The past few weeks were marked with announcements regarding companies
beginning to broadcast animation over the 'net, and this is only going to
intensify, with another wave of sites slated to arrive early next year (see
The Spotlight 12/9/99). On the other side, independent animators have
started to use the web too. Let's take Sally Cruikshank, a California-based
independent animator famous for her wacky, neo-psychedelic style -- her
film "Quasi at the Quackadero" (1975) is the only film directed by a woman
to be included in Jerry Beck's book, "The 50 Greatest Cartoons." Sally
Cruikshank's all animated web site broke new ground in the web animation
world. Her two hilarious characters Anita and Whinsey left their old
Charbucks hangout to embark on new adventures. Using animated gifs, this
new animation looks like Sally's animated films, and unlike anything else
on the web. When we released her first commercially-available home video on
AWN last year, Sally Cruikshank said: "People have been asking me for years
to release a video, but I've been waiting for something like this [the
Internet] to come along. I've always felt that independent animation was
headed for something we hadn't figured out yet. The Internet is the answer
to the crumbling distribution business, because it offers independents
authority over their content and a direct link to their audience." This
comment was predictive, as we received many phone calls from people who
were thrilled to be able to find her films at last. And her web site also
offers her old time fans a new connection to their star.
Check out Sally Cruikshank's animation on-line. Her site includes a brand
new, very funny
Christmas page .
The
AWN Gallery features an exhibit
of 28 rarely-seen pieces of art by Sally Cruikshank.
Get merchandise from Sally Cruikshank's films exclusively in the
Animation
World Store. Her catalog features the first commercially-available home
videos of, and 55 pieces of original production art from, her short
animated films.
