LAST CALL! A new RefPack will be posted this weekend and RefPack046 will be removed from the server. If you want to save any of this to refer to, NOW IS THE TIME!
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…
Puck was a seminal magazine in the field of American satire. Designed along the lines of European caricature journals, it was one of the first publications to take advantage of the development of four-color stone lithography and zinc plate printing. In RefPack046, we share a run of issues leading up to "The Tattooed Man", a political cartoon that changed the direction of a presidential election!
Next up is a pair of short films by the pioneering puppet animator, Ladislas Starevich. Starevich created the first puppet animation film in 1912 and continued to work in the medium for half a century. You’ll be amazed at the way he achieved fluid motion and imbued his characters with personality and emotion.
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In our International section, we share the second in 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. On a trip 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 the years immediately following the end of WWII, Russian animation progressed rapidly. By the mid 1950s, the quality level had caught up with the peak standards in the West. One of the most popular films produced by Soyuzmultfilm during this period was "An Unusual Match". In the past two Reference Packs we shared "Goal! Goal" and "A Match Revenge" which dealt with ice hockey. This film involves toys coming to life and competing in a soccer match.
During the 1950s, Soyuzmultfilm produced dozens of films based on Russian fables and folk tales featuring forest animals. Designed to teach morals to children, they began to define a sense of cultural uniqueness for Russian animation. Even though the style of the films resembled American cartoons, the content was distinctly Russian. This film, "A Brave Hare" is one of the best.
A couple of years ago, we shared a film called "A Little Western" by Witold Giersz. It’s time to share another film by this one-of-a-kind Polish animator. Giersz admired impressionist painters, and Vincent Van Gogh in particular. He animated by applying oil paint on glass with a palette knife. This allowed him to build up impasto and scrape off paint to make an image move. You won’t believe your eyes when you watch this film!
Studio Miniatur Filmowych in Krakow, Poland was established in 1958, and since then it has produced nearly 1,500 animated films. This series, titled The Strange Adventures of Koziolek Matolek was produced between 1969 and 1971 and 26 episodes were made. The current episode is titled "Rally". We will be sharing more of these in upcoming Reference Packs.
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Animation Resources’ Board Member, JoJo Baptista shares two episodes from a seminal Japanese TV series from the 1960s. Wonder 3 was unique among early Anime TV programs. Although it did appear serially as Manga, it was conceived and designed from the first as a television show. Created by Osamu Tezuka, it was the first show produced by his studio, Mushi Productions. Tezuka’s designs are brimming with appeal. The Wonder 3 in particular are a trio of wonderful contrasting shapes. Lots of entertainment value with so few drawings!
We often think of slapstick and pantomime comedy to be something from the era of silent films. But there are modern examples as well. Today we are sharing one of the most beautiful and unique films of the 1960s, Pierre Etaix’s Yo-Yo. Etaix was multi-talented. He was a cartoonist, a film director, an actor and a renowned circus clown. All of these interests came together in Yo-Yo. It’s a loving tribute to Etaix’s cinematic hero, Buster Keaton. No words are spoken in the first half hour of the film, and sprinkled throughout are visual gags that wouldn’t be out of place in an animated cartoon. There are more brilliant ideas in a single minute of this film than in a dozen ordinary ones.
Animation Resources Board Member, David Eisman analyzes another batch of breakdown clips, this time focusing on The Wave Principle. It’s a system of curves that describes the path of motion for a wave. Specifically, the wave principle demonstrates how an initial S-curve or C-curve is transformed into a curve of the opposite direction. A thorough understanding of the wave principle is imperative for the animator’s toolbox as it is required for multitudes of different actions that require fluidity and momentum.
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. The page will be updated next month with a new RefPack, so make sure to download this one while you still can.
The Podcasts section has a new entry, an interview with animator Craig Bartlett. Craig is the creator and producer of the TV shows Hey Arnold!, Dinosaur Train, and Ready Jet Go! Throughout his 40 year tenure in the animation industry, Craig has worked in nearly every style from stop-motion to hand-drawn to CG. He’s successfully adapted to many technological changes in the industry and his career shows no signs of stopping. Find out what inspires Craig and his secrets to career longevity in this episode of Animated Discussions.
Our Podcasts section always 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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Animation Resources is asking our membership to consider donating to help us establish a video podcasting studio to be able to present seminars, interviews and informal updates live streamed on YouTube and Facebook. Our goal is for 25 of our members and supporters to donate $100. If you donate $100, we will provide you with a coupon code for a free membership to give as a gift to a friend or peer, or we can credit your donation to sponsor two students for a one year student membership.
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