Tilt-shift photography is a rather curious and niche photo technique, but one perfectly suited - in my opinion - to capture the magic and whimsy of Disney:
Now if only they'd do a similar video for Disneyland.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Happy Birthday Disneyland!
You're 54 today (or yesterday, if you listen to the conspiracy theorists...)!
Friday, April 24, 2009
Since this is making the rounds...
I figured it was worth commenting on:
Now the fact that animators take shortcuts should not be news to anyone who knows anything about the history of animation. Betty Boop shorts are nothing but cycles of animation repeated over and over. They, like Japanese animation, were often shot at under the recommended 24 fps rate (i.e., two or three shots of each frame, rather than one). Warner Bros. shorts, "The Simpsons"... the list of traditional animation sources that use techniques like this goes on and on.
In my book, re-using poses and angles is far less of a "cheat" (if that's what we consider this) than re-using whole animation clips, cutting the frame rate, or excessive use of cycles. I think that part of this may stem from the complexity of the movements that are in the animation shown in this clip, for one thing. Notice how much of the clip is made up of dancing. Dancing is a complicated thing to animate, and likely something that was rotoscoped (also an animation "cheat"). As the characters themselves, such as Snow White and Maid Marian, are too dissimilar to have been "traced" from one another, a likely explanation is that film footage was shot of live actors in the "Snow White" dance sequence, and then re-used as a reference point in "Robin Hood." It's also worth noting that most, if not all of the films shown were from the late 60s to early 70s period, already recognized as a period of artistic decline at Disney (and a period of cost-cutting techniques, such as Xeroxing cells).
Oh, and as for the similarity between Baloo of "Jungle Book" and Little John of "Robin Hood," it does bear mentioning that the two characters were voiced by the same actor, Phil Harris, which goes a long way towards explaining why the characters also look so similar.
Traditional animation is a horribly expensive art form when compared to live action or digital animation. Possibly the only thing more tedious and expensive would be claymation/stop motion animation (which also likely re-uses shots, movements etc. - Puppetoons, anyone?). If relying on prior films for reference is what is necessary to prompt studios to even consider even producing traditional animated films, then a little borrowing here and there is totally within the realm of respectability.
Now the fact that animators take shortcuts should not be news to anyone who knows anything about the history of animation. Betty Boop shorts are nothing but cycles of animation repeated over and over. They, like Japanese animation, were often shot at under the recommended 24 fps rate (i.e., two or three shots of each frame, rather than one). Warner Bros. shorts, "The Simpsons"... the list of traditional animation sources that use techniques like this goes on and on.
In my book, re-using poses and angles is far less of a "cheat" (if that's what we consider this) than re-using whole animation clips, cutting the frame rate, or excessive use of cycles. I think that part of this may stem from the complexity of the movements that are in the animation shown in this clip, for one thing. Notice how much of the clip is made up of dancing. Dancing is a complicated thing to animate, and likely something that was rotoscoped (also an animation "cheat"). As the characters themselves, such as Snow White and Maid Marian, are too dissimilar to have been "traced" from one another, a likely explanation is that film footage was shot of live actors in the "Snow White" dance sequence, and then re-used as a reference point in "Robin Hood." It's also worth noting that most, if not all of the films shown were from the late 60s to early 70s period, already recognized as a period of artistic decline at Disney (and a period of cost-cutting techniques, such as Xeroxing cells).
Oh, and as for the similarity between Baloo of "Jungle Book" and Little John of "Robin Hood," it does bear mentioning that the two characters were voiced by the same actor, Phil Harris, which goes a long way towards explaining why the characters also look so similar.
Traditional animation is a horribly expensive art form when compared to live action or digital animation. Possibly the only thing more tedious and expensive would be claymation/stop motion animation (which also likely re-uses shots, movements etc. - Puppetoons, anyone?). If relying on prior films for reference is what is necessary to prompt studios to even consider even producing traditional animated films, then a little borrowing here and there is totally within the realm of respectability.
Friday, April 10, 2009
Does Agent Booth Want to be a Skipper?
