A Proposal For An Essay That Never Saw The Light Of Day...

Dissertation Proposal:

Do Cartoonists Make Cartoons Anymore?

By

Mathew Richens

     The animation industry has seen many twists and turns and dead ends over the years, often falling in popularity, changing it’s purpose, only to rise up again dressed up as the next big thing.

     Before the 1920’s, animation as a medium did not exist. Thanks to the efforts of individuals like Emil Cohl and Winsor McCay, who not only explored the marvels, and answered many of the questions surrounding moving image but also helped to make it popular, eventually turning it into an ever growing industry. Cohl’s series of political caricatures and McCay’s many newspaper strips and cartoons along with their passion for drawing that meant they themselves were actual cartoonists. They worked a labour of love in order to entertain people with their amusing pictures, which to me is exactly what a cartoonist is. These days the term ‘cartoon’ is stereotypically considered a form of ‘children’s entertainment’ but back then it was something that actually had meaning, but then it also changing the people looked at certain medias.

     After researching a company like Spumco, whose founders believe there are no creator-driven cartoons anymore, it would be easy for me to just agree, but I was curious to see if that really was the case. It would be fair to say that cartoons aren’t what they used to be, but it also easy to tell why.

     In the beginning, cartoons were made by people who not only had a sense of humour, but could also draw what they considered to be funny so that other people could see where they were coming from. Cartoon classics like Felix The Cat, Tom & Jerry and Mickey Mouse all have a particular style that make them stand out as brilliant. When you look at the backgrounds behind them though, you find that Pat Sullivan used to draw Felix cartoons as a living before embracing the moving picture industry, the same is also true for Otto Messmer who later continued the franchise. These men had true passion for the character they had brought to life, maybe this was the key to their success? Most of the original staff working on Tom & Jerry (people like Chuck Jones, Bob Clampett and Fred Quincy) were also people who loved to create sight gags for TV, in fact Chuck Jones went on to make some of Warner Bros.’ most famous shorts, cartoons that are still loved by many today. And Walt Disney, a man who wanted to create cartoons so much that his first and most popular creation Mickey Mouse was actually conceived in his Uncle’s garage during a period of no work! A few years later, a lot of artists were opening their own studios, people like Disney, Maz Fleischer, Pat Sullivan, Warner Brothers, Charles Mintz and Paul Terry. These studios all produced many great shows and films, and the more advanced technology became (with the addition of sound and colour), the more popular cartoons became. Artists like Chuck Jones and Tex Avery became very high demand because of their comical styles and techniques, and over the years they brought a lot to the industry.

     By the time the second world war was over, cartoons were more popular than ever, studios like MGM, Ralph Bakshi and Hannah-Barbera appeared and Warner Bros. were at an all-time high, especially with their lead animators using the war as it’s main material. All of the popular cartoonists and their staff were back at their desks in their offices once again thinking up new ways to make people laugh. Disney had even started producing some of the first award nominated feature length animations (like Bambi and Dumbo) and by the late 1950’s animation was more popular than ever and even gave birth to the concept of international animation festivals allowing small-time cartoonists to showcase their work (starting with the Annecy festival). All throughout the 60’s and the 70’s creator driven shows came from all around the globe and were now being loved for their creativeness as well as visual style. Each creator brought something new to the medium and helped prevent every show from cloning the one that preceded it. The heart and soul of the animation industry faded away mostly during the 80’s, consumerism was becoming a huge part of the media, and most of the shows being produced were based on older creations (trying to reinvent them and make them popular once again for the sake of money) and other properties (such as toys and films). Though a few of these shows did stand out for their fantastic animation styles (of that time anyways) they did not have the same impact as those cartoons that were loved in previous years.

