The Art of Warner Bros. Cartoons Educator Packet

AC ME
S
’
R
O
T
A
ED UC
PA C K E T
DECEMBER 12, 2009 TO
FEBRUARY 21, 2010
WHAT’S INSIDE
IT’S “THE ART OF
WARNER BROTHERS
CARTOONS” DOC!
• PRE-VISIT CHECKLIST AND HELPFUL HINTS
• HANDOUTS TO PHOTOCOPY
• LESSON PLANS, VOCABULARY AND RESOURCES
• IMPORTANT INSTRUCTIONS FOR CHAPERONES
Thank you for scheduling a tour at the
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts.
A successful tour starts well before the
students board the bus. Please review this
educator’s guide carefully and help us make
your students’ visit rewarding and
educational!
Exhibition Sponsor: Tyler-Little Family Foundation, in memory of James C. Tyler
KIA Tour Program
sponsored by:
ARTist Tours
sponsored by:
KALAMAZOO INSTITUTE OF ARTS
314 S. Park St. ● Kalamazoo, MI 49007 ● www.kiarts.org
Museum Visit 101: A Checklist
Before the Visit (2-3 weeks):
□ Recruit chaperones! One adult is required for every 15
students (2nd-12th grade) and every 10 students (pre-K-1st •
grade). Please share the enclosed How to be a Great
Chaperone handout with your adult volunteers so they
know what will be expected of them.
Read through the pre-visit/post-visit activities listed
in this packet and decide which are best suited for
your students.
•
Work with students on completing assignments
before the visit. Review Museum Manners.
•
Please inform the KIA Museum Education staff if your
group has an assignment or will need extra time in
the galleries following their tour.
•
Familiarize chaperones with any assignments so they
can assist as needed.
Visit the KIA a few weeks before to familiarize yourself •
with the layout, including restrooms, classrooms, etc.
Note where the exhibitions are located. A personal visit
is crucial if you have any concerns about exhibition or
Please bring the proper materials for students to
complete their project: pencils only and paper with
something hard to write on. Students may sit on the
floor or stools can be made available with advanced
notice.
□ Transportation! Groups must arrange their own
transportation. Ask us about busing stipends.
□ Name Tags! It is so helpful when docents and museum
staff can call each student by name. Use large, bold printed
letters.
□ Pre-visit student preparation!
•
tour content. Please call 349-7775, ext. 3162 for an
appointment with KIA staff.
Day of Visit Checklist
□ Name Tags! Have them? Are your students divided into
the number of groups as specified on the tour
confirmation?
□ Chaperones! Make copies of How to be a Great
Chaperone.
□ Camera? You may take photos outside or in the lobby.
Photography is not allowed in the galleries.
A docent or KIA staff member will greet your group,
review Museum Manners and then each small group will
be assigned a docent and dismissed into the galleries.
□ Oops! We’re late! Please call the KIA at 269/349-7775 if
you will be late. As groups may be scheduled back to
back, a late arrival could shorten your visit. Docents will
wait no more than 20 minutes. After that time we
reserve the right to cancel or shorten your tour.
After the Tour
□ Gallery Shop! Remind students that the KIA Gallery Shop
is not included as part of the visit.
□ Discuss the tour with
your students. Round out
□ Museum Manners! Please review one more time.
the experience with
□ Coats, backpacks, umbrellas and roller shoes are not
some post visit activities.
permitted in the galleries. Please leave them on the bus,
□ Evaluate! Fill out the
weather permitting or in bins located in the lobby.
Tour Evaluation form and
□ Let’s be early birds! Please arrive at the South St.
return in the envelope
entrance at least 5 minutes before the tour begins and have provided.
students organized into the proper number of tour groups.
2
How to be a Great Chaperone
To be a great chaperone, you don’t need any special knowledge—just
common sense and a willingness to jump in and get involved. Here are a few
tips to make this visit successful:
• Introduce yourself to your group and your docent.
• Stay with your group during the tour and assist the
teachers and docent.
• Follow and help remind students of the KIA’s Museum
Manners.
Classes tour in small groups of 10-15 students. Each group is led by a museum docent, a specially trained
volunteer tour guide.
As tours move through the museum, chaperones help keep the group together. They remind students of
their Museum Manners if needed and are good role models during the tour. Chaperones are ready to help
the docent if asked.
