As we approach the end of the semester, I started thinking about what have I learned in all my classes, but particularly this class. When I think about it, I learned that animation has a longer history than I thought, can serve many more purposes besides entertainment, and is a long and grueling process.
First off, animation has a really long history. I always thought that animation started in the late 1910s and 1920s, but we went back to the end of the 19th century. I would not have thought to start history of animation with the early history of cinema because, while animation is a form of cinema, I consider the two as separate entities. If it weren’t for this class I would not have thought to do this.
Secondly, animation can serve many purposes other entertainment. I came into this class knowing that film in general is more than entertainment. It is something worthy of discussion. I lumped animation into this category, but didn’t realize there was much more to it. Animation proved to be the best way to get out propaganda during World War II and the Cold War because they are aimed at families, meaning more people will see them. They are also ways of relaying history, like Pocahontas and An American Tail. They are able to take something as complex as Jamestown and immigration and simplify it in a way that everyone can understand.
And finally, we learned the hard way that animation is a very long and hard process. I don’t think I’m the only one who struggled with the animation/optical toy project. You may think an optical toy is easier and less time consuming than a short animation, but it’s not. I encountered many problems while building my thaumatrope which made me see first hand just hard something like animation is.
Angela's Wonderful World of HIST 389 
I learned a great deal as well. I learned that view of animation as a media is as varied as the cultures on the planet. However, there are some similarities. Animation is usually geared toward children and young adults. It is used for educational purposes. It is an excellent marketing tool. Propaganda can be argued as the offspring of education and marketing, and as a result animation works as its media. I also learned more about early animators and how dependent they were on simple ink drawings. I liked how we learned about the advancements and frustrations of animators around the world as they developed their craft. Learning the story of the people behind the art was most enjoyable for me. I have a new inspiration for my own art, and maybe I will try to make my own animation, just to say I did it.
I personally believe that animation is really more than just entertainment. I actually enjoyed watching all those Japanese animes, besides just watching them I’ve learnt a lot about life and the decisions I need to make when I come across certain circumstances. Animations have taught me a lot of life lessons.
I think that the part of this class that I liked the best was the animations that were created during World War II and the Cold War. I love to learn about wars and the impact that they had on the world. This class did a very good job shedding light on this subject due to all of the cartoons that were put out during that time. I loved that part of the class enough to blog about it and how there were infomercials for the possibility of a nuclear attack. Like you said animation at this time was a great way to spread propaganda, and see what toll that took on the families that saw the animations.
Excellent points about the class. The earliest animation that I knew before the start of this class was Steamboat Willy. I assumed that that was the absolute beginning of animation as we know it. While it was an early piece, this class has taught me that very talented animators existed long before Walt Disney.
Also, I can feel for you on the optical toy. I attempted (and somewhat failed) to make a phenosystoskope and encountered many problems along the way. Not only am I not a great drawer, but the mechanics of the optical toy were much more time consuming and confusing than I had anticipated. Because of this class, I have a new found appreciation for animation.