2021/10/13
Question
Paul Wells suggests that ‘Animation as a form has predominantly been understood as a ‘cartoon’ medium, and largely defined by the presence, and performance of Disney Animation from 1928 to the present day. lt may be argued, therefore, that all other forms of animation may be addressed through the ways they relate to or differ from the Disney model. Many animation studios across the world have sought to imitate Disney aesthetically, industrially, technologically, and commercially, while others have resisted this approach, viewing it as something which may misrepresent their own engagement with the medium’ (2002,2).
Can you think of any animation studios/forms of animation/animators who have imitated or been influenced by Disney’s hyperreal animation aesthetic in their editing? How do they do this? Include animation in its myriad forms in your consideration of your answer.
Can you think of any any animation studios/forms of animation/animators who resist this aesthetic? How do they do this? Include animation in its myriad forms in your consideration of your answer.
Before the question, some research and understanding about Disney Hyperrealism. Might not be quite correct.
Disney Hyperrealism
Beginning with Snow White in, this kind of artistic paradigm has become known as ‘hyperrealism’.The most important element of Disney hyperrealism is the realistic action and motor function of the animation.
The “Hyperrealism” is reflected in the graphic art style on the one hand and the editing on the other.
Prior to this, most animations featured exaggerated squeezes and stretches and cartoonish transformations, like Mickey Mouse. And the style represented by Fleischer Studios’ Betty Boop is known as “rubber hose limbs”. Because animators draw characters without joints, this saves a lot of time and effort in drawing.
Hamilton Luske first raised the issue of animation. He thought reality should be added to these kinds of exaggerated animation styles.In creating the details of Snow White, he believes that “enough form to it” is necessary. The expressions and movements of the characters tend to be realistic. In Disney’s works, the designs, situations and actions are the same as in the live-action movies. Characters, objects, and environments all follow the laws of real-world physics. The body structure, movements and behavioral tendencies of the characters all refer to the universally accepted physical properties of humans or creatures in the real world.
lt is also reflected in editing. The camera language of animation began to resemble that of live-action films. It is reflected in the negative aspects of narrative mode and transition mode. Disney hyperrealism became increasingly dominant due to the use of multi-planar cameras and the storytelling requirements of feature-length films. The accumulation of frames and artistic imitation of reality broke the situation that animation had never threatened the live-action film market before.
Animation as a mediumforegrounds its artifice Ultimately, believability, ratherthan absolute realism. It still retains the exaggerated characteristics of animation. Balancing on the Edge of the fantasy world. Animation is not seen as merely a “reproduction of reality” or a pure pictorial study, but as a “reasonable impossibility.” Animation has also inspired the creation of live-action films that echo “realism”.
Pallant utilises Paul Wells’ definition of Disneyesque hyperrealism to define Disney’s attempt to represent reality in a medium based on artificiality. This ‘hyperrealism’ is seen ‘as the yardstick by which other kinds of animation may be measured for its relative degree of “realism” (Wells, 1998, p. 25). Many subsequent animations are influenced by it, especially in the age of CGI technology. This has led to blurred boundaries between films and some commercial animations as well.
Back to the Question
Many animations have been influenced by Disney’s hyperreal animation aesthetic both the two aspects of editing and graphic art style. Many “Disney-like” animations appeared, for example The Princess and the Pea, which was directed by Mark Swan. The style and approach are all very similar to Disney ones.
DC animation is even more realistic because of its subject matter and character design. Compared with all kinds of film and television works of DC, DC animation seems to have no big difference with others except changing a form. This feature also appears in a large number of commercial animations.
Disney Hyperrealism promoted the development of animation industry with its great influence, but at the same time, some people began to explore other ways. There are some animations resist this aesthetic. Some creators, for example, prefer Fleischer’s style. In the 1990s, the distinctive style began to see a revival as a pop culture element. The appearance of The Ren & Stimpy Show is a symbol. It was controversial at the time.
Many artists still pay tribute to this style today. When it debuted at E3 in 2014, Cuphead was notable for its kind of style. ( Althrough it is a game ). They reintroduce “rubber hose limbs” style and surrealism. And with the development of animation technology, Skeletal animation has been widely used. Many animations, such as Adventure Time, favor this absurd style.
Back to the editing. Many highly personal animations don’t exactly follow Disney Hyperrealism. For example The Isle of Dogs directed by Wes Anderso. His films use highly personal lens language and exquisite symmetrical composition. His narration is not just to tell a good story, but to pay attention to the visual presentation of every shot. The composition makes use of the characteristics of animation to present the rare transition and camera operation in live-action films. As a stop-motion animation, it also has a more theatrical feel than live-action film editing.
By the way, we can also see some editing attempts that are different from Disney’s in some mainstream popular animated films. For example in the film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, comic style editing style appears in the film, which is similar to split-screen editing, but with a unique feature.
Disney don’t think wonderful things can be made out of reality if people don’t first understand what reality is. What Disney Hyperrealism pursues is a sense of authenticity and naturalness.It is close to life and easy to accept, which is why it has become a major mainstream.At the same time, people need to dare to break this rule to explore new roads, so as to have more breakthroughs.
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