Blog Post 12: History as Animation – The History of Music

A number of posts on this blog have focused on what an animations do to be effective educational tool. This class has examined films that largely fail at this task (Pocahontas) and films that largely succeed at it (An American Tail.) The stylistic choices in the animation can benefit or detract from the historical narrative.

An good example of style assisting the historical narrative is BBC’s The Story of Music. Dissecting this animation helps understand why I works so well. Fundamentally, The Story of Music is a short narrative covering a long span of human development. Dan O’Brien has selected a number of key “landmarks” in the development of music. The narrative, taken by itself, could prove boring and ineffective. Fortunately, the short film has animation assisting this narrative. One of the most important elements the animation of The Story of Music possesses is movement. The characters move in interesting fluid ways. They act out whatever subject the narrator is currently describing. Most effecting of all, the characters are in continuous movement forward. Superficially this makes the characters look like they are all moving along in a parade. This movement forward is deliberate. Of course, they are all moving forward to show that time is advancing. Just as the narrative progresses, so do the animated characters. This allows the viewer to be constantly aware that this is a story of progress. The continuous forward movement is much like a ruler. It helps us understand and sort out what we’re looking at.

While bright, fluid, and entertaining, the animations are slave to the narrative. They aren’t a distraction or break from heavy material. For examples of this see the animals in Pocahontas or Tiger in American Tail. They are simply there to visualize the point currently being discussed by the narrator. This way of using animation benefits the narrative. It benefits the comprehension of the viewer. This style of animation fundamentally proves to be a useful educational tool.