     By the early 80’s, Walt Disney was also gone, his company remained, but lost most of it’s credibility over the years, focusing on making money and trying their best to please everyone with the few features they released. It was the era of the studio executives and the cartoonists became nothing more than slaves to the idea men who knew nothing about drawing. It hasn’t been all bad, but in some cases it shows how limited the creativeness can be. It was also around this time that new jobs were added to the pre-production of animation by networks and companies, things like script writing (when previously all planning like this was done in story-board form) and editing (basically, this was the company’s way of interfering and cutting out what they didn’t think would sell from the product). With this went the traditional methods for creating cartoons and the total loss of control by the artists involved. It seemed that this turn of events is what got people like Spumco’s John Kricfalusi and Lynne Naylor fired up, and ready to change things… But by the time they were able to make any difference, the changes had already come. Networks all over America were starting to realise that mimicry was failing, and that maybe they should see what the artists of the world were producing instead of the generic cartoons being spewed out non-stop and making people lose more and more interest every day. They were also finding that their fads were short-lived, and yet everyone everywhere knew who characters like Mickey Mouse and Bugs Bunny were, decades after they were introduced to the world. But still they refused to go back to the proven techniques used to create the classics, the script-writer was here to stay and with him came communication problems and longer working hours. On the bright side there were the occasional success stories, but it still meant very little control for the cartoonist/s involved. The problems also came with the writers being unimpressed by the artwork being produced, and the networks naturally agreed, wanting everything to be perfect. A few more people were added to the production family, people who not only couldn’t draw, but couldn’t write either, so they would give ideas to the writers that would then get passed on to the animators… Simple enough, but all these people involved on the same projects, had hardly any communication with each other. In many places today, that is still the case. Spumco found it with Nickeloeon, and from their experience you would maybe think that it is always the case. I know I did, until carrying on my research. I think that even though Nickelodeon said they were looking for totally creator-driven projects they couldn’t accept that they would be powerless and at time Spumco may have pushed their luck with some of the material they submitted. They might have met more success had Nickelodeon not been a children’s network, and I say that because the other shows that were picked up by the network, such as Rugrats, Doug and Craig Barlett’s Hey Arnold which were also creator driven, continued to be produced and aired continuously.

     As well as Nickelodeon taking this creator driven idea, other networks jumped on board as well, including the Cartoon Network. The idea remained that fresh and original new concepts would be the perfect way to make a bigger profit, whilst keeping the creators in control providing that the material was suitable for it’s target audience (something that seemed lost in the Nick/Spumco debate). It almost seems that out of hundreds of success stories, Spumco stands out as an exception. Donovan Cook had a fantastic run with his series 2 Stupid Dogs, Van Partible’s Johnny Bravo went on to become a mascot for the Cartoon Network and even more recently, Craig McCracken and Genndy Tartakovsky have enjoyed success on their own projects for the Cartoon Network (Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack) which brings me to believe that though in some cases the cartoonist has no control over the cartoon, others are beginning to realise that it’s the most creative way to produce and bring life to cartoons.

Cultural Contexts (2006) - More jibberish from a younger me...

Cultural Contexts For Digital Animation

By

Mathew Richens

Introduction

     Animation is possibly the greatest illusion ever created; it has different values and meaning all over the world. In some cultures animation is seen as an art form, something that gets well-deserved respect for all the time and effort that goes into it. In others, it is a form of entertainment, one that can appeal to anyone with an open mind. These days animation is used solely for the purpose of advertisement. It is used mostly to sell a product or even an idea to us. The central location for most of this numbing down and consumerism is, as always, corporate America. Mainly this is because of America’s vast amount of wealth, and the way America thinks. Unfortunately, both of these things combined can mean the rise and fall of many industries. It has already been made noticeable in Hollywood and the entertainment industries. Mediums like cinema and animation, even music, have become almost totally controlled by profit alone. In a world where money controls everything, it is understandable why some people would sell out to provide an easy living for themselves. I think it is okay, if, and only if the decision isn’t forced. I can think of a few examples where trends and actions of certain companies and individuals have destroyed possibly the most creative minds, and greatest examples of animation.

