bluth

So the Tail goes on By Stephen Dunne The Sullivan Bluth Studio came to Ireland initially in 1985 and put the finishing touches to the cel painting of An American Tail. In November 1986 they set up permanently in Dublin, and have since made The Land Before Time and All Dogs Go To Heaven, both … Read more

The editorial department itself is equipped with multiple viewing and editorial facilities, including a two-channel Steinbeck, two preview (large screen) Moviolas and standard Moviola equipment. Additional services provided by the editorial department include ‘Close-up reading’ of narration for animation purposes, sound effects and music editing. The studio projection facilities consist of two air conditioned projection … Read more

The job of keeping a look-out for errors goes to the ‘Music Room’. This name stems from the early days of the Walt Disney studio when music was played here, more than likely to soothe the frayed nerves of the people working in this department. Other tasks of the Music Room personnel include supervising all … Read more

In the animation department the story is divided up scene-by-scene and distributed among the character animators. The animators’ task is to bring movement, personality and life to the character he is drawing. Those of you who are mathematically inclined might like to work out how many drawings there are in the average ninety-minute feature. Whatever … Read more

The studio trains their own animators and this could take anything from three to five years. Another five years would generally be needed to reach a proficient standard as a directing animator. The first few years would be considered to be an apprentiship. An animator progresses up the ladder from in-between artist to becoming a … Read more

Although each second of film consists of twenty-four frames, in some cases if the action is very fast the animation can be shot on ‘twos’, that is two frames per drawing or eel set-up. Sometimes a drawing might be shot for ten, twenty or more frames to give the effect of a character pausing or … Read more

The latest film to be released in the U.S.A., All Dogs go to Heaven, opened in November 1989 and grossed $14.4 million in its first three weeks. It tells the tale of a roguish but lovable dog, his sidekick and a girl who can speak to animals, enough said. The film features the voice of … Read more