Amanda Visell

I came across this illustrator whose work I fell in love with straight away. It is the very style that I am hoping to achieve in my final animation. Lovely texture use.

Check her out at http://www.amandavisell.com

Second Semester and My Project Statement!

Second semester has officially begun today. I feel rejuvenated and fresh and ready to go! We are to work for nine weeks on a final, self-directed major project.
I am to produce three animated spots produced for broadcast. These will be an educational series on safety and general awareness of the world around us. Aimed mostly at small children, each episode will deal with things as simple as road safety and as complex as environment awareness. The animation will be heavily character driven and will employ the modern style of cartoons from the 1950s and 1960s, inspired heavily by the studios from the likes of UPA (United Productions America) and Terrytoons.

Chris Harding

Here is an independent animator who uses Flash and After Effects to achieve a similar 50s animation aesthetic.

Learning Self Defence


Make Mine Shoebox

Disney's Turn

Toot, Whistle, Plunk and Boom



A Symposium of Popular Songs (1962)

Part 1



Part 2



The first animation is Disney's attempt at mimicking the UPA style. Whilst the traditional Disney style is still present, there has clearly been experimentation with the character design and backgrounds. It looks more modern and hip and has a more jazzy vibe to it.
"A Symposium of Popular Songs" is Disney's later experimentation with paper and stop motion. Again, it has bits that are traditionally drawn which I think are unnecessary but the stop motion part looks wonderful. It also looks modern and stylish. Its nice to know that Disney was capable of other things besides clinging to their trademark look.

UPA (United Productions of America)

Gerald McBoing Boing



The Unicorn in the Garden



Jot



Christopher Crumpet



Rooty, Toot, Toot



A collection of classic UPA cartoons. They were the benchmark company of the 1950s. Disney even tried to emulate their work.

Fyodor Khitruk - The Story of One Crime

Part 1

Part 2

This animation is probably from the 60's and its from one of the most famous Russian animators in Russia. He has a very unique and modern looking style which is quite recognizable, if you've seen any of his other work. It appears to me that this animation probably has been made using the paper-cut out technique. I really like the juxtaposition of solid color and photos. Creates a nice contrast.

Flebus (1957)

This film was produced by Terrytoons and was directed by Ernest Pintoff. It is considered one of the most modern looking cartoons from the studio. Everything in it is kept to the ultimate simplicity. The shapes, the characters as well as the narrative. The animation is quite limited but quite effective. Clearly, the "less is more" approach works every time.