Sun qiuyan

Humor can be said to be an indispensable element of animated films, especially for Disney animated films, a sense of humor is innate. Professor Nie Xinru defined Disney animation as "mainstream animation" in the book Introduction to Animation, and pointed out that this kind of animated films has a relatively fixed pattern 1. Here, I want to discuss the formation mode of "humor" in comics. Specifically, we can analyze the formation of humor in Disney animated films from two aspects: sound and picture.

Painting-exaggeration of image

In the silent film era, movies mainly rely on characters, exaggerated expressions, body movements and so on. I'm kidding. So are cartoons. Because of their particularity-the difference between animated films and live-action films is that their shooting objects are not creatures, but imaginary images made by plastic arts, that is, "movies with pictures and objects painted on a plane or a three-dimensional' couple' as the shooting objects". Therefore, in terms of images, actions, objects, etc., this is why even after the sound appears, exaggeration in performance is still the first choice for cartoon jokes.

For example, Donald Duck in Disney classic animation, wearing a navy hat, a blue sailor suit, a red bow tie and no pants, is always making trouble, losing his temper, twisting his fat ass, happily opening his big flat mouth and croaking with a loud voice. This character image itself is very humorous.

Starting from the external image design, before the birth of Snow White, it should be common to create animated characters with a sense of humor, because the animated short films at that time were aimed at being funny, and "when the first feature film Snow White came out, the structure of the whole film changed, and the main purpose was no longer to be funny, so the funny characters retired to a secondary position in the film." 3. Although the protagonist image in Disney animation began to be a real person,

In China's traditional dramas, there are clowns who tell jokes, and the supporting roles in Disney cartoons also play a role in adjusting the atmosphere and creating a relaxed atmosphere. For example, the dwarfs in Snow White, Mushu in Mulan, the hermit crab in The Little Mermaid, Pumbaa in The Lion King, Molly in Treasure Planet, the forgetful fish in Finding Nemo, and so on, they occasionally play dumb, smart, funny and make a fool of themselves to win laughter.

Compared with Donald Duck and other early animation images, Disney animation after Snow White no longer highlights funny images, but highlights funny actions. For example, in "Donald Duck as a Soldier", the big military uniform on Donald Duck was splashed with water, and some clothes would shrink instantly. This is common sense in life. Here, exaggerating it becomes creation. This kind of exaggeration is not uncommon in Disney's animated films. For example, when you run fast, your legs will become rolling tires; A squashed person will become a piece of paper floating in the air … and so on. Using pictures to create humor is very effective, so it is not only the usual method of Disney animation, but also the main method of animated films all over the world.

Sound-music contrast

As we mentioned earlier, before the sound enters the animated film, the sense of humor in the animated film is mainly created by the exaggerated performance of the characters, and when the sound enters the film, it is also used to set off the atmosphere and cooperate with the action to create a sense of humor.

1928165438+1October, Steamboat Willie, one of Mickey Mouse's animated short films, was shown at the Colonial Grand Theatre in new york. It used synchronous sound technology for the first time, and added music synchronized with actions to make the character "sound" named Mickey Mouse move on the screen. This little animation is from buster? Buster keaton's independent silent film "Bill the Steamboat". Keaton was a comic genius in the silent film period, and his greatest feature was his exaggerated and funny performances. This feature has been highlighted in the film Steamboat Little Bill. Disney's animated film Steamboat Willie, featuring Mickey Mouse, is a satirical version of the live-action movie Steamboat Little Bill, which makes good use of music to support the exaggeration and antics of the characters' actions. For example, in the film, a cow on a steamboat ate a turkey with music in a straw, and the turkey had fallen to the ground. When Mickey Mouse found out, he couldn't take it out, so he thought of another way: open the cow's mouth with both hands, and Minnie (Mickey Mouse's girlfriend) folded the cow's tail into the shape of a crank, shook it and used the cow as a phonograph. At the same time, with this picture, the tune of the folk song "Turkey in the Straw" was issued from the cow's mouth. As you can imagine, if there is no music, the humorous effect will be completely inexpressible. Although it seems ridiculous and crude now, it was really a sensational move at that time. In Steamboat Willie, there is little dialogue, and most of the voices come from music. The exaggerated and humorous effects brought by these music are enough to surprise and excite the audience who have just come into contact with audio cartoons. Because of its great influence, this animated film became the first animated film with sound in film history.

Mickey Mouse's early comedies were usually based on some musical techniques, such as piano played with animal movements, tinkling pots, ballet performed by many characters, and playing the jawbone of cattle into a xylophone. At this time, animation music was used as a means to produce funny effects. So, how does Disney use music? Professor Nie Xinru pointed out that there are two main ways to achieve the effect of banter by using music: "One is to create a strange musical effect by using the unconventional arrangement of timbre and interval, so as to achieve the purpose of banter." For example, in the movie Rugrat Movie-Reversing Paris, when the protagonist swears to prevent the vicious female manager of the amusement park from marrying his father, the background music shows a magnificent heroism, but when asked how to do this, he immediately lost his breath. This is because music uses a series of falling scales to express depression. "Another method is to change (or not change at all) music with a fixed mood or atmosphere, so that it can be used in unrelated or simply opposite situations, thus producing a comedy effect." The common way is to use dance music as background music, while the characters in the foreground dance their movements with the music. For example, in "The Little Mermaid", a war between hermit crabs and court chefs started with familiar music, and the picture was very funny. Of course, in Disney's animation, these ways of using music to create humor are usually integrated.

After many years, sound has gradually played its unique role in the film, and it can be narrated independently. However, in cartoons, especially in Disney cartoons, humor is mainly created through the coordination of sound and picture. This method is very effective, so the sound and picture follow a single synchronous relationship and will continue to play a role in Disney animated films.