Japan: The Art of Detail

     In some ways, popular Japanese animation has never really belonged to Japan. When the animation industry kicked off in the 1960’s all over Japan, the stories were based on traditional Japanese legends. Between the 60’s and 70’s Toei Doga had produced a dozen features, all failed to win in international sales. Whilst looking for a story he felt he could translate well through animation and sell to the world, his travels brought him to Europe where he developed a love for most of the folk tales he came to hear about. He felt that because he understood and loved them so much, they would be the perfect tales to adapt. It was a success, but was it Japanese? Sure it was made and produced in Japan, and all of the features had a strong Japanese style to them, which is today referred to a anime or manga.

     As soon as manga became popular (mid 1960’s) it started to take a more Japanese approach, shows like Cyborg 009, Astro Boy and Gigantor began to appear. It was Japanese television made for a Japanese audience. It really became so popular that it is seen as one of Japans strongest mediums. One thing that separates Japanese animation from the rest of the world is its lack of censorship. The cartoons would contain nudity, gore and excessive violence, and still be considered for a young audience. During the 90’s manga stormed America, and just like that, Japanese cartoons were being bought by television networks across the seas. One of the most popular series to date would be DragonBall Z, based on Akira Toryama’s 1982 manga series, it spawned three television shows: DragonBall, DragonBall Z and DragonBall GT. DragonBall was directly based on the books and was hugely popular when released in 1986. DragonBall Z was a continuation of the series; it became the most popular of the franchises and is still hugely popular with today’s audiences. It first aired in America in 1996 alongside the success of PokeMôn. Both shows began quietly before becoming worldwide phenomena’s. DragonBall GT was nowhere near as popular and it became apparent that it existed only to make money. It had an up-to-date and clean style of animation, but shunned by it’s creator and suffering from poor storytelling, the show was cancelled after two years. Originally the shows contained adult humour (one of the characters was a perverted old man) and plenty of gore (the shows main theme was of fighting in tournaments) all of which were cut for the American children. This shows a difference in cultures; Japan doesn’t feel the need to shelter it’s younger audiences, where as America censors anything that might influence it’s youth in a negative way. Oddly though, Japanese culture isn’t a particularly violent one and causes one to question if censorship is in fact such a good thing.

Europe: We Aim To Please

     Aardman is shooting a new Wallace & Gromit movie with backing from Dreamworks. Pathe has produced The Magic Roundabout, and Disney has North America and worldwise merchandising rights on Ealing Studios’ Valiant. Disney has also fast-tracked Rocket Pictures’ CGI and live-action Gnomeo & Juliet, this time taking worldwide rights. Also, Tim Burton is said to be shooting Warner Bros. stop-motion fairy-tale The Corpse Bride in the UK.

     Although there seems to be quite a few British animation releases it would seem that all of them have some kind of backing from US studios. To be fair, most productions would never see the light of day because of this, but it also seems to be a convenient way of sucking us into the consumerist wars that best describe America. A coincidence? Barnaby Thompson, who is producing Valiant with Shrek producer John Williams, argues that the falling cost of animation equipment has opened the door to such mainstream, family-friendly product for independents.

     Many people feel that Aardman put the UK on the global map with its first feature Chicken Run, a worldwide hit for Dreamworks and Pathe. French animation company Films Action looked for a UK partner on The Magic Roundabout mainly because of Aardmans success. Films Action is now working with Bolexbrothers. Bristol’s second animation studio, at its Marseilles studio on the CGI production.

     Despite a greater range of technology and talent, the UK’s animation sector is hardly booming. The many animations seen in advertising are overlooked and full length shows and features are being turned down due to highly popular overseas competition.

     Traditional animation is also still going strong in other parts of Europe. But most animation films disappear without a trace outside their home markets. Animation studios in countries such as France and Spain have emerged as market leaders in Europe. This is because of these countries governments offering a range of tax breaks. The European animation studios worked alongside each other to produce animation content for television. This is seen mostly in countries such as France, Germany, UK and Spain.

