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October 17th, 2024

Animated Discussions 013: Stephen Worth Interview

Animation Resources hosts a series of podcasts and seminars with its members. Here is a sample…

Jennifer Crittenden, host of the great podcast series Books, Shows, Tunes, & Mad Acts recently interviewed Animation Resources president, Stephen Worth about animation, the history of the organization and the future of animation. It’s a fun podcast and we cover a lot of ground. Make sure to tune in!

Back To School Days At Animation Resources

Fall is time to join Animation Resources as a student member. Annual dues for full time students and educators is discounted. It’s the biggest bargain in animation at only $70 a year. Animation School is great, but it doesn’t give you everything you need to become a professional animator. You need to invest in self-study to be successful in this highly competitive field. That’s exactly what Animation Resources can help you do if you become a member. Each day we’ll be highlighting more reasons why you should join Animation Resources. Bookmark us and check back every day.

There’s no better way to feed your creativity than to be a member of Animation Resources. Every other month, we share a Reference Pack that is chock full of downloadable e-books and still framable videos designed to expand your horizons and blow your mind, as well as educational podcasts and seminars. It’s easy to join. Just click on this link and you can sign up right now online.

JOIN NOW!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

FREE SAMPLES!

Not Convinced Yet? Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month!

FREE SAMPLES!
JOIN NOW! https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

Labeled: interview, member appreciation month, membership, podcast, student |

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Posted by Stephen Worth @ 11:00 am

October 15th, 2024

STUDENTS: Will Finn’s Letter From Ward Kimball

STUDENTS! READ THIS!

Here is perhaps the best tip you’ll get all year… Ward Kimball’s advice for young animators. Thanks to Will Finn for sharing this!

I found the last paragraph to be particularly interesting and relevant. Kimball knows that his point is apt to fly right over an enthusiastic 15 year old’s head, so he tells him to save the letter and read it later in his life. Kimball’s words are directly applicable to the things animation is going through today…

He says, “Of course Hanna Barbera are pretty crude compared to Disney’s. But this is a problem of economics. H&B are filling a need and it is a business just like selling washing machines. We all can’t be part of an organization such as Disney’s with almost untold capital to underwrite full animation. Lots of cartoon co.’s would like to indulge in full animation, but the economic realities of the jungle prevent it. It’s OK to have an idol and a goal but a realistic assessment of what’s going in on the world of animation is very important.”

Kimball knew what he was talking about. He had just witnessed the downsizing of theatrical animation, and saw the competing studio-run operations shut down one by one. The handwriting was on the wall at Disney. He ironically uses the phrase “untold capital”, but he knew that in 1972, Disney was changing too. They wouldn’t be producing as much animation as in the past. On his blog post, Will says that Kimball retired shortly after this letter was written.

But Kimball doesn’t come off as being the least bit angry or disappointed in this letter. He doesn’t bemoan the loss of what once was, he’s exuberant about where a passionate 15 year old could take animation in the future. He told Will to study the fundamentals of art and encouraged him to look beyond what Disney had done and consider the new ideas coming from Bakshi and Crumb. He advised developing a thirst for learning and figuring out how things work. And he summed it all up with the line, “A realistic assessment of what’s going on in the world of animation is very important.”

Beginning with “The Little Mermaid”, big studios dominated. Nickelodeon, Dreamworks, Sony, Cartoon Network, Netflix and Disney created their own cartoon factories and employed thousands of people. Now, one by one, just like in 1972, they are cutting back staff. Yesterday, Netflix announced further cutbacks and said that they would be focusing on content created by third party creators in the future. Many of my Facebook friends were bemoaning the layoffs and predicting doom and gloom. But as Kimball points out, it’s important to figure out “how it works” in the here and now.

The phrase “Third party creators” should be a reason to rejoice for all artists. The whole point of being an artist is to CREATE, not to comfortably do the same thing day after day for the rest of your life. Creation requires risks. Corporate studios are averse to taking risks. Put two and two together and read the press release for what it’s really saying to artists. Layoffs may be hard to manage today, but if you follow Kimball’s advice, they may be the best thing that every happened to you.

