After seeing ads about the art and animation I could hardly wait to see Spirit. It was not what I expected at all and it upset some children to the point that they wanted to leave and did leave. The children that stayed left in subdued moods asking lots of questions. Most of the kids were in the 2-5 age group. As an aspiring animation scriptwriter with just one script under my belt I offer this humble opinion. The story line had too many messages, it did not clearly target it's age group and for the age group brought to the theatre it was way,way too rough. Children cannot stand to see animals treated badly under any circumstance. I hope Dreamworks keeps up the wonderful artwork and amazing animation but decides on a story line right from the start. Michelle

Glad you liked the article, Daniel. Motion-capture is an interesting case -- like rotoscoping, it at first seems un-artistic, as it appears to be more a mechanical process than a creative one (though you might've gathered from the article that the mystique that seperates the mechanical from the creative is, in my opinion, more hocus-pocus than actuality. The fuss over David Hockney's theories about the use of such devices as the camera obscura by painting's old masters is a testament to how deeply felt that mystique can be.) Motion capture, it seems, is less about animation than it is about costuming and set design -- and, of course, about the physical performance of the person being "captured." In the same way that digital technology has re-invigorated (or at least re-casted) some ancient arts (3-D animation, for instance, being more of an extension of the art of puppetry than of traditional 2-D animation), I think motion capture has great potential to re-invent performing art. To date, there has been no real way to preserve the art of dance, in a fashion that retains the essence of the performance. Filmed dance is usually a very pale shadow of the experience of the performance itself -- the camera is always confounded by the opposing desires to take in the entire body of the dancer, while at the same time wanting to zoom in on the expressive details of the body (the face, the hands), which get blurred out in a full-body long-shot. While the technology isn't there yet, it's possible to imagine a dance being recorded by a motion-capture device, and then being projected afterwards, in three dimensions. In this way one could produce a transcription of a dance that retains the "spatiality" of the original performace -- a viewer could even enter into the dance space, transforming the choroegraphy into a sort of moving sculpture. This of course wouldn't be the same as the performed dance itself (eliminating, as it does, the very present physicality of the dancers, and the risk of failure that's always present in live performance), but it does perhaps point to some genuinely "artistic" possibilities of the technology. If the article was a "challenge," I sincerely hope you take me up on it...

jhonen i love your books and i love you!!!

Wow, wow, wow. This was a wonderful essay, toucing on so many ideas in animation and film as well: rotoscoping's status as the scourge of animation technique, the history of ethnicity in film, etc. When I saw Waking Life, I felt like it opened up possibilities in animation that hadn't been seen before; at least not by as large an audience as Richard Linklater can attract. In conjunction with the film, this essay provides a fascinating indication of where those possibilities could go, while leaving their ultimate results unsaid, almost as a challenge to artists who read it. It could, and maybe even should, be included in future reissues of the Waking Life DVD, in order to tgive the film's audience even more to think about. Speaking of Snow White's rotoscoping: does anybody get a similar feeling watching Motion-Capture footage, like in Final Fantasy, or motion-capture work from SF's Protozoa?

I agree! Invader Zim is the best show nickelodean will EVER HAVE! *Does a evil zim laugh*. Sorry! Jhonen Vasquez is a pure genis! I love his work. I love JTHM! I live for it! Squee Shmee is awesome! Jhonen, I LOVE YOU! You're hot! E-mail me sometime! PLEASE! I'M A BIG FAN OF YOU'RE WORK!!!! If you've never heard of JTHM you suck, you should read it!

You have an amazing and in depth mind that i dont think i could even begin to understand...but that is what makes you a genius in my point of veiw...keep disturbing the children.

HELLO SIRS, JUST TODAY I WENT THRU THIS WEBSITE,AND IT REALLY CONTAINS AMAZING INFORMATION ABOUT VOICE CHARACTERIZATION,ITS A VERY INFORMATIVE WEBSITE.

I am just so amazed by Jhonen Vasquez. I first read his work last year. It was the director's cut of JTHM. I fell in love with it. It's so damn profound in an artistic sense. I'd screw Jhonen in a second. I saw him at comic con. damn. he's hot. but whatev. I'll die a virgin.

Thoughtful and thought provoking. I enjoyed it very much. When applying the "high art vs. low art" debate to the animation field, I like to categorize (being French, I can't help categorizing...) animated films as follows: some animated films are "jubilatoires" (the old WB stuff, Avery, Freleng, Jones, McKimson, Clampett...), some are "incantatoires" (festival shorts with a purpose), some are "masturbatoires" (festival shorts withourt a purpose). The interesting part is that some films can be all of the above and still be great. So even when admitting that the "exception culturelle" is a valid effort, one can also find some solace in a more dadaist approach to art as a consumer goods (sorry Cézanne, but too many a crime has been committed in the name of religion), a ready-made item that one consumes and preferably enjoys, like a good meal, looking forward to the next god meal.

