Portal:Animation
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Introduction
Animation is a method in which figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most animations are made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Computer animation can be very detailed 3D animation, while 2D computer animation (which may have the look of traditional animation) can be used for stylistic reasons, low bandwidth, or faster real-time renderings. Other common animation methods apply a stop motion technique to two and three-dimensional objects like paper cutouts, puppets, or clay figures.
Commonly, the effect of the animation is achieved by a rapid succession of sequential images that minimally differ from each other. The illusion—as in motion pictures in general—is thought to rely on the phi phenomenon and beta movement, but the exact causes are still uncertain. Analog mechanical animation media that rely on the rapid display of sequential images include the phénakisticope, zoetrope, flip book, praxinoscope, and film. Television and video are popular electronic animation media that originally were analog and now operate digitally. For display on the computer, techniques like animated GIF and Flash animation were developed.
Animation is more pervasive than many people know. Apart from short films, feature films, television series, animated GIFs, and other media dedicated to the display of moving images, animation is also prevalent in video games, motion graphics, user interfaces, and visual effects. (Full article...)
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The Powerpuff Girls is an animated television series created by animator Craig McCracken (pictured in 2008) and produced by Cartoon Network Studios for Cartoon Network. The show centers on Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup, three girls with superpowers, as well as their "father", the brainy scientist Professor Utonium, who all live in the fictional city of Townsville, USA. The girls are frequently called upon by the town's childlike and naive mayor to help fight nearby criminals using their powers. McCracken originally developed the show in 1992 as a cartoon short entitled Whoopass Stew! while in his second year at CalArts. Following a name change, Cartoon Network featured the first Powerpuff Girls pilots in its animation showcase program World Premiere Toons in 1995 and 1996. The series made its official debut as a Cartoon Cartoon on November 18, 1998, with the final episode airing on August 27, 2004. A total of 78 episodes were aired in addition to two shorts, a Christmas special, a feature film. Spin-off media include an anime, three CD soundtracks, a home video collection, and a series of video games, as well as various licensed merchandise.
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Selected biography
Joseph Roland "Joe" Barbera (March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an influential American animator, film director, film producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist. Born in New York City, after working odd jobs and as a banker, Barbera joined Van Beuren Studios in 1932 and subsequently Terrytoons in 1936. He met his lifelong collaborator William Hanna while working for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1937 and soon began producing animated shorts such as the Tom and Jerry series. In 1957, after MGM dissolved their animation department, they co-founded Hanna-Barbera, which became the most successful television animation studio in the business, producing programs such as The Flintstones, The Huckleberry Hound Show, Top Cat, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, The Quick Draw McGraw Show, The Smurfs, Wacky Races and Yogi Bear. Hanna and Barbera won seven Academy Awards and eight Emmy Awards. Their shows, which have translations in more than 20 languages, had a global audience in the 1960s of over 300 million people.
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Did you know...
- ...that the first Filipino full-length animated film, Adarna, was created by Gerry Garcia in the late 1990s?
- ...that American voice actors "kept slipping into a Jamaican accent" when voicing Malaysian characters in Kampung Boy?
- ...that Bruce Timm, the producer of the animated film adaptation Batman: Year One, said that adapting the comic story arc was straightforward since the original story was already cinematic?
Anniversaries for August 15
- Films released
- 1923 – Felix Laughs Last (United States)
- 1925 – Alice's Tin Pony (United States)
- 1925 – Felix Dopes it Out (United States)
- 1927 – Bee Cause (United States)
- 1929 – Ratskin (United States)
- 1932 – Lighthouse Keeping (United States)
- 1952 – Tots of Fun (United States)
- 1959 – Cat's Paw (United States)
- 2008 – Star Wars: The Clone Wars (Lucasfilm Animation, Warner Bros., United States)
- Television series and specials
- 1994 – The Brothers Grunt, an American animated television series begins airing on MTV
- 1998 – Donkey Kong Country, an American animated television series begins airing on Fox
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