lecture 1: evolution of animation as art

Pre-Class Preparation

Watch these foundational works before class:

Winsor McCay's "Gertie the Dinosaur" (1914)
Why This Matters: First interactive animation - McCay performed live with Gertie, creating spatial experience between artist and animated character. 10,000 hand-drawn frames establishing animation as performance art.

Read More About Gertie →
Lotte Reiniger's "Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed" (1926)
Historic Significance: First surviving animated feature film - 11 years before Disney's Snow White. Revolutionary silhouette technique using cardboard cutouts and lead sheets. 3 years of production (1923-1926).

Reiniger's Innovation →

Additional Required Viewing

Opening Question (5 minutes)

"What is animation?"

Students share definitions, then we challenge assumptions:

  • Is a GIF animation?
  • Is a video game animation?
  • Is a sculpture that moves animation?
  • Is an AI generating images frame-by-frame animation?

Part I: Pre-Cinema Animation (10 minutes)

The Art of Moving Images Before Film

Key Concepts:

  • Persistence of vision - the neurological foundation of all animation
  • Ancient precedents: Egyptian wall paintings showing sequential movement, Chinese shadow puppets, European magic lanterns
Animation existed as ART before it became ENTERTAINMENT

Revolutionary Moment:

  • Zoetrope, Phenakistoscope, Praxinoscope - animation as optical toys
  • Moving images as domestic entertainment and scientific curiosity
  • The democratization of visual spectacle
1832
Phenakistoscope invented by Joseph Plateau - spinning disc creates illusion of movement
1834
Zoetrope by William Horner - cylindrical animation device for multiple viewers
1877
Praxinoscope by Émile Reynaud - eliminated flicker using mirrors

Part II: Early Film Pioneers (15 minutes)

Winsor McCay (1869-1934)

Revolutionary Approach: Animation as performance art, not just moving pictures
  • "Gertie the Dinosaur" - FIRST INTERACTIVE ANIMATION
  • McCay drew himself into the animated world during vaudeville performances
  • Key Innovation: Animation as spatial experience - breaking the fourth wall
  • 10,000 individual drawings with consistent background redrawing

McCay Resources

Émile Cohl (1857-1938)

  • Metamorphosis technique - fluid transformation between objects
  • Animation's unique ability to visualize the impossible
  • Key Point: Animation can show what live-action cannot

Georges Méliès

  • Stop-motion discovery through accidental camera jam
  • Replacement technique - objects becoming other objects
  • Key Innovation: Animation as magic, transformation as art

Part III: Animation as Fine Art (20 minutes)

Lotte Reiniger (1899-1981) - SILHOUETTE REVOLUTION

First female animation artist to gain international recognition - challenged masculine abstraction with craft and ornamentation
The Adventures of Prince Achmed - Technique Demonstration
Technical Innovation: Multi-plane camera setup with cardboard and lead cutouts. Each frame required individual positioning of hundreds of elements. Revolutionary for 1920s cinema.
  • "Die Abenteuer des Prinzen Achmed" (1926) - first full-length animated film
  • Political Context: Working during Weimar Germany, fled Nazis in 1933
  • Feminist Approach: Valued craft and ornamentation over masculine abstraction
  • Technical Mastery: 96,000 frames over 3 years of production

Reiniger Deep Dive

Abstract Film Movement (1920s Germany)

  • Hans Richter & Viking Eggeling - "Absolute Film"
  • Goal: Cinema freed from narrative constraints
  • Oskar Fischinger - Visual music, synesthetic art
Animation as pure visual composition - the birth of abstract cinema

Direct-on-Film Techniques

Norman McLaren's "Dots" (1940)
Revolutionary Technique: Both visuals AND sound created by painting directly on film. No cameras, no microphones - pure hand-drawn cinema.

