Every day we are exposed to a rapidly changing, moment-by-moment digital media environment that demands strategic filtering and immediate response to a multitude of visual and auditory stimuli and their underlying messages. Constant digital distractions, multitasking and task switching plague our ability to concentrate, our aptitude for sustained intellectual focus and they interfere with our capacity for deep, persistent engagement.   No wonder students find it difficult to focus!

Reborn! 15

As the remaining heir to the Vongola crime family, Tsuna has an unwanted destiny. He will be the next Family boss. Reborn, an infant assassin from Italy, is thus sent to train this unwilling, Mafia neophyte. Using the method of the “Deathperation bullet,” Tsuna will have the chance to transform himself into a stronger and more focused teenager.

2 1/2 Starfish out of 5

This film is BAD! Johnny Depp tried his best, but his character is simply not very well developed. Also, a lot like what Roger Ebert wrote on “The Green Hornet,” there is too much senseless violence that adds little to the plot.

DC relaunched a Looney Tunes comic book in the mid-90 that gave up on the Barksian adventures and instead tried to replicate the cartoons’ wacky sensibility. After 15-plus years it’s still going strong, but after a couple of issues I started getting that same déjà vu feeling I experienced when watching Tiny Toons or the less creative Disney direct-to-video sequels: favorite moments shuffled, repackaged and quoted – which were better the first time around.

All of which is a roundabout way of getting to the subject at hand: Cartoon Network’s re-introduction of Bugs and company in The Looney Tunes Show.

Lord knows I had my reservations about the entire affair. Trying to do something with these characters outside of the short cartoon format where they were at their best has always been risky; with one or two exceptions (like say, Taz-mania), the less said about efforts like Loonatics Unleashed, Space Jam or Looney Tunes: Back in Action, the better.

But in brief, my personal reaction to the first episode… The Looney Tunes show works. I like this show – a lot, as a matter of fact.

Still image from the animated short Diary 1 by Tsvika Oren.

Tsvika Oren has been deeply involved in animation for the better part of 30 years - creating, teaching, writing, judging, jurying…

Correspondence allows insight into Walt Disney's ideas about the animation and what animators should be capable of.

Before you run off half-cocked with that shiny new animated six-shooter of yours, here are a few pieces of advice that will help you live long and prosper in this business.

It would be foolish to think you could become a good animation writer without first understanding a little bit about creativity, especially considering cartoon writing is one of the most creative forms of writing there is. Fortunately, creativity is not as ethereal as some might lead you to believe.

The entire assembled group. From left to right, me (Dan Sarto), Bastien's girlfriend Julie, Connie Siu, Bob Kurtz, Bastien Dubois, Ron Dyens, Max Lang, Jakob Schuh, Ron Diamond, Geefwee Boedoe. Everyone is quite animated because this was taken with a prototype 3-D stereoscopic camera. Image courtesy of DreamWorks Animation.

Written by Dan Sarto

Every year for more than a decade we’ve toured DreamWorks’ expansive Glendale campus with either the Animation Show of Shows, our Oscar Showcase tour, or both.  We’re always greeted with open arms and we’re always shown tasty morsels of upcoming films – last year, for example, Simon Otto showed us 20 minutes of How To Train Your Dragon well before it was released.  This year did not disappoint.  We scampered about all over the newly built-out animation building, over 100K square feet of offices, high-res monitors and talent.  Talking to people here, you can’t help but sense their enthusiasm as they discuss their work, the studio and DreamWorks’ string of successful films.  From Jeffrey Katzenberg’s lunchtime visit to our jaunt through the new motion-capture studio, our afternoon at DreamWorks left a tremendous impression on our assembly of animators and producers, and myself as well.

If you don't have a grip on how long you'll need to produce your animation, you don't have a grip on your animation. This first post on targets shows how easy it is to calculate an animation target, and how important...

Sorry Film Not Ready by Janet Perlman.

Whatever you call it, abstract/experimental ruled the day in Competition 5.  Here are some highlights.