Portal:Animation

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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...)

Outline of animation

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"Volcano" is the third episode of the American animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 27, 1997. In the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny go on a hunting trip with Stan's uncle Jimbo and his war buddy Ned. While on the trip, Stan is frustrated by his inability to shoot a living creature and Cartman tries to scare the hunting party with tales of a creature named Scuzzlebutt. The episode was written by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (pictured) and is rated TV-MA in the United States. It was inspired by the 1997 disaster films Volcano and Dante's Peak, both of which Parker and Stone strongly disliked. "Volcano" was the third episode produced, but it was broadcast as the second. "Volcano" received generally positive reviews and was nominated for a 1997 Environmental Media Award. Slightly more than 1 million viewers watched the original broadcast, according to Nielsen ratings. The episode parodied the Duck and Cover educational videos from the 1950s and 1960s that advised people to hide under tables in the event of a nuclear attack.

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Mad scientist

Credit: J.J. McCullough

A mad scientist is a stock character, often villainous, who appears in fiction as a scientist who is insane or eccentric. He is usually working with some utterly fictional technology in order to forward his evil schemes. Recent mad scientist depictions are often satirical and humorous, and some are actually protagonists, such as Dexter in the cartoon series Dexter's Laboratory.

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... that the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
... that Raoul Servais invented a new technique for combining animation and live action for his short film Harpya?
... that the animated film The Exigency took thirteen years to make?
... that the Tuca & Bertie episode "The Jelly Lakes" employs a paper-cutout animation that helps to depict abuse in a way that centers the victim's story?
... that the interactive cartoon Cat Burglar takes about 15 minutes to watch, but features 90 minutes of animation?
... 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?

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I think what set the [1990's] apart was the fact that the climate was ripe for people taking chances and doing different things. Both Nick and Cartoon Network were able to invest on people who had nothing to lose. Of course, the result of that was that there was a big explosion in the scene. There were big successes—like that yellow sponge that popped up in a big way—and with that success came another era where people aren’t apt to take as many chances because the stakes are too high.

— Joe Murray, Animator, series creator of Rocko's Modern Life, 2011

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Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (born December 9, 1960) is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series. Marsh was born in Santa Monica, California, where he grew up with a heavily blended family dynamic. Marsh has been and continues to be a driving force behind several animation projects, working for over six seasons on the animated television series The Simpsons. Marsh continued to work on other animated television series, including King of the Hill and Rocko's Modern Life, before moving to England in 1996. While in England, Marsh worked on several animated programs, including Postman Pat and Bounty Hamster, and worked for BKN New Media Ltd. to produce several feature films. After six years living in England, Marsh was asked by his longtime partner Dan Povenmire to help produce Phineas and Ferb in 2007, a concept the two had while working together on Rocko's Modern Life. Marsh accepted and moved back to the United States; the series has since garnered Marsh two Emmy Awards nominations for songwriting.

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Family Guy's fifth season first aired on the Fox network in eighteen episodes from September 10, 2006 to May 20, 2007 before being released as two DVD box sets and in syndication. It premiered with the episode "Stewie Loves Lois" and finished with "Meet the Quagmires". The series follows the dysfunctional Griffin family—father Peter, mother Lois, daughter Meg, son Chris, baby Stewie and Brian, the family pet, who reside in their hometown of Quahog. The executive producers for the fifth season were David Goodman, Chris Sheridan, Danny Smith and series creator Seth MacFarlane. The showrunner for the fifth season was Goodman. The season received a mixed reception from critics, who cited a lack of original writing. More positive assessments were that the series saw "no sign of tiring", and had "as many funny moments as ever." Season five contains some of the series' most acclaimed episodes, including "Barely Legal", "Airport '07" and "No Chris Left Behind". The Volume Five DVD box set was released in Region 1 on September 18, 2007, Region 2 on October 15, 2007 and Region 4 on November 25, 2009. Thirteen of the eighteen episodes are included in the volume. The remaining five episodes of the season were released on the Volume Six DVD box set, released in Region 1 on October 21, 2008, Region 2 on November 10, 2008 and Region 4 on November 25, 2009.

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More did you know...

...that Snake 'n' Bacon are a pair of cartoon characters, a snake and a strip of bacon, whose conversations are limited to hissing (on Snake's part) and making bacon-related comments (on Bacon's part)?
...that before beginning a career in animation, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (pictured) worked as a vice president of sales and marketing for a computer company, where he "freaked out" and decided to quit?
...that A Jewish Girl in Shanghai, an animated film set in and around the Shanghai Ghetto, has been described as "China’s first homegrown Jewish film"?