I Love Animated Movies
Ever since I was a kid, I’ve always loved animated movies. I was a big fan of Walt Disney and dreamed of one day being a Disney animator. In school I would create little “flip-book” animations in the margins of my books – little stick figures kicking a football or hitting a baseball. One of the things that motivated me to get into computer programming was so I could create computer animated figures. That led me to video game design and, with a friend, actually writing, coding and publishing a video game called “Lost Dutchman Mine.” We wrote it for the Atari and then paid another programmer to port it to the Amiga and PC. This was way back in the early eighties. I “googled” myself once and was surprised to find my name on a list of classic video games. Pretty cool, actually.
Anyway, I’ve never lost my love for animation. I have several large coffee-table books on Disney animation and a large collection of animated movies on VHS and DVD. There were times when Sue and I would go see an animated movie even when we couldn’t find a youngster to go with us. We took our grandkids to see “Bee Movie” this week and enjoyed it immensely. Last night Sue and I watched “Ratatouille” which just came out on DVD (what a beautiful movie with its scenes of Paris. I guess as an artist I appreciate animated movies as paintings brought to life). And today I watched Shrek the Third with my grandson who was home sick. Animation technology is becoming incredibly life-like. I recently saw previews for the new animated adventure movie “Beowulf.” I am amazed at what computers and programmers can do now to create super-realistic animated characters and highly detailed environments.
As I’ve said, I still love animated movies. I guess it’s the child in me that loves to be surprised and dazzled by the fantastic world of make believe, brought to life through animation.
Blessings,
Steve