BEGINNING, ID LIKE TO STATE THAT NICKELODEON RAPES AND DESECRATES EVERYHTING GOOD. MY CHILDHOOD WAS REN AND STIMPY AND ROCKOS MODERN LIFE BASED....THEN IT WENT AWAY. THEY WERENT THE BEST SHOWS BUT A LITTLE SICK HUMO AND A LITTLE DISGUST GOES A LONG WAY FOR A KID.NOW..CANCELLING ZIM EH? BASTARDS!!!FEEL MY VOLUPTUOS CHESSE DOODLE!!!!!!I CANT EVEN LOSE MY MIND AN FURTHER BECAUSE OF THE PEOPLE. ZIM BARELY EVEN HAS A CHANCE TO ENTERTAIN MY SICK LITTLE EXISTANCE. EVERY TIME I SEE IT LISTED...ASS UGLY MARTIANS COME ON. WHAT A RIPOFF.OK SORY I HAD TO COMPLAIN. ANYWAYS, IN OTHER NEWS. MR. VASQUEZ, ID LIKE TO THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME AND EFFORT TO CREATE JOHNNY,SQUEE,ZIM,I FEEL SICK, ALL OF WHICH ARE QUITE THE ENTERTAINMENT TO THE FEW OF US LEFT WHICH HAVE THOUGHT PATTERNS OF THE INTELIGENT NATURE OUT HERE IN GEORGIA.I MYSELF AM AN ARTIST . NOT VERY RENOWNED OR ANYTHING BUT I TRY. IVE BEEN LOOKING FOR WORK SUCH AS YOURS FOR QUITE SOME TIME NOW AND FINALLY ITS HERE. YES WE GEORGIA PEOPLE STAY IN THE DARK FOR SOME TIME.BUT ANYWHO, THANKS FOR THE INSPERATION. DONT LET OUR WONDERFUL NEIGHBORS , ''THE CRITICS AND GUIDANCES'' WIN. KEEP DRAWING AN DISTURBIBNG THE MINDS OF OUR NATION. GOOD LUCK.....BRANDON

it is funny in thomas and the magic railroad.. they stuck to the model animation .. i didn't think this worked for the movie. it gave it a feeling of being 'cheap' movie

hey Iain - thx for the article....one more place for us animators to attempt to showcase our wares. really appreciate the fact Korean animators now emphasize "quality" in animation! would that the rest of the industry would do the same, rather than regurgitating what is ill-conceived as "publishable"....

hey Richard - thx for bringing Howard's book to the attention of all animation lovers! he can even subtitle it: Beckerman's Basics...it's that good. Howard, ya done good...real good! if we had more pros with yer insights, and caring, about this beloved industry, the whole field would not be in the mess i find it in today! too much trash is passed off as "animation".... ya give me hope, Howard. we need more Howard Beckermans in the world! kudos are not high enuf praise....skoal!

I must say that never have i read an interveiw that was so indepth about the very origin of Zim. Jhonen's creativity and motivation comes from within, some thing hard to find now days. Especially the reoccuring theme of the mistreatment of others, which of course points to trama similar to what i went through through school. Feel free to E-mail me if your appriciate the complexity and professionalism of Zim. Hell, you can e-mail me for no damn reason at all if you want.

I would just like to say I thouroughly enjoyed this poignant and entertaining piece. I think Americans need to beware a homogenous society. Diversity is about celebrating cultural differences, not forcing them in to some non-denominational, politically correct mush that is force fed down our throats. I hope to see more shows that demonstrate how cultural differences are a positive thing rather than sweeping them under the rug and labeling them as taboo.

Hello. I am ALWAYS amazed with how Maureen can deliver the goods. She always seems to be on top of the newest films and animators (old and new). Well Done!