My boyfriend and I love Bing and Bong and their fantastic adventures, we never miss it! I'd also recommend a visit to www.TinyPlanets.co.uk - a good time can be had by all, even when you're not in the target age group! More Bing and Bong please.

If someone were to suggest that the Spider-Man Comics themselves be made a collection of photographs of models, live backgrounds, and computer generated imagery - all supposedly living up to the same "spirit" of the originals - they'd be called crazy, fans would loath the concept and that would be the end of it. But do the same thing with the film version and suddenly it's regarded as the best possible adaptation. The idea of making the film a drawing (or a million of 'em) is rejected - sometimes harshly - by some of the same people who should most want a movie. I find it a little odd (and even a bit depressing) that an article for AWN mentions a live-action version of Spider-Man with such glowing terms. I was hoping to come to AWN and find opinions advocating the use drawn animation, but instead I find articles celebrating the lack of it. Comic book fans need to take a step back, turn away from the glare of the hype surrounding Hollywood Mega-Flicks and ask themselves if this is truly the best way to adapt the comics they know and love. If they think a live-action film can ever be "true" to the comic like a quality, respectfully made animated film could, they're kidding themselves. The Comic is drawn. Live-Action film is not. The quality of the filmmaking cannot change that fact and will *always* prevent live-action films based on comics from being what fans truly want. (Often without even realizing it!) If what matters is supposedly not the medium but only in how it's done as is always insisted, then why not embrace the concept of the "live-action comic" I describe above? Fans don't, and I don't know if anyone would. Film should be held to the same standard. But I do think that after the initial surge of live-action comic book films starts to die down in a few years an interesting evolution may occur. As more and more of the film becomes CGI, live actors might start to seem out of place, superfluous. The recent failure of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within notwithstanding, a 100% CGI film based on a comic will eventually emerge. Once that step's been taken, keeping the characters to the same proportions as real live people may seem pointless, so why not do as comic book artists do and idealize the characters? Maybe that would be the end of the process, and photorealistic CGI renderings of comic book art is as far as comic book films progress. But it could continue, pushing even closer to the visuals of the comic itself. Do away with the photorealistic textures and lighting, clean up and define the edges and get rid of the murkiness that's carried over by the look of the real world. And then try to get the actual look of artwork, the inking, the shading, the coloring. If CGI can pull off this look then Great! But maybe it won't be able to, in which case the best option is to abandon CGI and use actual drawing in an animated film. ...Say, didn't comic book fans consider drawn animation and reject it? It's a bizarre irony. The solution to what fans want is right here and available now for much less than what Hollywood regularly spends, but the Hollywood system is stacked against drawn animation and most movie goers claim disinterest. Even those who don't assume animation is for little kids stereotype it as the worst cliches of anime or some Bruce Timm stylized series (which look like the Flintstones only taller). Comic book fans may not be more than a tiny fraction of moviegoers, but they are the ones who can lead. What they find entertaining is what the average Joe may as well several years down the line. We're already seeing this with anime. As for audiences, they will accept what they accept. The big box office success of films based on comics doesn't come from any mainstream love of comics, but rather entertaining, well hyped movies created by the smoothly running, well oiled entertainment machine that Hollywood's become. Starved for ideas, Hollywood's latched onto comics' widely known properties that fit into the popular Sci-Fi, Action-Adventure genres and have struck gold. If the change is brought about slowly enough progressing from the CGI they love to the animation they don't-know-enough-to-love-but-should, then drawn animation (or at least the look of it) will have been brought back and will succeed, even with mainstream audiences.

Indeed, we had not found anything new/fresh in american TV animation for adults in a long while. The adult animation market is becoming huge and yet america lags behind in delivering. From Japan all this exciting animation came though unfortunately filled with explosions and shoot outs- Cowboy Bebop was probably the best. So, we created "strange frame" and now are shopping for an agent. Most of the broadcasters will not take calls from producers. They only talk to agents. The difficulty is finding an agent that is saavy when it comes to innovative animated programming. Our show is mostly a rich tableux that relies on atmosphere and art, rather than fenetic kinetic motion which is so prevalent today. I like to think of it as a sci-fi balinese puppet dance. The show is targetted at older teens and adults who would like a story/dialog driven series, rather than another shootout. So we struggled and promoted and called and e-mailed and finally got some one of the top agents in Hollywood to look at the DVD and script. They liked it, said it was very creative, but did not think that a "younger" crowd would watch-ie they watched the DVD, but never read the printed materials! [Our promo pack included a good deal of information about our target market of older teens/adults] Make sure when you are pitching a show that all the materials are going to get reviewed. Do not assume that these very busy execs will pour over each item to gleen all the information before deciding. Good luck yall! Shameless plug- check out www.strangeframe.com for some of what we put together.

