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Meet the Character Animator: NANCY BEIMAN

Animation involves creating convincing acting and emotion on screen where the medium is unimportant. It is the story and the characters, not the technique that helps to make animation successful. Whether hand drawn cels, stop motion or computer works, it is the efforts of the animators who make the films remarkable. Someone has to time it, design it and bring it to life.

It is impossible to think of a world without computers and there is a good deal of excellent computer animation with characters that give a convincing feeling of weight and solidity. Those animators who are traditionally trained can be convincing and hold weight. Others who do a lot of computer animation without being trained to animate, expect the machine to do all the work for them. This ends up with no character to the animation at all and could simply look horrible. In these circumstances, traditionally trained animators can use the computer effectively to create entertaining stories.

Disney animator Nancy Beiman is one such icon from the industry, a character animator, who has graduated from the pencil to the computer. Born in New Jersey, Beiman received a scholarship to the inaugural class of the Character Animation Program at the California Institute of the Arts and seemed destined to be trained by colleagues of the Nine Old Men. Her teachers included such legendaries as Jack Hannah, Elmer Plummer, T. Hee, Ken O’Connor and Bill Moore.

Beiman was a traditionalist who had broken ground for women in unprecedented areas. Today there are a number of department heads and women animators working in key areas at all major studios.
With more than two decades of experience in animation, Beiman has worked at major studios such as Disney, Warner Brothers and Steven
Spielberg's Amblin' studio (now Dreamworks). Some of her screen credits include Snoopy, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, A Goofy Movie, Hercules, Fantasia/2000 besides many other commercial projects. Her jobs include working as Storyboard Artist, Layout Artist, Animator, Illustrator, Caricaturist, Character Designer, Director and Producer. She has animated characters designed by Don Martin in Swedish and worked on a compilation series based on the Martian cartoons of Chuck Jones. Nancy designed 'The Fates' in 'Hercules' in the style of Gerald Scarfe and animated all their scenes. She also designed and animated 'Billy Bones' in 'Treasure Planet'. Her latest projects include designing and boarding a short film in Japanese for Tokyo Disneyland and boarding sequences in a German feature film. She is currently a Professor at the Savannah College of Art and Design. Beiman is a Member of the National Cartoonists Society, where she served a two-year term as its Membership Chairman, besides being inducted into their ‘Hall of Fame’.

Beiman is also a frequent traveler and claims to change countries the way some people change their socks! Having read the complete series of Sherlock Homes, Beiman thrives in groups that meet to discover the joy of Holmes and the Victorian Era. Besides cooking up some of the most interesting Sherlockian dishes, she has also illustrated a calendar in the Sherlock Holmes series. Her work has taken her around the world to places such as England, Germany, France, Denmark and the USA. With a fond love for drawing, she harbors an equal passion for writing and uses her computer to write extensively about her art and travels. As such, she wonders what she would do without a computer.

Artyears.com had the privilege of asking Nancy Beiman about her views on animation as we took a peep into the life of the ‘Animatress’. Thanking her for her time and willingness to answer our queries, ArtYears presents an extract of what she had to say to us:

When and how did you first find interest in the art of animation?
I became interested in animation when I made a short film for an English class in high school.

Do you look up to any icons in the animation industry?
Chuck Jones is Animation God. I have also had close friendship with and great respect for Frank Thomas, Ollie Johnston, Ken O'connor and T. Hee. The latter two may be counted as mentors.

There are other wonderful studios of course,
but Disney is the only one that was founded by animators.

Almost every artist dreams of working at Disney. How do you look back at being there?
It was an incredible place with a real sense of history, and I got to work with some of the most talented artists there, from all over the world. It is a remarkable place. In other times it might be a listed 'national treasure'. There are other wonderful studios of course, but Disney is the only one that was founded by animators. And it was done in relatively recent times, so there are people still around who were there when it happened.

It was nice having people appreciate good animation and encourage it.

Normally, in what order would an animated film progress, in respect to scripting, character rendering, voices, etc?
Scripts are generally written now for features. You then go into development, which includes storyboard, character and background design. This can take more time than the actual production of the picture, but it is crucial.


