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Introduction

The bouncing ball animation above consists of these six frames repeated indefinitely.

Animation is a filmmaking technique by which still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets (cels) to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, has continued to exist alongside these other forms.

Animation is contrasted with live-action film, although the two do not exist in isolation. Many moviemakers have produced films that are a hybrid of the two. As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery, filmmakers can easily composite 3D animations into their film rather than using practical effects for showy visual effects (VFX). (Full article...)

Selected article

Glenn Beck

"Dances with Smurfs" is the thirteenth episode of the thirteenth season of the American animated television series South Park, and the 194th overall episode of the series. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 11, 2009. In the episode, Cartman becomes the reader of the elementary school announcements, and starts making politically charged accusations against student body president Wendy. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Trey Parker, and was rated TV-MA L in the United States. "Dances with Smurfs" served as a parody of the political commentary style of Glenn Beck (pictured), a nationally syndicated radio show host and former Fox News Channel pundit. The episode also satirized the 2009 James Cameron film, Avatar, suggesting the plot of that film borrows heavily from the 1990 film Dances with Wolves, and comparing Avatar's blue aliens to the cartoon Smurfs. It also included references to the Tea Party protests, radio personality Casey Kasem, and former-vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin. The episode received generally positive to mixed reviews. According to Nielsen ratings, "Dances with Smurfs" was seen by 1.47 million households among viewers aged between 18 and 34.

Selected image

Billion Dollar Limited title card
Billion Dollar Limited title card
Credit: Still frame from the Billion Dollar Limited (1942)
Billion Dollar Limited is the third of the seventeen animated Technicolor short films based upon the DC Comics character Superman. Produced by Fleischer Studios, Billion Dollar Limited centers around a train carrying one billion dollars in gold to the US mint, which is sabotaged by robbers before Superman intervenes. The short was released by Paramount Pictures on January 9, 1942.
  • ... that according to an elaborate 1990s joke, Elmo Aardvark was history's first animated cartoon character?
  • ... that the interactive cartoon Cat Burglar takes about 15 minutes to watch, but features 90 minutes of animation?
  • ... that "Arnold's Christmas", now considered one of the most memorable episodes from the animated series Hey Arnold!, was almost rejected by network executives because it depicted the Vietnam War?
  • ... that although Blizzard's franchise Overwatch is centered around video games, its lore is mainly told through animated shorts, comics, and novels?
  • ... that, for the animated film Us Again, director and writer Zach Parrish considered a video of an elderly couple dancing to be visceral and ideal inspiration?
  • ... that Paul Dini was a writer for both the animated television series Batman: The Animated Series and the video game series Batman: Arkham?

Selected quote

A good film is one that requires the viewer to create, through an orchestration of impressions, the meaning of its events. It is, in the end, our ability to create meaning out of the raw experience of life that makes us human. It is the exercise of our faculty to discover meaning which is the purpose of art. The didactic imparting of moral or political messages is emphatically not the purpose of art -- that is what we call propaganda.
Peter Chung, Korean animator, series creator of Æon Flux

Selected biography

Castellaneta in 2004

Daniel Louis "Dan" Castellaneta (born October 29, 1957) is an American film, theatre and television actor, comedian, voice artist, singer and television writer. Noted for his long-running role as Homer Simpson on the animated television series The Simpsons, he also voices many other characters on The Simpsons, including Abraham "Grampa" Simpson, Barney Gumble, Krusty the Clown, Groundskeeper Willie, Mayor Quimby and Hans Moleman. Born in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Illinois, Castellaneta started taking acting classes at a young age. He would listen to his father's comedy records and do impressions of the artists. The Tracey Ullman Show included a series of animated shorts about a dysfunctional family. Voices were needed for the shorts, so the producers decided to ask Castellaneta to voice Homer. His voice for the character started out as a loose impression of Walter Matthau, but later evolved into a more robust voice. The shorts would eventually be spun off into The Simpsons. Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance for his work on the show as well as an Annie Award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in the Field of Animation in 1993.

Selected list

The Simpsons' second season originally aired between October 11, 1990 and May 9, 1991, and contained 21 episodes, beginning with "Bart Gets an F". Another episode, "Blood Feud" aired during the summer after the official season finale. The show runners for the second production season were Matt Groening, James L. Brooks, and Sam Simon, who had also been EPs for the previous season. The DVD box set was released on August 6, 2002 in Region 1, July 8, 2002 in Region 2 and in September, 2002 in Region 4. The episode "Homer vs. Lisa and the 8th Commandment" won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming less than One Hour), and was also nominated in the "Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy Series or a Special" category.

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