From Hollywood's first full-length animated feature, Disney's glorious and haunting Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs in 1937, to the mega-hits of recent years like The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Monsters, Inc., the Shreks and Toy Stories, moviegoers have thrilled to the art and magic of animation.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences presents "The Animated Performance: Art Meets Technology," a program that explores the science and technology behind the art of animation on Friday, July 29, at 7:30 p.m. in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
The evening's special guests include Academy Award winners Brad Bird (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) and Jan Pinkava (Geri's Game), Academy Award nominee Bill Kroyer (Technological Threat) and animators Richie Baneham and Steve Hornby (Lord of the Rings Gollum animators), Randy Cartwright, Eric Goldberg, Tom Sito and Kathy Zielinski.
The presentation will highlight the evolution of animation, the influence of new technologies on the art and will examine the concept of the animator as performer.
"An animator injects his or her performance into another being, a being created with increasingly complex and marvelous technology," explained Kroyer, who will lead the evening's dialogue by taking an inside look at the impact and contributions of 2-D and 3-D animation tools and technology.
"Animation has always been linked to technology from its very inception, whether it utilizes slots on a zoetrope or motion picture film, pencils on paper or digital models," added Goldberg, the animator who created Aladdin's Genie. The program also will feature case studies and show clips of both obscure and iconic character animation.
Complementing the program is the Academy's current gallery exhibition, "Toon In: Animated Movie Posters from the Cudequest Family Collection," which showcases over 130 posters and lobby cards artfully illustrating the evolution of animated film from silent novelty to popular culture. The exhibition will be open for viewing after the program and will be on display through August 21.
The Academy hosted a lecture on animation back in March. See Tan the Man's ranking of Pixar films here.
Article comments
1 - Tan The Man
I wonder if those animators and creators of the technology for Polar Express will be there. That was cutting edge animation.
2 - Eric Olsen
they didn't identify what some of the animators have worked on, so I don't know, but I would think they would have mentioned it if so.
We just saw Sinbad for the first time and while the story wasn't necessarily the greatest, the animation was spectacular
3 - Nancy
Yeah - I'm an animation tech geek, and I adore that movie for it's incredible work - especially the gorgeous water effects in the 'sirens' sequence. A sadly underrated film as far as animation goes. I remember being blown away by the 'water shadows' on the sea floor bottom in Disney's Little Mermaid, & the way individual hairs moved on Sully in Monsters Inc. Little stuff like that makes SUCH a difference, even when it's for all intents & purposes subliminal in effect. But then I guess I'm easily amused & impressed.
4 - Eric Olsen
agreed all the way Nancy, thanks