Importance of Animation

Animation can be the most meaningful and satisfying activity for a human being to indulge into. Where else can we find such an interesting amalgam of Science, Art, Craft and Spirituality.

This might raise some intriguing questions in your mind because most of you are familiar with Animation as audience who never take the trouble to go into the process involved. Even among them, who are involved in Animation, very few have the ability to truly appreciate its depth.

So, let us have a look at the process involved in animating a simple scene, where a person has to walk across the screen. To be able to do that an Animator has to know drawing, principles of animation and a few software's. Any average person can do that after some practice. That is the 'Craft' of Animation.But what if he has to show the Age, Gender or Weight of that person? To do that convincingly he has to have a sound knowledge of Anatomy, Laws of Physics and a mathematical aptitude to apply that successfully. This is the 'Science' of Animation.

However,this is not enough. He also have to show the mood of the person. Whether he is walking in depression, lost in thoughts, angrily or cheerfully. There he need to be familiar with every aspect of Art, including Dance, Drama, Music and Visual Arts. If he knows the nuances of Acting he can give right expression and body language to the person. A sense of Visual Aesthetics will help him in deciding the right color scheme and composition which can support the mood of the scene. Right Music in the background will enhance the mood of the scene and also help in deciding the rhythm of the person's movement.

So, after going through the Art, Craft and Science of Animation it looks pretty convincing. However, we are still midway. From here the Animator will have to add 'Something' that cannot be expressed in words or visually. This can only be experienced by the Audience.

This "Something" is what makes characters like Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck universally popular and loved across the barriers of 'Cast', 'Creed', 'Religion', 'Race' or 'Nationality. So what is this "Something"!? I would say it is the 'Soul'. The 'Soul' which is one but we all share. It is analogous to Internet which is one but have millions of computers to manifest itself. Similarly, we are also nothing but manifestation points of that single 'Soul'. And this Animated Characters also becomes manifestation points of the same'Soul'. That is why we connect with them even though they are imaginary.

So what it takes for an animator to share this 'Soul' with his imaginary characters ? He will have to be meditative and experience the oneness with every living and non living thing in the Universe. To animate Fire he will have to experience his 'Soul' in the body of Fire, to animate Tiger he will have to experience his 'Soul' in the body of a Tiger. Then only Audience will connect with and love the character.

This is 'Spirituality' in Animation. Though I have poured it out all in a hurry,I hope it is clear, at least to some extent, that how Animation is a melting pot for 'Science, 'Art','Craft' and 'Spiritualism'.

Sadly, in India, we don't go beyond the Craft of Animation. That is why we don't have a single character of our own which is popular even at the national level.

One reason is, in Animation we don't have people, who are good enough to explore the depths of Animation. It is still seen as a shortcut to money by the people who could not find their foothold in the more popular career options.

The Truth is, that Animation is a very demanding field which needs brightest of people from the society. It needs "artistic talents with a scientific bent of mind and a strong urge to experience the world beyond obvious." For these kind of people there cannot be a better way to enjoy life in its entirety.

I would like to end here with an interesting question- "What is more meaningful and satisfying - 'Creating an artificial micro-organism in a lab', or 'Creating a universally loved Mickey Mouse.' ?"