Animation
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Snow White, Bambi, Alice in Wonderland & Peter Pan
The twelve years after Steamboat Willie in 1928, were a complete success. They called it “The Disney Era” or “The Golden Age of Film Animation.” Walt continued being expert manager and organizer, using the enormous supply of profit for new ideas and better quality in his shorts. But in 1927, when Disney was making the Oswald films, shorts costed $2,250 each. By 1936, they were spending around $50,000 on each short, while most other animators spent about $7,000. Disney’s customers were happy with the quality of the films. Why wasn’t Walt? Leonard Mosley explains it like this:
“Disney was constantly setting his artistic sights higher and demanding more from his animators. And it showed in the quality of the new productions… But if the quality of the product went up, so did the cost of each new film.” (131)
Walt himself said that each cartoon they finished just about paid off for the next one. Merchandisers clamored for the rights to Mickey, plus Disney’s newly created characters: Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. Mickey Mouse became extremely popular. He was on toys, watches, socks, candy, water bottles, toothbrushes and much more. Disney had created a cast of memorable animated characters that have become forever associated with his name. They had become instantly recognizable by people all over the world! Disney started making cartoon shorts called Silly Symphonies. The first one was called “The Skeleton Dance.” Most people thought it would not do well because it was too scary, but they were completely wrong. Audiences loved it! It was a hit, and critics praised the short. As a result, Disney started making more Silly Symphonies. “Flowers and Trees” was a tale about a young tree who defeats a mean old stump. It won the first Academy Award for an animated film. They then made “The Three Little Pigs” in 1933, which is the most famous Silly Symphony. During the production of “The Three Little Pigs”, he and Lillian were expecting their first child. Born in December of 1933, Lillian had a baby girl called Diane Marie. Then, in 1936 they adopted a girl around the age of Diane, who they named Sharon. However, their father was unable to spend much time with his girls because of booming business. He introduced the storyboard which is a variety of panels on which a sequence of sketches shows the significant changes of action and scene in a movie. Although Roy was very nervous that the cost would be too immense, in 1934, Walt started the production of a classic fairytale: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Society believed it would be a catastrophe, but Walt chose not to hear them. Although it cost around $20,000 to make, “Snow White” was a hit and the audience was in rapture at the high quality and unified storyline. It even won an Academy Award! Disney then released “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia” in 1940. They were both full-length movies with color and sound. Some more full-length movies Disney released in the 1940s were “Cinderella”, “Peter Pan”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and “Bambi.” Disney says:
"I take great pride in the artistic development of cartoons. Our characters are made to go through emotions which a few short years ago would have seemed impossible to secure with a cartoon character. Some of the action produced in the finished cartoon of today is more graceful than anything possible for a human to do." (Smith, 7)
By 1945, they were deeply in debt. Walt was trying to think of a way to save more money when he found out that making live-action movies was cheaper than making animated movies. With this new prospect, he started making part live-action, part animated movies. “Song of the South” and “So Dear To My Heart” were two of their first.
“Disney was constantly setting his artistic sights higher and demanding more from his animators. And it showed in the quality of the new productions… But if the quality of the product went up, so did the cost of each new film.” (131)
Walt himself said that each cartoon they finished just about paid off for the next one. Merchandisers clamored for the rights to Mickey, plus Disney’s newly created characters: Donald Duck, Goofy and Pluto. Mickey Mouse became extremely popular. He was on toys, watches, socks, candy, water bottles, toothbrushes and much more. Disney had created a cast of memorable animated characters that have become forever associated with his name. They had become instantly recognizable by people all over the world! Disney started making cartoon shorts called Silly Symphonies. The first one was called “The Skeleton Dance.” Most people thought it would not do well because it was too scary, but they were completely wrong. Audiences loved it! It was a hit, and critics praised the short. As a result, Disney started making more Silly Symphonies. “Flowers and Trees” was a tale about a young tree who defeats a mean old stump. It won the first Academy Award for an animated film. They then made “The Three Little Pigs” in 1933, which is the most famous Silly Symphony. During the production of “The Three Little Pigs”, he and Lillian were expecting their first child. Born in December of 1933, Lillian had a baby girl called Diane Marie. Then, in 1936 they adopted a girl around the age of Diane, who they named Sharon. However, their father was unable to spend much time with his girls because of booming business. He introduced the storyboard which is a variety of panels on which a sequence of sketches shows the significant changes of action and scene in a movie. Although Roy was very nervous that the cost would be too immense, in 1934, Walt started the production of a classic fairytale: “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves.” Society believed it would be a catastrophe, but Walt chose not to hear them. Although it cost around $20,000 to make, “Snow White” was a hit and the audience was in rapture at the high quality and unified storyline. It even won an Academy Award! Disney then released “Pinocchio” and “Fantasia” in 1940. They were both full-length movies with color and sound. Some more full-length movies Disney released in the 1940s were “Cinderella”, “Peter Pan”, “Alice in Wonderland”, and “Bambi.” Disney says:
"I take great pride in the artistic development of cartoons. Our characters are made to go through emotions which a few short years ago would have seemed impossible to secure with a cartoon character. Some of the action produced in the finished cartoon of today is more graceful than anything possible for a human to do." (Smith, 7)
By 1945, they were deeply in debt. Walt was trying to think of a way to save more money when he found out that making live-action movies was cheaper than making animated movies. With this new prospect, he started making part live-action, part animated movies. “Song of the South” and “So Dear To My Heart” were two of their first.