Even though animation is a beloved genre to many movie and art lovers around the world, animation is also underappreciated.
It’s easy to see why many people love animation. These films are popular world-wide with amazing companies like Disney, Warner Brothers, and DreamWorks who brought us iconic characters like Mickey Mouse, the Disney Princesses (a personal favorite), Shrek, the Looney Tunes, and so much more. Often, animated movies are the first movies we fell in love with as children.
Despite the general public’s love for animated films, the artistry, individuality, and technical skill that goes into creating animation is often overlooked. Animated classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Fantasia, Anastasia, and The Nightmare Before Christmas aren’t just masterpiece’s when it’s viewed as a whole. Animated films are made up of thousands of individual frames of art, flicking by at more than a dozen frames per second.
Animation is a great example of an American art form that was largely created in those early studios in Hollywood back in the 30s when artists were figuring out how to create this new and beautiful form of storytelling but has now grown into a critical component of our culture, art, entertainment, and business.
Animation is truly and artist-driven medium where some of the greatest artists of all time have created dynamic and entertaining ways to use their art to create a bigger picture, a movie, or cartoon!
One talented animator that comes to mind is background painter and animation legend Chick Jones who is responsible for some of the most famous Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck cartoons. He also created icon characters like Road Runner, Wile E. Coyote, Elmer Fudd, Pepé Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Michigan J. Frog, and so much more. Throughout his career, he received eight Oscar nominations, won three Oscars, and was presented an honorary Academy Award in 1996.
This is just one of many talented individuals who have worked on iconic, pop culture pieces that have shaped and inspired artists around the world.
Animation is entertaining, fun, and inspiring, but it also takes a lot of hard work from a group of artists working on the background art, design artwork, hand-painted production cells, final animation and more—every aspect of animated film is a work of art.
The next time your viewing an animated movie, don’t just think about the overall story or the vivid colors and unique animation style. Remember the work and artistic ability that went into creating that film. Animators deserve the recognition for all their work in making the iconic animated characters we appreciate and adore today.