Thanks for being part of your group’s guided tour. Your participation will help make your school’s visit to the
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts fun and educational. We invite you and your family to visit the KIA again!
KIA Museum Manners
1. Do not touch any of the art because it is fragile and the oils on your
fingers (even if your hands look clean) will make the work of art dirty. If
everyone touched, the art would be ruined, and now one would be able
to enjoy it. We want it to last as long as possible.
2. Please walk in the museum. We do not want you or the art to get hurt.
3. Use quiet voices during your tour; other people are trying to enjoy their
visit too.
4. Stay with your group. Be ready to look carefully and
think about what you see. Your docent will ask you to
share your ideas about the works of art.
5. Gum, food and drinks are not allowed in the galleries
because spills could damage the works of art.
6. Please do not lean on walls/cases as you might lean into a work of art or mark the walls.
3
HISTORY OF WARNER BROS. CARTOONS
“A small child once said to me:
‘You
don’t draw Bugs Bunny, you dra
w
pictures of Bugs Bunny.’ That’s
a very
profound observation because
it
means he thinks that the charact
ers
are alive, which, as far as I’m
concerned, is true. And, I feel the
same
way about animation...Animatio
n isn’t
an illusion of life. It is life.”
Chuck Jones
W
arner Bros. released their first cartoon on April 1, 1930. During the next twenty years, Warner
Bros. became the dominant studio creating animated short subjects and many timeless
characters including: Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Yosemite Sam, Tweety,
Sylvester, Marvin the Martian, and Pepe LePew, who now claim international recognition.
Warner Bros. developed in the shadow of Disney in the early 1930s and its first cartoons were Disney
imitations created by ex-Disney employees. Hugh Harman and Rudolf Ising banded together to make their
own cartoons under the name “Harman-Ising” Productions. Leon Schlesinger came on board as the
moneyman who had connections to Warner Bros. Schlesinger sold Harman-Ising to Warner Bros., with
Schlesinger as director and Warner Bros. as distributor. By the mid-1930s, more talent was hired and Warner
Bros. began to dominate the cartoon short market while Disney continued to focus on feature-length
cartoons.
Where did Looney Tunes come from? When Harman-Ising Productions was sold to Warner Bros., the
company stipulated that each cartoon produced should include at least 1 full chorus of a song from Warner
Bros.’ vast musical library. Looney Tunes was the name given these early cartoons. Warner Bros. was so
pleased with the success of Looney Tunes, that is commissioned a second series of monthly releases, which
were called Merrie Melodies. These early cartoons were Disney-derived and formulaic to the point that it is
sometimes difficult to distinguish one from another.
By 1933, money disputes between Schlesinger and Harman and Ising split the group and Schlesinger was
forced to find new talent to fulfill the Warner Bros. contract. Friz Freleng, and Bob Clampett were among the
first hired, taken from Harman-Ising and Disney, respectively. Tex Avery joined from the Walter Lantz studio
(creators of Woody Woodpecker) and Chuck Jones rounded out the group. Together they developed a new
style of cartoon-making built on enthusiasm and a desire to do new, wild and imaginative things. With
unusual characters and often irreverent humor, these talented individuals ushered in a new era of animated
cartoon shorts.
4
THE ZANY CREATORS
OF WARNER BROS.
Animate
d
collabor cartoons are cre
at
at
talents, ion. Directors, a ed through
wr
nimator
s, v
together iters and musici
ans work oice
to bring
th
to life. M
eet som ese animated c
a
e of the
creators
Warner rtoons
.
Bros.
Fred “Tex” Avery
joined Warner Bros. as
a director in 1935. Leaning away
from the imitation Disney cartoons that every
other studio in Hollywood was producing, Avery made fun of
animated cartoon traditions, lampooning fairy tales and creating off-beat
wise guy characters. Avery introduced Daffy Duck in 1937 and directed ‘A
Wild Hare’ in 1940, the cartoon which crystallized the personality of Bugs
Bunny. Though he left the studio in 1942, his wacky attitude continued to be
an inspiration to Warner Bros. animators for years to come.
Mel Blanc performed the voices of Bugs
Bunny, Porky Pig and Daffy Duck and all the
classic Warner Bros. characters from 1937
until his death in 1989. Signed to an
exclusive contract in 1941, Blanc’s amazing voice characterizations also
included Foghorn Leghorn, Pepe Le Pew, Marvin the Martian, Tweety,
Sylvester, Yosemite Sam and the
Tasmanian Devil.
