Walt Disney was an American cartoonist, filmmaker, and cultural icon who influenced 20th century entertainment. He began his career as a cartoonist for his high school newspaper and studied art in Chicago before starting his own animation company. Disney created many beloved animated films featuring characters with detailed facial expressions and realistic body structures. He pioneered animation techniques like the 12 Principles of Animation and helped establish animation as a mainstream art form and commercial industry.
2. Who is Walt Disney?
Walter Elias “Walt” Disney (December 5, 1901 – December
15, 1966) was an American cartoonist, filmmaker, voice
actor and many more. He is a ‘cultural icon’. He
influenced many and contributed to entertainment during
the 20th century.
He began at McKinley High School and took night courses
at the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. He became a
cartoonist for the school newspaper, drawing patriotic
topics on World War 1. He dropped out of school when he
was 16 to accomplish his plans of joining the army. Yet
that was not the case, he was rejected as he was underage.
He spent a year in France, he drove ambulances.
In 1919 he moved back to Kansas City to begin his artist
career.
Walt Disney was influenced by artist and educator, Louis
Grell, as he was taught by him at The Chicago Academy
of Fine Art. He also met a cartoonist named Ubbe lwerks,
who also inspired him.
3. Walt Disney’s Catalogue of
Work
All of Walt Disney’s animations have similar styles. The
drawings and sketches are similar to each other. For
example, the facial expressions have a lot of detail and the
body structure of all the characters is realistic. The
characters were different from other animators which
appealed to audiences.
4. Techniques
There were lots of process’ that Disney had to go through to create animations. Disney
had very creative thinking techniques.
He was a dropout and faced many business disasters and bankruptcy. He overcame his
personal financial challenges by using his imagination to create an entertainment
empire that has touched and influenced so many people.
He used the word “Imagineering”. This term was a combination between imagination
and engineering. Disney's thinking technique synthesized three strategies:
The dreamer: Spins fantasies, wishes, outrageous hunches, bold and absurd ideas
without limits or judgment.
Realist: Imagineers the dreamer’s ideas into something realistic and feasible.
Working out ideas into meaningful orders.
The critic: reviews all the ideas and punch holes in them by playing the devil’s
advocate. If things make sense and how it looks to a customer.
5. The Purpose
The purpose of Walt Disney’s animation was too entertain
audiences. The main audience was young people.
Most animations are used for positive purposes. All of Walt
Disney’s stories had morals and that is why these
animations would be aimed at younger audiences.
Reasons why these animation ideas were made was to
appeal to audiences and play with peoples emotions. Make
them happy or make them sad and most of all, entertain
them.
It would teach people morals of stories and teach children
what is stereotypically right and wrong.
6. Reviews
The top ranked Disney Movies ever:
1. The Lion King- Rotten Tomatoes – “Emotionally stirring, richly drawn, and beautifully
animated, The Lion King stands tall within Disney's pantheon of classic family films.”
2. Beauty and the Beast – Roger Ebert - “Beauty and the Beast reaches back to an older
and healthier Hollywood tradition in which the best writers, musicians and
filmmakers are gathered for a project on the assumption that a family audience
deserves great entertainment.”
3. Aladdin – Rotten Tomatoes – “A highly entertaining entry in Disney's renaissance era,
Aladdin is beautifully drawn, with near-classic songs and a cast of scene-stealing
characters.”
4. Finding Nemo – Metacritic.com – “Dazzles us with computer-generated animation that
has never looked quite so boldly exotic or shimmeringly beautiful.”
5. Little Mermaid – Rotten Tomatoes – “The Little Mermaid ushered in a new golden era
for Disney animation with warm and charming hand-drawn characters and catchy
musical sequences.”
7. How Disney’s Work Influenced
Other Animation
Walt Disney’s many animations that influenced other animators.
Matt Groening, maker of The Simpsons, became interested in
cartoons after watching the Disney animated film “One Hundred and
One Dalmatians.”
In the public eye, Disney was simple and happy and he had a
signature style. This made other animators want to have a signature
style just like Disney.
Many cartoons look similar to Walt Disney’s work in this period of
animation, it is very clear that he is a massive influence on todays
animators.
8. The 12 Principles of
Animation and Affordances
The 12 Principles of Animation were introduced by Disney
animators, Ollie Johnston and Frank Thomas in 1981. They
used the basic laws of physics and created them.
Principles like Squash and Stretch, Anticipation, Staging Solid
Drawing, and exaggeration played a massive part to the
animation world. It gave the animations depth and originality.
Affordances of technology can be defined as “the ways in
which technology offers or supports certain things”
The characters which sing and dance and are not real have
become real because of animation.