As a filmmaker, I enjoy watching not only films, but any
behind the scenes featurettes or documentaries about them. One I watched the
other morning, in fact, was on the making of Disney’s “The Little Mermaid”
(1989.) This film was a return to the classic formula, revisiting the
fairytale, which is something that last been done in 1959 with “Sleeping
Beauty.”
In the documentary, made before the release of “The Little
Mermaid,” we get an in depth look at the process the animators go through to
bring their characters to life. Glen Keane, the animator behind the film’s main
character, Ariel, explains that Ariel’s movements are integral to her
believability, and not only the movements on her body, but focus on her
expressions, on her eyes (“When animating Ariel, I’ve really tried to pay attention to animating the lower eyelids, make those eyes really communicate.”) Keane mentions that he often referenced the character of
Alice in “Alice in Wonderland.” He said that there were many times when you
could look at the character and seem to know what she was thinking just based
on an eye roll or a squint.
Animator Andreas Deja, who animated Ariel’s father, King Triton, said “They have to be thinking. I think that’s the most important part. They HAVE to be thinking.”
It’s not enough for the character to simply move to look
alive, but the character also has to appear to be thinking. I’ve been on quite
a Disney kick recently and have really come to appreciate the quality of the
animation. Not just Disney’s incredible use of light, shadow and coloring, the
fantastic sequences which I can just imagine being storyboarded to the most
dramatic effect, but the small details in the movements of characters. Moments
that may not seem necessary, but once added, really bring something to a scene
to make the characters real to the audience. Just today I was watching “The
Emperor’s New Groove” (one of Disney’s underappreciated films, in my opinion),
and I was really studying each scene in a way that I don’t think I ever had
before. I was catching certain expressions, gesticulation and movements that I
never got before. Even in little scenes, there are interesting details. There
is a scene at the end with a group of children standing from the behind. The
shot is brief, no more than a few seconds, but all of the children have
distinct movements. One little kid is even using his foot to scratch the back
of his leg. Animator Andreas Deja, who animated Ariel’s father, King Triton, said “They have to be thinking. I think that’s the most important part. They HAVE to be thinking.”
The scene that I chose to follow is when Ariel discovers
that Prince Eric, who she is in love with, is going to marry someone else. At this
point in the film, Ariel’s voice has been taken by a sea witch, so she is all
pantomime for this part of the film. I’ve watched the film twice this week and
I’ve got to say, the animation on her is just phenomenal. She can’t say a word,
but her expressions say it all. At the moment of the realization, she has a
certain movement with her hand, a type of fidgeting in a pattern that indicates
that she is trying to figure something out. Her eyes dart around, her breathing
picks up, she pushes her hair away from her face. These movements all together
are a perfect marriage, because together they tell us everything that Ariel is
thinking AND feeling.
These brilliant
sequences of animation showcases what Disney does best: make the character come
to life. When you see if, you simply believe it without questioning. It’s only now
that I’m an adult that I’ve been curious about the process behind making these
characters real, but I’ve never questioned whether or not Ariel is real in the
context of the film, because she thinks, she breathes, she gestures, she is
alive! I think that is the true triumph these Disney films.
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