An Example Of Narrative Animation
An Example of Narrative Animation: Duck Amuck
During the golden age of Hollywood short cartoons, from the 1930s to the 1950s, Disney and Warner Bros. were rivals. Disney animators had far greater resources at their disposal, and their animation was more elaborate and detailed than the simpler style of the Warner product. Warner cartoonists, despite their limited budgets, fought back by exploiting the comic fantasy possible in animated films and playing with the medium in imaginative ways.
In Warner Bros. cartoons, characters often spoke to the audience or referred to the animators and studio executives. For example, the Warner unit’s producer Leon Schlesinger appeared in You Ought to Be in Pictures, letting Porky Pig out of his contract so that he could try to move up to live-action features. The tone of the Warner cartoons distinguished them sharply from the Disney product. The action was faster and more violent. The main characters, such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, were wisecracking cynics rather than innocent altruists like Mickey Mouse.
The Warner animators tried many experiments over the years, but perhaps none was so extreme a s Duck Amuck, directed by Charles M. (Chuck) Jones in 1953. It is now recognized as one of the masterpieces of American animation. Although it was made within the Hollywood system and uses narrative form, it has an experimental feel because it asks the audience to take part in an exploration of techniques of cel animation.
As the film begins, it seems to be a swashbuckler of the sort Daffy Duck had appeared in before, such as The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950)—itself a parody of one of Errol Flynn’s most famous Warner Bros. films. The credits are written on a scroll fastened to a wooden door with a dagger, and when Daffy is first seen, he appears to be a dueling musketeer. But almost immediately he moves to the left and passes the edge of the painted background (10.102). Daffy is baffled, calls for scenery, and exits. A giant
During the golden age of Hollywood short cartoons, from the 1930s to the 1950s, Disney and Warner Bros. were rivals. Disney animators had far greater resources at their disposal, and their animation was more elaborate and detailed than the simpler style of the Warner product. Warner cartoonists, despite their limited budgets, fought back by exploiting the comic fantasy possible in animated films and playing with the medium in imaginative ways.
In Warner Bros. cartoons, characters often spoke to the audience or referred to the animators and studio executives. For example, the Warner unit’s producer Leon Schlesinger appeared in You Ought to Be in Pictures, letting Porky Pig out of his contract so that he could try to move up to live-action features. The tone of the Warner cartoons distinguished them sharply from the Disney product. The action was faster and more violent. The main characters, such as Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck, were wisecracking cynics rather than innocent altruists like Mickey Mouse.
The Warner animators tried many experiments over the years, but perhaps none was so extreme a s Duck Amuck, directed by Charles M. (Chuck) Jones in 1953. It is now recognized as one of the masterpieces of American animation. Although it was made within the Hollywood system and uses narrative form, it has an experimental feel because it asks the audience to take part in an exploration of techniques of cel animation.
As the film begins, it seems to be a swashbuckler of the sort Daffy Duck had appeared in before, such as The Scarlet Pumpernickel (1950)—itself a parody of one of Errol Flynn’s most famous Warner Bros. films. The credits are written on a scroll fastened to a wooden door with a dagger, and when Daffy is first seen, he appears to be a dueling musketeer. But almost immediately he moves to the left and passes the edge of the painted background (10.102). Daffy is baffled, calls for scenery, and exits. A giant