The History of Animation and Film Unit Study: Part One

Our family is still playing around with the dream completely realistic goal of going to Walt Disney World in the near future (i.e., before I die), and Aidyn's been intrigued by animation lately. I decided (for the heck of it) to take us on a Disney World-inspired unit study adventure.

First stop, according to Aidyn: Disney's Hollywood Studios, so we can learn about animation.

Got it.

Little did I realize how challenging it is to find anything remotely "academic" in the realm of animation. Then I knew I was kidding myself. We are homeschooling, after all. We can learn any way we like!

So here's what we did:

I made a timeline, from roughly 1820 to the present. I printed blank timeline sheets (TL-5) from donnayoung.org, and sectioned each page to accommodate a decade. I pinned them on the wall before starting and printed up some pictures of Aidyn, his dad and me, and his grandma to plot on our birth years for reference.

Pinning his own picture to 2005

Mama and Daddy in the early '80s

And Grandma in '44

Prior to the lesson, I printed small pictures of important moments in animation history including:

-the invention of the thaumatrope, phenakistoscope, zoetrope, and praxinoscope
-creation of "The Humorous Phases of Funny Faces," "Gertie the Dinosaur," "Colonel Heeza Liar," and Felix the Cat from 1919
(I basically borrowed them online. Thank you, Google Images!)

Together we watched "The Story of Animation" on YouTube and placed new pictures on the timeline along the way.

We talked and joked about how primitive early animation was and how one invention slowly led to another.

Afterward, we brainstormed  our impressions of early animation from 1820 to 1919. He described how they looked and characters he liked as I transcribed it. I also asked him to write one interesting thing and a question he still had. He wrote that he liked Gertie the Dinosaur and how she threw the woolly mammoth in the lake. He wondered (a little ahead of time, since we haven't covered this yet) how Walt Disney lost Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

We both observed the violence in early cartoons but admit to laughing at them. I explained slapstick comedy to him, and he remembered The Three Stooges.

We also made a zoetrope. I remember making one in 7th grade (I had a cool music/animation teacher somehow), so I figured it wouldn't be too hard.

Just in case, we watched this how-to video a dozen times:

Aidyn practicing some sketches.

Drawing animation on the cels. 

"A guy running," he says.

Spin!

I'm pretty sure he will appreciate television and instant cartoon availability much more now...

We still have a far way to go. Next time, we'll be learning about the history of film and tracing both animation and film through the decades. 

Check back to see what we do!

Looking Back at 2013 and Ahead to 2014

January 2013~

Night of the Moonjellies~David's birthday~Karate~Space unit study~

February 2013~

Domino Rally~Learning about Lincoln~Adventure Time

Disneyland family trip~Aidyn's first time on Indiana Jones~Beautiful memories~Screaming on Goofy's Sky School~ Laughing at the Aladdin show~

March 2013~

Chaffee Zoo trip~Forestiere Underground Gardens~India unit study~Water tornadoes~Forts in the living room~Bowling on Sundays~Birthday bowling with Grammy Tami~Easter

April 2013~

Some good and some bad in April...

Making custom shirts~Aidyn's first official running race in Lancaster, Ca~Family trip to Charlie Brown Farms~Mini-getaway to Disneyland~Aidyn's first time on Autopia~David in the hospital with double pneumonia~David SURVIVED double pneumonia~Apples unit study

May 2013~

Spooky Storytimes~Forts in the dining room~Avocado ice cream~David's recovery

Summer 2013~

Water balloon fights~Outdoor play all day with friends~Library shows with friends~Reading books~Playground fun at friend's house

August 2013~

First day of second grade~Spelunking at the Moaning Caverns

Back to school~Saxon Math~Story of the World~Ancient Civilizations~Making a Shaduf~Mama goes to school to finish Bachelor's Degree

September 2013~

Surprise trip to Disneyland for my best friend, Amanda

Surprise morning visit~Driving and chatting on the way~Paper sculptures at Denny's~Reservations mix-ups~Breakfast at Tiffy's~Excitement~Little Mermaid ride~Screaming ridiculously on Goofy's Sky School~Our first time on Radiator Springs Racers~Halloween decorations~Space Mountain~Indiana Jones~Star Tours~Matterhorn~A million restroom breaks~Yummy Disney desserts and coffee~Monsters Inc.~Dinner at Flo's Diner

Ancient Egypt unit study~Painting a map of Egypt~ Making the Nile River, papyrus and cuneiform tablets~ Apple head preservation experiment~Busy with college~Preparing to move

October 2013~

Moved to a new home in a new town~Yearly Walk for Autism~Enjoying our new backyard~Writing stories~My and David's 12th Anniversary and 11th Wedding Anniversary~Ukulele classes~Art classes

