Animation Influence - Exaggeration and Fast Motion

 

About a month ago I talked about my biggest animation inspiration, and that was Disney's Illusion Of Life and more or so the behind the scenes of animation created by Disney's Nine Old Men, which is my favorable option when experiencing the massive entertainment company.

I talked about Disney's character designs and what I liked about them, but it's obvious that I'm not focusing and liking only Disney related stuff, as I like alot of other animation things like at Warner Bros, Fleischers and MGM.

What was rare for Disney animators to master was the zany smears. Looney Tunes cartoons were mostly more comedic and energetic. 

I love this type of stuff. It makes the animated films have more appeal and personality, and the characters act more alive.

You don't get to really see too much smears anymore in modern animation especially like this since they used a hand-drawn brush tool, this was such a successful thing to do back in the 40s-50s.

I want to show you an actual example of when you should correctly use the smears in your drawings. 

This is from Rabbit Fire (1951) one of the most timeless Looney Tunes cartoons. Here's one of my favorite takes from that film. This scene Bugs Bunny is in drag as a hunter, and Daffy plays as the playful but also vicious pet dog. I love that Daffy's tail is a toilet plunger. 

You can see closely the reaction of Elmer when he gets bit by Daffy. It's also quick too, which makes the smears useful and perfect in every single way imaginable.

Then Elmer goes for a quick "YEEOWW!"

If your planning to become an animator one day and you believe that there should almost be no limits to it, then I should highly recommend you looking into these.

Not only do smears help but also wild-takes, these were popular in Tex Avery's and Tom and Jerry cartoons because MGM's studio was loaded with more imaginable possibilities, not to mention some of the best animators got to work for the studio to prove their extraordinary talent for cartoony but visually stunning moments like Walter Clinton, Ed Love, Irv Spence and my personal favorite, Ken Muse.

Warner Bros and MGM were also masters of Squash and Stretch.

Another great animation technique is the dry brush tool.

I want to show you something that is equal parts cool and exicting, I got the chance to try out Digicel Flipbook and here's what I animated.

So your probably thinking, "SNG, why does the dog on the right have no floppy ears?" Because to me, it felt perfectly fine to animated without him having any. This was my first go on Digicel Flipbook, so I'm getting used to the techniques.

I'm extremely not expecting every single animated film to be cartoony, wild or over-the-top at all, in fact, some of the best looking animated films don't need to be zany, animation is quite the medium, because people can allow to come up with solutions to what feels good them and how they challenge or entertain audiences. 

In my personal opinion, films that only focus on characters that don't have a ton of energy or dialogue, makes a film stand out the most. I actually seen some people have mixed feelings on films like Bambi or even Dumbo and those to me are important. There are cases where animation films don't tend to be all happy and fun, and stuff like Dumbo meeting his mom, or the still frame of Bambi's tears are part of the masterful charm and greatness of those two films. It doesn't immediately make you feel miserable or upsetting whatsoever because the films actually have good endings to them, so there is some overcoming obstacles. 

I think that's why cartoons exist and animated movies are the preparation. Cartoons are more for audiences that want a more straightforward and comedic premise. I'm on the minority of being both those sides.

So what do you think? Do you agree with what I said? Do you want to quickly access the post I was talking about earlier? 

Here's the link to the related post.

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2025/05/more-on-disney-animation-recent-drawings.html?m=1

The Goddess of Spring (1934) A Disney Masterpiece

 

Previously I talked about the beauty that is art. Now here's an essence of beauty in an animated short, this is Disney's The Goddess Of Spring (1934). This is one of my favorite animated films, from the staging, to the visual style and has some intense but masterful sequences. 

I chose this particular cartoon for alot of reasons, it's beautiful. It's such a shame not alot of people talk about it. It's one of the few Silly Symphonies cartoons that feel so cinematic and pivotal.

It starts off being peaceful, everything begins to rise, loads of greens, blues, butterflies and flowers.

Next, we see a group of elves skipping in a line as they celebrate "The New Queen of the Eternal Spring." 

Persephone's animation to me is really inspirational, she's honestly a likeable character, this film is also important in the stepping-stone for animation.  

Disney's studio was not fully developed of designing humans, because animals felt way more appealing and amusing to gain audiences. To me, I can understand why, but I really like how they challenged themselves to newer heights by experimenting and practicing on knowing how to draw realistic humans, otherwise we wouldn't have Snow White, Aurora, or other Disney characters similar to the design of Persephone. 

In my opinion, the entirety of this cartoon, like the animation, and the colors are all visually stunning and extremely pleasant.

Then we get into the intense parts of the short film, where we get introduced to Pluto, The God Of The Underworld, as he rises with flames and his devilish imps.

This to me is crazy, but I adore it. I don't think I ever seen Disney more or so their classic era, have a secret side in which they are not ashamed of showing us some melodramatic imagery here and there. Usually their known for the love, comedic energy and whimsical characters, but this is so out of the ordinary not just for Disney but for any classic animation studio.

This film's characters don't act as cartoony or exaggerated as in over thousands of other cartoons and that's what's so unique and interesting about it. 

Great use of anticipation here.

Normally I don't love all emotional stories, but this one hits really well, you don't have to focus too much on what's happening, yet it's really easy to follow at the same time. 

I love the scenery of the underworld, it perfectly makes sense. The whole build-up to this shot is outstanding. 

I love the colors to this. Blue flame is actually really cool.

 The elves suffer from the cold, not only the elves but the poor birds too.

Persephone looks utterly down, but what's really weird but kinda interesting is that Pluto himself is actually concerned for her unhappiness. So he agrees that she will have time to spend 6 months with the elves in a peaceful environment and the other 6 months down ground. I actually like that concept. 

Especially when they show it off on screen. 

Just then, some great animation of the ground explodes and burst of flames rise back as Persephone returns to her world.

Everything is back to complete normal, sun rises, clouds begin to appear, trees begin to mellow.

This is one of my all-time favorite sequences in animation history. No words, just art.

And finally like all good films, they need a happy ending. 

When I first watched this film, I loved how ambitious and different it felt compared to other Disney products. This film also has elements of importance, experimentation, and inventive passion around it all, as it set new grounds to Disney, this short film lead to inspiring their first-feature film Snow White and The Seven Dwarfs. Without it, the film and the other films that came after, would've been alot different and in my theory, less impactful. 

This short is phenomenal and is in my personal opinion, one of Disney's most overlooked treasures in their repertoire.

If you have Disney+ watch it, has extremely perfect quality and is worth your time! 

Essence Of Beauty In Art

George Inness - In The Berkshires c. 1840

Georg Janny - Summer Night c. 1926 

This is a background screencap from Disney's Lady And The Tramp. This looks massive and incredible!

Tom and Jerry has had some beautiful looking scnerry, but this one stood me out the most. This is Sherwood Forest. I discussed this particular sequence in an aforementioned post.

https://sngexplorationblog.blogspot.com/2025/06/sherwood-forestrobin-hoodwinked-1958.html?m=1

The colors to this make me feel warm inside. This is a painting made by Karel Postl. c. 1810s

Baby ducklings are one of the cutest animals ever.

This looks so cinematic, one of my favorite painters Edward Hopper painted this.

Coast Guard Cove c. 1929

 

I'm immediately falling in love with Thomas Hart Benton's artwork. This one's spectacular. June Morning c. 1945

Here's another great one.

Lastly for now, here's a gorgeous shot from Silly Symphonies Goddess Of Spring (1934)

Next post I'll be willing to talk about the full short.