Table Of ContentComedy for Animators
While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators
have a much more complicated problem to solve: What makes a physical character
funny? Comedy for Animators breaks down the answer by exploring the techniques of
those who have used their bodies to make others laugh. Drawing from traditions such as
commedia dell’arte, pantomime, vaudeville, the circus, and silent and modern fi lm,
animators will learn not only to create funny characters, but also how to execute gags,
create a comic climate, and use environment as a character. Whether you’re creating a
comic villain or a bumbling sidekick, this is the one and only guide you need to get your
audience laughing!
• Explanation of comedic archetypes and devices will both inspire and inform your
creative choices.
• Exploration of various modes of storytelling allows you to give the right context for
your story and characters.
• Tips for creating worlds, scenarios, and casts for your characters to fl ourish in.
• Companion website includes example videos and further resources to expand your
skillset—check it out at www.comedyforanimators.com!
Jonathan Lyons delivers simple, fun, illustrated lessons that teach readers to apply the
principles of history’s greatest physical comedians to their animated characters. This isn’t
stand-up comedy—it’s the falling down and jumping around sort!
Jonathan Lyons earned his BFA and created an award winning student fi lm at New York
University, where he studied with noted animator and author John Canemaker. After
moving to California he earned his living in traditional animation, before transitioning to
computer graphics and becoming animation supervisor for a dozen Pillsbury Doughboy
commercials. While working at Industrial Light & Magic he earned two Clio Awards for
commercials and went on to work on the fi rst four Pirates of the Caribbean fi lms. From the
workshop for Pee-Wee’s Playhouse to teaching animation at the university level to
animating on Seth MacFarlane’s feature fi lm Ted, Jonathan has been employed in
animation for over 25 years. During those years he also studied the work of great
physical comedians simply for the love of the art. He applied the principles to his Floyd
the Android character in two short fi lms that have been screened in 50 fi lm festivals
around the world, and won a handful of awards. He is happy to share with you what he
has learned from watching the classic comedians, and reading about the thousand year
history of character comedy.
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Comedy for Animators
Jonathan Lyons
CRC Press
Taylor & Francis Group
6000 Broken Sound Parkway NW, Suite 300
Boca Raton, FL 33487-2742
© 2016 Jonathan Lyons
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Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identifi cation and explanation without intent to infringe.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Lyons, Jonathan (Jonathan C.)
Comedy for animators / Jonathan Lyons.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
1. Animated fi lms—Authorship. 2. Comedy fi lms—Authorship. 3. Cartoon
characters. I. Title.
NC1765.L96 2015
741.5′8—dc23
2015016823
ISBN: 978-1-138-77723-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-77718-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-315-77281-3 (ebk)
Typeset in Myriad Pro
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the CRC Press
Web site at http://www.crcpress.com
To my wife Wendy.
She took a key lime pie to the face, and paid me back with a spritz from
a seltzer bottle.
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vii
Contents
Foreword ix
Acknowledgments xi
1 Introduction 1
2 The Dirt Floor 7
3 Palatial Theaters 19
4 Shadow and Light 39
5 Essential Characters 57
6 Comedy Teams 81
7 Context 101
8 Structure, Style, and Theme 111
9 Gags and Comic Events 129
10 Props 151
11 Comic Acting 167
12 The Impossible 183
Bibliography 197
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ix
Foreword
“Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” The actor who adlibbed that aphorism on his deathbed
(it is attributed to two Edmunds of diff erent eras: Kean and Gwenn), spoke the truth.
However, Jonathan Lyons’ entertaining analysis of cinematic laugh-makers, both live-
action and animation, is easy and informative.
A professional animator experienced in both hand-drawn and CG animation, and a
longtime afi cionado and student of physical comedy and comedians, Lyons knows well
whereof he speaks. His book off ers a cogent and knowledgeable guide to both
“presentational” comedians and animators who create characters who make with the
funny.
A succinct history of the origins of comedy opens the discussion, including analysis of
ancient Greek satyr plays, medieval morality plays, commedia dell‘arte, vaudeville, and
on to the silent movies of Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd, Laurel and Hardy, et al.
The book explores human behaviors and empathy, awareness of and playing to an
audience, as exemplifi ed by Atkinson, Cleese, Seinfeld, Tati, Chan, the Three Stooges,
among others, as well as their animated counterparts, e.g., the Simpsons, Bugs Bunny,
Wile E. Coyote, and the wide world of toon laugh-makers.
“All the comedians of my day,” Harold Lloyd once said, “had to be students of comedy.
You studied comedy. It just didn’t happen, believe me.” Lyon’s informative, articulate
book off ers a solid grounding in comedy foundations and principles that once
understood will undoubtedly inspire a new generation of animators.
John Canemaker
Oscar-winning animation director, author of 12 books
on animation history, professor/head of the animation
program at NYU Tisch School of the Arts.
27 March 2015
Description:While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators have a much more complicated problem to solve: What makes a physical character funny? "Comedy for Animators" breaks down the answer by exploring the techniques of those who have used their bodies to make others laugh