A job isn’t like your parents. It isn’t there to take care of you. As Kimball says, it’s “a problem of economics”. If you have “a realistic assessment of what’s going on in the world of animation”, you’ll discern the path to the future. Instead of focusing on pink slips and they way things were in the “golden” past, we should focus on the creative aspects… specifically we should engage in curiosity about all things… THINK! THINK! THINK! and consider different approaches that may not fit the formula of our “idols and goals”.

In short, you need to be an artist, not a cog in a corporate wheel. You might be able to be comfortable in a job for a while, but it isn’t going to last forever. The world changes and evolves and you have to change and evolve with it. Instead of being devoted to a job title, specific technology or studio, be devoted to your art form. Focus on creative curiosity and look for the opportunities that come with change and you will be able to accomplish great things even in the downturns. In fact, the downturns may turn into great opportunities for you as an artist.

Back To School Days At Animation Resources

JOIN NOW!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

FREE SAMPLES!

Not Convinced Yet? Check out this SAMPLE REFERENCE PACK! It will give you a taste of what Animation Resources members get to download every other month!

FREE SAMPLES!
JOIN NOW! https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

Labeled: disney, links, school, student, studies, ward kimball, will finn |

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Posted by admin @ 11:00 am

October 14th, 2024

STUDENT MEMBERSHIP: Free Samples!

Right now, it’s Back To School time at Animation Resources, and for the next two weeks we will be sharing reasons why students and educators should be a member of our important project. There is no better way to feed your creativity than to be a member of Animation Resources. Every other month, we share a Reference Pack that is chock full of downloadable e-books and still framable videos designed to expand your horizons and blow your mind. It’s easy to join. Just click on this link and you can sign up right now online…

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

Animation Resources is a 501(c)(3) non-profit educational organization dedicated to serving the self study needs of animators, cartoonists and illustrators. If you are a creative person with an interest in the field, we hope you will choose to become a member of Animation Resources. Every other month, members are given access to a high resolution e-book and several DVD quality animated films, curated by the Board of Animation Resources.

This sample Reference Pack is designed to give you an idea of what Animation Resources has to offer its members. By the end of the year, our members will have been able to access downloads of SIX E-BOOKS totaling over a thousand pages of incredible high resolution scans, and over FIVE HOURS of rare cartoons. Membership rates are just $85 annually for General Membership, and $70 a year for full time students and educators. It’s the greatest bargain in animation. You’ll be inspired and learn too!

REFPACK 001: Sample RefPack

Below are the links to the sample Reference Pack. To download the files, RIGHT CLICK on the link (Mac users OPTION CLICK) and select SAVE TO DISK. We are delivering high resolution files to you. When you click, it might take several minutes to finish the download, so please be patient. If the link doesn’t work, refresh this page and try again. It’s best to download the files one at a time, rather than all at once. This will avoid timeouts.

PLEASE NOTE: This material may be protected by copyright and is provided to supporters of Animation Resources under Fair Use provisions for critical analysis, educational and reference purposes only. Permission to copy and print is granted for personal use only and these files are not to be distributed or shared with others. All rights reserved. After the period of availability, these files will be deleted from the server and may never be offered again. Downloading of this material constitutes agreement to these terms.

Over the past decade, Animation Resources has shared over 50 Reference Packs with our members. We have assembled two e-books and two video podcasts highlighting a few of the treasures our members have been able to download. During Back To School Days, we will be sharing these e-books and podcasts with the general public. We hope they inspire you to join us and be a part of building the foundation for the future of animation.

PDF E-BOOKS:
Best of 25

Best of The E-Books

A Sampler of the First 10 Years of RefPack E-Books

The creative world of animation has its roots in the art of cartooning, and the history of cartooning extends back centuries. Over the past decade, Animation Resources’ e-books have included thousands of pages of classic cartooning, illustration and art instruction, ranging from 16th century woodblocks to newspaper comics from the 1920s, to powerful political cartoons from around the world, to complete courses teaching the fundamentals of cartooning and caricature… all designed to broaden the horizons of both professional and student artists.

