I have been going through the book, The Illusion of Life: Disney Animation by the amazing Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston. I had marked a few pages with quotes I wanted to take note of a while ago but never did so here they are. They are realy helpful quotes and back-up my reason for doing my animation about a cat. Some also help with making my animation better :)
‘In our own lives, we find that as we get to know people we share their experiences – we sympathize, we empathize, we enjoy. If we love then, we become deeply concerned about their welfare. We become involved in their lives.
We involve the audiences in our films the same way. We start with something they know and like. This can be either an idea or a character, as long as it is familiar and appealing. It can be a situation everyone has experienced, an emotional reaction universally shared, a facet of someone’s personality easily recognized, or any combination of these. But there must be something that is known and understood if the film is to achieve audience involvement.’
The Illusion of Life, page 18-19.
‘“I definitely feel that we cannot do the fantastic things based on the real, unless we first know the real.” Walt Disney’
The Illusion of Life, page 71.
‘That all changed in one day when a scene was animated of a dog who looked into the camera and snorted. Miraculously, he had come to life! Walt was quick to appreciate the difference and so was the audience. The year was 1930 and the animator Norm Ferguson.’
The Illusion of Life, page 74.
‘As he thought about it, Ben decided that the key ingredient must be “realism.” In his own experience, he had found that much of the material in cartoon films was lost on the viewers; they could not understand it or relate to it. Walt had bridged that gap with realism, or a caricature of it. His situations were understandable, clear, and funny. His personalities were based on someone you knew.’
The Illusion of Life, page 80.
‘The scale of the characters to the things around them, and to each other, is an important part of making them believable, as well as giving them charm and appeal.’
The Illusion of Life, page 239.
‘If an animal in a film is wearing any kind of costume, he can be handled with human attributes and the audience will accept him. In contrast, if an animal in his natural fur should suddenly stand up and start gesticulating, the viewers will feel uneasy. Put a cap on him, or a tie, and he can swagger around, gesturing and pointing like any ham actor.’
The Illusion of Life, page 331.
A good example of this is in ‘The Aristocats’. The kittens all wear a small form of human clothing such as Marie wears bows and Toulouse has a bowtie on. The geese even follow the same rule and wear bonnets and Uncle Waldo wears a top hat.
‘Of course natural animal drawing or realistic action will always add sincerity and interest to this type of film, but it is not truly needed to tell the story. On the other hand, if the story is man’s view of what the animal world is like, as in ‘Lady and the Tramp’, ‘101 Dalmations’, and ‘The Jungle Book’, the animals must be completely believable or the whole premise will collapse.’
The Illusion of Life, page 331.
'When we say “real,” we mean only what the audience accepts as being real, for obviously a real animal cannot act or emote as broadly as animators require. The more an animator goes toward caricaturing the animal, the more he seems to be capturing the essence for acting. For example, if we had drawn real deer in ‘Bambi’ there would have been so little acting potential that no one would have believed the deer really existed as characters. But because we drew what people imagine a deer looks like, with a personality to match, the audience accepted our drawings as being completely real.'
The Illusion of Life, page 332.
‘Ears are an important part of the attitude on any animal.’
The Illusion of Life, page 340.
‘Hair can be a key to personality, and many times will show how a character feels. Scraggly hair gives an unkempt, irritable look. Smooth and sleek fur is soft and feminine.’
The Illusion of Life, page 340.
‘Tails can do much to show the mood of an animal. They can give a perky feeling, or show dejection, or affection. They should not rest on the ground without a reason. They must have life too. Watch out for “dead” tails.’
The Illusion of Life, page 340.
‘The neck is often passed over when considering parts of the anatomy that can help show an attitude. It can be arched for belligerence, show alertness, be cocky with chest out, or indicate anger.’
The Illusion of Life, page 340.
‘A cat’s eyes are extremely expressive and change shape radically as they convey different emotions. At times they are mere slits, lost in a puff of cheeks and brows, or they are half closed in complete contentment, or wide with curiosity.’
The Illusion of Life, page 450.
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