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Introduction
Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are either traditional animations or 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, 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...)
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"Starvin' Marvin" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 19, 1997. In the episode, Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan send money to an African charity hoping to get a sports watch, but are instead sent an Ethiopian child whom they dub Starvin' Marvin. Later, Cartman is accidentally sent to Ethiopia, where he learns activist Sally Struthers (pictured) is hoarding the charity's food for herself. In an accompanying subplot, after genetically engineered turkeys attack South Park residents, Chef rallies the residents to fight back, in a parody of the film Braveheart. "Starvin' Marvin" was the first South Park Thanksgiving special. The episode simultaneously served as a satire on American indifference toward impoverished countries and the humanitarianism industry. The episode received generally positive reviews and several commentators have described it as a classic South Park episode. According to Nielsen Media Research, it was viewed by about 2.2 million households during its original broadcast, which at the time was roughly eight times Comedy Central's average viewership. Parker and Stone said they were unhappy with the turkey subplot, which they wrote only because they felt obligated to include a B story. In addition to Starvin' Marvin, who became a popular minor character, the episode introduced regular characters Kyle's father Gerald Broflovski and Kenny's family members Stuart, Carol and Kevin McCormick.
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Did you know (auto-generated) -

- ... that an anime programming block that originally aired on the American television channel TechTV was the inspiration for the co-founder of a Japanese animation studio?
- ... that Bruce Timm created most of the character designs for Batman: The Animated Series?
- ... that the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
- ... that director Isao Takahata reportedly stayed overnight at a doss-house to ensure that the Japanese animated film Jarinko Chie accurately depicts the city of Osaka?
- ... that the only copy of El Apóstol, widely considered to be the first animated feature film, was lost in a fire?
- ... that Morph was included in X-Men: The Animated Series because the writers "really wanted to kill somebody"?
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Stephen Hillenburg (1961–2018) was an American cartoonist, animator, and former marine biologist. He is the creator of the Nickelodeon television series SpongeBob SquarePants (1999–), which he has also directed, produced, and written. It has gone on to become one of the longest-running American television series as well as the highest-rated show ever to air on Nickelodeon. Born in Lawton, Oklahoma and raised in Anaheim, California, Hillenburg became fascinated with the ocean as a child and developed an interest in art. He started his professional career in 1984, instructing marine biology, at the Orange County Marine Institute, where he wrote The Intertidal Zone, an informative comic book about tide-pool animals, which he used to educate his students. He was later offered a job on the Nickelodeon animated television series Rocko's Modern Life (1993–1996) after his success with short films The Green Beret and Wormholes (both 1992), which he made while studying animation. Besides his two Emmy Awards and six Annie Awards for SpongeBob SquarePants, Hillenburg has also received other recognition, such as an accolade from Heal the Bay for his efforts on elevating marine life awareness, and the Television Animation Award from the National Cartoonists Society.
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The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors could be nominated for their performance in the live action acting categories. The award was first given in 1992 when six voice actors from The Simpsons shared the award. From 1992 to 2008, it was a juried award, so there were no nominations and there would be multiple or no recipients in one year. In 2009, the rules were changed to a category award, with five nominees. No winner was named in 1996 or 2007. Nine voice actors from The Simpsons have won a combined 14 Emmys. Of those, Dan Castellaneta has won four and Hank Azaria has won three. Ja'net Dubois won two for The PJs and Keith David won two for his narration of various documentaries. Voice actors from shows on Fox have won 17 of 27 awards.
More did you know...
- ...that the Sam Sheepdog and Ralph Wolf cartoons Sheep Ahoy, A Sheep in the Deep, and Don't Give Up the Sheep were censored by ABC to remove a dynamite stick, a smoke break scene, and a spanking scene respectively?
- ...that William Hanna claimed that the Tom and Jerry character Jerry Mouse was named Jinx in his first appearance while Joseph Barbera claimed that the mouse went nameless?
- ...that an animation database stores fragments of animations or human movements and can be used to re-assemble new animations?
Anniversaries for July 13
- Films released
- 1935 – Mickey's Garden (United States)
- 1935 – The Country Mouse (United States)
- 1945 – Californy'er Bust (United States)
- 1946 – The Eager Beaver (United States)
- 1951 – Pilgrim Popeye (United States)
- 1985 – Captain Tsubasa: Europe Daikessen (Japan)
- 1985 – Dr. Slump and Arale-chan: Hoyoyo! Dream Capital Mecha Police (Japan)
- 1985 – Kinnikuman: Counterattack! The Underground Space Choujins (Japan)
- 1985 – Lupin III: Legend of the Gold of Babylon (Japan)
- 1985 – Night on the Galactic Railroad (Japan)
- 1996 – Soreike! Anpanman: The Flying Picture Book and the Glass Shoes (Japan)
- 2002 – Pokémon Heroes (Japan)
- 2003 – Soreike! Anpanman: Rubii's Wish (Japan)
- 2012 – Ice Age: Continental Drift (20th Century Studios, United States)
- 2018 – Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation (Columbia Pictures, United States)
- Television series and specials
- 2013 – Beware the Batman, an American animated television series based on the DC Comics superhero Batman begins airing on Cartoon Network
- 2013 – Packages from Planet X, an American animated television series begins on Disney XD
- Births
- 1940 – Patrick Stewart, English actor (pictured)
- 1962 – Tom Kenny, American actor, voice actor, comedian
- Deaths
- 2012 – Ginny Tyler, American voice actress and singer (b. 1925)
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