Process and Production: Research 3: Hybrid Animation

Hybrid animation is a term given to animation mixed with live action footage. This technique is one of my personal favourites. This is due to the contrast in the visuals that I just find incredibly interesting. It is a 4th wall breaking experience since we obviously know that the animated segments are drawn but then the live action side of it interacts as if it were real inside their world. 

The first version of this technique being used was in the 1900 film, 'The Enchanted Drawing' in which James Stuart Blackton draws a cartoon character who then comes to life on the paper. This technique evolved and was used in many different ways like putting a live action person into an animated world in 'Alice Comedies' and then putting animated characters into a live action world in 'Out of the Inkwell' and many others.

Properly compositing animated character in with live action footage is probably most well known from 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit'. This film was incredibly innovative and ambitious, but what I think is even more interesting and what adds to this experience even more, is how the story actually acknowledges the presence of these cartoons and makes that contrast part of the story and humour. 

This same principle is now used in the majority of live action blockbusters with the use of CGI, but the difference here is that most of the time this is made to look part of the world. We aren't supposed to notice the difference. I think this is a great technique and one that I personally find really interesting and opens many possibilities. 

Process and Production: Research 2: Tex Avery

Someone that I really admire a great deal when it comes to animation and visual comedy is Tex Avery. Avery was one of the main leading directors of the Looney Tunes and a very influential animator from the golden age. He was a major part of creating and/or popularising and developing characters such as Porky Pig, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Droopy. 

His use of exaggeration was incredible as he took it to a new level that no one had really done before. He stretched his characters further than anyone would think to try. He had some really great ideas of how to convey emotions in very comical and visually interesting ways. By expressing the characters in such an absurd way it added a extra shock value to the moment, often catching the audience off guard, hence making them laugh. 

This example shows how he communicated a moment of extreme shock. Instead of just widening the eyes and opening the mouth, he made this characters limbs detach and fly off the body for a moment as the whole character hovers in the air. 

He wanted to make cartoons that could appeal to adults as well as children. There was something for everyone in his films. He frequently broke the 4th wall with his characters addressing the audience directly or popping up in the credits. This made the characters seems more real and was a very new and interesting use of them. 

Process and Production: Research 1: The Golden Age

The Golden age of animation was a period from approximately 1928 until the 1960's in which the animation industry really picked up in the mainstream media. Animation became incredibly popular and the techniques advanced faster than ever before. This era introduced a great many iconic characters and invented and refined the 12 principles of animation. 

The era started roughly with the release of 'Steamboat Willie' in 1928. This was a big deal in terms of mainstream animation innovation. This was very popular and was one of the first animations to include synced sound. Disney became one of the key driving forces of animation as a media. Many animated shots were made involving a wide range of new characters that have become staples of the animation genre in general. 

The first big feature film of this era, and possibly the main key event kicking off the golden age, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released in 1938. This was an incredible achievement and started a long line of classic Disney films to come including Pinocchio, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty and many more. These animated features took an awful long time to do, weren't cheap to make, and rarely made a profit but they are incredibly well loved films and have amazing animation skill with innovative use of techniques and processes.

The 12 principles of animation, while not officially stated until the 1981 book 'The Illusion of Life', were created and used by the 9 old men of Disney and have gone on to be the fundamental laws of physics within the animation industry. These terms are used between animators as a common language so everyone knows what to refer to when talking about the work. 


The golden age started to fizzle out when interest shifted towards live action films. The animation industry was becoming harder to sustain and much harder to break even on films. The era really took the biggest kick when Walt Disney died in 1966. The company really struggled to come back from this for a long time, making films that were rarely box office hits, though adored by fans and critics. This also had a rather big impact on the animation industry in general, with audience demand lessening. 

This era of animation produced some of the greatest animated classics ever. It was a time of incredible progress with the techniques used to create animation. Possibly the most prominent thing to come from this era are the 12 principles because they have been the guidelines for so much mainstream animation since.