Clear Animations with a Big Chance of Success – Ke Jiang (Illustrated Feature)

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*All pictures from online; none of them are my own. Background music – “Sunshine, Lollipops, and Rainbows” by Lesley Gore

Clear Animations with a Big Chance of Success

What could be better than free food? The answer is simple: free food falling from the sky. An adaption of the popular children’s book by Judi and Ron Barrett of the same title, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (from Sony Pictures Animation in conjunction with Columbia Pictures) took the theatres by storm on September 18^th 2009.[1] Writer and director, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, expanded the book’s plot, and twisted it into a witty story with complex characters and great animation. This 3-D adventure is about Flint Lockwood, an ostracized want-to-be scientist who finally, despite the skepticism of many, invents a machine that converts water into real food. Soon, Flint finds himself the hero of his small town—an island just under the ‘A’ in ‘Atlantic Ocean’ known as Swallow Falls. Not only does Flint save the citizens of Swallow Falls from a life of endless sardines, but he also gets a girlfriend, a weather girl intern by the name of Sam Sparks.  This heart-warming, fun family movie is a clear example of how animated entertainment has grown. From the humble beginnings of a basic flipbook, the animation industry has evolved tremendously, bringing its animated characters closer to the viewers.

By the second grade, we have already learned about animation. We drew a series of images on different sheets of paper, and when we flipped the sheets fast enough, our drawings seem to move from one pose to another. The earliest forms of animated movies were created just like that. One can imagine the time and work it took just to create a one minute film. Luckily, the animation industry evolved with technology and by 1928, Walt Disney had come out with a black and white cartoon, complete with synchronized sound, with the now-famous character of Mickey Mouse steering a boat. This short movie was Steamboat Willie.[2] Later, Disney would continue to rule the animation film industry with classics like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Sleeping Beauty, and The Little Mermaid. By then, the movies became full length with color, a diverse array of sounds, and more relatable characters. However, the images were still flat.

Enter the modernized world and digital art. With the help of high-tech computers, not only have we been able to make the characters look more 3-dimensional with shading and gradients of color, but we can also make the characters seemingly ‘pop-out’ of the screen. The animation industry has also blossomed; simply searching ‘animation’ on Google, one finds familiar names like Disney, DreamWorks, and Pixar Studios. The popularity of animated films has sky-rocketed as well; one of the highest box-office hits is The Incredibles (2004), and one of the best movies of 2008 was Wall-E.

The reason for the success of animated films is not hard to find. With better animation, clearer pictures, and attention to small details, animation has progressed from being merely a children’s cartoon to a style of movies enjoyed by the whole family. Take Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs as an example. The movie has a lot of characters, and each citizen of Swallow Falls has a different face, with different textures to their appearance. One obvious observation is Sam Spark’s hair; viewers can see each strand bundled neatly in her jello hair-tie as well as the different highlights of her dirty-blond hair. The attention to details is impeccable with the juicy cheeseburgers falling from the sky looking as real as the ones that come out of fast-food restaurants. Even the flaming meatballs flying out of the clouds look good enough to eat.

Furthermore, due to the efficiency of the computer creating the images and animation, the graphic artists have the opportunity to pay closer attention to facial expressions, and directors have the time to develop the characters. In Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, each character has their own story. The woven complexities of each personality makes the characters more real, believable, and relatable to the audience. There is the heart-warming story of the local police officer and his dedication to his son; the heart-wrenching misunderstanding between Flint and his father; and the funny quirks of Flint and Sam’s first date. The depth of the characters makes them seem as human as the person sitting next to us.

A month since its opening debut, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs has grossed about 96 million dollars in the U.S. alone.[3] It’s no surprise how successful the movie has been, considering the growth in popularity of animated films. It’s a wonder how the humble flipbook has evolved into a gigantic industry. Let’s face it: animated films have long since shed its childish cartoon cover and became an entertainment giant that people of all ages can enjoy.

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[1] “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009).” Yahoo! Movies. 2009. Yahoo!, Web. 18 Oct 2009. <http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810015820/details>.

[2] “Steamboat Willie.” Disney Archives. Disney, Web. 18 Oct 2009. <http://disney.go.com/vault/archives/movies/steamboat/steamboat.html>.

[3] “Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (2009).” Yahoo! Movies. 2009. Yahoo!, Web. 18 Oct 2009. <http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1810015820/details>.