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Library Assignment :)

The article I chose, "When Ai can make art - What does it mean for creativity?" written by Laurie Clarkie about AI art, briefly discusses the rise of AI art, and the copyright concerns of those in the creative field. These concerns go over the pushback with artists, and how AI algorithms are trained on copyrighted artworks.

I chose this article because I wanted to research something related to the rise of AI art, and how many people perceive AI art as something to awe at, without seeing how it hurts the real humans behind AI art. As AI art further progresses and improves, there have been many situations where companies will try to get away with AI art. For example, Riot games has been in two situations where they were caught using AI art, which is extremely disheartening as an artist. More examples including amazon using AI to produce artwork for an upcoming show. Book publishers have been caught using AI art for book covers as well,

I was not familiar with this specific article, but when I was researching AI art and diving deeper, supposedly private medical pictures was used as training data for an AI generator called LAION-5B. Apparently adult entertainment was also used as training data for some AI generators, but I couldn't really find any more information on it, so I would take this bit of information with a grain of salt. Another quick note is that because the sampling is so rampant and uncontrolled, Getty Images actually sued Stable Diffusion, a popular AI art generator.

I think people who are interested in AI art would really benefit from reading this article. AI art continues to improve, which poses a problem for the genuine artists which the AI generated art samples from. As it stands today, AI art is still too new of a topic to truly see where the damage lies, but I hope that people will be able to sympathize with artists and help those who's intellectual property has been stolen.

LINKS:

(2 of the YouTube videos are covered by a person who discusses news about League of Legends and Riot Games)

(Here is the reuploaded video of the Riot games AI cinematic. )

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The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989)

The Super Mario Bros. Super Show! (1989)

Director: Dan Riba

Technique

The Mario brothers show is fully animated with color and sound, and a surprising addition of live action scenes.

Representation

This show has a lot of weird moments, for example Link and Zelda being present in this show, live action segments, and sitcom moments galore. The show had 65 episodes, airing from September 4 to December 1st, with each episode ranging from 20 to 22 minutes.

The brothers are Italian-American plumbers from Brooklyn, whereupon trying to fix a bathtub drain, they're teleported into the world of the mushroom kingdom, and must team up with Princess Toadstool (now known as Princess Peach) and Toad to thwart King Koopa's (now known as Bowser) evil plans.

The show plot parodies books, movies, or historical events, with the group often getting up to shenanigans.

Reception

Based off the reception from then and now, The Mario Bros became a meme with the younger generation, but when it first came out, nobody really liked the show. A lot of feedback on the show is mostly about how it tried to do too much at the same time, and the show was just odd in general.

Fun Fact! The first Super Mario Bros Movie was so abhorrently bad, that Nintendo actually withheld the rights to Mario for years!

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Mahō no Mako-chan (1970-1971)

Mahou no Mako-Chan (1970-1971)

Director: Yugo Serikawa, Produced by Toei Animation

Technique

Mahou is a fully animated television series, with full watercolor backgrounds and sound.

Representation

Maho no Mako-Chan is loosely based off the famous 1837 tale "The Little Mermaid" By Hans Christian Andersen.

The first episode is roughly about 18-20 minutes, with the basic plot synopsis being that Mako disobeys a strict law: Mermaids cannot look at anything above the water. When she breaks the law and spots a young boy, she falls in love and begins to yearn for him. Shortly after she tries to get the boy's attention, she is swept back into the ocean by her father, the dragon king. With her longing to see the boy on the cruise again, her mother encourages her to follow her feelings, but notes that she will face the consequences if she does so.

Mako surfaces above the water once more, seeking out the cruise ship with the boy she longs for, but once she spots it, a tsunami hits and the boy begins to drown. Upon the first touch of a human, she becomes less of a mermaid, but Mako sets her mind to becoming human in order to be with him.

The dragon king soon finds Mako after her encounter with the boy, intending to punish her, yet Mako sends herself to her grandmother, a wicked sea witch to be punished. Upon punishment, she begs to be turned into a human, with her grandmother finally relenting when she swims into magic that may kill her.

Mako finally begins to swim up to the shore again, being stopped one final time by her father, yet Mako never wavers, and finally reaches the shore. Once she does, she swallows the tear that will finally turn her into a human.

