Schirmer Encyclopedia of Film

Animation
was not until 1982, however, that the first fully persuasive
applications of computer-generated imagery emerged, first
in Disney’s Tron (1982), and then in the ‘‘Genesis’’
sequence of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).
It was clear, though, that the research and development
undertaken by ILM aspired to move beyond using
computer graphics as purely an effect, to prioritizing the
technology as a new model for the filmmaking process
per se, thus creating a postphotographic mode of cinema.
John Whitney left Triple I to establish Digital
Productions and was responsible for the next key development
in CGI by creating over twenty-five minutes of
material for The Last Starfighter (1984). In 1985 three
works ensured that CGI would have a significant role to
play in future production: John Lasseter’s (b. 1957) ILM
research project The Adventures of Andre and Wally Bee,
which showed early signs of Lasseter’s trademark combination
of traditional cartoon-character animation with
computer aesthetics; Daniel Langlois’s (b. 1961) Tony
de Peltrie, the first convincing CG character performance,
here an aging pianist; and Robert Abel’s Canned Food
Information Council–sponsored commercial Brilliance,
featuring a sexy robot employing some primitive but
nevertheless effective motion capture. Though these works
were in some senses primitive, they signalled the possibility
of character-driven narratives in a new aesthetic context
even while drawing upon filmic imagery from earlier
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Peltrie used software, which would underpin the creation of
Softimage, along with Alias|Waterfront, one of the major
computer-animation software companies in the world.
Though initially the progress of CGI as a process was
compromised by its cost, technical constraints, slowness
of execution, and the lack of a standardized software
package, James Cameron’s Terminator 2: Judgement Day
(1991) demonstrated that CGI could be used for effective
storytelling and aesthetic ends and could work on a
scale different from anything previously envisaged. With
the increasing standardization of the requisite software,
production facilities proliferated and CGI became an
intrinsic tool of expression throughout the commercial
and entertainment sector, in film, video games, and other
multimedia applications.
Jurassic Park (1993) consolidated CGI as a crucial
cinematic tool in the creation of its highly realistic dinosaurs,
just as King Kong (1933) vindicated the importance
of stop-motion animation as more than just a special
effect in the creation of Kong, and Jackson’s remake of
King Kong progresses the field of visual effects once more
in the contemporary era. The process of animated film
practice itself also changed with the advent of computers,
as much of the arduous work involved in cel animation
(in-betweening, ink and paint) could now be done with a
computer. Postproduction in most feature films was also
revolutionized by the impact of computer applications
and their intrinsic role as a special effect. Digital compositing
and motion-controlled camera became a norm in
feature production comparatively quickly, but it was the
work of PIXAR that prioritized research and development
in the service of creating a fully computer-animated
feature—a model echoing Disney’s desire to use the Silly
Symphonies during the late 1920s and early 1930s as
prototypes for the eventual creation of Snow White and
the Seven Dwarfs (1937). Each year PIXAR made a short
film—Luxo Jnr (1986), Red’s Dream (1987), Tin Toy
(1989), and Knick Knack (1990)—in anticipation of
Toy Story (1995), the groundbreaking CGI feature featuring
the now iconic Woody and Buzz.
Less heralded but also important is Reboot (1993),
the first fully computer-generated television animation.
Produced by Ian Pearson, Gavin Blair, and Phil Mitchell,
it self-reflexively used the computer as its narrative
subject, depicting the city of Main Frame where Bob,
Enzo, and their friend, Dot Matrix, battle two viruses,
Megabyte and Hexadecimal. Also, Chris Wedge
(b. 1958), who worked initially for Magi, a company
run by a group of nuclear particle scientists literally
creating images from the data, went on to make the digital
effects for Tron. Wedge and some Magi colleagues then
formed their own company, Blue Sky, in 1987, making
MTV logos, dancing cockroaches in Joe’s Apartment
(1996), swimming aliens in Alien Resurrection (1997), and
Bunny (1998), which won an Oscar Ò for the best animated
short film. Blue Sky also wrote their own proprietary
software for tracing light rays, which has enabled the
company to achieve its own signature aesthetic in Ice Age
(2002) and Robots (2004), and to work within the remit of
FoxinafashionsimilartoPIXAR’s relationship to Disney.
Inevitably, with the success of CGI on the big and
small screens, investment in the technology increased,
and computer-generated images became the dominant
aesthetic of animated features and children’s programming.
Equally inevitably, a variety of approaches to using
computer animation have characterized the post–Toy
Story era. While Dreamworks’s SKG has emerged as a
serious contender to PIXAR with films such as Shrek
(2001), PIXAR has continued to innovate in features
such as Finding Nemo (2002) and The Incredibles
(2004), creating software to extend the range of the visual
palette, incorporating underwater visualization and more
cartoon-like aesthetics. With each new feature has come
another innovation—even the holy grail of realistic-looking
human hair in The Incredibles. Companies such as
Rhythm and Hues specialize in animated visual effects for
live-action animals in films such as Cats and Dogs (2001);
Sony Pictures Imageworks advanced the complexity of
special effects in films such as Spiderman 2 (2004);
92 SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM