From the etymology of comics, we can know that comics originated in Europe as an art form. In modern Europe, two important historical conditions promoted the emergence of cartoons: first, the development of capitalism strengthened the power of the civil class, leading to major changes in the social structure. Secondly, since the Renaissance, the artistic concept of freedom and openness has been accepted by the society. The interaction of these two conditions made traditional painting step down from the altar of the Middle Ages and gradually approached the aesthetic trend of ordinary people, which provided a social foundation for cartoon painting with simplicity and complexity. At the same time, as a means for citizens to express their demands, comics have also been given a broader political connotation.
In Holland in the17th century, the sketch axis with cartoon exaggeration appeared for the first time in the painter's works. Honoré Daumier (1808- 1879), a French satirist, developed political cartoons to the artistic level. Today, political cartoons are still an important part of western popular culture.
Britain has a very important position in the history of animation art. As we all know, Britain is the first country to establish a modern parliamentary democracy and one of the first countries to enter the industrial revolution. The establishment of democratic politics guarantees people's freedom of speech and publication and provides a social foundation for the development of comic art; The rise of the industrial revolution triggered the prosperity of the newspaper publishing industry and provided material guarantee for the development of comic art.
As early as the end of 17, there were many humorous illustrations similar to cartoons in British newspapers, but they were not real cartoons because of the lack of full-time painters and fixed artistic style. With the prosperity of the press and publishing industry, by the beginning of the18th century, full-time cartoonists appeared, and the style of British cartoons gradually took shape. Compared with the humorous cartoons in continental Europe at the same time, British cartoons are more based on social customs and are good at humor and hints.
In this period, william hogarth (1697- 1764), James Gillray (1757- 18 16) and Thomas Rolandson (16) Among them, Huo Jiasi's representative works include The Return of the Prodigal Son and Harold's Travels, while Rolandson mainly wrote The Life Travel of Dr. Sintax. It is worth mentioning that the works of Huo Jiasi and others are no longer traditional single paintings, but have developed into a series of interrelated paintings, which have the embryonic form of comics.
184 1 year, the famous Punch Pictorial was founded in London. This famous humorous magazine occupies a prominent position in the history of comic development. In fact, it was the writer, famous painter John Ritchie and editor Mark Lumen of this publication who officially named humorous cartoons "cartoons" for the first time. At the same time, this publication is also an important bridge for the transition from traditional comics to comics. In the early "Clumsy" pictorial, many works with similar comic concepts have been serialized. John Ritchie's Adventure of Mr. Brick has many comic elements.
/kloc-At the end of 0/9th century, the appearance of color printing triggered a revolution in the publishing industry. Accordingly, color cartoons began to appear in people's field of vision.
190 1 year, a well-known publisher, Hams Worth, founded the joint publishing company (AP) on the basis of purchasing a number of magazines, and successively published comic books such as Elf, Bubble, Smile, Rainbow, Tiger Tim Weekly and Jungle Carnival. Henderson, another publishing house, also published Endless Fun (1906), Comic World (1909), Witty Words (19 10) and Spark (1966). Others, such as "Fireworks" published by "leps and Holmes" and "The Great Collection" published by Pearson, all participated in the publication and distribution of color cartoons to varying degrees. During this period, an important change in British comic periodicals was that the readers of the periodicals gradually shifted from adults to children and teenagers. AP Company is the biggest beneficiary of this trend. They successfully launched the cartoon image of "Tiger Tim", making it a favorite cartoon star for children. Its sister work "Bear Doll" has also achieved good sales performance. In addition, Fox Weir, one of the authors of Tim Tiger, has also created cartoons for girls such as Little Tiger Geely and Miss Hippo.
Compared with political cartoons and comics, the development of comics seems to be more legendary. As mentioned above, animation art is an important part of modern film and television art, but in the "prehistoric stage" of animation and film, the two are integrated. It was not until the invention of photography that film and animation began to go their separate ways.
1895, the Lumiere brothers in France showed their "movie machine" to the public for the first time, showing films such as Train Entering the Station and Seawater Garden. Modern movies were born. However, the first animated film was released ten years later. Part of the reason is the high cost of making cartoons. Today, animation is still a cultural product that needs high investment.
1906, J. Stuart Blackton, who worked in Edison's laboratory, made a humorous picture of funny faces, which was also the first animated film in the world. Since then, Emile Cohl from France has further improved his cartoon shooting skills and produced more than 250 animated short films. At the same time, he was also the first pioneer to combine animation with real life performance by screen photography. It is precisely because of Cole's outstanding contribution to the development of animation that he is also known as the father of contemporary animation.
Another American who had an important influence on the development of early animation was Winsor McCay. He was born in Michigan, USA. In his early years, he made a living by painting posters for circuses and popular theatrical troupes. Later, he became a newspaper reporter and comic columnist. 19 14, MacKay released a story cartoon "Gertie the dinosaur". The introduction of this cartoon has changed the pure artistic tendency in previous animation works, and organized stories, characters and live-action performances into interactive plots, which has achieved quite good results. Gertie, a naive dinosaur, has become a famous cartoon star. After Gertie the Dinosaur, MacKay filmed The Sinking of the Rousta Virginia. This is the first documentary made by animation.
Winsor McCay's success is symbolic. Based on his accomplishment and accumulation as a cartoonist, he created a new animation creation mode that attaches importance to characterization, story structure and public interest. After MacKay, American animators began to take a completely different path from their European counterparts. An animation era belonging to the new world is coming.