Portal:Animation

Introduction

The animation above consists of these six frames repeated indefinitely.

Animation is a filmmaking technique whereby pictures are created or manipulated and then played in sequence to create the illusion of moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognised as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are either traditional animations or computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, is also prominent alongside these other forms, albeit to a lesser degree.

Animation is contrasted with live action, although the two do not exist in isolation. Many filmmakers have produced films that are a hybrid of the two. As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery, filmmakers can relatively easily composite 3D animated visual effects (VFX) into their film, rather than using practical effects. (Full article...)

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"Trapped in the Closet" is the twelfth episode of the ninth season of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on November 16, 2005. The plot of the episode centers on the South Park character Stan Marsh, as he joins Scientology in an attempt to find something "fun and free". After the discovery of his surprisingly high "thetan levels", he is recognized as the reincarnation of the founder of the church, L. Ron Hubbard. Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, quit the show shortly before the start of the tenth season. The reason for his departure, as reported by Matt Stone, was due to his faith in Scientology and this episode, which—despite initially supporting the show's satirical take on several talk shows—he claimed was very offensive. "Trapped in the Closet" was nominated for an Emmy Award in July 2006, in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) category in July 2006, but lost to The Simpsons episode "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story". The episode was featured among Comedy Central's list of "10 South Parks That Changed The World", spoofed by Conan O'Brien in the opening segment of the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, and mentioned in the Scientology critique film, The Bridge.

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How a Mosquito Operates

Credit: Film: Winsor McCay

How a Mosquito Operates (1912) is a silent animated film by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. The six-minute short, about a giant mosquito tormenting a dozing man who tries in vain to shoo it away, is one of the earliest works of animation. It is considered far ahead of its contemporaries in its technical quality. McCay had a reputation for his proficiency as a cartoonist, exemplified in the children's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. He delved into the infant art of animation with the 1911 film Little Nemo, and followed its success by adapting an episode of his comic strip Dream of the Rarebit Fiend into How a Mosquito Operates. McCay gives the animation naturalistic timing, motion, and weight, and displays a more coherent story and developed character than in Little Nemo. The film was enthusiastically received when McCay first unveiled it during a chalk talk (a vaudeville act with drawings) and in a theatrical release that soon followed. In 1914 McCay further developed his character animation style in his best-known animated work, Gertie the Dinosaur.

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... that the first lady of the Ivory Coast created an animated kids' show in 1989?
... that Barbara Wilk once hand-painted two thousand frames for her animated film?
... that The Book of Virtues inspired PBS's first animated primetime series?
... that the only copy of El Apóstol, widely considered to be the first animated feature film, was lost in a fire?
... that the Plutonium Finishing Plant, which processed more than 66 metric tons of plutonium between 1949 and 1989, was demolished between 2016 and 2021?
... that an anime programming block that originally aired on the American television channel TechTV was the inspiration for the co-founder of a Japanese animation studio?

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We wanted to figure out a way to get crank phone calls on television. Watching someone on TV talking on a phone isn't that entertaining, and obviously we couldn't send a camera crew around to the people getting the calls, so it was limited to either animation or puppets. And puppets seemed halfway between cartoons and people, so that seemed like the most real way that we could do it.

— Jimmy Kimmel, 2002

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Steven Ross Purcell (born 1961) is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has since grown to incorporate an animated television series and several video games. He performed freelance work for Marvel Comics and Fishwrap Productions before publishing his first Sam & Max comic in 1987. Purcell was hired by LucasArts as an artist and animator in 1988, working on several titles within the company's adventure games era. Purcell collaborated with Nelvana to create a Sam & Max television series in 1997, and briefly worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic after leaving LucasArts. He is currently employed in the story development department at Pixar. His main work for the animation studio has been with the 2006 film Cars and spin-off materials such as shorts and video games. Despite his employment with Pixar, Purcell has continued to work with comic books and came together with Telltale Games in 2005 to bring about new series of Sam & Max video games.

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The episodes of Family Guy, an American animated television sitcom created by Seth MacFarlane (pictured) for the Fox Broadcasting Company. Since its debut on January 31, 1999, the show has broadcast 201 episodes. The series centers on the dysfunctional Griffin family, which consists of father Peter, mother Lois, son Chris, baby Stewie and Brian, the family dog. He created two shorts entitled The Life of Larry and Larry & Steve, both of which played a key role in Fox executives' decision to pick up the series in 1998. After two seasons, Fox decided to cancel the show. Despite the cancellation, a third season was produced, after which the series was officially canceled at the end of 2003. Reruns on Cartoon Network's block Adult Swim drove up interest, and a letter-writing campaign, along with impressive DVD sales, encouraged Fox to bring the show back permanently. Family Guy returned to production in 2005, and is contracted to continue producing episodes until at least 2013.

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...that Snake 'n' Bacon are a pair of cartoon characters, a snake and a strip of bacon, whose conversations are limited to hissing (on Snake's part) and making bacon-related comments (on Bacon's part)?
...that before beginning a career in animation, Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (pictured) worked as a vice president of sales and marketing for a computer company, where he "freaked out" and decided to quit?
...that A Jewish Girl in Shanghai, an animated film set in and around the Shanghai Ghetto, has been described as "China’s first homegrown Jewish film"?

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Anniversaries for November 3

Films released

1922 – Puss in Boots (United States)
1934 – The Goddess of Spring (United States)
1934 – Those Beautiful Dames (United States)
1939 – Never Sock a Baby (United States)
1950 – Hold That Pose (United States)
1951 – Sleepy Time Possum (United States)
1958 – Jittery Jester (United States)
1959 – Kiddie League (United States)
2001 – The Flintstones: On the Rocks (United States, Canada)
2004 – Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light (Warner Bros Pictures, Japan)
2006 – Flushed Away (DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures, Aardman Features, United States)
2009 – Fantastic Mr. Fox (20th Century Studios, United States)

Television series and specials

1994 – Exosquad, an American animated television series finishes airing on USA Network
2001 – The Flintstones: On the Rocks, an American animated television movie airs on Cartoon Network
2001 – Totally Spies!, a French/Canadian animated television series begins airing on TF1 and Teletoon
2006 – Class of 3000, an American animated television series begins airing on Cartoon Network