Portal:Animation
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Introduction
Animation is a filmmaking technique by which still images are manipulated to create moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets (cels) to be photographed and exhibited on film. Animation has been recognized as an artistic medium, specifically within the entertainment industry. Many animations are computer animations made with computer-generated imagery (CGI). Stop motion animation, in particular claymation, has continued to exist alongside these other forms.
Animation is contrasted with live-action film, although the two do not exist in isolation. Many moviemakers have produced films that are a hybrid of the two. As CGI increasingly approximates photographic imagery, filmmakers can easily composite 3D animations into their film rather than using practical effects for showy visual effects (VFX). (Full article...)
Selected article
Sonic X is a Japanese anime television series created by TMS Entertainment and based on Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog video game series. Sonic X initially ran for 52 episodes, broadcast in Japan from April 6, 2003 to March 28, 2004; a further 26 were aired elsewhere from 2005 to 2006. The show's American localization was done by 4Kids Entertainment. The plot follows a boy named Chris and a group of anthropomorphic animals from another planet, including Sonic, Tails, Amy, and Cream, who repeatedly scuffle with Dr. Eggman and his robots over the Chaos Emeralds. The final story arc sees the friends return with Chris to their world, where they meet a plant-like creature named Cosmo and fight an army of robots called the Metarex in outer space. Sonic X received mixed reviews; writers criticized its localization and some characters, but were more generous toward its story and aesthetics. Merchandise included an edutainment game for the Leapster, a trading card game, and a comic book series. The phrase "gotta go fast", the title of the show's North American theme song, has been a Sonic catchphrase for over a decade.
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that Encanto's Isabela Madrigal was animated to be aware that she is "always on stage"?
- ... that the live-action comedy series Community had a stop motion animated Christmas special?
- ... that the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
- ... that the animated film The Exigency took thirteen years to make?
- ... that the creators of the cartoon Jade Armor filmed live-action martial arts stunts to visualize the show's animated action sequences?
- ... that at age 12, Shaylee Mansfield became the first deaf actor to be credited alongside the voice actors for a signed performance in an animated production?
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Selected biography
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 accolades received by Ratatouille, a computer-animated film produced by Pixar and distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. The film was released on June 29, 2007 in the United States as the eighth film produced by Pixar. It was directed by Brad Bird, who took over from Jan Pinkava in 2005. The plot follows Remy, a rat who dreams of becoming a cook chef and tries to achieve his goal by forming an alliance with a Parisian restaurant's garbage boy. Ratatouille was released to both critical acclaim and box office success, opening in 3,940 theaters domestically and debuting at #1 with $47 million, grossing $206,445,654 in North America and a total of $624,445,654 worldwide. The film is on the 2007 top ten lists of multiple critics, including Michael Sragow of The Baltimore Sun as number one, A.O. Scott of The New York Times, Carina Chocano of the Los Angeles Times and Joe Morgenstern of The Wall Street Journal as number two. It was nominated for five Academy Awards, including Original Score, Achievement in Sound Editing, Achievement in Sound Mixing, Original Screenplay and Animated Feature Film, winning the latter one. Ratatouille was nominated for 13 Annie Awards, twice for the Best Animated Effects, where it lost to Surf's Up, and three times in the Best Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production for Janeane Garofalo, Ian Holm and Patton Oswalt, where Ian Holm won the nomination. It won the Best Animated Feature Award from multiple associations including the Chicago Film Critics, the National Board of Review, the Annie Awards, the Broadcast Film Critics, the British Academy of Film and Television (BAFTA) and the Golden Globes.
More did you know...
- ...that Chhota Bheem and the Curse of Damyaan, a 2012 Indian animated film, was a surprise success at the box office?
- ...that the directors of Chipotle Mexican Grill's short film The Scarecrow took inspiration from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Metropolis?
- ...that "Weird Al" Yankovic (pictured) offered to guest star in an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic after a co-executive producer found him showcasing fan works with his music on Twitter?
Anniversaries for May 9
- Films released
- 1936 - Let It Be Me (United States)
- 1941 - A Good Time for a Dime (United States)
- 1942 - The Draft Horse (United States)
- 1947 - Sleepy Time Donald (United States)
- 1953 - Ant Pasted (United States)
- 1953 - For Whom the Bulls Toil (United States)
- 1959 - Hot-Rod and Reel! (United States)
- 1966 - Matinee Mouse (United States)
- Deaths
- 2000 - Arthur Davis, American animator (b. 1905)
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