Your comments about all animated films, no matter what the technology, utilising the basic animation principles is a really valuable addition to my post-grad research project - everyone seems to have an opinion about this topic, but it helps when it comes from someone with some cred - thanks Gene

THIS IS WHAT I WAS REALLY TRYING TO DO WITH THE EDS. MAKE IT REALLY ARTSY FARTSY. SISSY LIKE. I'M TRYING TO REALLY SHOW A SOFTER SIDE TO MY TORTURED SOUL. SOME MAY SAY MY FEMININE SIDE. WE NEED TO TAKE BACK THE FUTURE.

Again an interesting article, yes animation has been destroyed as an art form by the entertainment industry in America. It takes no risks and its agenda remains conservative and right wing in nature. And this format pulls in the crowds, perhaps the viewer has always been passive it is just the artists who demand engagement. The danger we all face as artists and animators is that popular culture now swamps our everyday lives to the point that all other messages are rendered invisible. But has the entertain industry in america ever been a beckon for artistic values. I would say no, the true works of art remain while the rubbish fades rather rapidly from view. Perhaps it is the 500 TV channels we can now pick from and the multi-screen cinemas that help to drown this alternative message. Maybe the best action to take would be to stop watching rubbish and make our own stuff.

To Tim Gray: You say: Maybe the best action to take would be to stop watching rubbish and make our own stuff. Me: Yes indeed, and I even would go as far as saying that these two actions are complementary. You know the old saying: “Rubbish in, rubbish out!” ;-)

Hello I have read your book incremenitivly 10 time's . I have not yet read For love of prog but I will . your story is truly insparational .

hi greg s. , wow! whaat a great concept-cyber toons-production. this article was read with much excitment,as you gradually introduced the "players" and the clever way ..ALL were worked into the production. now ..i assume that many more creatives will be getting involved,for profit-and especially for the JOY of doing cartoons, with out a 'studio" pressure cooker atmosphere. do i see?..a entire "school" teaching this "way" of production?..and a reviloution going-on? this could literally "shake-out" the whole system of how big studios look at their competition, as the studio way could become inefficient? another comment about creating an -even more simple "immitation" of this new concept, would be for wannabees to get together as a smaller group,with less demanding "professionalism" involved,for the ..SAKE of getting some kind of first-hand experience production,for the sake of seeing their story and concept...materialised! not that this would be ...AS good as the folks who you wrote about -in this article,but simply for getting experience ...toward this professional approach of co-operative animation-making. i see this as a way of bringing new talent and new concepts...a better playing-field. will look forward to reading...MORE about this ,and wonder if...some time in the future, there will be all these "groups" working..and contracting with small-time investors, to do unheard-of concepts? lots of scenarios crop-up, and will look forward to reading..MORE ! thanks. my best dale"dawk" mc farlane

About the only really false note in the entire movie was Flash Thompson -- why did they decide that blonde, blue-eyed, big-man-on-campus, star athlete Flash Thompson would be best portrayed as a lumbering Gudio? A 'Guido' of course being a stereotypical Italian thug of outer Burrough origins. And 'Flash' really was; from his flying wedge hairdo to his cheap jewelry, he looked like he escaped from a viewing of STAYING ALIVE. On the other hand, his unnamed friend was Flash Thompson -- blonde, good looking, casully cruel. Did somebody just mess up the call sheets (blonde guy as Flash, big Italian guy from unnamed best friend) and nobody noticed? Steve Bennett

jean d.,your writings about animation trash, done by the american "toon-goons", big five , and their ability to monopolize the animation concepts are profoundly..."RIGHT-ON!" your statment about "drawing without knowing" hit me as ...EXACTLY what ...I am doing! but i do not "draw" and am not "DRAWING" anything when i make cartoon characters! even with all this new-found reflection on what ..YOU-jean consider deserving -art which should be recognized, and awarded the film festival top honors, instead of all the american redundant simplistics-out there, seems to be a futile attempt at changing the worlds idea fo what animation needs to be? i actually discovered a NEW way to create cartoon characters,similar to what (you-jean) are talking about, yet until now you have NEVER heard-seen my new concept! and you may never see my new concept...because ov the very items you are complaning -writing about;which i see as the commercial-profit motive, verses the art-for-art"s sake. my basic point is; with all the art history and conceptual expertise you posses-jean and that is considerable, you...still have not seen "it-all" when it comes to art concepts! the REASON you -also will never see "IT-ALL" is right here in the good-ol U S A!ti involves companies like ENRON and their executive who can only see the "quikie" style of making money...from animation - they want a sure-thing,instant results-like our fast-food industry,which is in every country in the world. i admire your willingness to attack such a subject, but you have only revealed the "tip of the iceberg" when it comes big business and their..INVASION of animation-cartoons. i'm "teaching" my new concept..person-by person,and knowing ..full-well that i don"t stand a CHANCE...against the "big toon goons" who are willing to crush anything ...NEW, so they can continue their cash machine,with animation like you are "blasting"! good luck, dawk www.stoneclones.com