YOUR FEET'S TOO BIG (C) 1984 Nancy Beiman

Actors are then recorded once storyboards are approved and the Leica reel is cut with a scratch track. Character design isn't generally finalized until one or two test scenes have been done, and sometimes not even at that time.

Nothing in animation happens spontaneously, at least not after storyboard and design phase. Our films are cut before they are shot; a live action director can overshoot. Animated films cannot.

Character animation starts with a few supervisors doing test scenes on their character. The full production – actually doing the animation – takes a little more than two years. The pre-production has been known to go for much longer than this.

From among the varied work that you have produced, could you possibly choose a character that you feel was a challenge to handle?
Any character that you create yourself is a challenge to handle, since you have no references to go by. Michael Maltese said it was 'easier to write a story for Bugs Bunny than for some unknown rabbit'. It is much easier to animate Bugs Bunny or Mickey Mouse than Billy Bones or the Fates (the last two were characters that I designed myself).

How are Film Directors different from those directing animation movies?
An Animation director has total control. What color is the sky, how heavy is your actor, how fast precisely do they move. It's great for people who have to be certain of EVERYTHING. Live action can change if someone gets sick, if the shot is mistimed, if something happens by serendipity. Nothing in animation happens spontaneously, at least not after storyboard and design phase. Our films are cut before they are shot; a live action director can overshoot. Animated films cannot; they are too expensive to produce, so you have to make sure that every scene, every frame counts.

Live action directors generally let the actors and cameramen have some creative freedom. The actors don't like being told what to do by storyboards, for example; so animation boards are far more comprehensive than live action boards.

There is no point in imitating live action when you can do so much more in animation. Why settle for reality when you can create entire worlds?

Besides greatly reducing the time taken to produce an animated movie, what more have computers done to hand-drawn animation films of the past?
They SHOULD have reduced the time and expense of production, but in truth the costs have escalated since there are now more bells and whistles to add with the computers. More crowd scenes and so on. It's a marvellous tool and would be most cost effective when used for your average movie on the order of The Little Mermaid. Unfortunately a lot of animated films have been overproduced, with thousands of characters in crowds, for example. It's not necessary to do this.

You creative skills range from being an animator to a designer, writer, teacher, producer, Director, globetrotter. What else would you have loved to be? How do you relax?
I relax by travelling, getting together with friends, and doing things other than animating or talking about shop. It's necessary to walk away from something this intense to be able to see the forest from the trees.

Animated works appeal to both the young and old alike. How successful are animated characters when used in commercials?
Extremely successful in the past. Animation is one of the most important propaganda tools there is; it appeals to all ages, on a very basic level.


YOUR FEET'S TOO BIG (C) 1984 Nancy Beiman

There has been a revolution in animation styles. What impressions do you hold about the photo realistic renderings in animated films nowadays?
I think that they will outgrow it. There is no point in imitating live action when you can do so much more in animation. Why settle for reality when you can create entire worlds?

Animation is one of the most important propaganda tools there is; it appeals to all ages, on a very basic level.

What is the biggest talent an animator could possess? What tips would you offer to an amateur?
LEARN TO DRAW. This has nothing to do with computers or paper. If you can't express yourself on paper, you can't do so with a machine.
The machine is not a substitute for talent.

For the tons of frames and hundreds of animators required to produce a full-length movie, most people will appreciate only the entertainment value of such films. Does it hurt?
Why, not at all. That is what the films are for. I am delighted when people say how happy my work has made them. That is what makes it really a fulfilling job.

The only thing that is important in film is whether people want to see it. As Sam Goldwyn once said, "If people don't go to see a picture, nothing can stop them!"

It's an honor when people are entertained by my animation. It makes me very happy to hear about it.

Picture of Nancy Beiman & all artworks in this feature are copyright © Nancy Beiman and used with her permission.

Nancy Beiman is a renowned character animator who also does varied commercial assignments besides teaching animation at SCAD, Georgia. You can find out more about Nancy Beiman and her work by visiting her website at www.beimanimation.com


In advertising not to be different is virtually suicidal.
— Bill Bernbach