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Ants in the Plants (1940)

Directed by Dave Fleischer

Use of Technique

How was it made? The Fleisher brothers were still using cel animation. Though what's different from their 1920s & early 30s era is that they finally have access to technicolor and made their own version of the multi-plane camera which they called it "The Stereoptical Setback Camera"

What materials were used? transparent celluloid sheets

How was it captured? It was captured in technicolor and with their Setback camera. According to an animationstudies 2.0's blog post,

"The setback rig consists of a forced-perspective, miniature set mounted on a turntable, serving as background to the cel art held in a vertical glass platen, and a horizontal animation camera. The turntable is rotated incrementally behind the cels, creating the effect of a “tracking shot” — the 2D animated character, in a side-view walk cycle, traverses a realistically proportioned (but still recognizably Fleischeresque) 3D environment which moves perspectivally across the background."

This is honestly a very intriguing innovation.

Representation

What is the short about? The short is about an ant colony's smart strategies in fighting off their biggest enemy, the Anteater. The ants used a decoy to lead their enemy to a trap. One of the ant soldiers lead the anteater's mouth into their narrow sewer tunnel underground. The anteater's mouth got tangled in their setup which they then proceed to force many ingredients into their enemy's mouth. The anteater immediately pulls out after tasting the extreme flavors. He then went to a nearby puddle to wash off those ingredients from his mouth. The ants took this opportunity to go full charge on the anteater. Even the ant queen head out into the fight. The anteater was pissed, so he took out his eye-drop and sucked the ant army including the queen into a bottle. For a few moments their enemy had the upper hand. But then, the ants deployed one of their special squad which they then climbed onto the anteater and started attacking him. Together they swarmed the anteater, disorientated him, and finally gain victory over their biggest enemy.

Who does it depict? Since this short was released in 1940 which was during WW2, I believe this short was depicting the resilience and strength of the allies. It was trying to encourage people to join and support the allied powers in fighting the war. The anteater was quite an accurate representation of the axis. They both invade others, gather recourses for only themselves, and doesn't care of the lives they were taking away.

Reception

How was it shown? It was a mixed reaction, people thought the battle sequence was great. But Charles Solomon, an animation historian, considers it as "painfully unfunny". the short was released during the war, so this comment was very understandable.

How did you see it?

I think the short was impactful. It was able to persuade me to side with the ants. I even had a small celebration in my head when the ants won the battle. If it can do that now, then it could also convince people back then as well. I think The Fleischer Brothers did a really well on this animation. They made the viewers care for the ant colony. Although the metaphor was a serious matter, still I enjoyed the short and it gave me a smile.

References:

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1930s Animated Films Reflection

Flowers and Trees (1932)

Directed by Burt Gillett

Use of Technique

How was it made? Disney animations were still in it's early era, the process was the same as in the 1920s, hand drawn cel animation.

What materials were used? transparent celluloid sheets

How was it captured? It was capture differently this time. Disney's animations are no longer in black and white, there are colors now! Herbert Kalmus was one of the inventors of the technicolor camera and he wanted to experiment it on animated films before offering to the whole movie industry. Only Disney was interested. Together they implemented this new tech into 27th short of Silly Symphony, "Flowers and Trees".

According to a post on Britannica, this is how technicolor camera works, "The Technicolor process, perfected in 1932, originally used a beam-splitting optical cube, in combination with the camera lens, to expose three black-and-white films. The light beam was split into three parts as it entered the camera, one beam favoring the red portion of the spectrum, one favoring the green, and one the blue. Each image was captured simultaneously on a separate band of black-and-white film. The three strips were developed separately and printed, after which the prints were passed through their appropriate colored dyes; when laminated together, they produced a reasonably faithful approximation of natural color."

Representation

What is the short about?

The short is about a tree couple living happily in harmony with the nature surrounding them including flowers, other trees, birds, caterpillar, and mushrooms. Birds sing together in a choir, a young male tree somehow turned vines into a harp and played it, sunflowers dancing around his lover ... Everything was happy and beautiful. But somewhere near them, there's an old grumpy hollow tree who saw Young tree's lover and tried to snatch her for himself. A fight breaks out between Young tree and Hollow tree. Hollow tree lost, but instead of accepting defeat he decided to cause a scene of flame blazing through the whole ecosystem. Good thing for the them, a flock of birds extinguished the flame by poking holes in the clouds, allowing rain to fall. Though before it rains, Hollow tree was caught and consumed by his own fire. He did not survive. At the end, the whole ecosystem was saved. Young tree proposed to his lover. And together, the couple lived happily ever after.

