Tuesday, December 14th, 2021
People who aren’t members of Animation Resources don’t understand how comprehensive our Reference Packs are. So for RefPack043, we will be posting what each section looks like, starting today with the Featured section. If you are a member of Animation Resources, click on this post to go to the Members Only page. If you aren’t a member yet, today is the perfect time to join!
by 
Monday, September 27th, 2021
Animation Resources’ next Reference Pack will be posted next weekend, and the current one will be replaced. This is your last chance to join and access RefPack041. Here is just a small sample of what you can download if you JOIN TODAY!
Animation Resources’ next Reference Pack will be posted next weekend, and the current one will be replaced. This is your last chance to join and access RefPack041. JOIN TODAY!
by Thursday, September 23rd, 2021
LAST CALL! REFPACK041 will be replaced next week. If you haven’t downloaded it yet, do it now before it’s gone forever. If you haven’t joined Animation Resources yet, JOIN TODAY and download RefPack041 today and Refpack042 next week. Animation Resources membership is the biggest bargain in animation.
JOIN NOW! https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/
Every other month, Animation Resources shares a new Reference Pack with its members. They consist of an e-book packed with high resolution scans and video downloads set up for still frame study. Make sure you download the Reference Packs before they’re updated. When it’s gone, it’s gone!
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
Animation Resources is growing. Since we are a non-profit organization, all of the money we take in from dues gets spent on our projects. So as we get more members, we share more wonderful material with them. Here’s an overview of what you will find in RefPack041…
One of the unquestioned masterpieces of Russian animation is Ivan Ivanov-Vano’s The Humpbacked Horse. This lavish film was produced in the years immediately following World War II when Russia was isolating itself from Western influences. Ivanov-Vano mined Russian fables and fairy tales as subjects for animated films, and adapted them to suit the ideological demands of the Soviet authorities who oversaw the Soyuzmultfilm studio. The goal was to create animation that competed with Western studios like Disney, while developing a style that was distinctly Russian. Click through to the Members Only page to see the entire film.
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
Van Beuren cartoons are among the most misunderstood animated shorts from the golden age of animation. Armchair animation historians tend to have a certain set of criteria they judge by— either the polish and production values of Disney, or the carefully constructed gags of Tex Avery at Warner Bros and MGM. If you judge like that, Van Beuren cartoons fall far short, but that doesn’t mean that there’s nothing to learn from these films. Click through to the Members Only page to find out more…
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
In our International Animation section, we are continuing three series we began in our last Reference pack… The first is the second chapter of a Russian adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book directed by Roman Davydov. We will be sharing the entire story in five parts with our members over the next several Reference Packs, so don’t let your membership expire.
Also included is the second episode of the most popular cartoon series in Russia titled "Well, Just You Wait…" Rounding out the International section is a fantastic film from Poland, the second episode of "Dog, Cat and…" You won’t want to miss these, so click through the link and download them now.
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
Next up we are introducing a new section in our Reference Packs dedicated to early anime. This time we are featuring episodes from three television series that are rarely seen outside of Japan… Sabu & Ichi’s Detective Stories presents the adventures of Sabu, a young shogun and his partner, the blind master swordsman Ichi. This series is animated in an animatic style with very sparse animation. However extremely complex movement is perfectly conveyed with only a few drawings by means of careful spacing and timing.
Next in line is Fight da!! Pyuta, which takes a Western approach, employing pop art and imagery from American comic books as well as an underscore that features surf guitar and jazzy latin bongos. The debt to Bakshi’s Mighty Heroes is clear here. The last Japanese show we are featuring is called Space Ace. It’s a great example of a bunch of totally different ideas being mixed together for maximum fun. The show starts out with skiing, then suddenly takes a turn towards science fiction when a space ship lands. The interior of the space ship turns out to be like a haunted mansion. The action becomes more and more surreal until an alien brain in a glass helmet is revealed. It gets even weirder! You’ll have to download the show to find out. It’s sure to inspire you.
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
In the Slapstick section, we feature the last episode of a landmark three part documentary on one of the greatest slapstick performer/directors who ever lived… Buster Keaton. If you have never seen a Buster Keaton film before, this documentary will give you a taste of what you’ve been missing. If like me, you have studied all of his films over and over many times, you will learn new things about Keaton and his creative process that you didn’t know before. It’s a rare opportunity to sit at the feet of a master, and even though these films were made a century ago, Buster Keaton: A Hard Act To Follow allows you to do just that.
Animation Resources Board Member, David Eisman has curated a collection of breakdown clips featuring "Kanada Style Effects". Yoshinori Kanada was one of the most influential Japanese animators of the late 20th-century. Throughout his career, Kanada developed a school of thought pertaining to effects animation that was completely unique and would inspire and mold an entire generation of Japanese animators, from Hiroyuki Imaishi of Studio Trigger to Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. Kanada was able to distinguish himself from the factory-like system of late 20th-century Japanese animation by experimenting with abstract shapes and linework to create energetic and often chaotic movements. You’ll definitely want to add these clips to your reference library. Click the link to see…
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
Last but not least is our Bonus Download. We’re rerunning three wonderful short films by the British team, John Halas and Joy Batchelor. The first film, “Top Dog” employs paper cut out characters in a very appealing way. “Foo Foo The Stowaway” uses simple means to put across its story without compromising movement, design or color. The third film, “The Cultured Ape” is modeled after the UPA style, and succeeds to make its point in a more entertaining way than many of the UPA films it is based upon.
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
At Animation Resources, our Advisory Board includes great artists and animators like Ralph Bakshi, Will Finn, J.J. Sedelmaier and Sherm Cohen. They’ve let us know the things that they use in their own self study so we can share them with you. That’s experience you just can’t find anywhere else. The most important information isn’t what you already know… It’s the information you should know about, but don’t know yet. We bring that to you every other month.
JOIN TODAY To Access Members Only Content
Haven’t Joined Yet?
Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month!
CLICK TO DOWNLOAD A Sample RefPack!
Animation Resources is a 501(c)(3) non-profit arts organization dedicated to providing self study material to the worldwide animation community. If you are a creative person working in animation, cartooning or illustration, you owe it to yourself to be a member of Animation Resources.
by 
