An Analysis of the Character Animation in Disney's 'Tangled'

Article sample

In the short time since PIXAR Animation created the first 3D computer animated feature film, Toy Story (John Lasseter, 1995), 3D computer graphics (CG) have replaced the classical 2D realist styling of Disney Animation to become the dominant aesthetic form of mainstream animation. The dominance of 3D CG in animated films (over traditional mediums) is largely due to the remediation of the fundamental principles of animation. Although Tangled (Nathan Greno and Bryan Howard, 2010) is not Disney's first CG animated film, it is the first time they have attempted to use the medium to tell a classic Disney-style fairy tale. This paper offers an analysis of the character animation in Tangled to develop a deeper understanding of how Disney has approached the extension of their traditional aesthetic into the CG medium.

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Senses of Cinema is an online journal devoted to the serious and eclectic discussion of cinema. We believe cinema is an art that can take many forms, from the industrially-produced blockbuster to the hand-crafted experimental work; we also aim to encourage awareness of the histories of such diverse forms. As an Australian-based journal, we have a special commitment to the regular, wide-ranging analysis and critique of Australian cinema, past and present. Senses of Cinema is primarily concerned with ideas about particular films or bodies of work, but also with the regimes (ideological, economic and so forth) under which films are produced and viewed, and with the more abstract theoretical and philosophical issues raised by film study.