The Al Welch Experience No.2
Compare and Contrast: by Alexander Elliott-Welch
RICHARD WILLIAMS (b. 19/03/1933) and WILL VINTON (b.17/10/1947)
**************************************************
INTRODUCTION
This essay is to show how similar these two animators were and there are some differences. They both did commercials/advertisements for television, but worked with different projects and different techniques. What was interesting is this: How did Will Vinton make the Raisins? Why did they give an animated short Oscar to a television special by Richard Williams?
**************************************************
RICHARD WILLIAMS
GENRE: 2D Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Drama, and Family
Born in Toronto, Canada, Richard Williams was encouraged to draw at the age of two by his artistic parents. At the age of fifteen, he withdrew all of his savings and invested them in a journey to the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, U.S.A. After that, he was educated at Ontario College of Art and supplemented his income by moonlighting for various sponsors.
However, he was quickly to become disenchanted by the whole Walt Disney system and after that, he spent two years in Ibiza, Spain; his "beach bum" period where he painted, sunbathed, swam in the ocean and played jazz. These items gave him the idea for his first film, "The Little Island" (1958), and so, he packed his drawings for his film and went off to England, arriving at the door of TVC "Television Cartoons" Studios in London. His idea for moving to London because on Thursday 22nd September 1955, Independent Television (ITV) has started broadcasting in the London area only, with Associated-Rediffusion (weekdays) and ATV London (weekends). It was the start of commercial television in the United Kingdom.
He supplemented the cost of "The Little Island" by working on commercials for dog food, Guinness, and Mother's Pride sliced bread, during the day and his own project by night.
After working three years of late nights and weekends, the film was completed, with assistance from George Dunning (1920-1979), his staff and the equipment. Made in Eastman Colour by Humphries, the thirty-three minutes animated feature won a BAFTA award for Best Animated Film in 1959.
During his more than fifty years in the business, Richard Williams has been one of the true innovators and serves as the link between the Golden Age of animation by hand and the new computer animation successes. Perhaps even more important has been his dedication to passing along his knowledge to a new generation of animators so that they in turn can push the medium in new directions.
He and his studio went on to make "A Christmas Carol" (1971 TV movie, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1972), Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), the title sequences for "The Return of the Pink Panther" and "The Pink Panther Strikes Again", numerous television and film advertisements for Britain and international, numerous title sequences, and the infamous "The Thief and the Cobbler" (1964-1995).
The visual style of "A Christmas Carol" is it has a distinctive look, created by multiple pans and zooms and by innovative, unexpected scene transitions. The visual style, largely due to Ken Harris, credited as "Master Animator", was inspired by the 19th century engraved illustrations of the original story by John Leech and the pen and ink renderings by illustrator Milo Winter that graced 1930s editions of the books.
"A Christmas Carol" was considered so well done, that it was subsequently released theatrically (thereby rendering it eligible for Oscar consideration). It won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 45th Academy Awards and to this day remains the only film adaptation of Dickens' story to be so honoured. But, some insiders was so unhappy that a short originally shown on television was given the award, that the Academy changed its policy, disqualifying any future works initially shown on television.
He made them with the help from many animation veterans including Art Babbitt (famous for starting the Disney strike of 1941, and original creator of Goofy), Eric Goldberg (started in Richard Williams Studio in the 1980s), Ken Harris (Master Animator and Warner Bros. veteran), Milt Kahl (Disney veteran), Grim Natwick (original creator of Betty Boop), Frank Thomas (Disney veteran), and many more.
In 1988, he was the Director of Animation for the Touchstone film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", a live-action/animated movie feature directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd, with the voices of Charles Fleischer, Lou Hirsch and Kathleen Turner (uncredited). He also did the voice for Droopy.
Richard Williams used traditional materials in his animations, such as:
Paper
Pencil
Sharpener (in case pencil get run out or broke)
Eraser (in case of a mistake)
Acetate (paint and trace)
Paint (paint and trace)
Marker (paint and trace)
Williams constantly trained and sharpened his own skills and those of his animators, which give his own skills and those of his animators, which gave his studio the dexterity to experiment in a variety of styles, from abstraction to classic cartoon. In whatever style of format, however, the visuals came first. Williams's feature-film titles and commercials were so extraordinary that they were screened at animation festivals worldwide.
At the 61st Academy Awards, the film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", won Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing. Richard Williams won the Special Achievement Award at the same night.