     The European animated feature film industry still hasn’t achieved the popularity of their American counterparts. The feature film industry is more expensive and riskier. There are very few European films with trans-national success. This is partly due to the diverse cultural backgrounds, as British films (for example) mainly show traces of British humour and slang.

     Back in the days when animating was probably at it’s best and most original, the processes for producing it were fairly different than they are today. One of the newest features in modern animation is the script writing process. Creators like Bob Clampett, Tex Avery, Chuck Jones and even a young Walt Disney used to sit in their studios thinking of jokes and anecdotes that would make them laugh and once convinced that the idea worked they would eventually go straight to storyboarding it. This way of thinking is probably what helped give birth to such classic characters as Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck etc. The interesting thing about these characters is that we still laugh and enjoy them today, and it’s also an international style of humour. Not only did these people create ideas, they drew them as well, which opened debate on whether all cartoonists made cartoons. Around the 1960’s though, this process came to an end. Traditional cartoonists no longer had control over their creations. The cartoon scriptwriter was introduced and it seemed quite apparent that these writers didn’t care less about the subject material. This might even be proven by the sheer fact that these classic cartoons continue to stand out in history.

     One particular animator I have felt sorry for over the past few years is John Kricfalusi, co-founder of Spumco. He, as well as some of his close friends believed that the new processes were destroying good animation; he rebelled against Disney, and saw Warner Bros. shows as rude and mean, which he felt related more to the real world. He and some other animators like Bob Camp, Lynne Naylor and Jin Smith decided to form Spumco in the hope of creating cartoons how they felt cartoons should be created. Spumco had one employment rule; If you cannot draw, you cannot write. John Kricfalusi swore that “at Spumco, only cartoonists will make cartoons.”

     A short while after Spumco was formed. Nickelodeon, children’s network, announced that they were looking for new cartoons invented by cartoonists. Nickelodeon president Geraldine Laybourne revived a concept long familiar to cartoonists, but forgotten by the rest of the world: the concept of creator driven cartoons. She wanted to prove that Nickelodeon, unlike other networks, would be encouraging cartoonists. John Kricfalusi flew over for a meeting at Nickelodeon and there they discovered two of his creations. Ren and Stimpy. The chosen Nick-Toons were Rugrats, Doug, Rocko’s Modern Life, Aaaahh! Real Monsters, Blues Clues, Hey Arnold and The Ren and Stimpy Show. Spumco now had the funding required to make cartoons how they should be and produced possibly some of the funniest cartoons for that decade. But Nickelodeon weren’t happy, they weren’t getting any of the jokes and saw the cartoon as a waste of money. Eventually the ideas being pitched weren’t the ones being produced, and this was just to get Nickelodeon to agree to give them airtime. Eventually Nickelodeon had John Kricfalusi fire most of his staff, because they felt that the show needed new writers and a new style. When the show first aired, it was an instant success… And Nickelodeon weren’t happy. They managed to overthrow Spumco and with every employee John fired, they would rehire until inevitably, John Kricfalusi had no control at all over his creations. Unfortunately nobody took to Nickelodeons revamped Ren & Stimpy Show and it was cancelled shortly afterwards. It’s horrible to think that possibly on of the only true cartoons of the 90’s was killed off by the very people that claimed to want it in the first place.

Two studios, one animation - A short essay from 2006

Disney’s Tarzan Research Essay

By

Mathew Richens

     In the 1912 October issue of ‘The All-Story Magazine’ Edgar Rice Burroughs created a legend in Tarzan.

     After many attempts at creating a suitable Tarzan in the film industry, the conclusion was drawn that no actor could physically do the things that Burroughs’ Tarzan did. The films directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck understood that animating Tarzan was the only way to do Tarzan the way Edgar Rice Burroughs imagined it. At the time of making it, they both felt that although they could achieve a great deal with CGI they didn’t believe it would be the most effective way to tell the story they wanted to tell. Eventually the decision to combine CGI with traditional animation was made.