Who does it depict? I believe this short depicts the resilient strength of planet Earth. After countless transformations and destructions throughout it's life time, life on Earth are still thriving and beautiful. Earth is our home, we must do everything in our power to look after our planet with love and gentle care.

Reception

How was it shown?

The short was loved and won an academy award for best animated short in 1932, the same year that it was released.

How did you see it? It's wonderful, the short looks like it was animated in the 2000s despite its age. Technicolor is obviously the reason why. I bet the audience back then felt like they were in a colorful dream when they saw colored films for the first time.

References:

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1920s Animation Films Reflection

The Skeleton Dance (1929)

Directed by Walt Disney

Use of Technique

How was it made? It was hand drawn frame by frame onto transparent celluloid sheets which they then place those sheets on a painted background, capturing them one frame at a time turning it into an animated sequence.

I believe the animation team also used the keyframing technique into making this short as well.

What materials were used? celluloid sheet (known short as "cel")

How was it captured? It was captured with a standard film camera which was widely use for capturing live-action films back in the day.

Representation of The Film

What is the short about? The short is about a group of re-animated human skeletons doing silly dances and messing around with animals surrounding their graveyard during the night.

Who does it depict? I don't think Disney had any depiction in mind when making this short. It seems to be just a funny animation of dancing skeletons. Though, there could be a slight possibility that this short is depicting human's behavior and activities that were kept hidden or discrete from public. In other words, it's depicting the things that us humans do in secret. Take for example like a secret hobby, an intimate moment between a couple, private invitation night club, gang hideouts and meetings, criminal activities, illegal goods trade, etc.

Reception & After Thought

How was it shown? The Skeleton Dance was shown in theatre on a projected big screen for audiences to enjoy. People loved the short and were fascinated by the film's good sound production.

How did you see it? I find it very funny and entertaining. The sound production made it so engaging to watch. There's a scene where the skeletons turned their friend's spine into a xylophone and played it out hilariously for the others to dance. That got me, it gave me a smile. I also noticed that the audio and visuals were synced perfectly. Surely, the technical skills back then are the innovations we needed for today's talents.

References:

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My Interest in Animation & Recent Favorites

What got me interested in Animation?

I discovered my passion for animation a while ago during the covid pandemic, but after I finished high school in 2023, I didn't pursue it. Because I love physics and I thought that I was good at it, so I took the secure choice and applied for Civil Engineering in my local community college instead. Though, when the entrance exam came, I didn't just fail once, I failed twice. It took a big tole on me, and I felt lost for many months. I had to take a step back to rethink everything through again, so I sat down with myself and asked all of the self discovery questions that I could think of. Despite all the effort, nothing came to light. But one day, I went through my old stuff and found some fanarts of an animated show that I was proud of. After seeing those artworks, I thought to myself, "What if I were to become an artist and share my Cambodian culture to the world through animations, wouldn't that be cool?". Suddenly everything just clicks in, and now I have a new goal, a new dream. I know that this idea is quite vague and the future seems unclear. But life is a journey, you will discover new things along the way. I believe this dream of mine will take shape eventually as long as I keep persevering forward.

Overall, to summarize my answer for the question above. A fanart that I made is the reason why I'm interested in animation.

Three Recent Favorites

I grew up with a lot of western entertainments. I have many favorites that inspired me to dive deep into animation. But my most recent three are Stardew Valley, Arcane, and Puss in Boots : The Last Wish.

Stardew Valley is a farming simulation RPG, and the story behind it is truly astonishing. The creator goes by "ConcernedApe", spent years making this entire game all by himself. The designs, arts, sound, music, stories, and many other productions were done by just one single person. It took him 4 years to make this game, and he released it in 2016. Some would say he's insane, but for me, I see his passion and I admire his determination.

The show "Arcane" is such a memorable event in the animation industry. Productions are beautiful and all, but what makes it so special is the storytelling and the depth of every characters in the series. You can tell that the writers have put in so much thought into their characters. Another thing I like about Arcane is how they portray humanity in such a complicated two-sides of the same coin scenario, where anyone can become the antagonistic due to a traumatic event. I hope I can work on a project like Arcane someday, it would be exciting.

There's one thing I learn from Puss in Boots : The Last Wish is that we all shouldn't be afraid of fear and anxiety. It reminds me of a scripture in 2 Timothy 1:7 "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, ..." Such a strong message for the fast-pace anxious world we live in today.