Animation Smear

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Smear

Words by alyssa mercante design by martin flores

Breaking down a secret animation trick

the Art of the

Paul Layzell, UK-based animator

“Spongebob is a bit more surreal than the Superman. You can kind of get as weird as you want. Even if the audience can see the smear, that’s part of the charm. They probably did that smear for comic effect. It was also partially for economic reasons so they didn’t have to animate them walking out of the scene. They could just kind of zip out in two frames.”

Spongebob Repeats

“I really like the ones that have kept the form of the character, that haven’t really broken the line. You just take the character and kind of roll them out like Play-Doh. With Superman and Flash, they really wanted to get across that they’re lightning quick, so an uncomplicated smear works a little bit better.”

Superman Stretches

When it comes to how a smear is drawn, Layzell explains, “there’s loads of different styles.” Typically animators either stretch a shape or repeat it in sequence to mimic movement. He also noted that that green animators can get carried away. “Sometimes, they discover smears and they’re like, ‘Oh, I want to do this loads,’ because it’s fun to do. But actually, it should be a treat for the animator.”

Origins

One of the first animated pieces to use smears was the 1942 Warner Brothers short, The Dover Boys at Pimento University. The short’s animator, Chuck Jones, employed smears as a way to save time while drawing, and would later feature it in his work on Looney Tunes. “I love the old Warner Bros. cartoons. They use smears a lot,” says Layzell.

“A smear is an optical illusion”

“A smear is an optical illusion,” says UK-based animator Paul Layzell, who’s created work for I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman and Disney. “It would be crazy to animate a whole movement like film does, because of how long it takes to draw stuff,” he says. “So you cheat movement by using a smear. It’s a visualization of a blur.”

Pause The Simpsons at just the right moment and you’ll be staring at a Groenig-Dalì mashup, with Bart’s head completely distorted and Homer’s eyes melting off his face. But don’t worry, it’s not the new allergy medication. It’s an animation smear, something you’d never notice if you watched the show in real time.

“A smear is an optical illusion,” says UK-based animator Paul Layzell, who’s created for I Love You, America with Sarah Silverman and Disney. “It would be crazy to animate a whole movement like film does because of how long it takes to draw stuff,” he says. “So you cheat movement by using a smear. It’s a visualization of a blur.”

“A smear is an optical illusion”

One of the first animated pieces to use smears was the 1942 Warner Brothers short The Dover Boys at Pimento University. The short’s animator, Chuck Jones, employed smears as a way to save time while drawing, and would later feature it in his work on Looney Tunes “I love the old Warner Bros. cartoons, they use smears a lot,” says Layzell.

Origins

When it comes to how a smear is drawn, Layzell explains, “there’s loads of different styles”. Typically animators either stretch a shape or repeat it in sequence to mimic movement. He also noted that that animators can get carried away. “Sometimes they discover smears and they’re like ‘Oh I want to do this loads’, because it’s fun to do, but actually it should be a treat for the animator.”

Superman Stretches

“I really like the ones that have kept the form of the character, that haven’t really broken the line. You just take the character and kind of roll them out like Playdough. With Superman and Flash they really wanted to get across that they’re lightning quick, so an uncomplicated smear works a little bit better.”

Spongebob Repeats

Paul Layzell, UK-based animator

the Art of the

Breaking down a Secret animation trick

Words by alyssa mercante design by martin flores

Smear

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