     In the original books not many people realised that the animals could speak, and Tarzan speaks to the animals. This was something that the directors and writers wanted to explore. Bonnie Arnold, the films producer says

“We’ve never really seen a realistic portrayal of what Tarzans relationship is with his ape family and the animals around him.”

-Bonnie Arnold (Producer)

     The reason they made that decision is most probably to make the themes feel somewhat contemporary and also be true to the history of Tarzan.

     At the heart of it, it is a great story with something really important to say.

“It’s a powerful rendition of a great classic American story, brought forth in imagery like only Disney could do was just phenomenal.”

-Danton Burroughs

(Edgar Rice Burroughs, Inc.)

I agree that Disney, being the corporate giant that it is, would take their time in creating a well designed and thought out production.

     One of the most interesting things they did while researching the film was actually go to Africa.

“We needed to go to Africa for our research trip to really understand where Tarzan grew up, we immersed ourselves in Tarzans world, and just had to see for ourselves what it really was Burroughs was writing about.”

-Dan St. Pierre (Art Director)

     When animating a character it’s good to be constantly on the search for things that inspire you, not always knowing where it will come from. These guys all went to Africa and went looking for gorillas and studied them there, going to Africa was probably the most important part of the research as they got to interact with real silverback gorillas. They expected to find these mean, monstrous gorillas; instead, there was a family of thirteen gorillas all sitting around in a very relaxed family-like picture. This inspired the ‘family groups’ for the film. I think they came out of it with an appreciation for who Tarzan is, the way he thinks and the way he acts. Those are the kind of elements that go into making the character convincing. Also I think it really directed the layout of the movie and the background painting of the movie. They would have been knee deep in vegetation, and thankfully must have thought ‘wouldn’t it be cool if the characters were in the same situation’.

“I took 150 rolls of film, gathering all the information and whatever details we could from the jungle, the moss, the vines, the bark on the trees, and whatever we could use for reference.”

-Doug Ball

(Artistic Supervisor, Backgrounds)

     The directors felt they should make the audience believe they were actually there in Tarzans jungle. Africa is a very beautiful place, and the style of the painting and general visual approach of the film has captured it brilliantly.

     Before the primary animation had begun, it was decided that the film would have an original soundtrack to fit the movies theme. What Disney film would be complete without songs, right?

“As soon as they actually decided what they were going to do at the beginning of the movie they said they needed a song, this is what the song should be about ‘two worlds, one family’. The thing that motivated me at first was the rhythmic possibilities.”

-Phil Collins

     Mark Mancina, the films composer, felt it was a real challenge to take a Phil Collins approach to a song and then take it further. The results, I would say are very successful, as the films score and title tracks compliment each other fully.

     Story is probably the most time consuming part of a films development. The screenwriters, the directors and the rest of the story crew had to build the movie from the ground up. Storyboards basically just start with an idea and you go from there, you start drawing and doing some quick sketches. Little by little you expand that into a comic book style so you can show how each shot is planned out as a sequence. Once the sequence is drawn, it has to be pitched to the directors, they’re taken through it one step at a time, characters are acted out, this helps them picture it in real time animation. Then it would be moved on to editorial and they’d start putting it together on film, adding music and dialogues. Finally it moves forward into animation. The films editor is usually one of the first members of the crew and stays on until the very end. This process is to make sure there is a solid story.

     In this animated Tarzan they had the ability to completely reinvent the way Tarzan looks. When animating him, they found inspiration from skateboarders and snowboarders. They started thinking of Tarzan as a tree-surfer, that he should use branches like obstacles, he slides his feet down the moss, he doesn’t just swing on the vines with his hands, he grabs them with his feet, this Tarzan could probably never appear in any other medium other than animation, 2-D or 3-D. One of the first assignments for the animators was to study an animal movement, and then try to translate that through Tarzans movements.