After a lifetime spent in animation, Williams was voted "The Animator's Animator" in 1990.
In 2001, his book "The Animator's Survival Kit" was released, soon to be followed by the DVD version entitled "The Animator's Survival Kit- Animated" by the Richard Williams' Animation Masterclass. The expanded edition of the book was released in 2009.
Today, Williams tours the world, giving lectures and teaching an animation Masterclass. He remains highly regarded in the animation community for his superior artistry and commitment to the art form.
He currently lives in Bristol with his fourth wife, Imogen Sutton and two children, Leif and Natasha. He also has four children from two of his three previous marriages including Alexander Williams (animator) and Holly Williams-Brock (painter). Although uncredited, Alexander Williams was the voice of Tiny Tim, in Richard Williams' adaptation of "A Christmas Carol".
**************************************************
WILL VINTON
GENRE: Claymation®, Stop-Motion Animation, 3D Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Drama, and Family
Born in McMinnville, Oregon, he was enrolled at the University of California in Berkeley to pursue studies in physics, architecture and filmmaking. Interested by the designs created in clay similar to the work of the Spanish Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), he began experimenting with clay animation.
Then, he entered into a world of film production, working as a director, but also as a writer, cinematographer and editor on a variety of any entertainment projects he prefer. In 1975, Will won an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Animated Films at the 47th Academy Awards for the film "Closed Mondays" (1974) with the collaboration of Bob Gardiner (1951-2005).
When Gardiner left the partnership, Vinton went on to create Will Vinton Studios and in 1976, he coined the term Claymation® to describe his unique process of animating with plasticine clay. In the next decade, he made a series of short films, including:
• Martin the Cobbler (1977)
• Rip Van Winkle (1978) – Oscar nominated
• The Little Prince (1979)
• Dinosaur (1980, released on video in 1987)
• The Creation (1981) – Oscar nominated
• The Great Cognito (1982) – Oscar nominated
• Michael Jackson "Speed Demon", music video (1989)
Commercials included:
• The California Raisins (1986)
• The Domino's Pizza Noid (1986)
• The M&M's Spots (CGI)
Feature films including:
• Return to Oz (Claymation® producer and director)(1983) – Oscar nominated
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985) – UK Video title: "Comet Quest"
And a range of television series and specials including:
• Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987) – Winner of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1988
• The PJs – created by Eddie Murphy (1999-2001) – winner of three Emmy Awards and one Annie Award
• Five "Cecille" shorts for Sesame Street (from 1990)
The California Raisins were created from different colours of Van Aiken clay, including yellow, blue and white, resulting in Raisin Purple.
Other characters were also constructed from Van Aiken clay.
When he's not in Los Angeles, London, or New York, Will lives in a house that he built on the banks of the Willamette River, nr. Portland, Oregon. He enjoys snow skiing, water sports and a Northwest lifestyle with his wife, Gillian, two sons, Billy and Jesse, and daughter, Alexandra.
Will Vinton has done more than anyone in the United States to keep the art of stop-motion animation alive and vital.
**************************************************
FIRST CONCLUSION
What I have found is that they were quite alike in the sort of animation they produced, even though there are differences. Will works on a computer and with clay, while Richard animates cartoons, the traditional way. They were similar, but worked in different locations. Both made commercials, award-winning short films and feature films. The important difference is that although, Richard Williams and Will Vinton worked on animation, they worked in different styles with different materials at different locations. Will Vinton made the California Raisins from different colours of clay, resulting in Raisin Purple. Richard Williams' version of "A Christmas Carol", a television special, is so good, they released it theatrically, thus rendering eligible for the Oscars, and won the award for Best Animated Short Film. Will Vinton worked in stop-motion animation and Richard Williams was the link between animation by hand and the new computer animation that started at that time. As can be seen from the images, Richard Williams' style is delicate and Will Vinton's style is quite chunky. The way they use colour is quite similar. They both use bright colours, but Richard Williams uses darker tones.
SECOND CONCLUSION
"Synopsis"
WHAT IS THE DIFFERING STYLE BETWEEN THE ANIMATORS I'VE LOOKED AT?
• Richard Williams' animated films are being drawn in different styles, whether it was either delicate (e.g. "A Christmas Carol" and "Thief and the Cobbler") or limited (e.g. The Little Island"). Will Vinton's animated shorts were quite chunky during the early years (e.g. "Closed Mondays"), and then, they were getting a tad smoother throughout the later years.
