In addition to being a hardcore Simpsons fan, I work as a teacher. I've just finished a Netdays 2002 project with my students on animation.
The students (9-10 yrs) learned about animation, wrote about their favorites and even made short animation clips.
The part that probably interests you the most is the Q&A with an animation professional, Al Jean of The Simpsons. Al kindly replied to kids' questions via e-mail.
The Q&A is available at: http://www.tkukoulu.fi/~kerttuli/netdays2002/qa.html
Project main page: http://www.tkukoulu.fi/~kerttuli/netdays2002/
While you're there, go ahead and watch the animation clips, vote for your favorite one, and surprise the kids by signing the guestbook! :)
ARGH! I wish that the people in charge would get it right! The animation is NOT going to be done entirely on computer! It is drawn on paper, and colored and manipulated on a computer.
Al Jean is not an "animation professional." He is a sitcom writer, one who just happens to write for an animated sitcom. He knows nothing about the process of animation, except what he has heard second hand from the animation directors who work on The Simpsons.
If you wanted your students to learn about *animation* why not interview a REAL "animation professional" like John Kricfalusi or Glen Keane?
Btw, the great majority of the animated features and classic theatrical shorts from the golden age of animation DID NOT use scripts to write their plots, instead they used storyboards. The use of scripts in animation came about with the advent of television as an animation medium in the late 60's. That is why so much of the modern animated shows are so bad, because they have writers instead of artists in control of them.
On 13 Nov 2002 01:29:37 GMT, [email] (Markc65) wrote:
Huh? I see what you're getting at, but being the current show runner and a producer of an animated show, whether its sitcom, kiddie cartoon or whatever, surely qualifies as being called "animation professional."
Do you also think that only people who operate the cameras in live-action movies can be called "movie professionals"? Writers and actors aren't such? <g>
Saying that after a decade of working for The Simpsons Jean knows nothing about the process of animation is quite an insult, really. Of course he isn't the best expert in strictly animating (like, say, Jim Reardon), but as the show runner, he probably has the best idea of the *whole* process of making a Simpsons episode and everything that goes into it.
We weren't just interested in the techical process of making an animation but everything creative that comes with it, writing certainly included (as you can see by taking a look at the questions). An animator's viewpoint would inevitably have been limited in that sense.
Yes, Al Jean would know the whole process of how a Simpsons episode is produced. If that is what your class was about then you made the best choice. However, if you wanted to teach your kids about the animation process (including the writing), then you've made a terrible choice. The Simpsons is produced more like a live action sitcom than an animated cartoon. This is not a typical model for most animated products. There are no table reads for most animated shows. The writer/producer directs the voice actor on The Simpsons. In most other animated shows this would be the job of the director. Groening and the writers and other producers on the Simpsons don't allow any "stretch and squash" in the animation. This is because they don't think that this principle happens in real life. This is false. Without stretch and squash, animation seems weightless and stiff (both of these are problems with the Simpsons).
Al Jean may know a little more about the animation process than your dentist or garbageman, but that's about it. If something is wrong with an animated scene he is clueless as to how to fix it. To call someone with this limited knowledge about the very craft he happens to work in an "animation professional" is an insult to all the real animation professionals out there.
This is not true and very insulting to all the crative animators out there who have created their own shows. Animators are not simply technicians. But first, a little history...
The vast majority of the golden age of animated cartoons were written with storyboards, not scripts. The writers were cartoonists like Mike Maltese and Warren Foster at Warner Bros., Joe Barbera at MGM, Tex Avery at every studio he worked at, and Frank Tashlin at Disneys, Warners and Columbia (He eventually became a live-action director). This system is still used today at Spumco by John Kricfalusi on Ren & Stimpy, at Cartoon Network on The Power Puff Girls and Samurai Jack, and at Nickelodeon on Spongebob Squarepants. Only recently has Disney used scriptwriters on their animated features and the results have been disasterous. (The exception being Lilo and Stitch, with was done the old fashioned way.) If you had interviewed Kricfalusi at Spumco, you would've gotten a completely different version of how an animated show is created than from The Simpsons.
Animated shows that use scripts are usually imitative of live action. The animation is considered an adjunct to the writing and is produced as cheaply as possible (most of the budget is eaten up in pre-production). Compare King of the Hill, Hey Arnold, The Critic, Sammy, Family Guy etc., to the other shows I listed above and you will see the difference in animation quality.