Chuck Jones began his career in
the early 1930s as a cel washer at
Ub Iwerks studio. Advancing to
animator at Warner Bros., under
director Tex Avery, Jones worked
on the earliest Porky Pig cartoons. Promoted to director in 1930,
Jones was instrumental in developing Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, and
Daffy Duck as well as setting the fast-paced tone of Warner Bros.
cartoons in general. Among his other creations, Jones is known for
the Road Runner, Wile E.
Coyote, Pepe Le Pew, Michigan
J. Frog and Marvin the Martian.
Carl Stalling composed music for Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks before
joining Warner Bros. in 1937, where he remained until his retirement in
1957. His scores combined popular songs, obscure tunes, classical music,
and his own original compositions into abstract, fast-paced arrangements
which perfectly fit the zany moods of the cartoons.
Research other WB creators like Bob Clampett, Friz
Freleng and Robert McKimson! They’re dethpicable!
Text from: www.animationusa.com
5
HOW ANIMATED CARTOONS ARE MADE
Writers, directors, animators, composers, voice actors,
etc. meet and look at the storyboards for each new
cartoon. A storyboard is comprised of numerous small,
rough sketches, that would map out the cartoon’s
story. These sketches were created by the writers and
pinned to a board so that it was very easy to make
changes. One 6 minute cartoon usually required 150
sketches!
After the storyboard is laid out the backgrounds are made.
Backgrounds are painted on cardboard or celluloid (film)
with tempera, acrylic or sometimes even oil paints. The
backgrounds are the “landscape” in which the characters
are moving. The camera follows the characters as they
move across the background.
Model sheets−studies
of characters in
various poses−were
drawn, copied, and
distributed to all
artists working on the
characters. No one
artist drew all the
character’s actions for
a whole cartoon.
Before the drawing of the characters begins, the voices of the
characters are recorded on tape and then transferred to magnet film.
The film is fed through a sound reader and every syllable is recorded
on an exposure sheet. This is necessary to synchronize the sound and
the picture. Each frame of film must be synchronized separately.
Music and other sound effects are added after the film is almost
complete.
6
8
ash! To make an
Sufferin’ Succot
cartoon, you
minute animated
ts of paper and
need: 7000 shee
d
eets of cardboar
celluloid, 150 sh
, 10 crow-quill
for backgrounds
int,
2.5 gallons of pa
pens, 5 erasers,
50
and white film,
3600 ft. of black
d pencils, 20
felt-tip pens an
of India Ink, and
brushes, 1/2 pint
lm!
720 ft. of color fi
Every second of film consists of 24 frames with as many as 24
different drawings (faster movements require more
drawings). The initial black and white drawings are all
photographed and fed through a projector to make sure that
the movement of each character is smooth, including the
synchronization with the voices.
If the movements pass quality control, the drawings are
copied onto plastic sheets called cels (short for celluloid). The
lines are traced in ink and the colors are added on the
reverse side so that the colors appear even when viewing
from the front. Before cels, each frame of film was a
completely new painting with the character and background
painted each time.
The completed cels are laid one by one over the background and
each is photographed on an animation stand. When the film is fed
through a projector at a fast rate, the images move. Today, many
animators work almost exclusively on computers. It is still timeconsuming but perhaps not as labor intensive as the traditional
animation method.
Text from: ezinearticles.com/Cartoons and news.softpedia.com/news/
7
LESSON PLANS AND CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
HOW TO CREATE AN ANIMATION CEL: Animated cartoons are created with cels. Short for celluloid
acetate, a cel is made from a clear plastic material that the characters are painted on. Each cel represents
one frame, or one movement of a character in a film. There are 24 frames per second that are photographed
in succession and create the illusion of movement.
Materials: Acrylic Paints, brushes, Acetate transparencies (heat safe, for copiers), sketching paper, sharpies,
toothpicks, tape, thin, cotton gloves (optional)
Process:
Step 1: Draw a single panel cartoon on a notebook sized piece of sketch paper. Finish and tighten the
drawing by darkening the lines with sharpie marker.
Step 2: Photocopy the darkened line drawing onto a heat-safe, copier transparency.
