Uses Resources: 2D Animations with Emotional Stories/Emotional Scenes - Secondary Research

2D Animations with Emotional stories/emotional scenes

Why focus on 2D Animations with Emotional Stories/Emotional Scenes and not Comics or 3D Animations with similar traits and why focus on looking at both Western and Eastern Examples of 2D animations with Emotional Stories/Emotional Scenes?

I've decided to focus on 2D Animations only for the Emotional Stories/Emotion Scenes instead of Comics and 3D Animation as I mentioned earlier as, not only will I be researching them later in what I feel is a more suitable area for Researching those two different types of media but the fact that I want to Research into things that stick closely to what I'm wanting to produce which is a 2D Animation with a strong emotional story and I don't think I can get any better than sticking to the closest thing imaginable and that is 2D Animations themselves.

The reasoning behind researching eastern and western 2D animations is that both highlight different forms of emotion and present them in a very varied manner. Whilst what could work for a Western 2D animation, might not work for an Eastern 2D Animation and I feel researching both is very important as it gives understanding on what works from both cultures. Whilst you could argue that could lead some confusion with my 2D Animation, wondering what culture this is for, I live in the United Kingdom and that in a Western Cultured environment so it would seem fitting to just focus on Western 2D Animations but I think there is a lot to learn from Eastern 2D Animations and they hold some very strong emotional stories/scenes. My 2D Animation in particular hosts a combination of both cultures which is a final reason why I feel it's important to look at both cultures take on emotional stories/emotional scenes in 2D Animation respectively.

EASTERN

2D animations with emotional stories and or emotional scenes is an element in my 2D animation I want to focus on as my overall goal is to produce a success, professional 2D animation with a strong sense of emotion. Since I will want to be looking at both the eastern and western variety of 2D animation to combine them in an interesting way, one of the animes I want to look into and research is Dragonball Z. Whilst this over-the-top action anime isn’t too strong in its story nor its characters there is a pretty emotional scene whereby Goku has to sacrifice himself in order to save not only Earth but his beloved son, Gohan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ES7ErsP8L8 (Accessed 13/01/2012) - RELIABLE

Video Summary:

Dragonball Z - Episode 95             

"Bye-Bye Everyone! This is the Only Way to Save the Earth"

In a desperate attempt to destroy Earth, Cell begins to self-destruct. With mere seconds left, Goku says goodbye to his son and teleports himself and Cell to King Kai's planet, the only safe place he could think of. Upon arrival, Cell finally explodes, destroying the planet and killing everyone there. As Gohan is left on Earth to grieve, Goku and King Kai realise that Cell hasn't accompanied them to the Other World, and therefore must have survived the explosion. Using Goku's Instant Transmission technique, Cell returns to Earth, where he kills Trunks with a single blast through the chest. He then reveals that not only did his nucleus survive the explosion, but he was able to regenerate into his perfect form - and thanks to his Saiyan genetics, he is far stronger than ever before. Enraged by the death of his son, Vegeta unleashes a furious barrage of ki blasts at Cell, but is easily defeated and is only saved from certain death when Gohan intercepts Cell's blast and takes the full force of the attack. With Gohan injured and nobody left to challenge him, Cell prepares one final Kamehameha to destroy Gohan and the Earth once and for all. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonball_Z_Kai (Accessed 13/01/2012) - RELIABLE

I feel this would be useful to look at as my animation isn’t just going to be all emotional, there is going to be quite a fair amount of action and it would be interesting to see how this example in particular can translate from action-packed brutal fighting to slower, more thoughtful emotional fighting between a father and his son.

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Another anime example from the eastern side of the world I want to look into is Sonic X.

In the anime Sonic X, a character named Cosmo, a green plant like creature, decides to sacrifice herself for the good of the characters and the entire galaxy, it is the only emotional scene in Sonic X that I personally find that runs through and works very effectively. Since one of the trees that is destroying the galaxy is still around, Sonic and his friends can't seem to destroy it and thus Cosmo must sacrifice herself in order to restore it bad to normality and give the universe it's peace again. It was quite an emotional scene, especially with Tails response to Cosmo's death as there was a quite heavy love interest going on there and for people who enjoyed Cosmo and Sonic X, it provides quite a fitting conclusion to the series and Sonic and his gang's adventure across the galaxies. 

American & Japanese Comparison Video of the scene:

Japanese vs American:

 

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jc0GFgo7nEg (Accessed 13/01/2012) - RELIABLE

Video Summary:

Sonic X- Episode 77

"A Fearless Friend"

"What I Can Do For You" (Kimi no Tame ni Dekiru Koto (君のためにできること^?)

When the giant seed finally reaches the final stage of its metamorphosis and starts sucking the life out of everyone except for Cosmo, she takes the Chaos Emeralds to Eggman, thinking that he'll know what to do. Dark Oak attacks Cosmo, who drops the Chaos Emeralds into space. Thankfully, the planet egg is respond the Chaos Emeralds and the Chaos Emeralds's power is restored again. Sonic and Shadow, who use them to transform into Super Sonic and Super Shadow, and attack the Metarex seed. Cosmo feels helpless but her mother, in her mind, assures her that she is the one who will save the galaxy. She then transforms into a new form and becomes determined to stop this once and for all. She flies over to the planet, passes through the gravitational force that neither Super Sonic nor Super Shadow could pass through, and plants herself on top of it. She then becomes a tree, saying that she has now immobilized Dark Oak. She tells Tails to load and fire the Sonic Driver and shoot it at the planet. Everyone is shocked and does not know whether or not to risk saving the galaxy if they're going to kill Cosmo in the process. However, Tails is very hesitant, but Cosmo re-assures him that her seeds will be spread throughout the galaxy (American and European dubs only). He then thinks back to all of the good times they've had and their love and, tearfully, admits that he loves her (Japanese dub only), and fires Super Sonic and Super Shadow at the planet, completely destroying it, including Cosmo. In a white void, Cosmo thanks Tails about what he done for all of the good times and Cosmo said "I love you Tails" before she disappears(Japanese dub only) 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Sonic_X_episodes (Accessed 13/01/2012) - RELIABLE

When analysing the scene however, there are several reasons why I found this example is pretty important to consider when producing a 2D Animation with an emotional story/emotional scenes other than it being one of my more favoured animes. Why this is so important is largely down to the music, music can produce a lot of emotion and power in all forms of media, whether it be a 2D Animation, 3D Animation or any sort of film or audio pieces. 

If you noticed in the Japanese Voiceover, the music is drastically different to the American Voiceover. It's a lot more subtle and peaceful and reflects better with the mood of the scene. The voice work seems to work better and the voice actors in the Japanese version seem to reflect a lot more emotional that feels a lot more authentic. The American Version tries to do it's job, catering to a different audience but personally I feel it should've been left untouched except for the voice actors, which they should've hired better ones that carry more emotion and you will find this quite a lot with anime fans as they prefer the Japanese Version over the American or English re-release as it just seems to fit better and because I have these feelings on the scene, it makes it even more important.

It makes it even more important as it makes you think about your audience, you need to know clearly what type of audience you are catering for and if you're going for a mixture like myself, you need to think outside the box a little and think that it's enjoyable for both but as a whole, I chose this scene because of the music and how impactful music can be when portraying emotions and that I'm going to have to produce music that fits my 2D Animation nicely, whilst not forgetting voice work that does bring those emotional swings and perhaps pulls some heart strings, if possible. 

WESTERN

When looking into the Western side of 2D Animation with emotional stories/themes, the first thing that came to my head was Episode 10 of the Sixth Season of The Simpsons. Titled "Grandpa vs Sexual Inadequacy", I feel the episode is very useful in giving a taste of what it takes to build an emotional story from a personal or general view. Personally, this was the only episode of the Simpsons to this day where I almost cried and it still holds true. Watching the episode makes me think how useful this is as it combines all the elements in a great way to convey emotion. The episode in essence is about Homer and his father teaming up to sell a drug, but one chain of events leads to another and they split both ways, showing two different sides of the characters but they end up at the same spot, the old house, their home. 

Video Link:

http://www.wtso.net/movie/404-610_Grampa_vs_Sexual_Inadequacy.html (Accessed 14/01/2012) - RELIABLE

Video Summary:

The Simpsons - Episode 10 of Season 6  (Episode No. 113)

"Grampa vs. Sexual Inadequacy"

When Homer and Marge's marriage becomes boring due to their fading sex life, Grampa pieces together a tonic that is guaranteed to put the sparks back into their relationship. The effectiveness of the tonic results in Homer and Grampa going into business together, selling "Simpson and Son’s Revitalizing Tonic" to the public utilizing a medicine show. They travel from town to town selling the product, but after visiting the farmhouse where Homer grew up, the two get into an argument. Grampa yells at Homer in the car, saying that if he had not taken the tonic years ago, Homer would not have been born, finally shouting "You were an accident!" Homer, deeply hurt, throws Grampa out of the car, and proceeds to shut his father out of his life. It also causes him to change the way he acts as a father to his own children, whom he vows to show the attention and love he never received from Grampa. Bart and Lisa, however, feel he is overcompensating, and find that they prefer the "old" Homer.

Bart and friends attempt to figure out why all of the adults disappear after they buy the "Simpson and Son's Tonic". They come up with numerous conspiracy theories, none of which have to do with the tonic. Lisa, a skeptic, sarcastically offers up the possibility of all the adults being "reverse vampires" and having to be home before dark, which frightens the rest of the children more than their serious ideas.

Depressed at having failed to be a good father even when he is trying, Homer goes back to the farmhouse to think. He sees old photographs, including one of himself as a child on Christmas morning, where he thinks "my dad was not even there that Christmas when I finally got to meet Santa Claus". Homer then realizes that it was his father in a Santa costume, proving that Grampa did really care for him. Homer quickly reunites with Grampa, whom by coincidence has also gone to the farmhouse to reflect. Both of them accidentally set fire to different parts of the building at the same time (Homer accidentally setting fire to the photo and Grampa throwing a bottle of his tonic into a fireplace) and bump into one another on the front porch while fleeing the blaze. The two both admit they are "screw-ups" and reconcile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grampa_vs._Sexual_Inadequacy (Accessed 14/01/2012) - RELIABLE

The tight writing, brilliant use of music and subtle events such as Homer lighting a match to find a photo of him and his father in a happy light, only to burn it down by accident is a great addition to the episode but it's the bonding r that seals tat the end when they seek each othehe deal. This theme of seeking someone or something is something I want to incorporate into my 2D animation as I feel it's a good way to lay in some strong music and character to give that emotion. The clip, starting 19:39 on wards until the end, the clip illustrates what I mean in great detail and it's a strong, firm choice for analysis. 

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Another Western 2D animation example I am going to look at help build understanding for emotional stories/scenes/themes/elements is by the same producer as The Simpsons episode above, Matt Groening. Only this is from a different show, Futurama. Titled "Jurassic Park" this episode is the one that raised the bar if Grampa vs Sexual Inadequacy was the one that set it in the first place, personally, this episode made me cry and many others. Once again the tight writing and music really show it off but there is a strong sense of emotion conveyed more in the actions on scene and the overall story. The story is something people can relate to, the lose a pet and wanting to get it back and it's that set of wanting the main character Fry to succeed and find this dog that works so well.

Futurama is set in the year 3000, with Fry from the year 2000, being set into the future by a strange time capsule. He wakes up the world is completely different around him but in this particular episode he finds a prehistoric fossil of his dog and with this, he tries to find a way to bring his beloved dog back to life, Semore. 

Video Link:

http://www.watchcartoononline.com/futurama-episode-502-jurassic-bark (Accessed 14/01/2012) - RELIABLE

Video Summary:

Futurama - Episode 7 of Season 4  (Episode No. 61)

"Jurassic Bark"

When Fry takes Bender to a museum exhibit, he is shocked to find a fossilized dog on display, which he recognizes as his pet from the 20th century, Seymour. For three days he protests in front of the museum by dancing to "The Hustle" by Van McCoy, demanding they give him Seymour's body, which proves successful. Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth then examines Seymour's body, and concludes that, due to his unusually rapid fossilization, a DNA sample can be made to produce a clone, and it would even be possible to recreate Seymour's personality and memory.

Fry begins to prepare for the dog and Bender becomes jealous, especially when Fry refers to Seymour as "my best friend". Just when the professor is ready to clone Seymour, Bender arrives. Angry that Fry will not spend time with him, he grabs the fossil and throws it in a pit of lava, believing that destroying it will restore his friendship with Fry.

Fry is furious at Bender and extremely upset at having lost Seymour. Bender realizes how Fry could love an inferior creature and apologizes for what he did. The professor explains that the fossil may not have instantly melted, as it was made of dolomite. With this in mind, Bender, claiming to be partly made from dolomite, dives into the lava and recovers the fossil.

The professor begins the cloning process and his computer informs him that Seymour died at the age of 15, meaning he lived for twelve years after Fry was frozen. Fry has a change of heart, and aborts the cloning process, believing that Seymour must have moved on with his life, found a new owner, and forgotten about him, saying "I had Seymour until he was three. That's when I knew him, and that's when I loved him. I'll never forget him. But he forgot me a long time ago." Aflashback then shows that in the years that passed after Fry left, Seymour had faithfully obeyed Fry's last command, which was to wait in front of Panucci's Pizza until he returned. Seymour stays there as the years pass and he, the pizzeria, and Mr. Panucci begin to show their age. In the final shot, Seymour lies down and closes his eyes.^[2]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jurassic_Bark (Accessed 14/01/2012) - RELIABLE

The episode works very well and whilst some might not like pets, having an animal companion or animal attachment in my animation is something I feel would work very well. Unlike humans, some people feel that animals aren't the same, that some don't feel emotion but others will argue that and I want to put that point across of animals having emotion as well as humans but if I was to include an animal I want it to be a strong part of the story, just likes Fry's dog. The biggest scene of this whole episode from Season 5, Episode 2 of Futurama, begins at 13:27 until the very end that shows a montage of the dog getting progressively older, wanting his Fry back. That wanting, that seeking, that loving seems to be a theme that runs common in these emotional stories, Western or Eastern and is something I feel I must nail to get the emotional right. Lastly, like The Simpsons, the stories are typically quite light hearted, being that they are of comedy but I would like to take something more serious but when the cartoon gets serious, it really does and this Futurama episode really does show that producer Matt Groening really put his heart and soul into this episode.