Animated cartoon
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An animated cartoon is a moving picture generated by photographing drawings frame-by-frame, as opposed to a normal movie, which is produced by shooting 24 frames a second of actual moving persons or objects.
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History
The first examples of trying to capture motion into a drawing can already be found in paleolithic cave paintings, where animals are depicted with multiple legs in superimposed positions, clearly attempting depicting a sense of motion.
The phenakistoscope, zoetrope and praxinoscope, as well as the common flip book, were early animation devices to produce movement in drawings using technological means, but animation did not really develop much further until the advent of motion picture film.
The first animated cartoon (in the traditional sense, i.e. on film) was "Fantasmagorie" by the French director Émile Cohl.
One of the very first successful animated cartoons was "Gertie the Dinosaur" by Winsor McKay. It is considered the first example of true character animation.
In the 1930s to 1960s, theatrical cartoons were produced in huge numbers, and usually shown before a feature film in a movie theater. MGM, Disney and Warner Brothers were the largest studios producing these 5 to 10-minute "shorts". Template:See
Competition from television drew audiences away from movie theaters in the late 1950s, and the theatrical cartoon began its decline. Today, animated cartoons are produced mostly for television.
Technologies
Image:Animhorse.gif The advent of film technology opened opportunities to develop the art of animation. The basic animation process is described in the article Animation , and the classic, hand-drawn technology in Traditional animation .
At first, animated cartoons were black-and-white and silent. Felix the Cat is a notable example.
The first cartoon with synchronized sound is often identified as Walt Disney's Steamboat Willie, starring Mickey Mouse in 1927, but Max Fleischer's 1926 My Old Kentucky Home is less popularly but more correctly credited with this innovation. Fleischer also patented rotoscoping, whereby animation could be traced from a live action film.
With the advent of sound film, musical themes were often used. Animated characters usually performed the action in "loops", i.e. drawings were repeated over and over, synchronized with the music.
Disney also produced the first full-color cartoon in Technicolor, "Flowers and Trees", in 1931, although other producers had earlier made films using inferior, 2-color processes instead of the 3-color process offered by Technicolor.
Later, other movie technologies were adapted for use in animation, such as stereophonic sound in Disney's Fantasia in 1941, and later, widescreen processes (e.g. CinemaScope), and even 3D.
Today, animation is commonly produced with computers, giving the animator new tools not available in hand-drawn traditional animation. See Computer animation for further information of the specific technologies.
Note, however, that some types of animation cannot be called "cartoons", which implies something that resembles a drawing. Clay animation and other forms of stop motion filming, are not cartoons in the strict sense of the word.
An animated cartoon created using Macromedia Flash is sometimes called a webtoon.
Feature films
Although other full-length animated films had been produced before 1937, Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is considered to be the first successful animated feature film. To date, Disney has produced 44 "Classic" hand-drawn animated features. It appears that no more will be produced, since the studio has closed all its facilities for this type of animation. They will, however, continue making computer-animated features.
Other studios also produced huge numbers of animated features, a list can be found here.
The name "animated cartoon" is often not used when referring to full-length animated productions, since the term more or less implies a "short".
Notable artists and producers
Television
The term "illustrated radio" became a popular moniker for the ubiquitous Saturday morning cartoon (animated TV programs for children aired during daytime hours). The animation in such shows is often very simple, due to economic constraints. However, some studios endeavour to produce high-quality programming in spite of limited budgets and tight schedules.
Hanna-Barbera's 1960s show, The Flintstones was one of the first truly successful primetime series and has been on the air ever since. Today, The Simpsons tops the popularity lists.
Commercial animation
Image:Raidcartoon.jpg Animation has been very popular in television commercials, both due to its graphic appeal, and the humor it can provide. Some animated characters in commercials have survived for decades, such as Snap, Crackle and Pop in advertisements for Kellogg's cereals.
The legendary animation director Tex Avery was the producer of the first Raid "Kills Bugs Dead" commercials in 1966, which were very successful for the company. The concept has been used in many countries since.
Genres of animated cartoons
Funny animals
The first animated cartoons often depicted funny animals in various adventures. This was the mainstream genre from the early 1900s until the 1940s, and the backbone of Disney's series of cartoons.
Zany humor
Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck of Warner Brothers, and the various films of Tex Avery at MGM introduced this popular form of animated cartoons. It usually involved acts such as characters being crushed by massive boulders or going over the edge of a cliff but floating in mid air for a few seconds. The Road Runner cartoons are great examples of these actions. Disney never really mastered this genre. The article Cartoon physics describes typical antics of zany cartoon characters.
Sophistication
As the medium matured, more sophistication was introduced, albeit keeping the humorous touch. Classical music was often spoofed, a notable example is "What's Opera, Doc" by Chuck Jones.
Limited animation
In the 1950s, UPA and other studios refined the art aspects of animation, by using extremely limited animation as a means of expression.
Modernism
Graphic styles continued to change in the late 1950s and 1960s. At this point, the design of the characters became more angular, while the quality of the character animation declined.
Japanese art styles
Anime became very popular among young adults in the late 20th century.
Animated Music videos
Popular with the advent of MTV and similar music channels, they often contain animation, sometimes rotoscoped (see: Take on Me), i.e. based on live action performers.
See also
External links
Categories: Cartooning | Art genres | Film | Animation