HERE IS HOW they do it — using Walt Disney's "Alice in Wonderland," as an example.
The Hollywood animators work at large desks equipped with animation boards. Inserted in the center of each board is a circular steel disk about twenty inches in diameter and which may be moved around, thus allowing the animator to sketch at any degree of angle he desires. A rectangular section of clear glass, approximately eight by ten inches in size, is injected in the disk, and a blue-white flourescent light is placed under it. On the edges of the
glass there are located a group of pegs. These are to hold the drawings firmly in place.
Now, say for instance, the animator has to animate a scene in which "Alice" accepts a cup of tea from the "Mad Hatter." First he runs the dialogue or sound track on his moviola (a machine not unlike a movie projector) and tries to get the mood of the characters through the sound of their voices. He asks himself "Is Alice excited, laughing, etc.?" Next he draws the "extreme" positions (drawings that best describe the action of Alice and the Hatter. In a scene of this type the amount of drawings required can number anywhere from fifty to a hundred and fifty, depending entirely on how fast the action is. The faster the movement the less drawings needed, while the slower the action the more drawings added. The animator also remembers that action causes reaction, so when the "Mad Hatter" pours a cup of tea, leans over the table toward "Alice" and asks, "Would you care for a cup of Tea?" he must "time" his drawings so that "Alice" will be looking at the "Mad Hatter" on the word tea. Then his next group of drawings show the reaction on "Alice" as she accepts the tea and stirring it with her spoon replies, "Why yes, thank you." Roughly then, this is the animator's main problem.
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