John R. Dilworth Animator - Research Paper Example

Within the spectrum of animation a number of prominent artists have emerged who have revolutionized the genre or simply create meaningful and unique content. One such animation artist is John R. Wilworth. This essay constitutes a broad ranging investigation of Wilworth’s background and professional development and analyzes some of his prominent films in the context of his oeuvre and the animation tradition. Analysis John R. Dilworth was born February 14, 1963 in New York City, New York. Growing up he had been interested in arts and animation and notes that he spent countless hours watching Disney films and attempting to replicate characters such as Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse for his high school art projects.

He came to recognize that he had both a talent and inclination for this variety of artistic expression and resolved to pursue a career in arts and animation. He attended the School of Visual Art in New York. While he avidly pursued his scholastic pursuit, he also has noted that, “"You can't rely on a school to teach you what you believe you should know. You need to take the responsibility” (Miller, 1999). . The position was lucrative for Dilworth, especially after recently graduating from college.

Still, he recognized that working as an art director was not his true passion in life and longed for a full-time career in animation. Pursuing a career in animation became Dilworth’s primary driving impulse. Using his salary at Baldi, Bloom and Whelan Advertising Dilworth began funding his own animated projects. Among the most prominent pursuits during this time was he work on what he refers to as his magnum opus The Limited Bird. For two and a half years every night after work Dilworth would go home and work on this film.

After completing the film Dilworth was able to shop it to potential employers as a means of beginning his career in animation. In these regards, Dilworth began working for a variety of animations studios as an assistant or cel painter. While he was not creating his own work, the experience was crucial in his development as it allowed Dilworth to further enhance his animation skills as well as gain an understanding of the structural dimensions of the animation business. During this period Dilworth worked for a number of prominent animation studios, perhaps most prominent Nickelodeon where he worked on the original version of the popular Doug cartoon.

As Dilworth’s gained further experience with the animation studios he gradually took on greater responsibility. In these regards, he completed work on When Lilly Laney Moved In (1991), as well as Psyched for Snuppa (1992). While Dilworth’s career responsibilities were gradually increasing he began to further refine his perspective on style and artistic production. He notes that during this period he came to recognize to, “see