I love cartoons.
Animation in general has always held a lot of allure for me. I’m sure growing up watching Saturday morning cartoons (and weekday afternoon cartoons) helped, but unlike a lot of people, I never grew out of it.
As much as I appreciate a complex, compelling yarn, the simple storytelling of many cartoons still captivates me, too. Not to say that animation can’t tell a complex, compelling story. In fact, the freedom of animation liberates the creative process and has resulted in some of the most incredible visual storytelling experiences around. In a way that traditional film and television can’t quite equal, animation is a truly unique blend of art and storytelling.
Certainly much of what people think of as animation is fairly pedestrian these days, especially if you’re looking at a standard Saturday morning lineup, but series like “Gargoyles,” “Samurai Jack,” and “Batman: The Animated Series” have, in their day, raised the bar with intricate storytelling, talented voice work, and beautiful, artful visual styles that go beyond simple children’s cartoons.
I realize I’m just scratching the surface of animation by focusing on this one niche. I’m not even mentioning the leaps and bounds in feature film animation, anime, or the revolutionary jump of animation into prime time sitcoms that started (correct me if I’m wrong) years ago with “The Simpsons” and continues today with a growing number of animated programs for adults airing in the evenings.
Now that I’ve waxed long-winded about animation, here’s the point. One hundred years ago (give or take a couple of days), the first animated film ever created was released. Created by a man named Émile Cohl, it was almost two minutes long, was composed of over 700 hand-drawn, double-exposed frames, and took four months to put together. Frankly, for the first time something was ever done, I’m impressed by the quality of the animation and the number of animation-related concepts that are invented and showcased in these first-ever two minutes of the medium!
So…what’s your favorite bit of animation?
