How the Anime Is/Was Made (production cels and sketches!)

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sunyshore

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i don't post here much, so i really hope this is the right place to post this - i asked a mod and they recommended it to me, but if it's not the right place i am very sorry!!

so, after ten years of searching, i finally found my dream items, actual, real, one of a kind animation production cels of raichu and lt. surge from electric shock showdown, the 14th episode of pokemon! i've been collecting cel sketches for years, but had been told all the cels were probably destroyed. i've never seen a cel of raichu before, and to get him with surge was an amazing and special treat.

the cels came with the entire story boarding and sketch process for the first one, and storyboard for the second. i was amazed at HOW much work went into even just 4-5 seconds of the anime (how long each of these end cels was on screen). i don't know if that much work still goes into it... sometimes i wonder when watching newer episodes :p

if you don't know what a cel is, it's the original artwork by the animators that you actually see on your screen - a one of a kind, absolute treasure.

these are my two cels.... but wait, there's more.

raichu_cel01b.png


raichu_cel02b.png


i lined up the entire package here on this site:
http://www.sunyshore.com/raichu_cel.shtml

you can see all of the storyboards, layout work, sketches, everything!! it's just beautiful, man!! this is my favorite storyboard, for anyone who doesn't want to look on the site:
raichu_cel04d.png


but wait - there is MORE! i also have over 60 cel sketches from this episode, many of which i've also arranged onto a gallery (that badly needs redoing, i think). cel sketches are what the animators actually drew by hand, which were then taken and traced onto cels and painted for the anime itself. i am lucky enough to have the full animation sequence for three parts:

raichu_sketch_shock.gif

raichu_sketch_whip.gif

raichu_sketch_circles.gif


the full collection is here:
http://www.sunyshore.com/raichu_sketch.shtml


anyway, i hope you enjoyed this look into how the anime is/was made! i'd love to see any other cels or sketches owned by anyone else as well! thanks for checking them out~
 
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That really is awesome, thanks, it's neat to know how things are made. Like the Pokemon anime for example.
 
OMG OMG OMG!!!=D

I have been wanting to see something like this for Pokemon for years.

I love seeing the early stages of cartoons ever since I started trying to become an animator.

Thank you so much for posting these up.<3 <3

I've made 2 short films in the last few years of my animation course (which I have finished the course now), both had a 2D characters that were hand drawn so I know how much work goes into these.

These are so cool.=D
 
That it BEYOND epic! It musta cost an arm and a leg to get those, but you couldn't have picked a better classic episode to gun for!
 
That's awesome! I love the bemused Raichu one at the bottom. Must be great to actually own a piece of Pokémon history like this.
 
Thank you very much!! Yes, after searching since I was a teenager it's been an incredible rush. They ONLY arrived last night, not even 24 hours ago, I'm still in complete shock over their beauty. The storyboards and rough sketches are such a treat, I have NEVER seen anything like them when it comes to the production "secrets" of the anime.

The whole collection, cels + sketches, over 2 years has cost around 1100$. 700$ of that is the cels alone. Sketches don't cost as much as cels, and a whole bunch from this ep came out at once, so I was able to get a few big bundles.
 
Couldn't have picked a more perfect Gym Leader. Well done.

It's time to kick some ass and Rai-chew some bubble gum, and I'm all out of gum.
 
Eek eek the sketches still have the peg bar holes and everything!!! [/animation student geekings]

This is awesome.
 
How did you get these cels?

Also, seeing these cels looking so clear makes me dream of how amazing this series could look if it was remastered on Blu-Ray.

heerosferret said:
i was amazed at HOW much work went into even just 4-5 seconds of the anime (how long each of these end cels was on screen). i don't know if that much work still goes into it... sometimes i wonder when watching newer episodes :p
Click to expand...

Animation is an incredibly labor intensive process. Always has been, always will be.

The process nowadays is a little less tedious than it was before - all the stuff that would be done on cels is now done on computers, making it faster and cheaper - but it's still incredibly time-consuming and labor intensive.
 
Yes, with him and Volkner being my favourites, and Volkner being scheduled to appear with his Raichu, the timing could not have been better!

@ Dogasu: I got into talks with a Japanese cel collector who's had them for over ten years and decided to let them go to me for her decided price. She has many many more cels I might go back in for when I am not about to go back home on vacation (and be unemployed for a month XD). She is an extremely private person, so I am very, very grateful to her for letting me take care of her precious cels.

As for animation - of course of course! I only meant it as a light jab about how the quality seems to vary so much in the anime sometimes (some episodes being very choppy and looking more rushed, and some being very smoothly done and seeming more professional). I enjoy every single episode regardless of animation style and would never mean to imply that all the animation teams aren't working very hard around the clock. I'm sorry it came off like that!

However that being said - NOTHING impresses me like the art and animation about the older episodes. Something about them just seems so... loveable? The way they move and talk, something about it is just very wonderful. Ep 14 definitely fits in with that for me... maybe it's just nostalgia?
 
I've actually got loads of model sheet scans from various sources saved on a CD somewhere, from the original series through to mid/early DP.
When you see stuff like that, with every little detail having to be pointed out, for EVERY character and EVERY prop, along with these old hand-painted animation cels and the initial pencil work here...it's pretty overwhelming. The amount of work that needs to be put in, even on something like pokemon, is quite astounding, especially when this stuff has to be done for something that comes out on a weekly basis. It makes me feel like a bit of jerk for ragging on even the worst directors. Err...sorta.


I wish they'd release a series artbook akin to those recent Capcom Official Works books, filled with high quality art and such. I'd pick it up in a heartbeat.
 
@ Grave-E: Yeah, I have some of those also... from DP as well, and it just makes me wonder if some of the animators hate Ken Sugimori/other designers, who just get to create fun characters and Pokemon, but not draw them a thousand times a week XD Seriously, stuff like...Giratina Origin Forme? Any of those Sinnoh dragons, just as one example? I don't even want to draw them twice in a row. My hand would get tired. From two times. And it would take me a whole day.

Serious admiration for animators of anything. But especially crazy stuff like that.
 
^ Now I'm thinking of the anime One Piece, with all the details in the characters' clothing...
 
Wow, thats really cool to see. Its amazing how much work goes into even a short little scene. Its sure does look cool though!
 
Wow! I've never seen anything like this before, they are brilliant! It makes me have an even better appreciation for animation...
 
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