Animation Pioneers

The animation industry has always been moved forward by people who bridge the gap between technician and artist. John Randolph Bray was perhaps one of the most important figures in the early days of animation. Bray was always looking for the balance between quantity and quality. This drove him to find inventive ways of overcoming hurdles related to producing animation, such as the shear volume of individual drawing it takes to create believable motion. Many of the animators at the time were comic strip artist who worked primarily alone. Although Winsor McCay, creator of Little Nemo, employed his young neighbor to assist with backgrounds for his dinosaur animation Gertie, he primarily worked alone. Bray realized that in order to be successful at animation there needed to be more efficient distributed processes for achieving quality animation. His animation patents helped to document his attempts and allowed others insight into his processes helping to move the entire industry forward.
Although Bray was instrumental in improving the process for creating animation it was Winsor McCay who set the bar on quality. The quality of his drawing was reminiscent of the work of his comic strips. Some historians cite Gertie as the first real animated character, I believe this was due to impact and quality of McCay’s animated image. McCay would stand in front of the screen where Gertie was being projected and interact with her. He would finish the show by entering the cartoon world and riding off with her. Gertie exhibited many of the same emotions as it’s animation predecessors, but Gertie’s constant motion and dog-like portrayal connected with people on a deeper level. 

Animation like many industries tends to move forward with the help of technology and innovation. Animation has seen a wave of changes since the application of 3D techniques, what do you think will be the next big technology in animation?