Step 3: Turn the ink-side or line-side of the transparency over because you don’t want to paint over the
image outline. Paint the cartoon using acrylic paints. Begin by filling in the drawing’s smallest details first.
You’ll need a very small brush. Wait for small areas to dry.
Step 4: Fill in a large area with a larger brush. As you fill in each large area, you’ll need to wait for that area to
dry before filling in another area.
Step 5: If you make a mistake, use a toothpick to clear away any excess paint. As you paint, keep turning over
the cel to make sure that the colors are where you want them to be in relation to the image lines. You may
need to wear a glove to prevent oil getting on the acetate surface. You can also paint a whole background on
the acetate or you can paint a background on a separate piece of paper and just paint the figures on the
acetate. Then layer the acetate over the painted background.
From www.ehow.com
For more tips: http://animation.about.com/od/recommendedreading/ss/tradanimsupply.htm
FLIP BOOK ANIMATION: Flip Books are a type of animation made with multiple sheets of paper, showing a
series of pictures that changes gradually from one page to the next. Flipping the pages create the illusion of
movement for the viewer because of the “persistence of vision”. When the pages are seen in rapid
succession, they become animated. Flip Books evolved from thaumatropes, zoetropes and other early
devices of the 19th century that utilized the illusion of movement to delight and entertain.
Objective: Students will depict movement using simple flip book techniques and will be able to define basic
animation vocabulary: (persistence of vision, key frames and tweening ). See page 11 for definitions.
Introduction: Begin lesson by having students view Winsor McCay’s Gertie the Dinosaur (view on-line or DVD
available at KPL). In 1914, Gertie’s enormous bulk and lovable, innocent nature won audiences’ hearts,
establishing a beginning for the animated cartoon. After viewing, lead a classroom discussion about the
characters and animation.
Possible discussion questions: Why is Winsor McCay considered one of the first true animators? What do
you think McCay would think about the uses of animation in contemporary media? Describe the scene where
we see the stacks of paper that McCay used to draw his animated character. He needed so many drawings
because to trick the eye into perceiving smooth movement, he had to draw about 10 different frames per
second (FPS), meaning the viewer sees 10 different images every second.
Have students view other examples of student-made flip books on-line. You can also buy professional made
flip books such as those found on www.fliptomania.com or www.opticaltoys.com.
From www.teachanimation.org/pdf/Flipbooks.pdf
8
Materials: long strips of paper (2x8 in.) for 2-page flipbooks, index cards (at least 10/student for multiple
page flip books), pencils, markers, light table (to help view preceding image-can also use window),
registration devices such as clips or envelope corners
Getting Started with 2 page Flip Books!
Step 1: Fold a long strip of paper, about 2x8 in., in half.
Step 2: Lift up the top layer and draw an image near the bottom of the bottom layer. Using a fine tip black
marker will make the images easier to see, but color pencil can also be added.
Step 3: Lay the top layer back down and look closely to see the image underneath. Trace it again, changing
slightly its size, position or shape.
Step 4: Roll the top layer around a pencil and hold the paper down firmly at the top fold. Rolling the pencil
back and forth will reveal the images in rapid succession to create a quick, easy animation.
Creating Multiple Page Flip Books with Tweening
Step 1: Number all your index cards(10 is recommended) and begin drawing near the bottom of page one,
the first image of the flip book. Then draw the final image of the sequence. Stack the first and last images
together.
Step 2: Find the card that is numbered exactly halfway between the first and last images, and place it on top
of these two, in a stack. Using a light source (window or light table) to see through all three cards, draw on
the top card an image that approximates the midway point between the first and last images. These three
cards (first, middle, last) are considered the key frames that will be used to create the in-between
“morphing” or “tweening” stages.
Step 3: With each successive drawing, you will fill in the cards halfway between the ones you have already
drawn, until all have been done. As you fill in the cards between the important key frames, it is important to
check your numbers and put cards back in order every now and then to make sure the images align well and
the motion is progressing properly. The in-between cards represent the “morphing” stages and should have
minor alterations to produce continuous movement.
Step 4: To see the results of your flipbook, place the cards back in sequential order, tap them gently on a
surface to align them at a slight angle, then hold the book/index cards in one hand so that you can flip
through the pages with the other.
OTHER POSSIBLE CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
Language Arts: Sequencing
• Watch a Warner Bros. cartoon as a class.. Have students write the main actions and put them in order (or
provide them a list of the main actions that they put in order). Assign students to illustrate one action in a
simple drawing on a small piece of paper and assemble all the pieces in order to create a storyboard.
