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Character Rigging
Character animation is a specialized area of the animation process, which involves bringing animated s to life. The role of a character animator is analogous to that of a film or stage actor and character animators are often said to be "actors with a pencil" (or a mouse). Character animators breathe life in their characters, creating the illusion of thought, emotion and personality. Character animation is often distinguished from creature animation, which involves bringing photorealistic animals and creatures to life. Origins Winsor McCay's '' Gertie the Dinosaur'' (1914) is often considered the first example of true character animation. Later, Otto Messmer imbued Felix the Cat with an instantly recognizable personality during the 1920s. In the 1930s, Walt Disney made character animation a particular focus of his animation studio, best showcased in productions such as ''Three Little Pigs'' (1933), ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937), ''Pinocchio'' (1940), and ''Dumbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Animation
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognised as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are either traditional animations or computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, has continued to exist alongside these other forms. Animation is contrasted with live action, although the two do not exist in isolation. Many moviemakers have produced films that are a hybrid of the two. As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery, filmmakers can easily composite 3D animations into their film rather than using practical effects for showy visual effects (VFX). General overview Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Grim Natwick
Myron "Grim" Natwick ( Nordveig; August 16, 1890 – October 7, 1990) was an American artist, animator, and film director. Natwick is best known for drawing the Fleischer Studios' most popular character, Betty Boop. Background Born in Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin, Natwick studied at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and had five brothers and two sisters. Natwick's parents, James and Henrietta (Lyon), owned a furniture store. His grandfather, Ole, was one of the earliest Norwegian immigrants to the United States arriving in Wisconsin in 1847 (Ole was born on April 8, 1826, to Ole Torkjellson Natvig and Anna at Sagi Natvig, Ardal, Sogn, Norway). He had eleven children in Grand Rapids, Wisconsin (now part of Wisconsin Rapids), including James W., Grim's father, and Joseph, who was the father of Mildred Natwick, Grim's first cousin. Natwick had his nickname since before high school as a takeoff on his "anything but Grim" personality. He was well known even in high sch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nine Old Men
Disney's Nine Old Men were a group of Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions' core animators, who worked at the studio from the 1920s to the 1980s. Some of the Nine Old Men also worked as directors, creating some of Disney's most popular animated movies from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' to ''The Rescuers''. The group was named by Walt Disney himself, and they worked in both short and feature films. Disney delegated more and more tasks to them in the animation department in the 1950s when their interests expanded, and diversified their scope. Eric Larson was the last to retire from Disney, after his role as animation consultant on ''The Great Mouse Detective'' in 1986. All nine members of the group were acknowledged as Disney Legends in 1989 and all would receive the Winsor McCay Award for their lifetime or career contributions to the art of animation. History The nine were all hired by Disney in the 1920s and 1930 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ollie Johnston
Oliver Martin Johnston Jr. (October 31, 1912 – April 14, 2008) was an American motion picture animator. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, and the last surviving at the time of his death from natural causes. He was recognized by The Walt Disney Company with its Disney Legend Award in 1989. His work was recognized with the National Medal of Arts in 2005. Career Johnston was an animator at Walt Disney Studios from 1934 to 1978, and became a directing animator beginning with ''Pinocchio'', released in 1940. He contributed to most Disney animated features, including ''Fantasia'' and ''Bambi''. His last full work for Disney came with ''The Rescuers'', in which he was caricatured as one of the film's characters, the cat Rufus. The last film he worked on was ''The Fox and the Hound''. His work includes Mr. Smee (in ''Peter Pan''), the Stepsisters (in ''Cinderella''), the District Attorney (in ''The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad''), and Prince John (in ''Robin Hood''). Ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Thomas (animator)
Franklin Rosborough Thomas (September 5, 1912 – September 8, 2004) was an American animator and pianist. He was one of Walt Disney's leading team of animators known as the Nine Old Men. Biography Thomas was born on September 5, 1912, in Santa Monica, California, to Frank Thomas, a teacher, and Ina Gregg. He had two older brothers, Lawrence and Welburne. He grew up in Fresno. Frank Thomas attended Stanford University, where he was a member of Theta Delta Chi fraternity and worked on campus humor magazine ''The Stanford Chaparral'' with Ollie Johnston. After graduating from Stanford in 1933, he attended Chouinard Art Institute, then joined The Walt Disney Company on September 24, 1934, as employee number 224. There he animated dozens of feature films and shorts, and also was a member of the Dixieland band Firehouse Five Plus Two, playing the piano. Career His work in animated cartoon shorts included '' Brave Little Tailor'', in which he animated scenes of Mickey Mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Milt Kahl
Milton Erwin Kahl (March 22, 1909 – April 19, 1987) was an American animator. He was one of (and often considered the most influential of) Walt Disney's supervisory team of animators, known as Disney's Nine Old Men. Biography Kahl was born in San Francisco, California, to Erwin, a saloon bartender, and Grace Kahl. He had three younger sisters, Dorothy, Marion, and Gladys. He would often refine character sketches from Bill Peet, incorporating ideas of Ken Anderson. The final look of many characters in the Disney films was designed by Kahl, in his angular style inspired by Ronald Searle and Picasso. He is revered by contemporary masters of the form such as Andreas Deja, and also Brad Bird, who was his protégé at Disney in the early 1970s. In the behind-the-scenes feature "Fine Food and Film" shown on the ''Ratatouille'' DVD, Bird referred to Kahl as "tough," but in a gentle way, as he often gave Bird advice on where he could improve in animation whenever he came up short. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Lounsbery
