Tag: ub iwerks

A fan’s subjective perspective on the early stages of animation history and the evolution of traditional animation. In part 2 of ‘The early stages of animation,’ I will talk about some famous cartoons by Disney, Fleischer Studios and others.

Early stages of animation: 1920-1937 – The rise of cartoons

3) Disney

America had a huge English-speaking market and more money to spend, so it makes sense that the biggest animation studios were founded there: Disney, Fleischer Studios, Warner Brothers Cartoons… I’m going to elaborate mostly on Disney, because they were simply the best for reasons I both can and can’t explain. There’s an observable quality difference between early Disney shorts and anything else from the same decade, but somehow they manage to make you feel involved with the characters and grip your attention. Even though Walt Disney seldomly animated himself anymore as years went by, his creative vision, drive and controlling nature shaped the way Disney’s animation would evolve. More about that further down and very possibly in a future post. Or maybe somewhere else, from a smarter person who knows what he’s talking about.

Early efforts

In 1923, Walt Disney founded a studio and started doing his own thing. Before he did some things (Laugh-o-grams). And then in his own studio, he did well, more of the same kind of things (Alice Comedies) . Oddly, in both videos a real live girl can be seen interacting with cartoon characters. I guess this was his way to introduce animation to the audience and attempt to involve them. They then tired of the mixed format and went on to full animation.

Oswald the Lucky Rabbit – Trolley Troubles, 1927

Disney introduced Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, as an answer to Felix the Cat and Fleischer’s Koko the Clown, and it looked amazing. For some reason, maybe because of this cartoon, animators became obsessed with trains and trolleys and cows on tracks. Oh, and here is one from when Disney lost the rights to Oswald and the character went to another studio. Spot the differences.

Mickey Mouse and Silly Symphonies

Mickey Mouse entered the stage to replace Oswald and at the suggestions of composer Carl Stalling, Disney developed the Silly Symphonies cartoons. The bulk of these animated shorts featured slapstick gags and anthropomorphic animals, plants and objects using each other and their surroundings as musical instruments. Music was an important part of the cartoon and every one of them featured a synchronized soundtrack.

Steamboat Willie, 1928

You may have seen this one before or recognize it from a Simpsons homage. It was Disney’s breakthrough and the debut of Mickey Mouse. After seeing The Jazz Singer, the first movie with synchronized music and some singing and talking, Walt Disney decided this was the way to go for animation. There have been cartoons with sound before, and with synchronized sound, but not a fully synchronized soundtrack. Not only is Steamboat Willie innovative in this respect, they stepped things up a notch in terms of animation quality too.

Other notables and personal favorites: