Father of the Pride: Why? How? © Dreamworks.

On that note, let’s take a look at television and Father of the Pride. Please, someone, tell me why? And tell me how? Here is an animation studio filled to the rafters with really talented animators, modelers, lighters, etc., so how they could put their stamp on something tasteless, crude that ultimately doesn’t look so good either, is beyond me. My conundrum is this: Can’t we have something funny without needing to watch jokes that aren’t funny? Tasteless jokes can be funny — look at Monty Python. Sadly, I think this is one circumstance no amount of good animation (lighting, modeling, direction aside) could save.

So, where is all this going? I have absolutely no idea. Now that we can create the universe — earth, air, fire and water — what’s next? Whatever it is, I hope our time is well spent, both in front of the monitors as artists and in front of the screen as audience members, that the stories you interpret in the pixels you push add a dimension to the project. Or else, what’s the point?

Jill Smolin has been a grateful member of the visual effects industry for about a decade, and has documented the industry (before it was one) for about twice that long.