to become a basketball player should also read and find out what a basketball player does. You may know that professional basketball players play basketball in the NBA and may be chosen to play on an Olympic team for this country, but you may not know that they may also choose to play for a professional league in another country. You might not have known that the country of France also has a professional basketball league if you had not watched the 2024 Summer Olympics. You also could have read about it or done some research to find that out.
The point I am making is that it is good to do research and look for information about whatever it is that you think you would like to do to make a living as an adult. As an aspiring animator, these lessons can help you make up your mind about a career choice as a cartoonist or an animator. These lessons have been developed to give you some understanding of what is involved in creating animated television shows and feature films. They expose you to what animators do and some of the things you will need to know and learn to become an animator. They also help to open your understanding about how the knowledge of basic elements of visual art and design can lead to success in animation.
Successful completion of an animated project takes place in phases, and like all good stories, each phase has a beginning, a middle and an ending. Your journey towards becoming an animator can start with the God-given ability to draw. Then, you can participate in some art classes to learn additional techniques. As you hone your skills as an artist and venture into animation based on what you have learned, your experience can culminate in you obtaining a coveted position as a storyboard artist, or cartoonist, or artistic director, or even an animation project designer at an animation studio. The possibilities become endless!
So, as you continue your journey, you need to know that familiarity with different types of animation is important. Watching cartoons and animated films while also taking notice of how the action is created by the artists is the way to get to know about different types of animation. You need to be able to recognize the different types and think about how the artists and animators accomplish them. That is what these lessons are about.
1 - Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs is a 2009 American animated science fiction comedy film produced by Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Animation and released by Sony Pictures Releasing. It is loosely based on the 1978 children's book of the same name by Judi and Ron Barrett. The film centers around an aspiring inventor named Flint Lockwood who develops, following a series of failed experiments, a machine that can convert water into food. After the machine gains sentience and begins to develop food storms, Flint must stop it in order to save the world. It was released on September 18, 2009. A sequel, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2, was released on September 27, 2013. An animated television series based on the film premiered on Cartoon Network on February 20, 2017.
Animators in this film utilized computer-generated imagery (CGI) made with the animation-rendering software Autodesk Arnold. Therefore, the animation type for this film is CGI/3D animation.
2 - Animaniacs
Animaniacs is an American animated comedy musical television series created by Tom Ruegger for Fox's Fox Kids block in 1993. It is the second animated series produced by Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television (credited as Amblin Entertainment) in association with Warner Bros. Television Animation, after Tiny Toon Adventures. The series ended on November 14, 1998. It initially ran a total of 99 episodes, along with a feature-length film, Wakko's Wish. Reruns later aired on Cartoon Network from 1997 to 2001, Nickelodeon from 2001 to 2003, Nicktoons from 2003 to 2005, and Discovery Family (known as The Hub Network at the time) from 2012 to 2014. A revival of the series was announced in January 2018, with a two-season order, to be produced in conjunction with Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, with producer Steven Spielberg. It premiered on November 20, 2020, on Hulu, with a second season premiering on November 5, 2021, and a third and final season premiering on February 17, 2023.
Animators utilized computer animation for this television series. The animation type is therefore computer/3D animation.
3 - The Incredibles (2004)
The Incredibles is a 2004 American animated superhero film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Set in a retro-futuristic version of the 1960s, the film follows Bob and Helen Parr, a couple of superheroes, known as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, respectively, who hide their powers in accordance with a government mandate, and attempt to live a quiet suburban life with their three children. However, Bob's desire to help people draws the entire family into a confrontation with a vengeful fan-turned-foe. It was released on November 5, 2004. The film won Best Animated Feature and Best Sound Editing at the 77th Academy Awards. A sequel, Incredibles 2, was released in June 2018.
Animating the human characters and all of the settings was challenging for the artists in this film. They used 2D and 3D renderings, and computer animation.
4 - Space Jam (1996)
Space Jam is a 1996 American live-action/animated sports comedy film. It stars basketball player Michael Jordan as a fictional version of himself. The film follows Jordan as he is brought out of retirement by the Looney Tunes characters to help them win a basketball match against invading aliens intent on enslaving them as amusement park attractions. Space Jam was the first film to be produced by Warner Bros. Feature Animation and was released on November 15, 1996, by Warner Bros. under its Family Entertainment label. It grossed over $250 million worldwide. A standalone sequel, Space Jam: A New Legacy, was released in 2021, with LeBron James in the lead role.