Science: Motion and Animation
• Have students research persistence of vision and the theories about this phenomenon. Students can work
in groups and present their findings. They can also try to make thaumatropes or phenakistoscopes to
illustrate what they learned.
• Students could also research new computer animation technologies and try to create their own computer
animated cartoon.
History
• Students can research the story of Warner Bros., its cartoons, the history of animation/animated cartoons
and even research other animation companies like Disney, Hanna-Barbera, Pixar, etc.
9
VOCABULARY AND ANIMATION RESOURCES
Animate: to make, design, or produce (a cartoon) so as to create the illusion of motion.
Animated Cartoon: a motion picture consisting of a photographed series of drawings.
Animation: the art and process of preparing animated cartoons.
Animator: an artist who prepares or produces an animated cartoon.
Cartoon: a sketch or drawing, usually humorous which symbolizes or satirizes some action.
Cel: short for celluloid, a cel is a sheet of plastic upon which characters are painted for an animated cartoon.
The cel can be laid over various backgrounds and photographed.
Director: a person who oversees every aspect of the creation of an animated cartoon, from the story idea to
the final timings and synchronization of image, movement and sound.
Key Frames: frames containing important changes in the subject of animation; i.e. changes in the drawing,
changes in the set up, background or important stages of movement, etc.
Persistence of vision: a theory that as the eye sees a series of still images very quickly, our eyes have sensors
that retain each image for a moment, making us perceive the series as one continuous image. Animated
cartoons work on the basis of this theory.
Storyboard: a giant sized comic strip that describes the developing story for an animated cartoon.
Tweening: the process of filling in the frames between the key frames in an animation so that transitions are
smooth and correlate to the number of frames per second required for a particular scene. Also called
“morphing.”
Books on Warner Bros. available at the Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
Beck, Jerry and Will Friedwald, Warner Bros. Animation Art: The Characters, the Creators, The Limited
Editions, 1997.
Jones, Chuck. Chuck Amuck: The Life and Times of An Animated Cartoonist, 1989.
Books on Warner Bros. available at the Kalamazoo Public Library
Adamson, Joe. Bugs Bunny, Fifty Years and Only One Grey Hare. 791.43 A221
Beck, Jerry and Will Friedwald, Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies: A Complete Illustrated Guide to the
Warner Bros. Cartoons 791.43 13394
Lenburg, Jeff. The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. 791.43 L563.1C
Who’s Who in Animated Cartoons: An International Guide to Film and Television’s Awardwinning and Legendary Animators. 791.43 L563.2
Levitan, Eli L. Handbook of Animation Techniques. 788.5 L666
Maltin, Leonard. Of Mice and Magic: A History of American Animated Cartoons. 791.43 A221
Schneider, Steve. That’s All Folks!: The Art of Warner Bros. Animation. 791.43 S359
10
Animation Resources
Beck, Jerry. Animation Art: From Pencil to Pixel, The History of Cartoon, Anime and CGI. 791.43 A598
Jenkins, Patrick. Animation: How to Draw Your Own Flipbooks and other Fun Ways to Make Cartoons Move
J 778 J (Juvenile)
Korkis, Jim. Cartoon Confidential: Everything You Always Wanted to Know. 741.2 K85
Nardo, Don. Animation: Drawings Spring to Life. 778.5 N224 YP (for teens)
Sacks, Terence J. Opportunities in Cartooning and Animation Careers. 741.2 S1219
Solomon, Charles. The History of Animation: Enchanted Drawings. 791.43 S689
Videos
Chuck Jones: Extremes and In Between (A Life in Animation), 2000.
The Library of Congress and Smithsonian Video presents Origins of American Animation: 1900-1921.
How Walt Disney Cartoons are Made- //www.youtube.com/watch?V=mhfp628zlcI
Websites
www.animationusa.com
http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Warner_Bros_ (Big Cartoon Database)
www.answers.com
http://www.warnerbros.com/ (Official Warner Bros. website)
http://looneytunes.kidswb.com/ (Warner Bros. cartoons and games for kids)
www.museum.tv (Museum of Broadcast Communication)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warner_Bros.
11
12
THE LOONY BIN: THE ANIMATION PROCESS