114
votes
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How was Looney Tunes originally watched?
They were shown in cinemas before a main feature, just as Pixar films have a short beforehand today.
Typically a cinema would show a film, some cartoons, and some newsreel on a constant loop. People ...
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86
votes
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Why the highlighted outline in animated cartoons?
This is due to how hand-drawn animation used to be made. A static background was drawn only once, and the moving objects were drawn for each frame on a transparent cel. Then it was placed on the ...
- 5,128
76
votes
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Why were mouse holes often represented in cartoons and movies like this?
The cartoon mouse holes are just rounded out versions of the real thing. Mice are rodents who are capable of gnawing through walls to make a cozy home within them. Here are a few real mouse holes:
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75
votes
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How and why did Disney reuse animation?
The reuse of animation in this way is attributed to director/producer Wolfgang Reitherman, and was reportedly done because the animation had already proved to work well in its previous use.
From The ...
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74
votes
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What is the origin of Scooby-Doo's name?
Here is a video of Fred Silverman, CBS' head of daytime programming back in 1969, discussing the creation of Scooby-Doo. Starting at about 1:40, he describes hearing "Strangers in the Night" ...
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68
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Where and when does the "idea" light bulb appear for the first time?
Where does this metaphor come from?
The term "bright" to mean "clever" seems to have originated/evolved in the 18th century..
By the mid 1700s, the term was being said to ...
- 128k
48
votes
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What is this star shape artifact in old cartoons?
I guess it's a cue mark:
A cue mark, also known as a cue dot, a cue blip, a changeover cue or simply a cue is a visual indicator used with motion picture film prints, usually placed on the right-hand ...
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46
votes
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Why do Mickey's ears rotate and shift location when he is not facing the camera?
To make the Mickey symbol more recognizable, the more authentic depiction was abandoned. From Wikipedia:
Ub Iwerks designed Mickey's body out of circles in order to make the character simple to ...
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46
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Sleeping Beauty and Snow White in the same movie
Your daughter can rest easy; she's absolutely right. You are looking for The Seventh Dwarf (2014), a German 3D-animated film based on Sleeping Beauty that borrows characters from Snow White (and other ...
- 98.9k
42
votes
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Was "Ralph Breaks the Internet" the first Disney production to feature computer-animated renditions of these characters?
Not if we're counting videogames.
The game series Kingdom Hearts, an official Disney/Square Enix joint production, has 3D renders of your mentioned characters, along with almost every "official" ...
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40
votes
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Why was The LEGO Movie not nominated at the Oscars?
Here's a Variety article on this very thing with 5 reasons:
“Lego” landed just one mention — in the song category for its infectious “Everything Is Awesome” anthem — but not in the animated feature ...
32
votes
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Was the scene of Remy savouring food in Ratatouille animated by a person with synesthesia?
He has another animation named Synesthesia. This indicates that he has a decent interest in the topic.
In his another animation, Sensology, he says:
As Paul played, I closed my eyes and had an ...
- 599
29
votes
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Why are cartoon coconuts (on trees) brown?
Buy a coconut in the supermarket. What's the color?
The "nut" is most likely brown and hairy. Sure, it's not like they appear when still on the trees, but who knows?
IMO it's all about being ...
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28
votes
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Why are human faces not drawn in old cartoons?
To represent Animal perspective.
The Tom and Jerry cartoon is about animals, they have to show their perspective. Humans are larger to them, they can't even see their full body together. So it's kept ...
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25
votes
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Why do Canadians have hinged heads?
From the South Park Studios interview with Matt Stone (where users were encouraged to ask questions):
j0l0n: from Henbob -> What made you think of the canadians having
those funny head and ...
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25
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How and why did Disney reuse animation?
I'm not sure where to look for citations on this, but the animation & the cell drawing/colouring are two different skillsets.
The animator could design a set of moves without fleshing out the ...
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23
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Was "Ralph Breaks the Internet" the first Disney production to feature computer-animated renditions of these characters?
A few of the princesses also appeared in Disney Junior's animated show Sofia the First.
From Disney movie list:
Ariel, Aurora, Belle, Cinderella, Mulan, Jasmine and Snow White appeared in the series....
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22
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Why are the Latest Episodes of South Park not in 3D animation?
According to this article from Creative Planet Network
"We have the technology, and our animators have the skills to do 3-D," says supervising producer Anne Garefino. "We don't want it to look ...
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21
votes
How was Looney Tunes originally watched?
The history of film began with short films.
Thus cartoons — which are short films — were mainly viewed as part of a whole slate of items one would see when going to the movies back in the day.
The ...
- 5,028
20
votes
Why in "The Incredibles" is the usually-realistic gravity sometimes WAY too strong?
Because the standard rules of physics don't apply for an animated movie.
More technically, if an animator tries too hard to get the physics to perfectly mirror the real world, you end up in the ...
- 2,000
19
votes
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Suggested order for X-Men animated series
X-Men are part of animated shows from 1966 but there are only three major X-men animated shows:
X-Men (1992–1997) ( aka X-Men: The Animated Series): This one was the first successful launch of X-Men ...
- 115k
19
votes
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Why does Hollywood rarely hire well-known voice-actors/actresses instead of well-known actors/actresses to voice-act animations?
Because movie making is a business and having well known actors and other celebrities voice characters helps sell the movie.
I'm sure Hollywood would prefer to hire less expensive talent for all ...
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18
votes
Why was The LEGO Movie not nominated at the Oscars?
I don't have the minute count for the film but the rules require:
An animated feature is defined by the academy as a film with a running time of more than 40 minutes in which characters' ...
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17
votes
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Why have Disney princess films post-2009 all started with the princess as a child?
The "Disney Princess™" is a relatively recent innovation in Disney's branding, dating back only to 2000 or so:
The rise of the Disney princesses reads like a fairy tale itself, with Andy ...
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17
votes
Why are the Latest Episodes of South Park not in 3D animation?
They do use 3D animation software. However, from the beginning the cut-out paper look is what they wanted to achieve with CG after finding out the difficulties of using real paper cut-outs.
The ...
- 2,293
17
votes
Where and when does the "idea" light bulb appear for the first time?
Felix the Cat was the first to use the light bulb as a metaphor for a bright idea.
In the early twentieth century, Felix the Cat was the world’s favorite animated animal. (...) The anthropomorphic ...
- 5,638
14
votes
Why are cartoon coconuts (on trees) brown?
Coconuts brown as they mature, so it's not always an inaccurate depiction.
Cartoons rely on a certain visual "shorthand" for many things that fly in the face of common knowledge, but are ...
- 1,909
13
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Old animation movie with girl who has magic necklace or pendant that she could never take off,
So, I think it might be The Great Adventure of Horus, Prince of the Sun.
In the synopsis of the movie, it states
Together they defeat and destroy Grunwald. Hilda, who had given her
magical "...
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13
votes
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Pink bird and turtle travelling in time?
Albert Says... The Nature Knows Best
and
Albert Asks... What is Life?
Is this your bird? (Youtube link)
The main character Albert is a mythical creature that, according to the outside, like a ...
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12
votes
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Why does Jake from Adventure Time have inverted eyes?
I know, I thought so too when I first saw Jake. But it turns out his eyes are not inverted. The sclera of his eye (aka "the white of the eye") isn't shown. The whole eye is drawn black, as can be seen ...
- 3,184
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible