Paul Astell
Having been born about a week before the release of Aladdin, I just missed out on growing up with the Disney Renaissance. As a child, my parents didn’t take me to see many Disney films in the cinema (maybe because I was a boy, who knows), so my experience of animation back then was mainly DreamWorks films. Now, I’m not saying that’s a bad thing – despite DreamWorks’s notoriously patchy quality, they’re certainly capable of putting out some amazing work. Still, given that I enjoyed films like Shark Tale at that time, it’s not surprising that my appreciation of animation took so long to develop!
My fascination with it really began in 2008, when I first gained access to the Disney Cinemagic channel on Sky. For the first time, I was able to see many of the Disney classics that I’d missed out on over the years, including most of the Renaissance films and older classics. Having grown up with just a couple of Disney VHS tapes, I’d never realised how truly impressive and enjoyable the films were. The process of creating animation, of bringing drawings to life, had me hooked. With time, my interest spread to the films of other companies, films from other countries, TV shows and shorts, and I tried to learn more about the animation world while watching as much of it as I could. Now, I’d like to share my passion for the art of animation with everyone out there who enjoys it too – so please leave comments and let me know your opinions on the topics I post! I’m always eager to learn more, and I hope you’ll learn some new things about your favourite pieces of animation while you’re here.
Feeling Animated 