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Introduction

The bouncing ball animation (below) consists of these six frames, repeated indefinitely.

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.

An animated cartoon is an animated film, usually a short film, featuring an exaggerated visual style. The style takes inspiration from comic strips, often featuring anthropomorphic animals, superheroes, or the adventures of human protagonists (either children or adults). Especially with animals that form a natural predator/prey relationship (e.g. cats and mice, coyotes and birds), the action often centers around violent pratfalls such as falls, collisions, and explosions that would be lethal in real life.

The illusion of animation—as in motion pictures in general—has traditionally been attributed to persistence of vision and later to the phi phenomenon and/or beta movement, but the exact neurological causes are still uncertain. The illusion of motion caused by a rapid succession of images that minimally differ from each other, with unnoticeable interruptions, is a stroboscopic effect. While animators traditionally used to draw each part of the movements and changes of figures on transparent cels that could be moved over a separate background, computer animation is usually based on programming paths between key frames to maneuver digitally created figures throughout a digitally created environment. (Full article...)

Outline of animation

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"The Uncertainty Principle" is the ninth episode of the animated television series The Spectacular Spider-Man, which is based on the comic book character Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. It originally aired on the Kids WB! programming block on The CW Network on May 10, 2008, with a TV-Y7-FV parental guidance rating. The episode chronicles Spider-Man on Halloween, as he partakes in his final battle with the villain Green Goblin and finally discovers the villain's true identity. Meanwhile, Air Force Colonel John Jameson attempts to land his badly damaged space craft back on Earth. The episode was written by Kevin Hopps and directed by Dave Bullock. Hopps researched all the available comic books he had that featured Green Goblin in order to prepare his penning of the episode's teleplay. "The Uncertainty Principle" served as a conclusion to the Green Goblin storyline for the first season. The supposed revelation of Goblin's identity in the episode would later be disproved by the second season finale "Final Curtain," which the writers had unplanned since the series began, and were lucky enough to think of the plot twist and created the episode. "The Uncertainty Principle" is available on both the third volume DVD set for the series, as well as the complete season box set. The episode received a generally positive critical response from television critics—reviewers singled out elements such as the Halloween motif and Mary Jane's vampire costume.

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rostrum camera

Credit: Jan-Eric Nyström

A rostrum camera is a specially designed camera used in television production and filmmaking to animate a still picture or object. It consists of a moving lower platform on which the article to be filmed is placed, while the camera is placed above on a column. Many visual effects can be created from this simple setup although it is most often used to add interest to static objects. The camera can for example traverse across a painting, and using wipes and zooms, change a still picture into a sequence suitable for television or movie productions.

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... that Encanto's Isabela Madrigal was animated to be aware that she is "always on stage"?
... that according to an elaborate 1990s joke, Elmo Aardvark was history's first animated cartoon character?
... that Raoul Servais invented a new technique for combining animation and live action for his short film Harpya?
... that before becoming a film director, Nepal's Nischal Basnet went to Australia to study 3D animation, but ended up studying hospitality and becoming a chef?
... that the Tuca & Bertie episode "The Jelly Lakes" employs a paper-cutout animation that helps to depict abuse in a way that centers the victim's story?
... that the French animated film The Summit of the Gods is based on a Japanese manga series?

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I was taking animation and illustration and I was just a huge fan of the show and I knew the show was going to be something big. However, I never thought it would last this long, but I wanted to be part of it. I really thought that it was something that could last maybe one or two or years or so and I took a few animation tests but I failed the first group and so I asked them what was right and wrong about it and I followed directions and gave it to them within 48 hours and they hired me. — Lance Wilder

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Jeff "Swampy" Marsh (born December 9, 1960) is an American television director, writer, producer, storyboard artist, and actor associated with several animated television series. Marsh was born in Santa Monica, California, where he grew up with a heavily blended family dynamic. Marsh has been and continues to be a driving force behind several animation projects, working for over six seasons on the animated television series The Simpsons. Marsh continued to work on other animated television series, including King of the Hill and Rocko's Modern Life, before moving to England in 1996. While in England, Marsh worked on several animated programs, including Postman Pat and Bounty Hamster, and worked for BKN New Media Ltd. to produce several feature films. After six years living in England, Marsh was asked by his longtime partner Dan Povenmire to help produce Phineas and Ferb in 2007, a concept the two had while working together on Rocko's Modern Life. Marsh accepted and moved back to the United States; the series has since garnered Marsh two Emmy Awards nominations for songwriting.

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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.

More did you know...

...that the National Cartoon Museum wandered between four homes before its acquisition by Ohio State University?
...that Morris Sullivan's relocation of his Sullivan Bluth Studios animation company from the U.S. to Ireland, to exploit tax advantages, helped stimulate the development of Ireland's animation industry?
...that five of the video games nominated for the Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game are adaptations of animated films?