EOTO #1 Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera

 Walt Disney's MultiPlane Camera changed the game in the animation world of the 1930. Animators originally used 2D, hand drawn pictures and took pictures of each frame to make the animation come to life, but with the creation of the MultiPlane Camera animators were able to separate key features of their 2D pictures and and layer them on multiple planes to create more depth in their animated motion pictures. 

This picture above shows how the camera rig is suppose to work. Each element of a frame such as the moon, hills, road, and trees are all separate layers, painted on glass, in order to create individual movement and give a new depth to their cartoons. With this new technology the animators were also able to add a sense of realness to their cartoons because now everything stayed in preparation to real life. For example the moon no longer gets bigger when the characters walk towards it when on earth, just like in real life. This technique also allows much smoother movements between frame because now each individual plane was able to move side to side.   

This is what the actual MultiPlane camera looked like. The camera is on top and points downwards on the planes and takes a picture with the help of a camera operator. This is how they got every frame and even though it was a slow process it improved the quality of their productions greatly and led the way for future animation techniques. 

Ub Iwerks was the inventor of the revolutionary camera un 1933. He was a former animator at Walt Disney Studios and wanted to make their cartoons feel more realistic and interesting to the eyes. He created it out of old Chevrolet car parts.

Later on William Garity brought this technology to Walt Disney to be used for Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and The Old Mill which both won Academy Awards for Animated Short Films. Disney would later use this technology up until The Little Mermaid which was the last movie to be filmed like this before the digital age. 

Today these iconic cameras can be found all over the world in places likes The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, the Walt Disney Family Museum in San Francisco, and on in the Art of Disney Animation Attraction in Disneyland Paris. There, people from all over the world can experience what gave Disney Animated Films their touch of magic.

Sources: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdHTlUGN1zw

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multiplane_camera#:~:text=In%201933%2C%20former%20Walt%20Disney,from%20an%20old%20Chevrolet%20automobile.

https://beverlyboy.com/filmmaking/who-invented-the-multiplane-camera/#:~:text=What%20is%20the%20Multiplane%20Camera,to%20films%20of%20its%20time.