Innovation in Animation

A detailed Summary of Innovation in Animation

In the early 1900's, people from across the globe migrated toward a common land,that land being the newly established United States of America. The U.S. offered these immigrants freedom and a chance at success that was unthinkable anywhere else. Everyone who entered America was on the same boat, and each had their own contributions to make toward bettering the country. The sudden explosion of residents however, left America lacking certain necessities to hold on to the loyalty of these people. These foreigners required jobs, better living conditions, and maybe most importantly,entertainment. The solutions to these quandaries came in the forms of large industries,

skyscrapers, and movies. America was growing in industry but a country that does nothing other than work cannot stand for very long. Necessity is the mother of invention and the United State needed entertainment. Early animators managed to get the attention other performers lost because they not only used technology, but a way of creating life in things that weren't alive. Had not animation come into the picture when it did, visual arts today would not have come so incredibly far as they have. Today, animation can be made to look so realistic

As early as the late 1920's, people were already looking into a new medium we now know to be animation. One such entrepreneur was Winsor McCay, a cartoon strip columnist from two New York newspapers (Kanfer 19). McCay, often referred to as the father of animation merely evolved an idea that had been around for hundreds of years. Working on the first ever cartoon was actually done on a bet between McCay and some of his friends, and the idea to use several different pictures to create a fluid motion on film came from a toy of his sons, a flipbook (Kanfer 24). These toys had been in circulation for a number of years before anyone ever thought of putting them to film, and McCay was the first to do so. Creating a number of characters based on those from his comic strip, Little Nemo, McCay began work on his project without any information on how to do so other than basic camera operations. Upon releasing this cartoon, people were instantly awe struck as they had never seen feat in the arts so technically genius before. The only thing Winsor could do was make more cartoons for the enjoyment of others and himself. McCay decided his next work would be of a 'monster' of long ago, and finally decided upon Gertie the Dinosaur. This latest production proved to be a striking film with both live

action and animation intermixed. This technique only gave more praise to animation and it's splendor, and before anyone could put a word in edgewise, animation studios began to spring up out of the woodwork to gain an upper hand in this new business. Most of those interested in this medium were young men with a desire to reach a level that hadn't been reached by those before them. The silent era came abound without anyone know and crept into the heart of Americans in the forms of Felix the Cat and Betty Boop, two awkward,comically drawn characters that took peoples minds off times of hardship and onto better

Animation today still uses the basic rules and regulations of the past by lying to the eyes and telling them there is movement in still things, but has also managed to find a way to better mankind while it entertains and informs as well. Animation is also partially responsible for working as a vent for creativity in children by giving them a blue print of something to draw or something to try that's new and will help them learn more about life and the arts. Without animation, the arts would still be here and popular as well, however, this relatively new medium has merely given us another way to express ourselves and relate to one another in an artistic way. Animation has merely helped to create a country that is always searching for a way to create more, and has given it a way to see itself and laugh because everyone has their faults b

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Approximate Word count = 1848
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Arts