Daily Archives: February 20, 2025

We have seen that many early animated films, particularly in the US, were based on print comics. Why do you think that is? What was there about comics that would make them an appropriate subject for film?

Early American animated films were often based on print comics for a few reasons. I think it’s because comics were already popular, so turning them into animation was a smart way to reach an even bigger audience. Also, since animation was a new and exciting medium at the time, it gave creators a fresh way to tell stories. This success later led to longer animated films and helped make animation a worldwide art form.

Animated films were based on print comics due to the fact that they were relatable and good entertainment, it also gave people a sense of belonging depending on the films/comics. Animated films that were made from comics were made to give people comfort perhaps or even inspire others to make something of themselves. It was the stories and drawings that made these comics an appropriate subject for films. Another part of of why these comics were a appropriate subject for films were the characters how they were drawn and their personalities/characteristics.

“Gertie the Dinosaur” and “Fantamasgorie” are in black & white with no sounds in their films. Both films also focus on characters, each being a groundbreaking experience in the animation industry. However the film “Gertie the Dinosaur” has a more smoother planned-out animation. Winsor McCay focuses on making Gertie come to life using only one background to tell Gertie’s story. The water is animated to show the river flowing giving more life to the scene. Not to mention the animation used to make Gertie move in different directions is impressive. In Emile Cohl’s “Fantamasgorie,” there’s a focus on multiple characters. It’s more simplistic and tends to be more abstract. There’s no background but theres objects in each scene such as tables or a pole light to show somewhat where the characters are located. Unlike “Gertie the Dinosaur” the “Fantamasgorie” has a very unclear story and less quality in animation having to rely on the characters visual actions and gags to spark interest.

The main reason studios based early animated films on print comics was a lower financial risk. Printed comics like Felix the Cat were already increasingly popular and therefore recognizable to the general public. Creating animated films was expensive so if the audience was already available, they were more likely to turn up a profit than if they used all new characters or stories. The character’s familiarity also ensured that people would respond better to seeing a medium they did not have much. if any, exposure to beforehand.

Another reason animated films were based on comics was because of the visual aspect. Comics are a series of sequential drawings made to tell a story just as films are a series of moving photos. Since most animators were former illustrators and cartoonists, animation essentially created a smoother transition from one scene to another.

Many early animated films were based on print comics, most likely to establish a new platform for comics. These animations would make it possible to turn translate pictures into film establishing a new medium that would later inspire many famous animated titles we know today. Another reason that I think that comics were, and still are, an appropriate subject for film is that they have so much room to create and explore so many different topics and ideas that the possibilities for animated films are pretty much endless. Even today, this idea for adapting comics is still widely accepted and a functional part of the entertainment industry because many movies and tv shows, cartoons and Japanese anime all have big projects and intellectual properties that all started from a comic series.

“Gertie the Dinosaur” and “Fantasmagorie” utilize hand-drawn black-and-white visuals and are silent films accompanied by live music. These animations were groundbreaking for their time, incorporating innovative storytelling elements.

“Gertie the Dinosaur” features smoother movements and a more detailed, static background. The drawings exhibit naturalism, and the storytelling is clear and concise, employing comedy for entertainment. Winsor McCay’s work on “Gertie the Dinosaur” introduced techniques such as keyframe animation and registration marks, ensuring consistent positioning of drawings. This allowed for more fluid and realistic character actions, bringing Gertie to life with a sense of weight and presence.

In contrast, “Fantasmagorie” presents more abstract drawings and a sketchy animation style. The background is simplistic and does not significantly contribute to the animation. Émile Cohl’s work on “Fantasmagorie” is characterized by continuous transformations, with characters and objects morphing fluidly into one another. The storytelling is experimental and less structured, relying on visual gags and the metamorphosis of shapes to create a whimsical and imaginative experience. Cohl’s innovative techniques laid the foundation for the development of the animation genre.