Recycled animation is the practice of reusing footage from older animated films, often as a method to save time and resources in creating new scenes.
Understanding Recycled Animation
Recycled animation occurs when animators take sequences of frames from a previous production and incorporate them into a new one.
According to historical practices, Disney animators frequently used to recycle footage from older animated films. This technique involved drawing over existing animation cells to produce new scenes. The characters in these new scenes would often have similar designs, characteristics, and movements to the original animated figures they were traced from.
This is also known as rotoscoping, according to some definitions, although traditional rotoscoping specifically involves tracing over live-action footage, while recycled animation traces over animated footage. However, the principle of using existing motion as a base remains similar.
Why Recycle Animation?
The primary motivation for using recycled animation is efficiency. Creating animation is a highly labor-intensive and costly process. By reusing existing sequences, studios could:
- Reduce production time.
- Lower animation costs.
- Maintain a consistent quality for frequently repeated actions like walking, running, or dancing.
How it Was Done
The process typically involved:
- Identifying a suitable sequence from an older film (e.g., a character walking, dancing, or performing a specific action).
- Taking the original animation cells or frames.
- Placing new animation paper over the original frames.
- Drawing the new character or scene elements on the new paper, using the original animation as a guide for movement and posing.
- Inking and painting the new cells for use in the new film.
This method allowed animators to capture complex movements without having to design and animate them from scratch every time.
Examples:
While not explicitly detailed in the reference, historical examples of recycled animation often include dance sequences, character walks, or specific actions that were deemed reusable across different films featuring characters with similar body structures.
Recycled animation served as a practical solution in the golden age of animation to manage the demands of production schedules and budgets.
