Post #3: Planning Research

~ Made notes of what to ask tutor on meeting: what kind of things do we put into our portfolio? Highlighted notes? Essays?

~ Began research on case study of The Princess and the Frog

~ Choosing a second Disney classic to write a case study on. Narrowed it down to Fantasia, Snow White, Bambi, Aladdin or the Lion King. May do mini case studies on all of these

~ Decided to do a few tests with cellular animation: painting with Guache on asihtate later in the project.

~ Saved and printed some useful web pages

Post #2: Setting Up Project & Background Information

~Got 6 books from the library about Disney and 2D animation
~Made a list of things I'd like to research and include in my project
~Starting research with general research of Disney in books, IMDB and Wikipedia
~sorted out photocopying credits at the library to photocopy relevant pages of books
~Put together a chronology of Disneys animated films
~Chronology of Disney animated films and live-action feature films: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Disney_live-action_films
~Watched 'Walt Disney "Secret Lives" Documentary' by channel 4 1995 about the life and career of Walt Disney in 6 parts on youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXA2hWgvZKo and wrote up notes on this.

Post #1: Proposal

DISNEY.

I will be looking into the animated films of Disney and will analyse what I is good and bad about them, why they are successful and how they were achieved. This will be carried out through research from sources such as the internet, documentaries, books and DVD bonus features. I will be looking into the many ways in which Disney was influential and how that's changed over the years. I will write about how it went from a leading animation company producing classics like Snow White and Donald Duck to having their name overruled by Pixar and modern companies as 3D animation has become more popular. Live-action films such as Pirates of the Caribbean have been less obviously Disney as they have moved away from their traditional 2D trademark. I will also look into racism and sexism in Disney, how the death of Walt Disney may have influenced it's slight downfall as well as the modern audience being more sensitive to politically incorrect content. I also think disney are making a come-back with it's old (but updated) style of 2D animation with films such as The Princess and the Frog (2009).

This research project will coincide with my second year animation project in 2D silhouette animation in which I will learn to animate in a simplified but very beautiful 2D style. I will also be creating tests with 2D cell animation and 'the pencil test' which were practiced by Walt Disney.

Areas I will be covering may include style and design choices, communication with an audience, cultural representation in Disney movies, choice of medium and influential changes in Disney's career.

Kate Duffy for Northumbria University