Toons in Training
by Martin "Dr.
Toon" Goodman
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For one hundred years,
animation has been synonymous with "entertainment" or
"art." Most people, when asked, automatically think of
the classic (or modern) Disney films, the trickery of Bugs Bunny,
the melodramatics of Mighty Mouse, or perhaps the wry commentary
of Rocky and Bullwinkle. For those who prefer a broader view, there
is a universe of independent and international animation to enjoy,
and those more artistically inclined will invoke the name of UPA
or the experimental films of Oskar Fischinger or Jordan Belson.
We seem to be conditioned to accept animation as a form of entertainment
or as an alternative arm of the cinematic arts when in fact animation
has had a long and rich history serving another purpose entirely.
This month's column explores animation's historical role in teaching,
training, and education.
A Visual Tool
If one of the most influential pioneers of animation held sway,
the medium would have been used for education above any other purpose.
John Randolph Bray was a great believer in the power of animation
as an instructive tool, and maintained an educational slide film
division called Brayco in addition to his animated cartoon studio.
During 1921 he contemplated a production of H.G. Wells' The Outline
of History. Another Bray project, Chronicles of America,
was researched in 1924, but never came to fruition. Other education
films intended for the public school system were produced at Brayco
under the direction of J.F. Rosenthal, an exceptional technical
draftsman. Dr. Rowland Rogers assisted the division as educational
director. Bray was no novice in the field of training films, either
-- in 1917 Bray produced animated work for the US War College at
West Point and was soon making films detailing the use and maintenance
of artillery pieces, military map reading, and various related subjects.
One of Bray's erstwhile employees was particularly impressed with
the use of animation as an instructional tool. There is considerable
evidence that Max Fleischer might have spent his career making educational
films had his early efforts proven more profitable. Fleischer spent
much of World War I at Fort Sill where under the title of "visual
aid specialist" he turned out training films for the Army (How
to Fire a Machine Gun was one verifiable title). This experience
led Fleischer to attempt an incredible project in 1923; a four-reel
exposition of Einstein's theory of relativity, apparently for use
by schools. 1925 saw a similar effort detailing Darwin's theory
of evolution. These films were very well received, but failed to
generate much income and Fleischer turned his full attention to
more standard animated fare. Interestingly enough, Max ended his
career with the Jam Handy studio of Detroit...making training films
for the Army.
World War I, for better or worse, brought many advances to the science
of warfare. The tank, poison gas, modern artillery, and the airplane
as a weapon of war all made their grim debuts during this conflict.
A more benign discovery was the fact that animated films cut down
on military training time, were better absorbed, and more clearly
recalled than other didactic forms of instruction. Animation was
obviously a superior teaching tool; what was not clearly understood
was why. Well, before we return to our history, let's jump
ahead to the early 1970s and some of the more advanced research
being done on the subject of memory. One psychologist by the name
of Allan Paivio proposed that information is committed to memory
in "verbal" and "imaginal" form. The nature
of the information appears to determine which form will be used;
for example, "Mickey Mouse" would most likely be encoded
in imaginal form, as he is a highly visual concept. "Motion
Capture," being an informational concept, would be encoded
verbally. Some items can be represented both ways, and it was Paivio's
contention that it is easier to recall an item if there is more
than one form of representation. According to his theory, we tend
to label images with words, so memory for pictures tends to be better.
The more novel and unusual the images are, the stronger the connection
with the words. This is why salespeople sometimes use the trick
of picturing clients naked or in outlandish situations in order
to remember their names. When an imaginative medium like animation
visually reinforces verbal information, attention is more actively
engaged and memory is better encoded and retrieved.
The War Effort
What the Armed Forces did realize was that animation
was relatively cheap, easy to produce, and facilitated performance
by troops and other personnel. When the proverbial winds of war
swept over the United States again, the military was quick to remember
the lessons of World War I. 1942 saw the establishment of the 18th
Air Force Base Unit (also known as the First Motion Picture Unit,
or FMPU) in Culver City, home of the old Hal Roach Studio. Under
the command of Major Rudy Ising, the animation unit produced hundreds
of training films on a continuous schedule. This yeoman work was
performed by animators from Warners, Fleischers, Disney, and MGM,
as well as animators unaffiliated with major studios. The FMPU sometimes
used humor to put their lessons across, but for the most part films
were little more than moving illustrations. Often they were narrated
by a charismatic Hollywood star named Ronald Reagan.
