YOU MISSED IT! The new Reference Pack has been posted and this one has gone POOF!
Every other month, Animation Resources shares a new Reference Pack with its members. They consist of e-books packed with high resolution scans video downloads of rare animated films set up for still frame study, as well as podcasts and documentaries— all designed to help you become a better artist. Make sure you download this Reference Pack before it’s updated. When it’s gone, it’s gone!
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The latest Animation Resources Reference Pack has been uploaded to the server. Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll find when you log in to the members only page…
From the 17th to the 19th century, an art form flourished in Japan in isolation from the rest of the world. It was a specialized form of woodblock printing called Ukiyo-e. As an introduction to this amazing art form that has many links to cartooning, we present a high resolution e-book of a 1918 Japanese book titled “Well Known Pictures Of The Daimyo Procession”.
Next up is a pair of short films by the Famous Studios courtesy of our Advisory Board Member, Steve Stanchfield. Famous cartoons aren’t entertaining by any stretch of the imagination, but the studio employed some excellent animators whose work is worthy of studying for its timing and technique.
A few months back, we shared an episode of the rare 1960s TV series, Linus The Lionhearted. Steve Stanchfield has shared another great episode with us, complete with the original commercials. Linus the Lionhearted bears the dubious distinction of being the only Saturday Morning cartoon series to be cancelled because a law was passed against it! Click through to the Members Only Page to find out about that.
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In our International section, we are beginning a series of three posts featuring Fyodor Khitruk’s adaptation of Winnie The Pooh. This series was produced at roughly the same time as the Disney films, but they couldn’t be more different. Khitruk masterfully strips the story back to its core and focuses on the personality of the characters. On a visit to California, Khitruk paid a visit to the Disney Studios where he met Woolie Reitherman, the director who had won an Oscar for Disney’s version of “Winnie The Pooh”. Reitherman admitted to Khitruk that he liked Khitruk’s films better than his own.
In our last RefPack, we shared a film titled "Goal! Goal!" from 1964. This cartoon was so successful, it spawned a sequel from 1968, called "A Match Revenge". Like the earlier film, "A Match Revenge" is chock full of amazing action scenes, reminiscent of John Sibley’s work on the Disney Goofy Sports series. The split second timing, extreme poses, and clear staging are a model for study.
Continuing with the sports theme, we share the fourth episode of Well, Just You Wait titled "Sports Stadium". This series is the most popular cartoon series in Russia by a wide margin. They resemble Chuck Jones’ Roadrunner cartoons, but the animators had never seen any of those films when these cartoons were being made. The staging of the gags and building from one gag to another are worth your time to analyze.
Continuing in the International section, we feature the fourth episode of Dog, Cat, And… produced by Studio Miniatur Filmowych in Poland. If you love Tex Avery and Jim Tyer, you will love these cartoons too. They utilize funny drawings and timing to create laugh out loud cartoons, while still remaining economical. If there were web cartoons like this, people would flock to them. Check it out.
Animation Resources’ Board Member, JoJo Baptista shares two more seminal Japanese TV series from the 1960s. Shonen Ninja Kaze features brilliant design by Yasuji Mori, who was responsible for the design of The Little Prince and the Eight-Headed Dragon, which we featured in one of our earlier RefPacks. The series also features some of the earliest animation work of Hayao Miyazaki. Also featured is Space Patrol Hopper which combines stylized design with gorgeous compositions and funny animation to create a series that looks like nothing you have ever seen before.
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In our Slapstick section, we have shared a great deal of information on both Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. This time, we turn the spotlight on the third genius of slapstick, Harold Lloyd. Lloyd broke from the tradition of Music Hall and Vaudeville comedians who populated early comedy shorts, creating an "everyman" character that audiences identified with. By shifting the focus of the comedy from the comedian to the situation the character finds himself in, Lloyd set the standard for a great deal of modern cinematic comedy that followed him.
Animation Resources Board Member, David Eisman analyzes another batch of breakdown clips, this time focusing on the subject of depicting slow-motion in animation. Slow-motion is a simple mechanical technique in live-action film making, but it can be incredibly laborious in animation. Due to the high drawing count and delicate spacing needed to create fluid slow-motion, it’s best used sparingly to create specific effects. David points out the best ways to use it effectively and efficiently.
The Annual Member Bonus Archive continues to feature RefPack017 with an e-book on the Viennese caricature journal, Die Muskete; a fantastic documentary on classic slapstick comedy; and a pair of silent Felix The Cat shorts. Only General and Student members have access to this. If you are a quarterly member, you will want to consider upgrading to an annual membership to get access.
Our Podcasts section contains the five most recent entries in our Animated Discussions series hosted by Davey Jarrell, with the balance of the episodes archived on the Annual Member Bonus Archive page.
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Whew! That is an amazing collection of treasures! 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.
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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.
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