He sure has his tiger and giraffe facts down:
But has he heard of "the back side of water"?
ETA: Since Hulu has apparently already taken the clip down, let me summarize - Booth tells Bones that tigers can weigh up to five hundred pounds and leap up to twenty feet ("isn't that amazing?"). No word yet on what he knows about the weight classification or leaping abilities of other jungle creatures.
But has he heard of "the back side of water"?
ETA: Since Hulu has apparently already taken the clip down, let me summarize - Booth tells Bones that tigers can weigh up to five hundred pounds and leap up to twenty feet ("isn't that amazing?"). No word yet on what he knows about the weight classification or leaping abilities of other jungle creatures.
I'm sure this is against regulations...
But the "Parade of Dreams" Cast sells it so well, I certainly hope no one from corporate big brother makes them take it down:
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
A Belated Realization
Well, your faithful skipper was palling around on the Window to the Magic Forums(1) when she caught a reference to the previous incarnation of the onboard Space Mountain music. Y'know, the Dick Dale track that ran from 1999 to 2005, when it was replaced by the score by Michael Giacchino. Well, this particular poster referred to the Space Mountain track as "The Aquarium," as in possibly the most famous portion of Camille Saint-Saens' "Carnival of the Animals."
And since I have a copy of the Space Mountain music on my computer, I just had to listen . . . and the poster was right! I had never noticed it before, but the track for the roller-coaster is a souped-up, surf-guitar version of that piece of classical music. I'd just never noticed because of the immense difference in speed and tone. But listen for yourself:
Space Mountain's version:
And the original theme:
Bizarre, eh?
(1) What? You don't think we have technology in the Jungle? That's what we keep the Robinson Family around for - water-wheel powered computers, while a dangerous arrangement, are perfectly adapted for jungle living. Now that hippo-on-treadmill-powered blender . . . well, we just won't talk about that.
And since I have a copy of the Space Mountain music on my computer, I just had to listen . . . and the poster was right! I had never noticed it before, but the track for the roller-coaster is a souped-up, surf-guitar version of that piece of classical music. I'd just never noticed because of the immense difference in speed and tone. But listen for yourself:
Space Mountain's version:
And the original theme:
Bizarre, eh?
(1) What? You don't think we have technology in the Jungle? That's what we keep the Robinson Family around for - water-wheel powered computers, while a dangerous arrangement, are perfectly adapted for jungle living. Now that hippo-on-treadmill-powered blender . . . well, we just won't talk about that.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Hello, WALL*E!
So while watching the previews for "WALL*E," I noticed that a rather familiar song played a rather key role in the movie. Y'know, this one:
I didn't know the name of the song at the time, but I sure did remember it. It's "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from "Hello, Dolly." Where, you might ask, had I heard that song before? Why, on Main Street, U.S.A., of course, where an instrumental version is used in the music loop:
At first I wondered if the use of this song was the result of aural osmosis on the part of John Lassiter, who worked in the park as a younger man (and as a skipper too, the lucky fellow!). But, as Andrew Stanton explains in an interview:
I liked my Disneyland theory better, though.
I didn't know the name of the song at the time, but I sure did remember it. It's "Put On Your Sunday Clothes" from "Hello, Dolly." Where, you might ask, had I heard that song before? Why, on Main Street, U.S.A., of course, where an instrumental version is used in the music loop:
At first I wondered if the use of this song was the result of aural osmosis on the part of John Lassiter, who worked in the park as a younger man (and as a skipper too, the lucky fellow!). But, as Andrew Stanton explains in an interview:
I had done some musical theater in high school, so I auditioned songs from plays I was familiar with, one of them being Hello, Dolly! The instant I heard the opening of ''Put On Your Sunday Clothes,'' with the opening phrase ''Out there...'' I was hooked. I knew it was the weirdest idea I'd ever had, so I kept it to myself for a while until I felt I could better justify its use. Then I realized the song is about these two naïve guys, who've never left their small town, and just want to venture to the big city for one night and kiss a girl. That's my main character!
I liked my Disneyland theory better, though.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