Thank you,Mr. Robinson, for reminding me why I left the God forsaken desolation of Afghanistan and came to this wonderful country. As long as Liberals like you continue to spout your pseudo-intellectual rantings, real Americans like me will always know what we are fighting against. Do I question your right to say what you think and feel? Absolutely not. But guess what pal? Nobody cares. We, the productive members of society who cherish our God given (and it IS God given) freedom always need to remember who the enemy is. It is people like you who seek nothing more in life than to tear down anything or anyone who doesn't share their misanthropic, myopic view of America. You want to see real hate and intolerance? I suggest you look in the mirror. I was born an Arab. By the grace of God, I made it to this country and became an American. A conservative, Christian Republican American at that. I have not been 'cut off' from my culture by American media. It has simply reinforced what I've always felt inside: that with all the flaws this country has, with all the mistakes it as made in the past, it is still the best place to live on God's green earth. If you really believe that there are no evil men, only evil acts, extend that to your fellow countrymen and get off your soapbox. No one is listening anyway.

Re: Chris Robinson. This man clearly has way too much free time and way too much alcohol in his blood. I haven't heard such drivel since my Philosophy class at Cornell. Get a real job.

For a undergraduate just about to hopefully begin a long and distinguished career in this art of ours, your generosity in passing on your knowledge and understanding is greatly appreciative and inspiring.

Cheers Gene.

Do THE SIMPSONS Guides count? Or the BATMAN Animated book? Not 'fan'? 'Fans' are NOT allowed to do American properties! Copyrights, lawyers, lawsuits, etc., you know. -DR

Am I the only one who has seen the re-dubbed Akira? It seems that way with all the positive things i'm hearing. Yes, the picture was great, but the new voices on this film almost ruined it for me. What exactly was so bad about the orignal dubbing? In my opinion it had a lot more character to it. The guy that supplies Kanaeda's new voice for the film was just awful. You might say it was a bit crisper and more realistic, but thats just it. It sounds like they just picked some random guy off the street. There is nothing unique about his voice that provides for a good character. It's believeable, but boring. Other problems were the lab-rat children who were redubbed to sound like actual children. Sounds like the right thing to do in theory, but it dosen't for a fan of the original. The children's voices sound too cliche and don't have that eerie tone to it which helped create much of the atmosphere of the original. And trying to match the words with the mouths only works when they're saying something that sounds right. Not enough effort went into the dubbing, plain and simple. If I could do it again, i would have rented it first instead of just rushing out to buy it.

Tiny Planets is one of the most surreal adorable shows ever! I'm wondering if there's any merchandising for it yet... it already being computer animation they could make a great video game out of it, and someone should start producing plush toys of these characters as well. I know a lot of people who would wind up getting "Bongs" as Christmas gifts...

hey Chris - again, some "people" don't get it...like Z...and D...and i applaud yer efforts to enlighten same! myownself, think it's a waste of time...nothing ya or i tell em would make em "see"....sure, makes ya feel better, all altruistic and inclusive...trying to leave no one out...but some are better left there. ain't it funny the most ignorant, and "animated", tend to be the best "educated"? sez something 'bout the "education" system....

great stuff, Pam - hee-hee, on all yer heat-related nuggets! only problem, overdone, ya end up burned out.... gotta also know when too much is enuf.

Jean Once again this was a very informative aritcle. I certainly look forward to the next one. I plan to pass your article on to the Writing group at my church. They are a group of talented writers that will appreciate you sharing these excellent tips. Thanks Angel Harper Producer-Performer Heaven Sent Productions