John Mitchell Lounsbery (March 9, 1911 - February 13, 1976) was an American animator and director employed by Walt Disney Productions. He is best known as one of Disney's Nine Old Men, of which he was the shortest lived as well as the first to die. Life and career He was born on March 9, 1911, in Cincinnati, Ohio, and raised in Colorado. He attended East Denver High School and the Art Institute of Denver. While attending the ArtCenter College of Design in Los Angeles, an instructor sent him to interview with Walt Disney. Lounsbery was hired by Disney on July 2, 1935, beginning as an uncredited assistant animator on ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937). He went on to work on numerous short features in the 1940s while continuing to serve as part of the animating team on nearly all of Disney's most famous feature-length animated film Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Larson
Eric Cleon Larson (September 3, 1905 – October 25, 1988) was an American animator for the Walt Disney Studios starting in 1933, and was one of "Disney's Nine Old Men". Biography Born in Cleveland, Utah, Larson was the son of Danish immigrants Peter, a clothing salesman, and Nora.1920 United States Federal Census He worked on such films as ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', ''Pinocchio'', ''Fantasia'', ''Bambi'', ''The Three Caballeros'', ''Make Mine Music'', ''Melody Time'', ''Cinderella'', ''Alice in Wonderland'', ''Peter Pan'', ''Lady and the Tramp'', ''Sleeping Beauty'', ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'', ''The Sword in the Stone'', ''The Jungle Book'', and ''The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh''. Throughout the years, Larson has animated characters on classics like ''The Aristocats'' and ''Robin Hood'' and also provided the titles on ''The Rescuers'' (along with Mel Shaw and Burny Mattinson). In the 1980s his work was minor, but he served as animation consul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Norm Ferguson (animator)
William Norman Ferguson (September 2, 1902 – November 4, 1957) was an American animator for Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Disney Studios and a central contributor to the studio's stylistic development in the 1930s. He is most frequently noted for his contribution to the creation of Pluto (Disney), Pluto, one of the studio's best-known and most enduring characters, and is the artist most closely associated with that character. He is also credited for developing Pete (Disney), Peg-Leg Pete and the Big Bad Wolf#Disney version, Big Bad Wolf. Ferguson, known at the studio as "Norm" or "Fergy", was the primary animator of the Evil Queen (Disney), witch from ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'', the first in a long line of great Disney feature villains. He was also a sequence director on the film. Career After starting at the studio in 1929 as a cameraman, Ferguson switched to the animation department and rose rapidly, despite a lac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hamilton Luske
Hamilton Somers Luske (October 16, 1903 – February 19, 1968) was an Americans, American animator and film director. Career Luske joined the Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions animation studio in 1931 and he was soon trusted enough by Walt Disney to be made supervising animator of the first Disney Princess character, Snow White (Disney character), Snow White in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs''. He was also an animator on the 1938 short film ''Ferdinand the Bull (film), Ferdinand the Bull''. He directed many Disney films and animated shorts from 1936 until his death in 1968. In 1965, he won the Academy Award for Best Visual Effects for directing the animated sequence in the Julie Andrews musical ''Mary Poppins (film), Mary Poppins'' (1964). He was born in Chicago, Illinois, on October 16, 1903, and died in Bel Air, California, on February 19, 1968, at age 64. Luske was the father of director and actor Tommy Lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wolfgang Reitherman
Wolfgang Reitherman (June 26, 1909 – May 22, 1985), also known and sometimes credited as Woolie Reitherman, was a German-American animator, director and producer. As a member of the "Disney's Nine Old Men, Nine Old Men" at Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Productions, Reitherman was known for his action-oriented animation. Born in Munich, Reitherman relocated to the United States with his family. He attended Pasadena City College, Pasadena Junior College and briefly worked as a draftsman for Douglas Aircraft Company. Desiring a career in visual arts, Reitherman studied at the Chouinard Art Institute. On the advice of an art instructor, Reitherman applied as an animator for Walt Disney Productions. Reitherman animated on several ''Silly Symphonies'' cartoon shorts. He next animated the Slave in the Magic Mirror in ''Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937 film), Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'' (1937), Monstro in ''Pinocchio (1940 film), Pinocchio'' (1940), and the cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marc Davis (animator)
Marc Fraser Davis (March 30, 1913 – January 12, 2000) was a prominent American artist and animator for Walt Disney Animation Studios. He was one of Disney's Nine Old Men, the famed core animators of Disney animated films, and was revered for his knowledge and understanding of visual aesthetics. After his work on ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' he moved to Walt Disney Imagineering to work on rides for Disneyland and Walt Disney World before retiring in 1978. Walt Disney once said of Davis, "Marc can do story, he can do character, he can animate, he can design shows for me. All I have to do is tell him what I want and it's there! He's my Renaissance man." Early life Davis was born in Bakersfield, California, on March 30, 1913. The family moved a lot, so Davis was in 26 schools before he was in high school. As a child, schoolyard bullies were an impetus for Davis to start drawing. He found when he drew that the other kids wanted his art, and the bullies wouldn't beat him up. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