Technical Analysis: How McLaren Made Dots →
  • Len Lye (1901-1980) - Painting directly on celluloid
  • "Motion Painting" - no cameras needed
  • Norman McLaren - Multiple cameraless techniques
Animation as graphic art, bypassing photography entirely

McLaren at NFB

Part IV: The Material Revolution (15 minutes)

Traditional Cel Animation

  • Industrial standardization vs. artistic expression
  • How commercial studios limited experimental possibilities
Students should know this history to rebel against it

Stop-Motion as Art

  • Jan Švankmajer - Surrealist political animation under Communist regime
  • Czech animation as resistance art
  • Key Innovation: Objects as characters, materials as meaning

Sand Animation

  • Caroline Leaf - Tactile, organic imagery
  • Key Point: Feminine approaches to animation texture

Part V: Digital Transformation (15 minutes)

Early Computer Animation

  • Mary Ellen Bute - Electronic imagery synchronized to music
  • John Whitney - Computer-generated abstract films
Mathematical precision in visual composition - algorithms as co-creator

Personal Computer Revolution

  • Democratization of animation tools
  • Individual artistic expression enabled by technology

3D Animation as Art

  • Beyond Pixar: 3D as experimental medium
  • Volumetric space - animation in three dimensions
  • Key Innovation: Virtual sculpture in motion

Part VI: Internet and New Media (10 minutes)

Net Art Animation

  • Web-based interactive animations
  • GIF culture - animation as communication
Distribution method changes artistic possibilities

Virtual and Augmented Reality

  • Immersive animation - viewer inside the work
  • AR sketching - animation integrated with physical space
  • Key Innovation: Animation as environmental experience

AI and Procedural Animation

  • Machine learning as creative collaborator
  • Procedural generation - systems creating animation
What is the role of the artist when machines can animate?

Part VII: Contemporary Forms (10 minutes)

Animation Everywhere

  • Video Game Animation - Interactive narrative animation
  • Player as collaborator in animated storytelling
  • Installation Animation - Gallery contexts for animated work
  • Projection mapping - animation on architectural surfaces
  • Social Media Animation - TikTok, Instagram as animation platforms
  • Vertical format animations
Platform shapes artistic expression - form follows function follows infrastructure

Discussion Questions (10 minutes)

1. How has the definition of animation changed over time?
2. Which technological shift most radically changed animation as an art form?
3. How do contemporary platforms (social media, VR, AI) offer new possibilities for experimental animation?
4. What can we learn from female and marginalized animators who were excluded from mainstream history?

Assignment for Next Week

Research Project: Find Your Animation Ancestor

Question to answer: How could you adapt their technique using today's technology?

Recommended Artists to Research

  • Lotte Reiniger, Len Lye, Norman McLaren, Caroline Leaf
  • Faith Hubley, Susan Pitt, Jan Švankmajer, Mary Ellen Bute
  • Joan Jonas, Martha Colburn, Ryan Larkin, Carmen D'Avino
  • Rose Bond, Will Vinton, George Pal

Resources for Further Exploration

Essential Viewing Archives

Key Academic Readings

  • "Experimental Animation: Origins of a New Art" - Robert Russett
  • "Pulses of Abstraction: Episodes from a History of Animation" - Buchan
  • "Frame by Frame: A Materialist Aesthetics of Animated Cartoons" - Crafton
  • "Hollywood Flatlands: Animation, Critical Theory and the Avant-Garde" - Leslie

Contemporary Examples

  • Max Hattler - abstract animation installations
  • Mirai Mizue - digital experimental animation
  • Don Hertzfeldt - independent experimental narrative
  • Michel Ocelot - contemporary silhouette animation

Key Takeaways

1. Animation began as ART, not entertainment
2. Technology enables new forms of artistic expression
3. Marginalized voices have consistently pushed animation boundaries
4. Distribution platforms shape artistic possibilities
5. Animation is transformation itself - the art of bringing static elements to life

Next Week: We analyze YOUR current work and explore how to transform it using these historical innovations!