What is Animation?

My definition is very broad. Animation to me is almost synonymous with illusion, but it concentrates on chronology. Just the fact that we interface with computers, and it all deals with miles of code, which is all basic cause-and-effect that we see in sequence as we make it produce outcomes...it seems like a cohesive unit even though it's chopped into bits. That appearance to me is animation. That the soundtrack plays and images flicker, and we think not of the devices but of individuals speaking - animation. Hell, even being punched and the bruise to follow. Animation.

However, I am very good at understanding meaning and keeping in context. I think it's interesting how much of a concept it is that for most is easier to provide examples for than actually define. I am very strict though....when people say Family Guy is a great animated show, as far as I'm concerned it's decent, it's passable, versus other things I've seen in terms of fine art quality, but because it has popular writing that gets bunched into the formula. I evaluate the movement, the acting, and just that. The drawings.

an·i·ma·tion

1.The act, process, or result of imparting life, interest, spirit, motion, or activity.
2.The quality or condition of being alive, active, spirited, or vigorous.
3.The art or process of preparing animated cartoons.
4.An animated cartoon.

Those are Dictionary definitions of course. I love the first one though as it applies to the craft. Imparting LIFE, SPIRIT, Interest! Those nail it on the head. I see a lot of stuff that people call animation, but really it's just moving pictures. Most people confuse MOTION GRAPHICS with animation. Making things blink or flash or move doesn't necessarily constitute animation.

I think animation requires a craftsman (animator) to endow his project with a sense of life. In school we were indoctrinated that Animation IS the 'Illusion of Life", taken from Frank and Ollie themselves. You can take an inanimtate object (a luxo lamp, a bag of flour...) and infuse it with a soul. You can make it think, reason, feel, respond, proact and yes, achieve. Anyone who looks at animation and forgets he's seeing 24 drawings per second of film and believes that what they are seeing is a living thing that's acting and solving problems. It's a real being that can be empathized with. At Disney we spend many months developing a character. His back story, his attitude, his motivation his look, his emotional status, the animators literally infuse the character with Life. During a production of animation the Animators begin to talk about their characters as if they are real, people. People they know really well, and have friendships with, it's quite uncanny really. Even though it's all an illusion that we create, these beings are real, they live, they are animated.

Now, limited motion animation, or economical animation doesn't necessarily mean it's "bad" animation. There are so many types of animation. Some people think that just because it flows more smoothly, or because it's more dimensional that it's better animation, but really i think the quality of animation is measured better by how much you can suspend the viewers disbelief that this is in fact a being and not a series of pictures. The Family Guy was given as an example by an above poster. I can't tell you how many times I've shuddered at the things Peter Griffin has done, or shared Stewie's Horror when he realized he was being breast fed by his father. As limited at the drawings are, there certainly is life in there, enough to compel our emotion. The old cave paintings of buffalo being hunted stir great images in your head when you see them. Someone was telling a story that many thousands of years later we still understand and empathize with. That is animation and they don't even move.

I find the rift between what I consider to be "good animation" and "animation I like or dislike" to be getting broader. Just because I don't like it doesn't mean it's not good, and just because I do like it, doesn't mean it's good animation at all.

For the most part I still tend to favor the Disney way. At least, the traditional Disney way. I think Pixar has usurped Disney's sense if true animation. They have created such timeless characters and such beloved stories, regardless of their medium. When you can make an audience believe a fish can actually cry, you've given it a soul.

Oh jesus.

I think Chuck Jones said it best:

"Animation isn't the illusion of life, it is life."

Animation... well.. good animation (to me) is when the audience truly BELIEVES that the drawings or computer generated images they are seeing are living, breathing, THINKING characters in real situations. The audience should be able to emote and relate to the characters.... so much so that they could insert themselves or people they know into those characters or situations.

Good animation is also about good stories. You could have the beautifully animated INCREDIBLES characters... but without the story.... who would watch it?

Good acting and good storytelling.... yeah, thats it.

Let me publicly say, omnigon, you are a pleasant addition to this board. You are informative with a distinct perspective that I find useful and help carry discussions well.

I saw on a Nemo animator's site a small blurb where he said he actually built a webpage for Nemo. You just reminded me when you talked about everyone wrapping themselves around a character. I'd love to be a part of a company that realizes that it's necessary even in spite of how insane it seems.