Reception

Once again, reception was hard to find, but based off some quick reviews, Maho No Mako-chan received some mixed reviews, landing a 6.9/10. While this is based of off the famous story of the little mermaid by Hans Christian Andersen, the story is very loosely based off the story, with very few similar story beats.

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The Fly (1967)

The Fly (1967)

Directors: Vladimir Jutrisa, Aleksandar Marks.

*please note that I couldn't find much in terms of information, and the information itself is also quite conflicting.

Technique

The fly is a silent short film, seemingly created via hand drawn animation, although I'm not sure what type of color technique was used.

Representation

In the 9 minute film, A man is initially shown being bothered by a fly. However, once the man crushes the fly with his foot, the fly grows under his feet. The fly continues to grow until it eventually shatters the scene, terrifying the man. Eventually, by the end of the short film, they come to an agreement.

Based on what I could find, I'm assuming this was based around the political climate of Yugoslavia. The constitution from 1944-1945 was closely based on the Soviet Union, but by 1963, new constitutions allowed for power to be steadily shifted down from federal level to the common people, such as municipalities.

Based on the geopolitical environment, it is assumed that the man could represent a higher power, for example, the government, and the fly could be the common people. The fly growing in size could possibly be the people revolting and or/unionizing, causing the government to come to an agreement with the people.

Reception

I couldn't find much in terms of information about reception, but the series of links seems to take me to another director creating a short 1980 film that received an academy award...

However, on the animafest website, it's listed under "masters of animation". However, due to this being what seems to be an archival site, the reviews might be based off of modern day standards.

(Said Short film) ((I don't know why it takes me here..))

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Working With Disney!

MARC DAVIS

Before Marc worked for Disney in 1935, he attended many art schools, those schools being the Kansas Art Institute, the California School of Fine Arts, and the Otis Art Institute.

Marc worked as a story sketch artist, character designer, and animator for multiple classic Disney films such as Snow White, Bambi, and Victory Through Air Power (A lesser known propaganda film by Disney). During his 43 year long career, Marc created many famous characters, such as Tinker bell from Peter Pan, Maleficent from Sleeping Beauty, and Cruella De Vil from 101 Dalmations. There were other animations he worked on, such as Song of the South (A movie made with a mix of live action and animation), The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad (A short anthology film), Cinderella, and finally, Alice in wonderland. An extra thing to note is that he also worked on Toot, Whistle, Plunk, and Boom (A 10 minute animated reel)

I picked them because I pretty much chose at random, nothing more to that. sorry :C

While reading the interviews, I took notes, to which i'll list them down here.

In animation, due to how big studios are, typically there's many different styles that end up in the film, for example the contrast between Cinderella and her evil sisters. Cinderella falls within a more realistic style, while her evil sisters seem to be caricatures. This conflict of personalities seemed to happen quite often, as Marc went on to talk about his feelings on the background of Sleeping Beauty.

In the interview, Marc mentioned that Walt didn't like when his animators liked each other too much or were too friendly, so he actively tried to create conflict. His belief being that a better product was created when people were in conflict.

*quick note, for some reason, the interviewer asked Marc if he worked on The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad, and Marc said no, but for some reason it's stated that Marc did in the above biography. (or maybe I misunderstood..)

Another interesting thing mentioned in the Interview was that Marc acknowledged the different ways people might've perceived Walt.

JOYCE BELANGER

Joyce Belanger first began working at the Mark Twain Riverboat before she worked at Disneyland. The park officially opened July of 1955, with Joyce working only ten days before the park opened. Funnily enough, the main reason why she applied for Disneyland was because her neighbor had read that Disneyland was looking for part-time workers. Joyce and her neighbor were both housewives at the time, so they sent in their applications, with Joyce needing some urging from her neighbor to apply.

During her time working, she got to meet and talk to Walt himself, with her saying in the interview that Walt loved Disneyland, was admired by children, and had childlike qualities.

I didn't really have a specific reason to choose Joyce, as it was once again randomized.

A really interesting thing that was noted in the interview was that while she was working on the Matterhorn ride (Opened in July of 1959), she noticed that Walt was walking around the park by himself and look at the many rides. By the next day, Walt was whisked off to the hospital, most likely because of his lung cancer.

