72 Years of Evolution in Animation: From Hand-Painted Cels to Computer-Assisted Creativity

Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" and Pixar's "WALL-E"

? David Carroll, September 2024, https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/dwcarroll/

When I visited Pixar Studios in May of 2009 as part of my work on the Sony Electronics digital cinema workflow project, I was amazed to learn about the lengthy creative processes that were behind Pixar’s unprecedented box office successes. WALL-E was featured with life-sized models in the Pixar lobby. Films like Toy Story, Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Ratatouille, WALL-E, and Up not only dominated the box office but also garnered critical acclaim and numerous awards.

Comparing the modern cinematic animation achievements of Pixar's "WALL-E" to another historical “first” – Walt Disney’s “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" allows us to see that regardless of changes in technology, many parts of the creative process remain the same, and still deeply involve human creativity and artistry.

Introduction

The world of animation has undergone a dramatic transformation since its inception. From the painstaking process of hand-painting individual cells to the cutting-edge use of generative AI, the tools and techniques available to animators have expanded exponentially. This evolution has profoundly impacted the creative process, artistry, emotional resonance, storytelling capabilities, and audience reception of animated films.

To explore these changes, we'll compare two landmark animated films: Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937) and Pixar's "WALL-E" (2008).

Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (1937)

Disney's "Snow White" represents the pinnacle of traditional, hand-crafted animation. The production process was an intricate and time-consuming affair, involving extensive story development meetings, hand-drawn storyboards, and character designs refined through countless sketches. The film required the hand-painting of over 200,000 cells, a testament to the labor-intensive nature of early animation. This meticulous process showcased the unparalleled artistry of human hands, with intricate, hand-painted backgrounds, fluid character movements achieved through frame-by-frame animation, and rich, vibrant colors mixed by skilled artists.

The result of this painstaking work was a film that captivated audiences with its expressive character animations, conveying deep emotions that resonated with viewers. "Snow White" adapted a timeless story from folklore, enhanced by memorable songs that furthered the narrative. Upon its release, the film was hailed as a technological marvel, praised for its artistic beauty, and found to be emotionally resonant with audiences of all ages.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs did not win a traditional Academy Award in the sense of Best Picture or Best Animated Feature (which didn't exist at the time). However, it did receive a unique and significant honor from the Academy.

At the 11th Academy Awards ceremony in 1939, Walt Disney was presented with an Honorary Academy Award for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. This special award consisted of one full-sized Oscar statuette and seven miniature ones, symbolizing Snow White and the seven dwarfs.

The award citation read:

"To Walt Disney for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, recognized as a significant screen innovation which has charmed millions and pioneered a great new entertainment field for the motion picture cartoon."

It's worth noting that this special recognition underscores how revolutionary Snow White was at the time, as the Academy felt the need to create a unique award to honor its achievements, given that there was no existing category that could adequately recognize its innovations in animation.

Pixar Studio's "WALL-E" (2008)

In contrast, Pixar's "WALL-E" utilized cutting-edge computer animation technology, representing a significant leap in the tools available to animators. The creative process involved 3D modeling and rigging of characters and environments, advanced rendering techniques for realistic textures and lighting, and computer-assisted animation for consistent character movements. However, it's crucial to note that while leveraging technology, "WALL-E" still required significant artistic input. Conceptual designs were translated into digital models, artistic direction was necessary for color palettes and lighting, and there was creative use of "camera" movements and framing in a virtual 3D space.

"WALL-E" pushed the boundaries of storytelling in animation, relying heavily on visual storytelling with minimal dialogue. The film explored complex themes like environmental conservation and human connection, featuring emotive robot characters that resonated deeply with audiences. This innovative approach was met with acclaim for its visual style, appreciation for its bold storytelling choices, and emotional engagement with the central characters, despite their non-human nature.

WALL-E won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature at the 81st Academy Awards ceremony in 2009. This was a significant achievement for Pixar Animation Studios and for the film's director, Andrew Stanton.

The recognition from the Academy for WALL-E underscores how far animation had come since Snow White's honorary award in 1939, with animated features now having their own competitive category and being recognized for their artistic and technical merits on par with live-action films.

Comparing 72 Years of Innovation

When comparing these two approaches, we see distinct differences in artistic expression. Traditional animation emphasizes the unique "hand" of the artist, while modern techniques allow for precise control and consistency, though sometimes at the cost of feeling less "organic". The resource requirements also differ significantly. Traditional animation is labor-intensive, requiring large teams of specialized artists, while modern methods are more efficient in some respects but introduce new complexities in technology management.

The storytelling capabilities of each method also vary. Traditional animation was limited by the practical constraints of hand-drawn work, while modern techniques expand possibilities for camera movements, environments, and character designs. Both approaches, however, succeed in creating emotional connections with the audience.

