Hello everyone, welcome to the "Anime Time Machine" dedicated to "old anime".
Perhaps there will be very few such cartoons, as long as its name is mentioned, the elderly, adults, children have all heard of it. "Tom and Jerry" is such an animation, this animation born in 1940, in this world for 80 years, but still maintain a strong vitality and influence. It has won the Academy Award seven times in those 80 years, and it is undoubtedly a classic in the history of world animation.
So why is such an animation that looks "low-childish" be hailed as a classic? Tom and Jerry is a children's work, which is true, because in the era when "Tom and Jerry" was born, animation itself was a work of art that pleased children, especially in Europe and the United States, when there was no real sense of youth or adult animation.
As a film for young children, Tom and Jerry does what it should do most – vivid images. These four words sound easy, but even in today's increasingly developed animation technology, not every animation can be realized. In order to make an animation vivid and vivid, there are many things that animators have to do, dubbing, soundtrack, expression portrayal, action design, sub-shot performance, color performance...
This time, we will mainly talk about how "Tom and Jerry" achieves "vivid image" from the perspective of "expression portrayal".
How important are the "emoticons" in animation?
"Expressions" are a human instinct, and from the moment we are born, we know to cry to express our fear of the outside world. According to Darwin's The Expression of Man and Animal, the expression of man is also evolved, and human beings have evolved such a function over a long period of evolution, which can help us communicate with other people and the world.
Animation is an art taken from human life and reflecting human life.
If there is no depiction of "expressions" in an animation, its blow to an animation will be devastating. Because before communicating, people usually understand emotions through expressions, which is something that even "language" can't do. Imagine how boring the world would be if everyone in our lives lost their expressions.
Memes, "one of the greatest inventions of mankind in the 21st century"
What is the effect of the dull expression portrayal in the animation? Let's look at a negative example, the following picture comes from a "3D domestic animation giant" that cost more than 20 million yuan in 2010. This scene is the scene where the character "The Mother of the Boy" laughs and teases the child, but there is no expression on the character's face, like a wooden robot.
For children with low language skills, the importance of expression portrayal is self-evident. Children may not yet fully understand the meaning expressed in the lines, but they can fully understand the feelings of the characters through expressions.
Through better expression portrayal, the threshold of "empathy" can be lowered, and it can make it easier for children to fall in love with an animation.
Emoticons in Tom and Jerry
In addition to the movie, a total of 8 versions of Tom and Jerry were produced before and after. Every version of Tom and Jerry pays considerable attention to the "emoticonization" link, even the much-maligned version of Warner Flash in the later period.
Let's take a look at some of the facial expression scenes in Tom and Jerry.
In 1952's Flying Cats, Tom was having a bad idea
In 1967, In Nightmare Time, Tom woke up from a nightmare
In 1958, Robin Hood's Escape, Jerry screamed in pain as he was cut in the tail by Tom
The 2014 Warner version of Tom and Jerry lost the texture of hand-drawn, but still focused on expression
It can be seen that the expressions in "Tom and Jerry" are very exaggerated and figurative, and the cat will explode and the ears will stand up when afraid. Jerry's eyes were tightly closed when he was in pain, and his tongue bounced long to the outside of his mouth.
In addition to this obviously direct expression, Tom and Jerry is also very subtle when dealing with some delicate expressions. For example, in the 1948 "Truce Hurt", this episode is about Tom, Jerry, and Spike, that is, cats, mice and dogs, three friends who usually hurt each other, come to a "brotherhood", no longer fight each other, and love each other.
However, although they signed an agreement, they were actually "pregnant with ghosts", which was just a hypocritical alliance. In this episode, the three of them support each other to sit and eat, and the animation team very cleverly portrays this "false fake laugh".
"Exaggerated" expressions even replace language
In order to make the animation more vivid, the animation team members of MGM did this in the early years, they found a mirror, and while making various expressions in front of the mirror, they drew the expressions of the animated characters. In the process, they need to exaggerate their expressions as much as possible in order to better identify them. In the animation, this expression will be further exaggerated, making it appear a dramatic effect.
In fact, drawing expressions in the mirror is a production technique that is more common in European and American animation production companies in the last century. Disney, one of the world's greatest animation companies, also uses the "mirror copying method" when drawing animations such as Mickey Mouse, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.
Why are Europeans and Americans keen to exaggerate animated expressions? This is probably influenced by traditional European and American stage plays, vaudeville, burlesque and other art forms. In these popular arts of European and American people, "expressions" are a very important part, because "on the stage", you can only exaggerate the expressions as much as possible, and people in the audience will understand the moods and sorrows of the characters. The same is true of animation, and only by showing the expressions vividly and vividly can children understand the feelings of the animated characters.
American burlesque drama "Living Treasure Trio"
Everyone should notice that the two protagonists in "Tom and Jerry" basically have no lines. When I was a child, I may not have understood the deep meaning of such a design, but later I gradually realized that this is because their expressions have been rich enough to replace language. I think that's why men, women and children all over the world love Tom and Jerry.
Because language may become an obstacle to human communication, but expressions will not.
Well, about "Tom and Jerry" and everyone to talk to here, thank you for your attention and support to the ACG dimension meal!