Using Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), an animator can reproduce the three-dimensional effects of stop-motion photography or the two-dimensional effects of hand-drawn animation. Instead of pen and ink, paint, clay, paper or cels, computer animators use a screen, a mouse, hardware and software and mathematical formulas. Rather than sketching out characters and objects like traditional animators, computer animators build a three-dimensional "model" that can be viewed from different angles. This model can be displayed as a "wireframe," which looks like wires, in "polys" mode, similar to videogame graphics, or "anim rendered," a more polished representation. CGI can imitate camera moves and angles that would be difficult or impossible to achieve with traditional cel animation: the swoop from the chandelier to the dancing couple in the ballroom scene of Beauty and the Beast, for example. Because of its abilityto mimic reality, CGI is also used to produce special effects in live-action films. CGI can create digital tears or blood, embellish backgrounds and sets, make a small crowd seem large, or touch up the actors' wrinkles and flaws.

The 1982 film Tron, which combined live-action with animation, was the first film to use CGI on a large scale. Early computer graphics looked unappealingly flat, but recent improvements in technology such as "bump maps" create more realistic surfaces. When the Academy instituted the Best Animated Feature Film award in 2001, it was captured by the CGI-animated film Shrek.

Computer animators still have trouble duplicating soft shapes and textures such as human skin and hair and the movement of clothes and draperies. The most difficult task facing the special effects animators who created Gollum for the live-action film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was developing new computer codes to provide the creature with translucent, lifelike skin.

Use of the computer does not necessarily mean less work for the animator. It took four years to complete Toy Story, the first completely CGI-animated feature; coincidentally, it took the same amount of time for the Disney studio to finish Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. CGI may never completely replace traditional animation, because some animators still prefer the latter’s personal touch and slight irregularities. For others, using CGI can be compared to using the computer instead of a typewriter for writing, in that the new tool allows the animator to manipulate ideas and images with greater freedom.

Part A
Have your students compare hand-drawn or stop-motion animation to CGI animation, using selections from these films: Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, Alice in Wonderland, Lilo & Stitch and Fantasia employ hand-drawn cel animation. Chicken Run and The Nightmare before Christmas are three-dimensional films made using stop-motion photography. Toy Story and Shrek are CGI animations. Most of Beauty and the Beast was drawn on cels, but the ballroom scene is a good example of early computer animation. CGI was used to create the stampede scene in The Lion King, an otherwise hand-drawn film. Ask your students if they notice differences between CGI and traditional animation. Have them consider why animators might choose a traditional method of animation if CGI animation can duplicate traditional effects.

Part B
Each year, an outstanding array of new animated films is released. Some are especially appropriate for families, some are appealing to teens, and some are geared toward adult audiences. If you or the parents of your students feel that some, or even all of this year’s nominated films might be inappropriate for viewing by young people, you can modify this activity. Students can view Academy Award-nominated and award-winning films from past years to complete the exercises. A list of films that won Academy Awards for animation appears at the beginning of this teacher’s guide.

Ask your students to view one of the films nominated this year for achievement in animation and analyze it in terms of how its storytelling, character development and animation contributed to the total effect of the film.