Dear Karl, Thank you very much for drawing my attention to your text WAS WALT DISNEY... in AWN. It is extremely interesting, especially for me, "the Disney boy" from the early '50s, and the member of the Zagreb School of Animated Film after 1958. Within satirical weekly Kerempuh in 1950, we started learning animation and making the first Croatian/Yugoslav cartoon film (The Big Meeting) - in Disney manner, of course. We didn't know for any other way in animation. In 1954 the group around Vukotic-Kostelac-Marks began to research new possibilities - in drawing, animation and content. The result was the stylized graphism, limited animation and new contents, assigned to adult audience. It was so called "anti-Disney" movement, what has been the fundamental characteristic of independent artistic films by different realizators, known as Zagreb School (named by George Sadoul and Andre Martin, 1958). Of course, similar movements happened in the US within UPA, and later in all Europe, with more or less mutual influences. Beside paying tribute for the grandious achievement in animation, this new movement has considered Disney's art as benign, petty bourgeois, conservative... As you see, everything opposite from what you mention in your text about AFA. We have heard about these American citizen's associations and their power in the society, but we've thought Disney was above suspicion. My God, what AFA says about Bakshi's "Fritz the Cat"?! And about all the films by Woody Allen? Poor Walt, I esteem him even more now! I had also very interesting experience with such people in the States. In the frame of the two months tour with my films on the US East Coast (1994), I was a guest of the University in Virginia Beach. Already during the screening I observed a strange reactions of the audience, especially to the film "One Day of Life", where there are several sexy sequences. Afterwards I was informed it was a Fundamental Christian University, with very strong puritan life and comprehensions. For them I was a man with a second wife, and a person who drinks wine during a dinner. (It was a fault of the organizers of the tour; who didn't previously acquainted me with that.) One memory about Disney. When we finished the first animated film "The Big Meeting" (1951), we got from the government a new, specialized company for producing animation. With big proud we sent to "our daddy" Walt Disney some photographs from our first film and asked him (pretty naive) for several photos from his famous Studios in order to see how the proper spaces for making animation have to look like. We received an answer from Disney's secretary: "Mr. Disney is recently in the Netherlands. Unfortunately we cannot send you the photographs of our studios". This short and cold answer hurt us a little. You must know that the big Disney's portrait was placed on the wall of the large conference room in the first animation company (Duga Film) - the president Tito's (smaller) picture was in the office of the general manager. More than forty years later, during the afore-said American tour I was also a special guest of Disney Studios in Orlando, Florida. After screening of some of my films, I talked to the younger colleagues animators about my/our beginnings on animation, and mentioned how we learned on Disney's films and made our first films in Disney manner. I felt there like at home Thanks, Karl, for your article once again. With friendly regards, B o r d o

lets-see.....1600 films divided by 9 days= six burned-out eyes+ judges brains "fried" by the day eight...hmmmm, did the real-deserving winners win?who cares! i know the pimp was probably experiencing the latest brain-washing-by-over-exposure -to( bad )animation, who"s idea was this-anyway? these brave judges may need 'shock-therapy' after this one..."hold -still and bite this piece of wood-mr. 'pimp'...zzziittt-zzziiitt"....dawk

I belive in fredom of speech and also have (obivously)bad typing as well............but................Really! Is it nessary to use language for shock value? Or have we not evolved over time? So many wasted generations !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DRACO

To Draino: 1. This was unedited..that means..gulp.... leaving every phrase untouched. 2. That's the sort of mentality that scrunches our society into a breed of lifeless, bland robotic either/or twits who go around pretending they're all nice and dandy like but can't wait to embrace and deliver some slander against someone else --in hushed tones of course. The type, for example, who actually believes that there are 'immoral' 'wrong' 'vulgar' sexual actions between two consenting adults. 3. As for these so called 'vulgar' words, first off, most of these words have been used for centuries so I don't know what this 'wasted generation' nonsense is that you speak of. It's not like 20th/21st century folks are the inventors of swearing for christ's sake. See the fine book, Wicked Words for details. (in the case of FUCK, it appears that the repression of that word over recent centuries has a lot to do with stifling Victorian moralities---something we ---not me though--appear to still be living with). 4. As for shock value... we all know these words are most often used to express extreme frustration, pain, anguish, hurt, anger, and serve as sort of an oral form of violence. And since I don't REALLY wanna hit people or shoot them or stab them or clonk them on the noggin with a brick...primitive, unharnessed oral 'rage' is a nice and appropriate alternative. In short...fuck you. (see..now THAT is shock value) Chris