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Why 3-D animation rules the day

June 17, 2004

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All in the family ... Princess Fiona introduces Shrek to her parents, above, in the new hit Shrek 2. Toy Story, below, brought three-dimensional animation to the big screen.

Once made only for children, animated features have moved into the mainstream. Alexa Moses explains why animation is booming.

The animated feature film is experiencing a renaissance not seen since the glory days of Disney. That's backed up by the $37 million box office returns for Finding Nemo, which made it Australia's highest earning film last year. Shrek II (which opens today in Australia) is already the top-grossing animated film of all time in the US. Why is the fully animated feature film, usually pitched at families, pulling such crowds? Directors, producers, animators and a critic have come up with a few theories.

1. 3D computer-animation technology Before the 1990s, most commercial animation was two-dimensional. Toy Story, the first three-dimensional (3D) computer-animated feature was released in 1995, and suddenly animated characters had depth ... and that's more than just a bad pun. Toy Story was followed by films like Shrek, Antz, and Ice Age. If Pixar could do it, so could everyone else.

Illawarra animation producer Tim Brooke-Hunt, who has worked on 2D animations, including Blinky Bill, believes 3D has played a big part in the revival of the animated feature.

"We know that 2D is beautiful and no one proved that better than Disney," he says. "But I think it [3D] makes it more real."

The downside is that the market is now 3D-oriented, and producers now feel pressured to make all their films in 3D.

2. Accessible technology nurtures the industry... A generation of people has grown up with animation software, and expresses itself creatively through it. "When we used to have ordinary Bugs-Bunny style animation, it had to be sent to factories. Now animation can be made by individuals," Avrill Stark, an executive producer at the Sydney production house Ambience Entertainment says. "3D computer animation is being made by one to two people in their bedrooms, and they're getting onto TV and film festivals."

3. ... hence, more animation is being produced As the technology becomes more accessible, the industry grows. In 1996, five American animated feature films were made. In 2000, that had risen to eight. Variety magazine has estimated 11 animated features will be made in the US this year, with dozens more slated for 2005 and 2006.

4. Merchandising and DVD Companies can make more money out of the Shrek pencil case and doona cover than from ticket sales.

Melbourne filmmaker Adam Elliot, the poster boy for model animation since his short film Harvie Krumpet won an Academy Award, says animation is attractive to film companies because merchandising is more easily attached than to an adult drama. The Lantana answering machine and Lantana board game don't sit as comfortably as the Shrek T-shirt, do they?

"Animations often make more money from the merchandising than from the box office," Elliot says.

5. Younger audiences have grown up with animation Young people are comfortable with graphics on computers, PlayStations and Game Boys. It's a smooth switch to the cinema.

Elliot says today's young viewers are sophisticated. "The kids are immersed in animation with their computer games and they're very savvy. They're far more with it than I am."

6. Adults are exposed to animation through their kids As children watch more animation, their parents become animation-literate as well.

"I don't think that the adult world is responsible for the increase of popularity in animation. Adults are taking the kids to see these things," Stark says.

7. Understanding this, animation companies write stories on two levels Producers, directors, animators and writers emphasised that a good story is paramount to the success of any film. Mindful of their adult audience, animation studios are creating films edgy enough to interest grown-ups.

The Adelaide animation director Deane Taylor believes the trend for scripting animation for adults and kids started with the mixed live-action and 2D animation film Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988).

"Suddenly animation was cool for adults and not just babysitting. I think the next turning point came with Toy Story, for the 3D aspect. They were equally aware of making it cool for adults."

8. The creative process is different to live-action films Large animation houses are organised into crews - animators, modellers, environment artists. Each crew answers to its director, who answers in turn to the overall director. Although there's a script, animators tend to work from storyboards with more people viewing the storyboards and providing creative input.

Greg Smith is the director of communications and public affairs at the Sydney production house Animal Logic, the company making the first fully 3D-animated Australian feature, Happy Feet. It's directed by George Miller and is rumoured to feature Nicole Kidman. Smith, says most Australian films are made by auteurs - that is, a single writer-director. "Animation's more collaborative. Because you're dealing with storyboards, it's more malleable," Smith says. "You can tweak and refine more and more until you're happy."

Note that this process can also homogenise the product.

9. The spectacle of the thing Dazzling visuals are part of animation's general appeal, but some of the audience come simply to see what the new technology is capable of.

10. Animation has always been popular Film critic David Stratton points out that animation has been popular since 1937, when Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs was released: "Animation goes back to the beginning of cinema."

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