Last week after reading “Vacation Time,” I was super excited to recreate the comic using my group members and I. We had quite the laugh trying to make the insane faces and confusing poses that Donald and the other animals made in the comic. It was actually pretty difficult to contort our bodies into some positions, such as the panel where Donald is trying to run away. I participated in that panel, seeing as I was playing Donald, and I found it very difficult to hold my position so Emily could snap the picture. The positions were just so unnatural, which makes sense because they come from a cartoon, not reality. It is interesting to see how such a cartoon could translate into reality. During the transition, some key elements get lost, making the end product a lot harder to understand. Looking at the comic we made, I couldn’t tell you what was going on at all. If you weren’t familiar with the original comic, you would be completely lost.
Looking at our comic, it would seem that it’s just a bunch of panels where we’re yelling at each other, or trying to get away. In the original, it was clear that Donald was trying to get a picture, and was stopped by a curious bear, only to get attacked by an angry. That’s not evident in the realistic version at all. I believe that this means some comics weren’t meant to be realistic, especially such a ridiculous character as Donald Duck. Most of what Donald is about are his actions and emotions, which in a cartoon, appear blown way out of proportion. He becomes a larger than life character with wild facial expressions and poses that no human being can achieve successfully. My group definitely couldn’t do it. Overall, the activity was fun and worthwhile. I think it really puts cartoons into perspective, and shows them as out of this world images that can’t be recreated in reality.