This pair of e-books gather together some of the highlights from the first 50 members only e-books. It is provided to the general public to give prospective members an idea of what they will receive when they join. Members and volunteers are the lifeblood of our organization and we appreciate everything that the hundreds of people who have contrinuted to our efforts have accomplished. These e-books are dedicated to them.

Best of RefPack 26-50 E-Book

Adobe PDF File / 187 Pages / 530 MB Download

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

VIDEO PODCAST:
Best of 25

Best of Videos 1 to 50
Sampler Reels of the First 10 Years of RefPack Animation Videos

Some people are under the mistaken impression that animation is a genre, best suited for children’s cartoons. They think that specific established styles and techniques are the only way cartoons should look. It’s easy even for animators to fall into the trap of making cartoons that look just like all the other cartoons on TV and in theaters. But Animation Resources encourages film makers to think of animation as a medium, capable of breaking new ground by doing innovative and great things. We encourage our members to think outside the box by sharing unique examples of powerful animated film making that exploit the best aspects of the medium.

In the past decade of Reference Packs, Animation Resources members have had an opportunity to see rarely seen films of all types, from century old silent shorts, to stop motion puppet films, animation from China, Poland, Japan and Russia; animated commercials from the early 1950s; classic theatrical cartoons; experimental animation and rare industrial training films… Our intent is not to bring back a “golden age” of animation. We encourage artists to build on the past as a foundation for surpassing it.

This pair of reels gather together some clips of the highlights from the first 50 members only Reference Packs. They are provided to the general public to give prospective members an idea of what they will receive when they join.

Best of 1-25 Video Reel

M4V Video File / SD / 48:06 / 456 MB Download

PLEASE NOTE: These video files are large. Please download them one at a time to avoid timeouts.

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

With every Reference Pack, we’ll be including a bonus video or e-book from one of our past Reference Packs. This time we are sharing a book and two rare wartime training films!

PDF E-BOOK:

Jack Cole’s

Plastic Man

Issues Nos. 1, 2 & 3 (1943)

Jack Cole’s “Plastic Man” debuted in Police Comics in 1941 and was an immediate hit. Cole’s offbeat humor and Plastic Man’s ability to take any shape gave the cartoonist the opportunities to experiment with text and graphics in groundbreaking manner, helping to define the medium’s vocabulary, and making the idiosyncratic character one of the few enduring classics from the Golden Age to modern times. Plastic Man gained his own title in 1943.

This PDF e-book contains the first three issues of Plastic Man comics and includes a biography of Jack Cole. It is optimized for display on the iPad or printing two up with a cover on 8 1/2 by 11 inch paper.

REFPACK001: Plastic Man

Adobe PDF File / 183 Pages / 245.5 MB Download

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

DVD QUALITY VIDEO:

Private Snafu Gas

REFPACK001: Private Snafu in Gas

Army/Navy Screen Magazine (1944)

The Private Snafu training cartoons were produced by Warner Bros for the War Department during WWII. “Gas”, which deals with the importance of having an operating gas mask handy, was directed by Chuck Jones and written by Ted “Dr Seuss” Geisel. The voices were by Mel Blanc and Billy Bletcher.

REFPACK001: Private Snafu in Gas

M4V Video File / 4:43 / 77.5 MB Download

This DVD quality MP4 file is provided courtesy of Thunderbean Animation and is included in HD on Private Snafu Golden Classics.

JOIN TODAY!
https://animationresources.org/membership/levels/

DVD QUALITY VIDEO:

Van Beuren Circus Capers

Aesop’s Fables: Circus Capers

Van Beuren Studios (1930)

Disney admitted that in the 1920s, his goal was to produce cartoons as good as the Aesops Fables series. However after the Fables introduced a boy and girl mouse that bore a strong resemblance to Mickey and Minnie, Disney filed suit and had the cartoons pulled from theaters. This cartoon is one of the most blatant Mickey ripoffs, and one of the funniest.

REFPACK001: Circus Capers

M4V Video File / 9:13 / 230.5 MB Download

This DVD quality MP4 file is provided courtesy of Thunderbean Animation and is included on Uncensored Animation from Van Beuren.