HOW DO THE ARTISTS USE IMAGERY TO CONVEY IDEAS AND FEELINGS?
• During the first half of Richard Williams' "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge was shown as miserable, and at the end, he was a changed man, with a happy expression. In one of the Will Vinton's "California Raisins" commercials, the expression of the workman is amazement to see his raisins come to life.
IN MY OPINON, HOW SUCCESSFUL ARE THE ARTISTS BY USING IMAGERY TO CONVEY THE NARRATIVE EXPRESS CHARACTERIZATION AND CONVEY IDEAS AND FEELINGS?
• Both artists are quite successful in using forms of expressions and characterization in conveying ideas and feelings. It can be seen from examples in their work.
What are the similarities between VICTORIAN ARTWORK and RICHARD WILLIAMS' A CHRISTMAS CAROL?
• Richard Williams' A Christmas Carol was drawn in a realistic style and it was similar to Victorian illustration. The colour that are used are brown, beige, light yellow, black and white shades, giving effect of the old Victorian photographs with a sepia quality.
EXAMPLES OF THE WORKS FROM WILL VINTON
• In contrast, Will Vinton's artwork is heavily influenced by American popular culture characters based on popular culture stereotypes from a world of music and entertainment. Will also followed a tradition of the American animation and inspired by animators (mainly Warner Bros. or Walt Disney Animation Studios). Artists and sculptures also influenced him.
*************************************************
REFERENCE:
RICHARD WILLIAMS
Animation Art, p.188-189, Graham Webb, general editor: Jerry Beck, Flame Tree Publishing, 2004
Outlaw Animation, p.51, Jerry Beck, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003
The Animator's Survival Kit Animated – Richard Williams Biography
http://www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/biography.html
(Viewed on 2011-11-28)
WILL VINTON
Animation Art, p.250, Harvey Deneroff, general editor: Jerry Beck, Flame Tree Publishing, 2004
Outlaw Animation,p.50, Jerry Beck, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003
Will Vinton's Animation Art Collection
http://willvinton.net/bioFilm.htm
RICHARD WILLIAMS (b. 19/03/1933) and WILL VINTON (b.17/10/1947)
**************************************************
INTRODUCTION
This essay is to show how similar these two animators were and there are some differences. They both did commercials/advertisements for television, but worked with different projects and different techniques. What was interesting is this: How did Will Vinton make the Raisins? Why did they give an animated short Oscar to a television special by Richard Williams?
**************************************************
RICHARD WILLIAMS
GENRE: 2D Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Drama, and Family
Born in Toronto, Canada, Richard Williams was encouraged to draw at the age of two by his artistic parents. At the age of fifteen, he withdrew all of his savings and invested them in a journey to the Walt Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California, U.S.A. After that, he was educated at Ontario College of Art and supplemented his income by moonlighting for various sponsors.
However, he was quickly to become disenchanted by the whole Walt Disney system and after that, he spent two years in Ibiza, Spain; his "beach bum" period where he painted, sunbathed, swam in the ocean and played jazz. These items gave him the idea for his first film, "The Little Island" (1958), and so, he packed his drawings for his film and went off to England, arriving at the door of TVC "Television Cartoons" Studios in London. His idea for moving to London because on Thursday 22nd September 1955, Independent Television (ITV) has started broadcasting in the London area only, with Associated-Rediffusion (weekdays) and ATV London (weekends). It was the start of commercial television in the United Kingdom.
He supplemented the cost of "The Little Island" by working on commercials for dog food, Guinness, and Mother's Pride sliced bread, during the day and his own project by night.
After working three years of late nights and weekends, the film was completed, with assistance from George Dunning (1920-1979), his staff and the equipment. Made in Eastman Colour by Humphries, the thirty-three minutes animated feature won a BAFTA award for Best Animated Film in 1959.
During his more than fifty years in the business, Richard Williams has been one of the true innovators and serves as the link between the Golden Age of animation by hand and the new computer animation successes. Perhaps even more important has been his dedication to passing along his knowledge to a new generation of animators so that they in turn can push the medium in new directions.
He and his studio went on to make "A Christmas Carol" (1971 TV movie, went on to win the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film in 1972), Raggedy Ann and Andy: A Musical Adventure (1977), the title sequences for "The Return of the Pink Panther" and "The Pink Panther Strikes Again", numerous television and film advertisements for Britain and international, numerous title sequences, and the infamous "The Thief and the Cobbler" (1964-1995).