Traditional animation relies on the artist's ability to convey emotion through hand-drawn expressions and movements, while modern techniques use advanced technologies to create nuanced facial expressions and body language.

The Creative Heart of Animation: From Concept to Screen

While the technological advancements in animation are impressive, the core creative processes remain crucial to a film's success. Let's delve deeper into how these creative aspects have evolved from "Snow White" to "WALL-E" and beyond.

Story Development: Crafting Timeless Narratives

The story development process for "Snow White" was rooted in traditional storytelling methods. Walt Disney and his team spent months refining the classic fairy tale, adding character nuances and plot points to create a feature-length narrative. This process involved numerous story meetings, where ideas were pitched, discussed, and often acted out to gauge their effectiveness. The result was a well-structured, emotionally resonant story that set the template for future Disney classics.

In contrast, the development of "WALL-E" showcased a more iterative approach enabled by modern technology. Director Andrew Stanton and his team at Pixar used digital storyboarding tools that allowed for quick revisions and easy sharing of ideas. This flexibility permitted them to experiment with the film's unique narrative structure, particularly the dialogue-free opening act. The story evolved through countless digital iterations, with the team able to visualize and refine complex sequences long before animation began.

Visual Design and Color Management: Painting Emotions on Screen

Color and visual design play crucial roles in conveying emotion and atmosphere in animation. In "Snow White," the color palette was carefully handcrafted. Artists mixed paints to create the perfect hues for each scene, from the lush greens of the forest to the warm, inviting interior of the dwarfs' cottage. This meticulous process allowed for subtle emotional cues through color, enhancing the film's fairy tale atmosphere.

"WALL-E" took color management to new heights with digital tools. The film's distinct visual style - from the dusty, monochromatic Earth to the sterile white of the Axiom spaceship - was achieved through sophisticated colorscripts and lighting designs.

"Colorscripts are the sequential paintings that visually represent key story moments from each film and set the lighting, color, and tone during the filmmaking process." The Art of Pixar, ? Pixar 2020

These digital tools allowed the team to experiment with different color palettes and lighting scenarios quickly, fine-tuning the visual storytelling to enhance the emotional impact of each scene.

Character Development: Creating Relatable Personalities

Character development in "Snow White" relied heavily on the skills of Disney's legendary "Nine Old Men" animators, who worked at the studio from the 1920s to the 1980s. They brought characters to life through expressive hand-drawn animation, developing distinct personalities through subtle movements and facial expressions. The challenge was to make these fairy tale characters relatable and emotionally engaging, a task achieved through countless sketches and animation tests.

For "WALL-E," character development took on new dimensions. The challenge was to create empathy for a robot protagonist with limited facial features and no dialogue. Pixar's animators used sophisticated rigging systems to give WALL-E a wide range of expressive movements. They studied silent film actors like Charlie Chaplin to inform the character's physical comedy and emotional expressiveness. The result was a character that communicated volumes without words, connecting with audiences through pure visual storytelling.

Cinematography: New Frontiers in Visual Storytelling

Traditional animation, as seen in "Snow White," had inherent limitations in terms of cinematography. Camera movements were simulated through careful manipulation of hand-drawn elements, a time-consuming process that often limited the complexity of shots. Despite these constraints, Disney's artists created a sense of depth and movement through innovative multiplane camera techniques, adding richness to the visual storytelling.

Modern animation has revolutionized cinematography in animated features. In "WALL-E," the virtual camera could move freely through the 3D space, allowing for complex shots that would be impossible in traditional animation or even live-action filming. This flexibility enabled the team to create breathtaking space sequences and intimate character moments with equal ease.

Moreover, the digital nature of modern animation allows for unprecedented flexibility in refining the visual story. Unlike traditional animation, where changing a shot might require redrawing hundreds of frames, digital animation allows for tweaks and adjustments at various stages of production. Directors can refine camera angles, adjust timing, or even completely restage scenes without the need to start from scratch. This iterative process allows for a level of perfection and experimentation that was simply not feasible in the era of hand-drawn animation.

New Technologies vs Traditional Methods in Animation

The Scale of Animation: From Cottage Industry to Digital Empire

The evolution of animation technology hasn't just changed how films look and feel; it has dramatically altered the scale of production, the size and composition of animation teams, and the time required to bring these cinematic visions to life. Let's examine how these aspects have transformed from the era of "Snow White" to that of "WALL-E" and beyond.

Production Scale: From Handcrafted to High-Tech

"Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was a monumental undertaking for its time, pushing the boundaries of what was possible in animation. The production took place entirely within the confines of the Disney studios in Burbank, California. The physical space required was substantial, primarily to accommodate the large number of artists and the bulky equipment of the day. The studio needed room for animators' desks, painting stations for the inkers and painters, and the massive multiplane camera used for creating depth in certain scenes.

