Influential Animators

I will be writing about three different animators that have been influential in the animation world;

• Walt Disney
• Warner Bros.
• Norman McLaren.

Walt Disney

Walt Disney is the most famous of all animators from the golden age of American Animation. When he first came about he was only famous for making adverts but now is more commonly known for making family friendly movies which are enjoyed by all. Walt Disney’s first film series was called ‘Silly Symphonies’. The most iconic and remembered of this series is the ‘Steamboat Willie’ episode. Steamboat Willie was Walt Disney’s first animated film with synchronised sound. However, don’t mistake Mickey Mouse as his first character. That title goes to Oswald Rabbit. Walt Disney lost rights to Oswald Rabbit until 2006 when they won back his rights. Walt Disney himself invented the multiplane camera which was used to make animations for many years after as well. The multiplane camera allows a 3D effect in the 2D animations by adding a sense of depth. It works by having different layers of glass sheets, each layer would have a different layer of the scene. The background would be on one layer and the character on another. Walt Disney had used many effects for his films. In his film ‘Snow White’ he used ‘rotoscoping’. Rotoscoping is when they record or take a picture of an actress doing what they want the animation to do and then trace it. Disney’s last traditionally drawn animated film is ‘Princess and the Frog’.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros started many years ago with just three of the four founders, Sam, Harry and Albert Warner, when they first acquired a movie projector. In 1918, they opened their first studio in Hollywood and the youngest brother Jack and a controller Chase joined them to help with finance. Hugh Harman and Rudolph Isling worked for Walt Disney for many years and learned to draw animations. When Disney moved to expand his empire, Harman and Isling went to Warner bros and introduced ‘Bosko’ in the first ever episode of the Looney Tunes, a Warner Bros parody of Disney’s ‘Silly Symphonies’. Looney tunes is now very popular and the thing everyone remembers about Warner Bros. By 1940, Avery Schlesinger has his three best animated stars Porky Pig in 1936, Daffy Duck in 1937 and Bugs Bunny in 1939. These three characters were wildly popular and still adored today. In 1942, the Schlesinger studio surpassed Walt Disney studios as most successful producer of animated shorts. In 1944, the Warner brothers bought Looney Tunes and renamed them Warner Bros. Cartoons.

Norman McLaren

Norman McLaren created many films for the NFB (National Film Board). McLaren excelled in film making including film animation, abstract film, pixelation, drawn on animation, visual music and graphical sound. Between 1936 and 1939, McLaren worked for the GPO Film Unit (General Post Office). During that time he created four films that made people aware of him; Book Bargain, Mony a Pickle, Love on the Wing and News for the Navy. In 1939, McLaren moved to New York city with a grant from the Soloman Guggenheim Foundation and stayed there until 1941. During that time he released four drawn on film animations; Boogie-Doodle, Dots, Loops and Stars and Stripes.