The visual style of "A Christmas Carol" is it has a distinctive look, created by multiple pans and zooms and by innovative, unexpected scene transitions. The visual style, largely due to Ken Harris, credited as "Master Animator", was inspired by the 19th century engraved illustrations of the original story by John Leech and the pen and ink renderings by illustrator Milo Winter that graced 1930s editions of the books.
"A Christmas Carol" was considered so well done, that it was subsequently released theatrically (thereby rendering it eligible for Oscar consideration). It won an Oscar for Best Animated Short Film at the 45th Academy Awards and to this day remains the only film adaptation of Dickens' story to be so honoured. But, some insiders was so unhappy that a short originally shown on television was given the award, that the Academy changed its policy, disqualifying any future works initially shown on television.
He made them with the help from many animation veterans including Art Babbitt (famous for starting the Disney strike of 1941, and original creator of Goofy), Eric Goldberg (started in Richard Williams Studio in the 1980s), Ken Harris (Master Animator and Warner Bros. veteran), Milt Kahl (Disney veteran), Grim Natwick (original creator of Betty Boop), Frank Thomas (Disney veteran), and many more.
In 1988, he was the Director of Animation for the Touchstone film "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?", a live-action/animated movie feature directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Bob Hoskins and Christopher Lloyd, with the voices of Charles Fleischer, Lou Hirsch and Kathleen Turner (uncredited). He also did the voice for Droopy.
Richard Williams used traditional materials in his animations, such as:
Paper
Pencil
Sharpener (in case pencil get run out or broke)
Eraser (in case of a mistake)
Acetate (paint and trace)
Paint (paint and trace)
Marker (paint and trace)
Williams constantly trained and sharpened his own skills and those of his animators, which give his own skills and those of his animators, which gave his studio the dexterity to experiment in a variety of styles, from abstraction to classic cartoon. In whatever style of format, however, the visuals came first. Williams's feature-film titles and commercials were so extraordinary that they were screened at animation festivals worldwide.
At the 61st Academy Awards, the film, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit", won Best Film Editing, Best Visual Effects and Best Sound Editing. Richard Williams won the Special Achievement Award at the same night.
After a lifetime spent in animation, Williams was voted "The Animator's Animator" in 1990.
In 2001, his book "The Animator's Survival Kit" was released, soon to be followed by the DVD version entitled "The Animator's Survival Kit- Animated" by the Richard Williams' Animation Masterclass. The expanded edition of the book was released in 2009.
Today, Williams tours the world, giving lectures and teaching an animation Masterclass. He remains highly regarded in the animation community for his superior artistry and commitment to the art form.
He currently lives in Bristol with his fourth wife, Imogen Sutton and two children, Leif and Natasha. He also has four children from two of his three previous marriages including Alexander Williams (animator) and Holly Williams-Brock (painter). Although uncredited, Alexander Williams was the voice of Tiny Tim, in Richard Williams' adaptation of "A Christmas Carol".
**************************************************
WILL VINTON
GENRE: Claymation®, Stop-Motion Animation, 3D Animation, Comedy, Fantasy, Drama, and Family
Born in McMinnville, Oregon, he was enrolled at the University of California in Berkeley to pursue studies in physics, architecture and filmmaking. Interested by the designs created in clay similar to the work of the Spanish Catalan architect Antonio Gaudi (1852-1926), he began experimenting with clay animation.
Then, he entered into a world of film production, working as a director, but also as a writer, cinematographer and editor on a variety of any entertainment projects he prefer. In 1975, Will won an Oscar for Best Short Subject, Animated Films at the 47th Academy Awards for the film "Closed Mondays" (1974) with the collaboration of Bob Gardiner (1951-2005).
When Gardiner left the partnership, Vinton went on to create Will Vinton Studios and in 1976, he coined the term Claymation® to describe his unique process of animating with plasticine clay. In the next decade, he made a series of short films, including:
• Martin the Cobbler (1977)
• Rip Van Winkle (1978) – Oscar nominated
• The Little Prince (1979)
• Dinosaur (1980, released on video in 1987)
• The Creation (1981) – Oscar nominated
• The Great Cognito (1982) – Oscar nominated
• Michael Jackson "Speed Demon", music video (1989)
Commercials included:
• The California Raisins (1986)
• The Domino's Pizza Noid (1986)
• The M&M's Spots (CGI)
Feature films including:
• Return to Oz (Claymation® producer and director)(1983) – Oscar nominated
• The Adventures of Mark Twain (1985) – UK Video title: "Comet Quest"
And a range of television series and specials including:
• Will Vinton's A Claymation Christmas Celebration (1987) – Winner of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program in 1988
• The PJs – created by Eddie Murphy (1999-2001) – winner of three Emmy Awards and one Annie Award
• Five "Cecille" shorts for Sesame Street (from 1990)
The California Raisins were created from different colours of Van Aiken clay, including yellow, blue and white, resulting in Raisin Purple.
