By Todd  Shaffer and Lon Vining

Regurgitation is a word that is generally associated with something undesirable, to say the least.  Even something wonderful and exciting in its original form can take on less than desirable traits when it makes an unexpected re-visit.  In this week’s post, we’re going to look at the short history of animation and discover how modern animators have often fallen into the regurgitation rut.  This was originally posted by Creative Director Todd Shaffer to Glorious’ internal blog for our animators.  Todd is serious about animation, and he is serious about building into our already world-class animation staff to create a studio that produces faith-based products that are second to none. The animator’s blog is one way he does that.  I hope you enjoy this insider’s view of the history of the animation industry and what Glorious Films is striving to change to bring fresh, unique animation to new audiences.

Regurgitated Animation

by Todd Shaffer

Have you noticed that many animated movies feel like they have the same kind of acting? It’s because they do, and it’s something that’s endemic with our art form beginning in the 2D era.

Animators are called upon to imitate and mimic one another. 2D animators have to conform to the same drawing styles that have been set by the designers and leads.  It’s a requirement. Same is true for our acting choices. When you have 20 animators animating the same character there has to be consistency.

The point is that to be an animator you have to exchange part of your individuality for imitation.

As artists we also know the value of learning our art forms by imitation. In learning to animate we study other animation that inspires us, and we adopt same practices, and our “animation voice” is heavily influenced by animation that has come before.  And when you have hundreds of animators who are all influenced by the same animation repertoire you can’t help be feel that the new animation is little more than a regurgitation of the old.  

Disney's "Nine Old Men"

The telling irony in our short history of the animated art form (still less than 100 years old) is that Disney’s nine old men, who defined the maturity of the animated art form, have not yet seen their equal.  They set the bar for character animation performance and we’ve been struggling to match it ever since. They have been imitated over and over. Their great poses, succession of poses and facial expressions have been carefully studied and repeated to death. But we have not seen animation mature beyond their work.

A significant part of the problem is that animators are “monolingual” in their animation study. We only study animation. And because there is so little great animation in this medium’s repertoire we’re all studying the same material, and we all begin to look like one another.

When I was learning to animate I began by studying old animation. But then one of my mentors, Stan Sommers, told me something that stopped me in my tracks. “Stop studying animation,” he said. “You will only look like everyone else. Study life. Study good acting performances in  movies. That’s what the nine old men did.”

What an irony.  The nine old men who took the animated art form to such a high level never had a repertoire of animation to study.  They studied life. They studied good acting. Their work is fresh because they had not filled their bellies with all the animation cliches and performances of other animators.

Don’t study animation. Study life. Study good acting. Most of you are good enough animators to throw off the training wheels of studying animation and take our art form to the next level. If you do, I think you will be surprised at how quickly your work will mature.

Todd’s fresh point of view is taking form in the original, beautiful 3D animation being created at Glorious Films. Look for our first release, The Promise: Birth of the Messiah, the animated musical, due out in fall 2013. For more info, visit www.gloriousfilms.com.