Halloween~Carving pumpkins~Trick-or-treating~Fundraising for AFSP~Running regularly~Still busy-busy at college

November 2013~

Training for the half-marathon~Stellaluna~Ukulele playing~Fall unit study~Friend's wedding

Fire Station field trip~Thanksgiving~31st birthday~Best birthday present ever~

December 2013~

End-of-semester stress for Mama~Running~Winter Stories~Christmas crafts~Making snow and ornaments~Watching Christmas movies~Christmas morning~Aidyn's 8th birthday

Many people claim 2013 was a bad year. It had some rotten moments, most notably David's health scare, but I see it as a year of success because he survived and is now in much better health and working on new physical goals. We had a busy but colorful year with many good memories. I'm thankful for the trials, the growth, and the solidarity each has inspired in us.

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Our one-word goal for 2014 is Adventure. We enjoy those moments we spend outdoors, hiking, spelunking, exploring and traveling just as much as we love those magic moments at home. We'd like to create more of both this year.

A Disneyland-Themed Birthday Party

Our family is NUTS about Disneyland. I was taken by my parents as an infant and every year until I was 14. When my husband and I were dating in 2002, we visited the park together, but when our son was born in 2005, we couldn't stop going. Mostly it's the joy on his face, our camaraderie as a family, the screaming on roller coasters and that euphoric high we share that brings us back year after year.

We have a trip planned in January, along with a Tinker Bell Half-Marathon for me, and so Aidyn requested a Disneyland-themed party for his eighth birthday. The day was busybusybusy, and I wish I would have taken more pictures.

Birthday boy by the food table

Snow White's "Poisonous" Apples, with my friend, Amanda, in the background. She carved the skulls. : )

Disneyland train hauling a rainbow of fruit: red strawberries and cherry tomatoes, orange cantaloupe and Cuties, yellow bananas and pineapples, green grapes, blueberries, and purple grapes.

Jungle Cruise Wild Animal Crackers

Winnie-the-Pooh Snack Mix (honey Teddy Grahams, honey-roasted peanuts, M&Ms, and mini-marshmallows)

Finding Nemo Submarine Fish (colorful Goldfish crackers)

Space Mountain Asteroids with an X-Wing soaring above

Mickey Mouse Pizza

Rainbow fruit tray

Yoda Soda (Mt. Dew) and Vader-Ade (Kool-Aid) and Drink Me flavored water

My friend, Amanda, made us the Disneyland train and painted an 8 on the front. : )

Toy Story Midway Mania Carnival Corn Dogs

Our school white board looks much better without math problems. At least for today.

Mickey Mouse Cupcakes

He concentrated so hard on his wish. Wonder what he wished for...

Though the kids were too busy running and playing outside to watch, we showed vintage Disneyland videos such as The Disney Story, coverage from opening day~ July 17th, 1955, and vintage Disneyland shorts. 

I gleaned inspiration for my own Disneyland nuttiness and the following websites, which prove that I am not the only crazy one out there! 

Mickey Mouse Cupcakes

Walt Disney World Themed Party

Winter Crafts~ Homemade Snow and Salt-Dough Ornaments

Despite the busy time of year, we were able to squeeze in some fun winter crafts.

Homemade Snow~

Homemade Snow was inspired by Earth Mama's World and was super easy to make. All we did was mix some corn starch with shaving cream to make snow. Here in California, we "go to the snow," so if we can't make a getaway to the mountains, second-best is making snow at home!

Aidyn and his cousin, Danielle, both said the mixture had a funny texture but that it really did feel like snow!

Danielle <3 nbsp="" p="">

Aidyn's immediate idea was to make a snow-beard. In his attempt to look like Santa Claus, I think he came closer to resembling Leonardo da Vinci.

Love that shocked expression.

Making homemade snow turned out to be fun, messy and memorable. No doubt about it, we will make snow again soon.

Salt-Dough Ornaments~

We made salt-dough ornaments last year when I found a handprint-Santa ornament idea on Pinterest. This year, we made the same dough but used Christmas cookie cutters to make new shapes.

We mixed:

 1/2 cup of plain white flour

1/2 cup of salt

1/4 cup of water

Afterward we kneaded it, and Aidyn gave it a few hundred slams on the dining room table.

We rolled it out with a rolling pin and used cookie cutters to make a tree, a snowman, a wreath, and a star. I baked it in the over at 200 degrees for three hours. After they baked and cooled, Aidyn painted them.

He gifted his ornaments to his grandparents and made one for himself.

At his art class on campus, he made a snowman glass ornament that now has a favored spot on our Christmas tree.

If you liked reading about this, you might like hearing what we did with Katy and the Big Snow last year.

Thank you for reading and check back to see what else we're doing! We have some fun and unique unit studies around the corner...