Women have been influential in film and animation from the very beginning, but their contributions are often left unnoticed in history - generally due to the gender norms of the past. The lack of recognition women have received in animation history can be summed up best by Mindy Johnson’s (author of Ink and Paint, a book about the role of women in Disney animation) visit to the Disney archives for the first time to begin her book research. Upon her arrival, she was given a single folder with only five pieces of paper inside. There are clearly more than 5 pieces of paper worth of women and their contributions to the industry. And, this contribution is something that needs to be better and more widely known. I hope to share a bit of that history here. One of the most influential women in animation history is Charlotte Reiniger. Charlotte was doing animation in her own way long before Disney or other companies started doing animation as we know it today. She was born in 1899, in Berlin. Reiniger worked as a filmmaker for over 60 years and did most of her films with her husband. Her most famous film is The Adventures of Prince Achmed, which she completed in 1926. The film was the first, full-length, animated feature ever made. This film, like most of her films, was done in an animation style that involves taking individual frames of cut out silhouettes (they are like shadow puppets). This process is known as stop motion. Stop Motion isn't filmed in real time, an animator
more often given credit for her work; this is attributed to the fact that she created in the early years of film, when it was new, experimental, and there were not yet defined roles. Her influence on animation is best summed up by Times Film Critic, A.O. Scott, in 2018 when he wrote that Reiniger’s “Dreamy images that seem to tap right into the collective unconscious suggest both an antidote to Disney and a precursor to Tim Burton.” Just as being involved in the early years of film was beneficial to Reiniger, another woman who also made her mark was Alice Guy-Blache. Alice made the first film ever to tell a story and was also one of the first female directors. During her lifetime she directed many films, even some for the studio she opened in 1910 with her husband (Solax Studio). Another woman who took advantage of the time was Frances Marion. Marion became America's highest paid screenwriter and the first person to win two Academy Awards for screenwriting. She did all of this in the early 1900s.
placing an emphasis on the pretty and not the detailed work required for the job they performed. Fortunately for Friedman though, her bosses took notice of her skills. She was promoted to an assistant and inbetweener (a person who draws the frames in between the keyframes done by lead animator). Then, she was "secretly" promoted to animator, where she could generate animation content of her own, instead of filling in others' gaps. After that promotion she animated – uncredited – a Popeye cartoon, Can You Take It (1934). Lillian is just one of the many women in animation history to often go unnoticed due to gender constraints and non-credit of her work. Her influence, while not outright influential to the industry as a whole, is reflective of what is needed to be successful in the industry, and she is a role model for other female animators. She worked for her passion not for the credit, and her hard work paid off.
attractions in the Walt Disney theme parks, such as the dolls in It's a Small World, on along with a mosaic inside Disney's Contemporary Resort in Florida. Her work can also be seen in other places within the company's theme parks, through attractions based on films that she did work for like, Peter Pan's Flight, and Splash Mountain (inspired by Song of the South). Her art style and work are said to be “deceptively simple” because her work is “enormous visual sophistication”(Canemaker),as well as extraordinary craftsmanship in composition and in color. Blair was a highly regarded contributor to the Disney Company, she was even inducted into Disney Legends (a hall of fame that recognizes individuals who have made an extraordinary contribution to the company) in 1991. Her work contributed to some of the most classical and well-known films for children, and she was a successful animator who created a distinct and unique style for herself.
for the mother, and the hunting dogs. Her imagery was so intense, she self-described it as “vicious, snarling beasts”, that she was moved up and made an animator on the film. As the first woman at Disney to receive screen credit as an animator, she took a significant step for women in the field. Following Bambi, she started work on Dumbo, and also worked a bit on The Reluctant Dragon. However, her time at Disney was short lived, because a year later the studio ran into trouble and she, along with many other artists, was laid off. Retta Scott returned to the studio in 1942 to help work on military training films that the company was producing during World War II. She resigned shortly after returning, due to her husband's work. Though not as an animator, she did continue to contribute to the company as a freelance artist, illustrating the Big Golden Book of Cinderella among others. Retta was one of many female artists/animators but most importantly, she is the one who truly broke up the boy’s club, and she did it creating art that people often thought a woman couldn’t. These women are just the tip of the iceberg as far as influential women in animation. All of these women have positively impacted the industry in a way that has helped inspire generations of young female filmmakers, while also impacting the industry as a whole. Knowing the stories of these women is key to understanding why women are essential to animation, and why there is a push in modern society for more women like them. Bibliography :
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Claire Wilcox is a storyteller and an aspiring animator.
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