Animation Rumination

Animation is one of the interests I chose to include in my AOL profile yet it's a subject I haven't touched upon to date.  With this entry I wish to try to convey my love for animation.

Many of my childhood memories coincide with the early years of television.  I grew up watching cartoons; some were awful, many were mediocre and a great deal were outstanding.  One of the reasons I love animation is because anything is possible and the most ridiculous scenarios are accepted without question because these are drawings and, obviously, not real.  I remember the awe and admiration I felt when I discovered just how many drawings were necessary to create even the smallest action of a character.

Attention to detail and well drawn characters and backgrounds are very important to me.  Some of the animation to be found on television today is so badly drawn and ugly that I cringe when I happen to get a glimpse of it.  I'm probably spoiled because, of course, I have seen almost all the animated Disney features and love many of them.  I've always been partial to the works of Max and Dave Fleisher, too.  I loved watching their version of "Gulliver's Travels".  For me, the creme de la creme of cartoons has always been the efforts from Warner Brothers.  Looney Tunes.  Merrie Melodies.  These represent a marvelous cast of characters invented and brought to life by so many talented artists.  These cartoons are funny, some hysterically so.

My animated hero is Daffy Duck.  I adore Daffy.  He's often depicted as an irascible, selfish, greedy little miser but in earlier cartoons this was not always the case.  It isn't these qualities about Daffy that endear him to me; he just makes me laugh.  In some of the cartoons from the late 1940s through the '50s, he was the leading character and carried himself quite nicely:

Yes, I'm a devoted fan...and just a leetle bit crazy.  I also think one of the choices in the drop-down menu of moods offered in the "Add an Entry" to Journals format should include "daffy" or at the very least, "daft".

As I got older, I was thrilled to discover that there were animated films for adults as well.  So many people automatically equate animation with entertainment for children.  Mention animation and the instant reaction is, oh yeah, Saturday morning kiddie cartoons.  This is far from the truth.  I remember when "The Flintstones" was about to debut on the new fall season lineup.  I recall one of my sisters making it very clear to me that this was to be a show for adults, not children.  It came on around or after my bedtime for heaven's sake.  Can you believe this?  It was years before I realized that "The Flintstones" was merely a redo of "The Honeymooners".

I often think animation is an under-appreciated art form.  It amazes me that I can be reduced to tears of empathy and sympathy over a bunch of drawings.  That is quite an achievement for an animated production.  Several films I've experienced and enjoyed over the years come to mind.  My first taste of adult animation was "Heavy Traffic" by Ralph Bakshi.http://www.sundancechannel.com/popup/index.php?ixFilmID=2388.  I found this to be simultaneously shocking and sometimes amusing.  An entertaining, beautifully drawn film is "Fire and Ice" featuring much of Frank Frazetta's art (his work is fantastic).http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1007350-fire_and_ice/.  Check out "Heavy Metal" for good old seventies rock classics and a vignette of stories threaded together with the time-honored plot of good versus evil.http:/http://www.dvdcc.com/review.php?heavymetal.

I'm sure just about everyone is familiar with "Fantasia" (of course, it's Disney).  "Fantasia 2000" is worth looking at also.  The "Rhapsody in Blue" segment is outstanding.  Much as I love these films, my personal favorite is a little gem called "Allegro Non Troppo".http://www.bozzetto.com/features/Allegro/allegronontroppo2.htm

It's an Italian parody of "Fantasia" but so much more.  If you love animation and classical music, this is a film worthy for fans of both.