adminIt signaled the birth of a structured training programme that would reach the desired standards he required, and subsequently enable Walt’s studio to produce hit-after-hit during the Golden Age of Animation.
The memo is absolutely essential reading, for any aspiring animator, and for anyone else with the slightest interest in the development of one of the world’s most influential entertainment companies, the letter is engrossing, and inspiring to read.
As a fan of well-done animation, I’m always impressed by the work and skill that goes into the process. Nonetheless, there is something oddly comforting about Disney’s down-to-earth attitude towards making sure all of his cartoonists knew how to do it well.
Quote: “I am convinced that there is a scientific approach to this business, and I think we shouldn’t give up until we have found out all we can about how to teach these young fellows the business . . .
The point must be made clear to the men that our study of the actual is not so that we may be able to accomplish the actual, but so that we may have a basis upon which to go into the fantastic, the unreal, the imaginative — and yet to let it have a foundation of fact, in order that it may more richly possess sincerity and contact with the public”.
As a school boy, Walt Disney “doodled” pictures of nature and animals instead of doing his school work. He transformed the entertainment industry into what we know today and pioneered the fields of animation and found new ways to teach, and educate.
Animation is one of the most unique forms of filmmaking, and while it has been focused on children’s themes for decades, animation is geared towards adults too.
Traditionally, animation was labouriously hand-drawn using a frame-by-frame process. Animators would collaborate to create different elements of a scene and then individually tape each scene as a frame of film.
Typically, animation would be composed of 30 frames for a second of film, so it would take 30 drawings to create one second of action on the screen. A typical 90-minute movie would require 162 000 drawings.
As technology improved, animation became more detailed and easier to make. Today computer-generated movies have helped take some of the drawing process out of animating.
All of the animations are created on computers and rely on sophisticated programs to process everything that is included in an animated scene.
Today in Africa and Zimbabwe in particular, a group of young animation artists known as the Joint African Animation Group JAAG have pioneered the development and education of young Visual Artists, Graphic Designers and Animation students.
These artists headed by Solomon Simbirirai Maramba a world-renowned animator graphic designer and lecturer have also made history by initiating a certified course in animation with a strong African cultural content.
- Dr Tony Monda holds a PhD in Art Theory and Philosophy and a Doctorate of Business Administration (DBA) in Post-Colonial Heritage Studies. He is a writer, art critic, practising artist and Corporate Image Consultant.
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