     Working in animation mean that anything is possible, and one thing that’s never been explored on screen before is the relationship between Tarzan and his adoptive Mother, Kala. The film shows close-ups of character faces, allowing the audience to see signs of emotion between the characters.

     The film has two main villains, Clayton, the human villain, and Sabor, the animal villain. The directors wanted to show some parallels between the two, this was achieved by their colour palettes, both were coloured similarly to help make the connection.

     Their goal was to create an animated jungle that could seem real to the animated Tarzan. The problem was allowing the camera to follow Tarzan through the trees and catch him interacting with his environment. The process used was ‘Deep-Canvas’. The deep-canvas software basically allowed the background artist to digitally paint a background over a mesh base, meaning that not only what you can see is coloured, but also everything else. This way when the camera moves around trees for example, they appear fully 3-D. After a whole scene is made up, the 2-D character animation is added over the top (at 24 fps) this creates the full scene.

     The overall animation process used is the same as with most animated features, it involves taking the story reel, or storyboards, and presenting them in real time, allowing the directors and animators to get a general perspective on the shot and an understanding of how long the scene will play for. These are usually shown with the soundtrack, voices and background noises being played, this also helps the animators know when a character is speaking in a scene and for how long. Once the story reel is approved, the scene goes through a process of rough animation, normally a stop motion hand drawn animation displaying the movement of the characters and elements, this needs to be given the thumbs up by the directors and supervising animators before it can move on in production. The next stage is clean-up animation, basically consisting of finer lining, as well as characters final lip syncs, from there it is given colour and often edited to create a final scene.

     The animation for Disney’s Tarzan was actually created on two different continents; it’s hard to believe the Tarzan was being animated in France, while Jane was being animated in California. Directors Kevin Lima and Chris Buck talked to the Paris studio just about every day to try and hold production together. This seems like a difficult process, but one that was clearly successful in the end. I think the thinking behind it was that if the animators were spread out and not crammed into one single studio they would be able to produce some more fresh and original work.

Hatful Of Random...

More discoveries from the past...

This was my re-design of sorts, of the phantom motorbike from the cover of Meat Loaf's Bat Out of Hell album. Obsessed with the idea, I think I was trying to make an animated music video or graphic novel out of the concept at the time...

A random dragon?

I think this may have fallen out of a college book, creating imagery to song lyrics or something similar.

I was asked to illustrate the Horoscopes page for the first issue of the college magazine, however, whoever was placed in charge was too simple to use my actual, clearly labeled illustration files and decided to include one of my drafts, so please forgive the fact that there are random transparencies and that the writing clashes with the imagery.

I love Miles Davis, who doesn't? I became interested in drawing all sorts of jazz musicians at one time, and if I ever find them, I will post my renditions of Louis Armstrong and Charlie Parker.

Workin' out a new style for the fastest man alive.

And finally, my Uncle Ernie. I think I drew this many years ago on a holiday to the Lake District... Not 100% though.

Back To Bat...

Some time ago (I'm talkin' years!) back when I was new to the internets, I started talking to somebody interested in making their own Batman film... It is likely this was just a fan project, I offered my skills as a story-boarder to the project and did a couple of pages before losing either contact or interest (maybe both?). As I discovered them recently I figured I would let you all see one of my first ever serious attempts at story-boarding (I think...).

Chasing Each Other's Tails

Here's some of the concept art, character art and very early storyboards for an animated project I did for my final assignment in College. Something that I once again, got really into before becoming disinterested. The theme was something of a mix between Cowboy Bebop and Thundercats that, if I'm really honest, didn't make much sense.

BIOHAZARD

I was a huge fan of the Resident Evil franchise right from the very first time I saw a PC demo of the original game. I hated the live-action Paul Anderson films, even as stand alone movies they were appalling (Nemesis crying?! WTF!) but the games, comics, books and even the CGI movie were gold to me so here's a few of my Resident Evil related drawings from a few years back!