Wednesday, March 11, 2015

The Illusion of Life, Chapter 2: Caricature v. Realism

caricaturenouna caricature of the famous brotherscartoonparody, satire, lampoon, burlesque; informal sendup, takeoff.

realismnounoptimism tinged with realismpragmatismpracticality, common sense, levelheadedness.a degree of realismauthenticityfidelity, verisimilitude, truthfulness, faithfulness.

Above are the dictionary definitions of “caricature” and “realism.”  Both of these were important to Walt Disney in his approach to animation.  It was stated that, “Walt wanted his drawings that were animated to seem to be real things that had feelings and emotions and thoughts, and the main thing was that the audience would believe them and that they would care what happened to them…” (35.)

While it is quite obvious that Mickey Mouse is a caricature, there is also a hint of realism to all that he does.  At first, animators would exaggerate features, such as arms or legs to accommodate for animations, and gestures, but some of the cruder animations gave way to realism, and this in turn made Mickey (and all other animated characters to come) more believable…as believable as a talking mouse in pants can be...

Animations are caricatures, they evoke emotions and feelings from the audience, and are often based upon real people or everyday relatable situations.  There are ways to tackle animation to make it more realistic, but it will always be an animation, this is not to say it is to be looked down upon; one of my favorite animations is a caricature of a man in his quest to get the girl, but it does what it’s supposed to do to be a successful animation.  It pulls in the audience, is relatable, and memorable.  

The animation I refer to is Paperman.  Found here: https://youtu.be/1QAI4B_2Mfc



Thomas, Frank, and Ollie Johnston. "The Early Days 1923-1933." Disney Animation: The Illusion of Life. New York: Abbeville, 1981. 35. Print.

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