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Casanova Cat (1951)

Casanova Cat (1951)

Director: William Hanna, and Joseph Barbera

Technique

Casanova cat was hand drawn animation with sound, with technicolor and perspecta being used. It was animated by four animators, those of which being: Irven Spence, Ray Patterson, Ed Barge, and Kenneth Muse. Another person to note is the layout artist Dick Bickenbach

Representation

There are 4 main characters in this animated short, the characters being: Tom (The grey cat), Butch, (The black alleycat), Jerry, (The brown mouse), and Toodles (The white cat)

The basic plot synopsis is that Tom brings Jerry as a gift to Toodles' place upon learning she gained a big inheritance. Once he reaches Toodles, he tries to impress her by bringing her flowers, and messing with Jerry to gain more affection. However, Jerry makes a paper airplane with a newspaper clipping containing news of Toodles' new Inheritance, launching the paper airplane towards Butch. Butch and Tom fight for Toodles' affection, only for Jerry to get away with Toodles.

In this short, there is a heavy feeling of racism and sexism, especially with the blackface and the objectification of Toodles. Speaking in terms of the blackface scene, t's definitely not okay to do blackface in 2023 , but in 1951 standards, hopefully it was ignorance, and not malice. It becomes much more complicated when it comes to Toodles, however.

Toodles is depicted as a posh luxury house cat(?), inheriting a ton of money, causing both Tom and Butch to vy for her attention, especially for her money. She falls "in love" with anybody who gives her attention, which portrays her as dumb and gullible.

Reception

There's one scene in this animated short that depicts Tom smoking a cigar, then blowing black smoke into Jerry's face, turning his face black. Tom would then go on to put Jerry onto a hot plate, depicting blackface. Due to this clip, it would then go on to be banned and censored. The censorship prohibited it from being released on DVD on the Warner Home video, along with it not airing on Cartoon Network and Boomerang (which is a cable network owned by Warner Bros.)

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The Lazy Fox (1941)

The Lazy Fox (1941)

Director: Sanae Yamamoto

Technique

The Technique used for "The Lazy Fox" was traditional cel animation with no sound

Representation

The short film depicts a fox and a tanuki family, more commonly known as a raccoon dog. The fox is partying and slacking off in the summer (mood), and the tanukis are seen working all throughout summer. There's a scene where the fox converses with the tanuki family, stating "You miss out by working so hard. Live like I do."

However, once the cold winter hits, the fox has no food, so as a last ditch effort, he goes to steal food from the tanuki family. He does so by starting a fake fire and transforming into a truck. Thinking quickly, the tanuki family start loading their food into the supposed truck to protect it from the fire, not realizing that it was a trick. Once the truck is filled, the fox swiftly runs off with the food that the tanukis hurriedly stashed in the truck.

A tanuki transforms into a sled to catch up to the fox, but the fox transforms into a plane. Quickly becoming an air fight as the fox and the tanuki fight it out after transforming into planes, with the rest of the tanuki family building a gun to aid in the fight.

Reception

This educational film was most likely commissioned by the ministry of education to encourage hard work and saving up, as Sanae Yamamoto was often commissioned by the government to make short films.

Links

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Benkei Tai Ushiwaka (1939)

Benkei Tai Ushiwaka (1939)

Director: Kenzo Masaoka

Technique

Benkei Tai Ushiwaka was produced with traditional cel animation, and it features sound. It's stated that the sound was recorded first, then the animation came second.

Representation

The 13 minute short film is based on the encounter of two people, Minamoto no Yoshitsune and Saito Musashibo Benkei. The basic story between these two is that Yoshitsune, a skilled military commander and swordsman defeated Benkei, a japanese warrior monk. After Yoshitsune defeats Benkei, He becomes Yoshitsune's retainer.

For more context about the film, and the reason why they're fighting. Benkei was said to have a personal quest to acquire 1000 swords from samurai who he deemed unworthy. After collecting 999 swords, he stumbled across Yoshitsune, playing his flute at a shrine. Looking to duel, Benkei and Yoshitsune walked to Gojo bridge where Benkei eventually lost. It's said that Benkei tried to go for a second duel later on, which he did lose. However, after the second loss, he then became Yoshitsune's retainer.

