Inspiration.... Animation

Many times when I am in need of inspiration to get down to my own illustration, I turn to animations. But not just any modern animation... I look back to Fleischer Studios. Oh sure, I have many disks from Warner and Disney but nothing has the pleasing effect of the Fleischer touch. In particular are the Superman short films from the early 1940s.

I actually spend more time watching the backgrounds than the action in front. These are tremendous, well rendered pieces of art that mimic the true value of distance. Even a piece of paper has the subtle shadows that make it appear to have been folded. Leaves in trees actually looked like leaves in trees. Great attention was paid to detail. The cartoons made for TV in the sixties almost made me gag. Everything was flat with no shadow or substance.

Fleischer's animations were filled with camera pans and dissolves between scenes that gave them a cinematic quality. He was inventing new ways to make animations and was the only true rival to Disney at the time. The backdrops to Superman and the early Pop-Eye films were so realistic they almost looked like a world you could step into. With a few exceptions, todays animations while high in special effects, don't have that realistic feel of any place you could visit.

When Paramount first came to Max Fleischer to make the Superman films he turned it down. When asked why, he told Paramount that it was just too expensive to make the kind of film they wanted. Back then the average short cost $10 to $15,000 to make. The Superman short films would cost $90,000 to make. Paramount agreed and put up the money.

It's truly amazing that these nearly 70 year old animations can still rival anything made today. Production costs what they are, I can see where they would want to cut corners, Only the action seems relevant today. While all the studios make some very fine action animations that are very eye catching, I can't help looking beyond what's going on in the foreground and sneeking a peek at what's out back.

It truly is all in the details.
This link gives further insight into the creation of Superman in the animations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E01KqT6RURs