Journal Entry – Week 3

Many films and animation could have been based on comics based on the already existing material. There’s a fanbase behind these comics, already existing characters, stories, art styles, worlds that have yet to be uncovered in animation yet were trapped on the paper originally conceived on. It allows these characters to immerse and root themselves deeper into the viewer as a building block to the animation that was to come based off of it.

Gertie the Dinosaur by Winsor McCay and Fantasmagorie by Émile Cohl are both early animations, but they have different styles. McCay’s Gertie uses clean, detailed lines to show a more realistic dinosaur interacting with its environment, while Cohl’s Fantasmagorie has loose, sketchy lines and a more abstract, surreal feel. McCay’s backgrounds are simple but give a sense of place, while Cohl’s backgrounds are minimal and constantly changing. In terms of storytelling, Gertie has a more structured plot with Gertie responding to commands, while Fantasmagorie is a series of random, fluid transformations without a clear story. McCay focuses on smoother, lifelike animation, while Cohl explores playful, experimental movement.

Most films were based on print comics because they were essentially the storyboards to make animations. By using the print comics, they were able to make cartoons come to life, as well as many other types of animation. Print comics were the building blocks to making 2d cartoons back in the day.

I think the reason a lot of early animated films made in the US were based on print comics was because of their popularity and familiarity with the viewers as well as their fanbase. By converting comics into animated films, studios could capitalize on this idea with characters and stories among comic book readers. As a visual medium, it works best with film as it makes storytelling and character development a lot more entertaining and engaging with their audience.

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.

I believe many early animated films were based on print comics because many comics were already popular and have established characters that transferring them to a new medium was a safe way to ensure people will come to see your new film. Another reason I believe film were based on comics are that comics as a visual medium made it easier to draw the keyframes that would be needed to tell the films story. If you think in modern day, a comic strip works similarly to a storyboard where the pictures layout the framework of how the story will playout, and the role of animation is to create the motion from one panel to the next.

Prompt 2

The main reason why they decided to take the comics as their main reference to launch the first animations, was because of the money, since the whole process to create an animation was expensive, they knew that many of the comics were already well known and had a lot of public behind them, for example Felix the Cat, was already becoming better known for his comics and that gave them the security that if they created an animated film of one of these comics, it would be guaranteed that they were going to have a great reception from the public and their investment would be worth it because all the public of the comics would now go to the theater to see them but animated.

And another reason was because of their style, which was comedy and their characters were exaggerated, which facilitated the idea of being able to create animations that would attract the public’s attention.

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?

Comics are literally 2d animated stories. It is a form of visual storytelling where you have a narrative, images depicting movement and emotion, suspense, a mimic of motion drawn out between slides. Also around this time there were already famous comic characters getting publicized so it was easy to use those characters in animation to test the waters. I made it easier for animators to gain attention and then money for more animations. Comics were so over exaggerated already, with facial expressions and character design. The over the top visuals made it almost seen right to bring these to life. People already had these comics as a constant in their life so the source material was already wanted and there why not grow on it.