The writer of the following article has met some of the young people who can derive the greatest benefit from an animator’s survival kit. She was asked by a local principal to interview some students at a Middle School in “The Heart of Screenland.” Those students had created an animated clip, one that could be used on the Internet. When the writer later visited a local editor she found the offices of a professional animator. He seemed eager to learn more about the School’s animation course. He seemed eager go share with those students his “supplements” to the animator’s survival kit.When the men who worked for Walt Disney first drew pictures of a life-like mouse, they could not refer to any sort of guidelines. Some seventy to eighty years ago, no one had ever heard of animation. Those men at Disney could not examine any sort of animator’s survival kit.

The animator’s of today do have access to such a kit. Still, a person who wants to become an expert at animation should have a top-quality kit. This article outlines the basic features of a full-service, animator’s survival kit.

Such a kit would of course offer details about the methods used by the present-day animator. Tricks-of-the-trade, things that the men at Disney had to learn by trial and error, should be part of an animator’s survival kit. Yet a truly excellent kit would provide more than step-by-step information on the methods used by the animator.

An animator ought to have a book that describes the principles behind the animation techniques. An understanding of those principles allows an animator to apply existing techniques to new types of technology. A good animator’s survival kit should also contain the formulae that guide the creation of new types of animation.

The men working for Disney gave the world classical animation. An animator’s survival kit should certainly detail the history behind the development of the Disney cartoons. Still a kit for today’s animator should not stop at the disclosure of information about classical animation.

Today there is computer software that draws on the art of animation. An animator should know how to design characters for computer software. An animator must also know how to design characters for the very popular games. Some of those games are played on the computer, and some are played with special game equipment.

Any kit for the present-day animator should not discount the need for stop-motion animation. The availability of video and DVDs has not diminished young boys love for stop motion animation. An animator can not deny the continued popularity of the comic book, and of the identification of small boys with various comic book characters.

A complete and thorough presentation of animation must offer guidance to those who want to put together an animated story for use on the Internet. Young people today have displayed a growing interest in making graphical depictions for the Internet. Courses on animation are offered in schools.  Some faith-based youth groups have focused on teaching animation basics.

So, a good animator’s survival kit should offer information on methods, principles and formulae. It should cover classical animation, as well as animation for game equipment, for computer games, for stop-motion presentations and for the Internet.

An animator who is equipped with all that information should be ready to make animated characters that will entertain both young people and adults throughout the 21st Century. What about the next century? Well, there are still plenty of young children who love to watch the old Mickey Mouse cartoons.