Reign Of Fire, damn good film. The dragon effects were superb. A lot of the surfacing tricks with the skin were not noticable but this is what you want in effects. Not in your face but makes the dragons look even more real. Definately the best CG dragon to date. Congrats to the effects team. Thanks for a good film, Marc.

Fine. Seconds as a standard measurement....for traditional animation.
But we know since the begining of animation history those quotas
were put into place for the benefit of accountants and producers. Second for second or foot for foot or metre for metre there is a difference between the two guys' work who do the exact length but one had
a crowd scene and one animated an eye blink.

Today animation is not the gruelling time consuming , money consuming
form it was in the day of the camera and opaquers, thanks to technology. Yes, it
still seems gruelling because, thanks again to technology , we are required to turn out more in lesser time under the turn of last century's measurement.

I oblige myself to this tradition because I'm an honorable guy and signed something saying I would, but it is sensless to animators. We are not film processors. When I was a part of making a direct to video I would joke then why are still measuring in film units.

How then should animator's work be measured? There is a deadline. Everyone works toward that deadline doing their best. Individuals are measured and obsreved by how hard they work and the quality of that work, how they team play, etc. The same as many other jobs are reviewed and assessed.

That way the artist who produces 30 ft of an eye blink and holds...or sheer crap
cannot become the bean-counter's darling.
But this would make those who hold the gold nerovus to say the least. But in my little perfect world It could be done.

Seeing that this is the entertainment business can you imagine an actor being assessed or paid by the footage that winds up on the screen?

Gerard

Da Pimp has written another excellent essay on a subject lots of folks are afraid to animate. For the few that do try, 99% of them turn sex into a raw joke. I cant recall any beautiful, sensual erotic films in Spike and Mike shows. The only animated film that I think might come close to satisfying the Pimp's desires is Marcy Page's beautiful "Paradisia." While I doubt it could actually satisfy anyone, it is at least an honest attempt to visually depict the joys of sexual discovery and it ends with a magnificent climax before returning us to earth. Unfortunately very few people have seen this important film as Page signed a long contract with a distributor who didn't know how to market it. There wasn't an existing market for it 10 years ago and the distributor didn't create one for it. Now the film is "out of distribution." It did make it into one compilation tape. Expanded Entertainment's "Animation Celebration Volume 2." The tape is out of print, but a few video stores might still have copies for rent.

Hello friends, In simple words I have to say.......WOW! ths new film Spirited Away will be a big influence on many animators who see the world with a different point of view. Yeah, I also believe that the world is cruel but in the end it has a human touch and we see it everyday on every aspect of our lives. No matter how society breaks down piece by piece each hour of the day, deep inside of us there is a kernel that its still bright as the moment we were born. Certainly this film is going to be an inspiration to an artist like myself and surely I would like to meet the director one day, and surely when I become recognized I will remmenber Spirited Away as one of my inspiring films that opened many doors to my endless imagination. Sincerely, Isidoro Leon

classic 40-58 shorts ("Down and Outing", "Buddies Thicker Than Water"), while others do not, but they are still very enjoyable ("Switchin' Kitten", "The Tom and Jerry Cartoon Kit").

However:
Do not try to defend the cartoons so much. There are many, myself included, who like your cartoons. It is good to know the conditions you worked with, which gives me a better understanding of your T&J cartoons, but to say that they are better than the Jones-era cartoons is absurd. I find the Jones cartoons to be just as funny and watchable as yours.

I loved the classic Hanna-Barbera cartoons. Yours were sort of weird -- but hey -- weird cartoons are cool. Chuck's were even weirder, but they were FUNNY.

Go ahead and diss the 1975 Hanna-Barbera remake where they were friends. The television attempts were horrible. But to say that yours are better than Jones is not right. I thought they were equally as good. Opinions differ from person to person.

Anyway, I am glad that Cartoon Network mixes in all the classic theatrical's into one show, with lots of variety for me to watch. I am even more glad that they do not show the TV attempts.

Your 13 cartoons are funny, somewhat weird, and they make me wish that you had been able to make more than 13 cartoons.

Of your 13 cartoons, "Mouse Into Space" is my favorite.

I love the show Invader Zim. Before it came out I never really liked stations that aired on cable TV. Sure, it's was all cool and stuff when I watched some at a friends house, but I never had it in my own house until I moved to the town limits of oblivan Population: Yanks. But then I started watching Zim and I started thinking of things a little differently. Later on I got into fanfiction and that's how my character, Miz Zag, came into being. And I started using my planet Uvac, which before I watched Zim, only used as a counterworld for my paranormal pixie demons. You might say (actually you WOULD say) that Jhonen and Zim have inspired the more vivid bit of my writing career and brought out my more creative side. I am Miz Zag.

I had rumors about The Empire of the Sun but when the Emperor's New Grove came out with no fanfare I didn't know they were the same movie. It is a testament of the creative forces at Disney that they were able to salvage it and make it into one of their funniest features. I loved it and it is one of my favorite DVDs, I like the style, reminds me of Mary Blairs work. I had always wondered why they had not put out a coffee table book about, too bad. Dale

It is my experience that every single job I have aquired in my life time was due to knowing people and following through. Thank you Pam.

