ACTORS WITH A PENCIL

We're accustomed to think of a TV character being played by an actor. But ananimated TV character is really played by two actors. The person who provides thevoice is the obvious one; the other is the

animator

. Animators are much more than pencil pushers. Sure, they have to be able to draw like crazy, understand movement,dynamics and the laws of physics (even if they break them most of the time). But perhaps more importantly, they have to be able to

act

. They have to know what thecharacter's face looks like when he or she is happy, sad, angry wistful, lonely, joyful, jealous or bored. They have to know how the character walks and stands in grips of those emotions. But instead of using their own voices, facial expressions and bodylanguage to express themselves, animators have to squeeze all the character's feeling andactions out through the tiny point of their pencil. Ouch!One of the most amusing things about visiting the Hanna-Barbera productionstudio is watching our cartoonists draw. They silently scrunch up their faces, wriggle intheir seats and contort themselves as they get into their "roles." Sometimes it'scompletely unconscious; they don't realize they're doing it! On occasion you might seean animator with a mirror on his or her desk, making faces and sketching furiously.Through the magic of the animator’s talents, the face in the mirror gets reflected on the paper as the face of Yogi Bear, Wilma Flintstone or Snagglepuss. What acting!Method actors throw themselves into a role. They

think

like the character,

believe

in the character, and if they're good actors, they

become

the character. But actors have iteasy compared to our cartoonists. Imagine how tough it is to think like Dino, to believein Elroy Jetson, or to become Baba Louie. Hanna-Barbera animators need greatimaginations to go with their great acting and drawing talents.Unlike Shakespeare's "poor player that struts and frets his upon the stage,"