Other characters were also constructed from Van Aiken clay.
When he's not in Los Angeles, London, or New York, Will lives in a house that he built on the banks of the Willamette River, nr. Portland, Oregon. He enjoys snow skiing, water sports and a Northwest lifestyle with his wife, Gillian, two sons, Billy and Jesse, and daughter, Alexandra.
Will Vinton has done more than anyone in the United States to keep the art of stop-motion animation alive and vital.
**************************************************
FIRST CONCLUSION
What I have found is that they were quite alike in the sort of animation they produced, even though there are differences. Will works on a computer and with clay, while Richard animates cartoons, the traditional way. They were similar, but worked in different locations. Both made commercials, award-winning short films and feature films. The important difference is that although, Richard Williams and Will Vinton worked on animation, they worked in different styles with different materials at different locations. Will Vinton made the California Raisins from different colours of clay, resulting in Raisin Purple. Richard Williams' version of "A Christmas Carol", a television special, is so good, they released it theatrically, thus rendering eligible for the Oscars, and won the award for Best Animated Short Film. Will Vinton worked in stop-motion animation and Richard Williams was the link between animation by hand and the new computer animation that started at that time. As can be seen from the images, Richard Williams' style is delicate and Will Vinton's style is quite chunky. The way they use colour is quite similar. They both use bright colours, but Richard Williams uses darker tones.
SECOND CONCLUSION
"Synopsis"
WHAT IS THE DIFFERING STYLE BETWEEN THE ANIMATORS I'VE LOOKED AT?
• Richard Williams' animated films are being drawn in different styles, whether it was either delicate (e.g. "A Christmas Carol" and "Thief and the Cobbler") or limited (e.g. The Little Island"). Will Vinton's animated shorts were quite chunky during the early years (e.g. "Closed Mondays"), and then, they were getting a tad smoother throughout the later years.
HOW DO THE ARTISTS USE IMAGERY TO CONVEY IDEAS AND FEELINGS?
• During the first half of Richard Williams' "A Christmas Carol", Scrooge was shown as miserable, and at the end, he was a changed man, with a happy expression. In one of the Will Vinton's "California Raisins" commercials, the expression of the workman is amazement to see his raisins come to life.
IN MY OPINON, HOW SUCCESSFUL ARE THE ARTISTS BY USING IMAGERY TO CONVEY THE NARRATIVE EXPRESS CHARACTERIZATION AND CONVEY IDEAS AND FEELINGS?
• Both artists are quite successful in using forms of expressions and characterization in conveying ideas and feelings. It can be seen from examples in their work.
What are the similarities between VICTORIAN ARTWORK and RICHARD WILLIAMS' A CHRISTMAS CAROL?
• Richard Williams' A Christmas Carol was drawn in a realistic style and it was similar to Victorian illustration. The colour that are used are brown, beige, light yellow, black and white shades, giving effect of the old Victorian photographs with a sepia quality.
EXAMPLES OF THE WORKS FROM WILL VINTON
• In contrast, Will Vinton's artwork is heavily influenced by American popular culture characters based on popular culture stereotypes from a world of music and entertainment. Will also followed a tradition of the American animation and inspired by animators (mainly Warner Bros. or Walt Disney Animation Studios). Artists and sculptures also influenced him.
*************************************************
REFERENCE:
RICHARD WILLIAMS
Animation Art, p.188-189, Graham Webb, general editor: Jerry Beck, Flame Tree Publishing, 2004
Outlaw Animation, p.51, Jerry Beck, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003
The Animator's Survival Kit Animated – Richard Williams Biography
http://www.theanimatorssurvivalkit.com/biography.html
(Viewed on 2011-11-28)
WILL VINTON
Animation Art, p.250, Harvey Deneroff, general editor: Jerry Beck, Flame Tree Publishing, 2004
Outlaw Animation,p.50, Jerry Beck, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 2003
Will Vinton's Animation Art Collection
http://willvinton.net/bioFilm.htm
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