That pity all that is written in this article, I am surprised everything all that happened around the movie. When the movie was shown here in Colombia, “Las locuras del emperador”, (the name in Spanish version) received very bad critique since the research to Latin America, because in the story they mixed aspects and objects characteristic of very different cultures. An example of this is the place; It seems Peru, for the animals and the names of the characters (Kuzco), and in the scene of the restaurant they show mexican hats, and the music of “La cucaracha”, characteristics of the Mexican culture. The movie, as all those of Disney, is amusing, and I had a good time. However, for us it’s disappointing that there is a lack of research. You know that each country has its own culture, in our case the well-known pre-Columbian cultures. I believe that this article and “the sweatbox”, besides showing the truth of the film (all this… “mess”), help a little to understand the final results of the movie. Thank you Juan Manuel Pedraza Colombian Animator (PD.I don´t publish on-line because my bad english. If you can to correct my gramatical errors, I would be very grateful to publish all my info. Thanks.)

Don !!!! beatiful drawings watercolors and ideas grand for animatiion too I am going to go back and study this..YOU MUST MAKE A PUBLISHED BOOK OF THIS. It is splendid..BRAVO Again Cassandra

The article reminded of a class I had at Art Center with Ward Kimball in the 70's. Kimball was amazing teaching ACTION ANALYSIS. He had us use a pegbar with our drawing - to capture the key poses of the model. Ward also stressed that we push the line of action (as we did with animation poses) to increase the dynamic action within a pose. I look back now and know how very fortunate I was. Thanks for the article.

A couple of nitpicks: Dr. Toon says, "The first true series animated for television did not appear until 1949 with Jay Ward's Crusader Rabbit ..." 1. Crusader Rabbit was produced by Television Arts Productions, which should be credited jointly to Jay Ward and his long-time friend, Alex Anderson, Jr. Anderson created the character designs and directed the animation; Ward directed the voice dubbing; both worked on the stories. 2. Crusader Rabbit did not appear on the air until August 1950, although Jerry Fairbanks Productions, which marketed it, did start trying to sell it in January 1949. Fairbanks' first press release, published as a news item in "Daily Variety", Friday, January 14, 1949, titled "Fairbanks to Gun First Cartoon Series for TV" (Fairbanks seldom credited Ward or Anderson in his publicity), also tried to make limited TV animation sound like a great technological advance: "Newly-developed Teletoon animation technique will be used in filming the series. Method eliminates many of the costly features of theatrical animation, yet retains the illusion of movement and life, according to Fairbanks." Fairbanks never got anyone else to adopt his "Teletoon" name for limited animation. (The title Crusader Rabbit should be italiziced, but your mail link does not take italicization.)

Do you know where I could get a copy of "sweatbox" to show the students at SJSU? A. Carter /Professor, Animation/Illustration, San Jose State University

I have to admit a few years ago, that i thought pixar films were so good because they looked so great, and it was that fact alone that entertained me so much. But a year ago i saw the final fantasy movie, which was the best looking film i've ever seen - but also the worst film i've ever seen. so much so that i couldn't bear to look at the screen. and it was because none of the characters had likeability and couldn't hold my attention. The movements of every person was clearly spot on - motion captured indefinately - but it made me realise that that does a good film not make. and as for the plot - i really wanted to throw things at the screen, violently. it reminded me of work done by a friend of mine - state of the art technology used, but artistic knowledge of a mollusc. Face it, the good people at Pixar are just a bunch of well-rounded geniuses.

In 1971 I had the privilege of being the guest at Zagreb film. My family and I were treated well. Zeilemer (sp) Matko, Director of the studio, was host to my family. Is he still alive?? Paul

i must say that Nick. has not had a cartoon worth watching since Ren and STimpy. but low and behold one day i'm mindless flipping channels and i see IZ. i was in aww that i have found the coolest cartoon ever. it was its own style, and had a smart/sick hummor to it. But no suprise that the jerks at Nick have desided to remove IZ, the only excuse that i can think of for such a stupid move is because they are a bunch of (insert naughty word here) idoits. however, to avoid the rath of zim lovers everywhere they should move the cartoon to mtv (since they own nick), where Zim can freely do as he pleases in his sick own way! lov ya johnen!!! :)

I am a 47 year old Fan of Tom Terrific I have been posting request on TVLAND to please air some of the old Tom Terrific Cartoons. I used to watch them on the Captain Kangaroo Show. And in one of the post one of the Host told me about Mr. Gene Deitch's site having Tom on his Site in Color. And I just had to say Thanks for the Memories. I loved Tom Terrific and his dog Manfred. It's been at least 35 to 40 years since I have seen Tom Terrific and wish somehow, or someway, My Grandchildren could enjoy the adventures of Tom Terrific Too! Is there any plans on letting another Generation join Tom on his Terrific Adventures?

..and never give up! Follow your heart, everything else will fall into place.

Dear Pam, Great article. It's good to be reminded to never give up on our dreams. And that the pursuit of our individual goals does not have to be achieved at the expense of others, but can be a positive experience for all concerned. Cheers, Dean.

hey Pam - good stuff! and, as a canuck, i can't say it enuf times: God Bless, America! (yeah, that's where i want the comma) hell has come, looked us all in the face, and we have all, for the most part, stared it down. that does not mean it won't raise it's ugly head, again.... yer advice is good, but ya gotta know, exactly, whom to befriend...never an easy task. as the saying goes, praise the lord, but keep the gunpowder dry!