The animation in this film is a mix of traditional and computer animation.
In this scene, realizing they need help, the Looney Tunes pull Jordan into their universe. Bugs explains their situation to Jordan, who is initially reluctant to help. However, Jordan agrees after a confrontation with the Monstars, and forms the "Tune Squad” with the Tunes; they are joined by Lola Bunny, with whom Bugs is enamored. However, Jordan is unprepared and needs their help to get his basketball gear from his house in “3D land.”
5 - Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (2022)
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (or simply Pinocchio) is a 2022 stop-motion animated musical dark fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro. It is loosely based on Carlo Collodi's 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, with Pinocchio's character design strongly influenced by Gris Grimly's illustrations for a 2002 edition of the book. The film follows Pinocchio, a wooden puppet who comes to life as the son of his carver, Geppetto. It is set in Fascist Italy during the interwar period. Pinocchio was released in select theaters on November 9, 2022, and began streaming on Netflix on December 9. It won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and the Golden Globe for the Best Animated Feature Film. Del Toro is the first Latino to win the Golden Globe category, and Pinocchio is the first film for a streaming service to win at both ceremonies. It is also the second stop-motion animated film to win at both ceremonies after Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005).
This film is an example of stop-motion animation.
6 - Frosty the Snowman (1969)
Frosty the Snowman is a 1969 American animated Christmas television special produced by Rankin/Bass Productions. It is based on the Walter E. Rollins and Steve Nelson song of the same name. The special first aired on December 7, 1969, on the CBS television network. The special has aired annually for the network's Christmas and holiday season every year since. The story follows a group of school children, led by a girl named Karen, who build a snowman called Frosty and place a magician's hat on his head, which makes him come to life. Unfortunately, however after noticing the high temperature and fearing that he would melt, Frosty, along with Karen and a rabbit named Hocus Pocus, must go to the North Pole to be safe from melting.
The animation was produced by Mushi Production in Tokyo, Japan. The type of animation is traditional animation.
7 - Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964)
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer is a 1964 stop-motion Christmas animated television special produced by Videocraft International, Ltd. It first aired December 6, 1964, on the NBC television network in the United States and was sponsored by General Electric under the umbrella title of The General Electric Fantasy Hour. The special was based on the 1949 Johnny Marks song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" which was itself based on the poem of the same name written in 1939 by Marks's brother-in-law, Robert L. May. Since 1972, the special has aired on CBS. It has been telecast every year since 1964, making it the longest continuously running Christmas TV special in the United States. CBS unveiled a high-definition, digitally remastered version of the program in 2005, re-scanned frame-by-frame from the original 35 mm film elements. The 50th anniversary of the special was marked in 2014, and a series of postage stamps featuring Rudolph was issued by the United States Postal Service on November 6, 2014. A special exhibit was also mounted at the Masterworks Museum in Bermuda, where the original puppets are held. In 2019, Freeform (formerly ABC Family) started airing the special as part of its 25 Days of Christmas/Rankin-Bass Christmas holiday programming block.
Animator Tadahito Mochinaga and production director Arthur Rankin, Jr. of Rankin/Bass Productions at the MOM Productions studio in Tokyo developed what was known as “animagic” for the television special. Animagic was a stop-motion technique that used puppets made of woods, wires, and wool (as opposed to clay). In this way, the television special is an example of stop-motion animation.
8 – Dr. Suess’ Horton Hears a Who! (2008)
Horton Hears a Who! is a 2008 American animated adventure comedy film based on the 1954 book of the same name by Dr. Seuss, produced by Blue Sky Studios and distributed by 20th Century Fox. It is the fourth screen adaptation of the book following the 1970 Chuck Jones television special, the 1987 Soviet animated short, and the 1992 Russian animated short. The film is about how Horton the Elephant struggles to protect a microscopic community from his neighbors who refuse to believe it exists. The film was released on March 14, 2008, and grossed $300 million on a budget of $85 million. It was the third Dr. Seuss feature film adaptation and the first adaptation to be fully animated using CGI/3D computer-animation technology.
Have fun learning!
(Sources – Internet Movie Database, Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia)