Contributors
Dave Harte
Yuri Norstein
Surreal deams
CG at new hights: Wrath of the Lich King - Cinematic Intro by Blizzard
Hedgehog in the Fog
“The Hedgehog in the Fog” (Yozhik v tumane) is a Soviet Russian, animated film directed by Yuriy Norshteyn and made in 1975. It is a short animation where a small hedgehog goes through a forest carrying some raspberry jam and sees a white horse in very dense fog, the hedgehog thinks to himself various things about what would happen to the horse if immersed completely in the fog and then he himself, goes in to explore it. The hedgehog is followed by an owl and frightened by bats but also helped by a snail, a dog and a mysterious creature that saves him from drowning in a river. He eventually gets to his friend a Bear Cub, where they intend to count the stars and generally converse.
The short animation was made using traditional methods of stop motion using different layers to give the idea of perspective. The fog was done using a thin piece of paper above the selected scene, and frame-by-frame lifted towards the camera to help blur out the animation and help give the illusion of fog. Though the animation was made during the Soviet Union, the film has a very warm feel to it, showing that even though there are some frightening sides (such as the owl and bat) there is good in the world (the energetic dog, the creature in the river) and that friendship is priority over all (between the bear and the hedgehog). Hayao Miyazaki, one of the founders of Studio Ghibli, considers this small animation to be on one of his favourites.
-Beatrice Nassi
Tron
Tron (1982), a Disney Film directed and written by Steven Lisberger focuses on a Software Engineer who gets abducted from the real world and recreated in the company’s he is working for computer. There he has to fight in gladiatorial games to try and escape back to the real world from where he came; he gets help from other programs on the system that valiantly fight against the Master Control Program, who in turn, wants to take over all systems round the world. Towards the end, it is thanks to a security program that stops the MCP and helps Kevin Flynn (the software engineer) to get back to the real world.
Steven Lisberger got inspiration for the film back in 1976 through some the very first computer games to which he then incorporated as the main theme for the film. The film is predominantly an animated film with live-action sequences, it then used computer generated visuals and back-lit animation. The 3D computer generated visuals from Tron inspired Pixar’s John Lasseter for future computer graphics in animated films, though Tron only had a short amount of 3D animation in it, it was still a major milestone for 3D animation and filming. Though, it should be mentioned that, at the time the film was made there was no technology to combine both 3D computer graphics and live-action so instead certain scenes were intercut with the characters in the film (examples: the lightcycles, tanks and other vehicles).
Top Cat by Hanna-Barbera
The Glass Harmonica, 1968
The Glass Harmonica, 1968, Andrei Khrjanovsky
I found this animation interesting because it was created during the years from 1960 to 1980s when the soviet unions animation studio had hit its richest period ever. During Stalin’s reign, animators could not express themselves individually through their creativity due to his demands of wanting imitations of Disney film. It was a decade after Stalin’s death when artists were able to create more adventurous animations such as The Glass Harmonica.
The Glass Harmonica presents a town whose citizens have become corrupted by and obsessed with the lure of money (symbolised by a single gold coin held in the hand of a shifty-looking bureaucrat). The love of wealth has transformed these people into grotesque and disgusting beasts, who roam throughout the streets thinking only of money.
The colouring in the animation helps to achieve the dull, grim atmosphere surrounding the town. The animation style is taken from classic style drawings which in my opinion is pretty boring. So choosing this style for the animation was a pretty good move as it portrayed their mindless, gloomy and repetitive lifestyle.
The music played by the Harmonica awakens people’s creative urges but are repressed by the state authority. I find this very personal because music tends to encourage me to be creative.
Judging by the time it was creating, the animation is likely to be creating a message about anti-capitalism.
The animation finishes off with everyone in the town changing from their grotesque looks as the Glass Harmonica plays into selfless pleasant looking people. The lighting and colouring of the animation changes into a warmer colour allowing to portray the positive change in the people’s hearts.
Andrei seems to have used this animation to tell his own personal experience of not being able to express himself as an individual.
Crayon Shin Chan
Woody WoodPecker Late 1940's
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Woody Woodpecker Theatrical Cartoon Series
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Walter Lantz Productions
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Distributed by:
Universal Pictures
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Cartoon Characters:
Woody Woodpecker, Termites From Mars, Radio and TV Announcer.
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Directed By
Don Patterson.
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Produced By
Walter Lantz.
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Animated By
Ray Abrams, LaVerne Harding, Paul J. Smith.
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Originally Released on December 08, 1952.
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Originally Released Theatrically.
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Running Time:
6:10 minutes.
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TechniColor
- U.S.A.
The Clangers 1969
I chose the “Clangers” because it was many of the shows that my parent’s generation watched and loved when they were young, but also to the many references that were used on other TV shows, where they would compare it a particular topic. When I first saw a clip of them on TV once, I thought they were very cute and seemed very interesting to watch.
The Clangers was a British stop motion animated children programme, made in 1969-1972. It told short stories about a family of mouse like creatures that live on a distant planet out in space. They would then communicate to one another by a whistle like sound and eat green soup. To understand, what they were talking about to one another, a narrator would translate the Clangers and would narrate the actions of these creatures. This was very popular and got two series going.
It was produced using stop motion techniques. When watching an episode of The Clangers, the sounds they made were from harps, bells, whistles and so, which I wasn’t use to hearing them, because the fact no-one really plays these kind of music/sound anymore. This then complimented to the strange and cute creatures of the Clangers. To add on, each different tone and pitch would be made, so that we can identify which of the Clangers were likely to be talking during a particular scene. For example a higher pitch would be mainly from the younger Clangers, whereas a much deeper and less of a whine pitch would be from an older Clanger.
Andrew Mo