In contrast, the production of "WALL-E" was spread across a much larger, more technologically advanced facility. Pixar's Emeryville campus houses hundreds of high-powered computers, rendering farms, and specialized spaces for various stages of digital production. While the physical footprint might not be drastically larger than Disney's old studios, the technological infrastructure represents a quantum leap in production capabilities.

Modern animated features often leverage global talent pools, with work potentially distributed across multiple studios worldwide. This globalization of the animation industry has expanded the scale of production beyond a single physical location, allowing for 24-hour production cycles and access to diverse artistic talents.

Team Size and Composition: From Generalists to Specialists

The team that brought "Snow White" to life consisted of about 600 artists, predominantly animators, inkers, and painters. Most team members were generalists, often skilled in multiple aspects of the animation process. The studio employed 32 animators, 102 assistant animators and inbetweeners, 167 "inkers and painters," and 20 artists working on backgrounds.

By comparison, the credits for "WALL-E" list over 1,000 people, with roles ranging from traditional artistic positions to highly specialized technical jobs. The team included character designers, storyboard artists, and animators, but also rigging technical directors, shading artists, render wranglers, and simulation experts. This shift reflects the increasing complexity and specialization in modern animation production.

Today's animated features often involve even larger teams, sometimes numbering in the thousands, spread across multiple disciplines and often multiple countries. The rise of outsourcing in animation has further expanded the notion of the 'production team,' with certain aspects of production sometimes handled by specialized studios around the globe.

Production Time: From Years of Handiwork to Months of Rendering

The production of "Snow White" was a laborious process that took approximately three years, from 1934 to 1937. This lengthy timeline was largely due to the painstaking nature of hand-drawn animation. Each second of film required 24 individual drawings, resulting in hundreds of thousands of drawings for the entire film. The inking and painting process alone took a team of 167 artists an entire year to complete.

"WALL-E," despite its technological sophistication, also took about four years to produce, from 2003 to 2007. However, this timeline encompassed a much broader scope of work, including complex story development, character design, world-building, and technological problem-solving. The actual animation process, once the groundwork was laid, was significantly faster than traditional methods. However, the rendering process - where computers calculate the final images - was intensive, with some complex scenes taking up to 90 hours to render a single frame.

Modern animated features continue to have long production timelines, often 4-5 years from concept to release. However, these timelines now accommodate more iterations, revisions, and refinements than were possible in traditional animation. The ability to quickly revise and refine scenes digitally allows for a more flexible and iterative creative process.

The Impact of Scale on Creativity

The shift in production scale has had profound implications for creativity in animation. The larger teams and longer production times of modern animated features allow for unprecedented levels of detail and complexity. Every blade of grass, every hair, every subtle facial expression can be crafted and refined to perfection.

However, this scale also brings challenges. With larger teams comes the need for more rigid production pipelines and approval processes. The spontaneity and individual artistic expression that characterized early Disney productions can be harder to maintain in a large, complex production environment.

Yet, studios like Pixar have found ways to preserve creative spirit within this new paradigm. They emphasize a culture of collaboration and iteration, where ideas can come from anyone on the team and where the story and characters remain at the heart of the process, no matter how advanced the technology becomes.

The Convergence of Art and Technology

As we move further into the digital age, the line between traditional artistic skills, creativity, ?and technological prowess continues to blur. Modern animators are expected to be both artists and technicians, understanding both the principles of animation and the complexities of 3D software. This convergence has led to new creative possibilities, where the limitations are no longer technical but purely imaginative. These tools may allow for smaller, more agile teams to create high-quality animation more quickly and efficiently. However, as the history of animation has shown us, from "Snow White" to "WALL-E" and beyond, it's not the size of the team or the power of the technology that ultimately matters, but the creativity, passion, and vision of the artists bringing these worlds to life.

However, at its core, animation remains a deeply human art form. Whether hand-drawn or computer-generated, the most impactful animated films are those that connect with audiences on an emotional level. As "Snow White" and "WALL-E" both demonstrate, it's the heart of the story and the depth of the characters that truly bring an animated world to life. The tools may change, but the goal remains the same: to create magical, moving experiences that resonate with viewers long after the credits roll.

Note: The opinions expressed here are my own and do not reflect the views of my employer.

Copyright Disclaimer: This article is for educational and analytical purposes only. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a trademark of Disney Enterprises, Inc. "WALL-E" is a trademark of Disney/Pixar. All related characters, images, and properties mentioned in this article are the property of their respective owners. This article is not affiliated with, endorsed, sponsored, or specifically approved by The Walt Disney Company, Pixar Animation Studios, or their subsidiaries. No copyright infringement is intended. Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

#AnimationEvolution #PixarvsDisney #CreativeTechnology #DigitalAnimation #Storytelling #AnimationHistory #FilmInnovation #CreativeProcess #AnimationArtistry #TechInFilm