Reception

I unfortunately couldn't find anything on how it was displayed back in the late 1930s, however I was able to find the short film on Youtube which is linked above for you to view as well. Please note that there is audio as well. In terms of response, not much I could find either due to the age of the film.

The author, Kenzo Masaoka was one of the first people to use cel animation and sound in japan's early works, and he was one of the founders of what becomes Toei Animation, along with Sanae Yamamoto.

Links

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Momotaro The Undefeated

Nihonichi Momotarô (1928) (Or known as Japan No.1)

Director: Sanae Yamamoto

Technique

In terms of techniques, it was made with cel animation. Momotaro was produced with no sound, and in black and white.

Representation

The short film depicts the story of a Momotaro, a popular Japanese Folklore hero, being dated to the Genroku era, which is from (1688 - 1704). The story of momotaro can vary due to how popular and how old the folktale goes, but the standard version of momotaro is:

Momotaro was born from a peach, found floating through the river by an old woman who was washing her clothes in the river. Upon trying to eat said peach, the woman and her husband discover Momotaro. He explained that he was sent by the gods to be their son, and as Momotaro grows up, he sets off to defeat a group of Oni who are terrorizing his land. On his way to defeat the Oni, he befriends a dog, a pheasant, and a monkey who agree to help him in exchange for his rations.

Reception

Unfortunately, due to how old the film is, I wasn't able to find much on the production companies, nor how it was shown to audiences. Japanese Cinema suffered greatly due to the 1923 Kanto Earthquake. The earthquake was a 7.9–8.2 on the magnitude scale, and occurred during a time where many people were cooking. The circumstances, which caused a massive breakout of fires, had the perfect brewing conditions for a multiple firestorms, and even a fire whirl that killed roughly 38,000 people in downtown Tokyo. In total , the earthquake and resulting firestorms took approximately 142,800 lives.

Many early japanese works were created by Sanae Yamamoto, who was often commissioned by government offices.

Sources

Some links are broken, so I'll put a link to a Microsoft word document with more links.

The story of Momotaro-.docx

Sorry I couldn't find much :C

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3 Things about Animation

I'm interested in getting into the animation industry because I love the way that animation can tell a story. From whimsical stories like Ponyo and Spirited away by Hayao Miyazaki, to heartfelt coming of age movies like the Spiderverse series by Sony Pictures. I want to get into the animation industry so I can produce movies that people will awe at, and be inspired by.

My favorite animated things are:

Spirited Away, 2001 / Ponyo, 2009 - (Studio Ghibli)

These two movies are together because they both impacted me in the same way. I vividly remember watching ponyo when I was about 6-7 years old and falling in love with the animation that still sticks with me to this day. In terms of Spirited away, I watched it when I was much older, however I fell in love with the gorgeous watercolor backgrounds, the story, the animation, I loved it all and it deeply inspired me to pursue art further. (I have multiple paintings of haku hahahahah)

The Spiderverse Series, 2018~Present - (Sony Pictures)

The Spiderverse movies are such a great show of technical ability and it was groundbreaking for its time for such breathtaking animation. The soundtracks was one of my all time favorites and the scene shown above was absolutely beautiful. I watched this movie so many times, because many of the scenes will never get old. This movie will pull on your heartstrings in so many ways, and will put you in the shoes of the protagonist Miles Morales.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish, 2022 - (Universal Pictures)

THIS MOVIE. Done in the spiderverse art style, this movie's story telling is one of a kind. Taking place in the Shrek cinematic universe, it follows the story of Puss, a fearless hero who laughs in the face of death. However, when death comes for Puss, he must face what it truly means to live and to die. In his desperation, he chases after the last wish, a wish that will allow him to regain the 8 lives that he squandered. He's not the only one looking for a wish though, so he must compete against others who are looking for a wish.

I don't want to spoil the rest of the movie, but this movie is absolutely amazing. It's a great movie for family as it goes over mature topics like death in a great way while being family friendly. I would 100% recommend this movie over any of the other movies listed above because of the superb storytelling, animation, and portrayal of mental health, love, family and found family. Listed below is a song from the movie, and it's so good. Please listen!