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...)
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The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It combines animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a look more consistent with the rest of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the film follows a group of hobbits, elves, men, dwarves and wizards who form a fellowship. They embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, and ensure his destruction. The film features the voices of William Squire, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox and Anthony Daniels of Star Wars fame. The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, based on an earlier draft by Chris Conkling. Director Ralph Bakshi encountered Tolkien's writing early in his career, and had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before being given funding by producer Saul Zaentz and distributor United Artists. Although the film was a financial success, it received a mixed reaction from critics, and the original distributors refused to fund a sequel to cover the remainder of the story. However, the film sparked new interest in Tolkien's writing, inspiring the production of several further adaptations of the story.
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... 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 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
- ... that although Blizzard's franchise Overwatch is centered around video games, its lore is mainly told through animated shorts, comics, and novels?
- ... that the Pakistani film Shehr e Tabassum was the first animated cyberpunk film to be made by an Urdu development team?
- ... 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?
- ... that Paul Dini was a writer for both the animated television series Batman: The Animated Series and the video game series Batman: Arkham?
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Ralph Bakshi (born October 29, 1938) is an American director of animated and, occasionally, live-action films. As the American animation industry fell into decline during the 1960s and 1970s, Bakshi tried to bring a change in the industry by establishing an alternative to mainstream animation in independent and adult-oriented productions. From 1972 until 1994, he directed nine theatrically-released feature films, writing five of them, and oversaw ten television projects as a director, producer and animator. Beginning his career at the Terrytoons television cartoon studio as a cel polisher, Bakshi was eventually promoted to director. He moved to the animation division of Paramount Pictures in 1967 and started his own studio, Bakshi Productions, in 1968. Through producer Steve Krantz, Bakshi made his debut feature film, Fritz the Cat, released in 1972. It was the first animated film to receive an X rating from the Motion Picture Association of America, and the most successful independent animated feature of all time.
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The Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game is awarded annually by ASIFA-Hollywood, a non-profit organization that honors contributions to animation, to the best animated video game of the year. It is one of the Annie Awards, which are given to the best contributions to animation, including producers, directors, and voice actors. The Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game was created in 2005, and has been awarded yearly since. To be eligible for the award, the game must have been released in the year before the next Annie Awards ceremony, and the developers of the game must send a five-minute DVD that shows the gameplay and graphics of the game to a committee appointed by the Board of Directors of ASIFA-Hollywood. As of 2011, the Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game has been awarded to five video games. The video game development company THQ has had six of its games nominated for the Annie Award for Best Animated Video Game, and one of them, Ratatouille, has won the award.
More did you know...
- ...that a cash prize Ryan Larkin won at the Melbourne International Film Festival for the animated film Street Musique was used to support young artists in Montreal?
- ...that the early animated film Katsudō Shashin (frame pictured) lasts just three seconds?
- ...that a producer of Be Cool, Scooby-Doo! described the "Scooby Gang"'s clothing as "what a hipster dresses like in their world"
Anniversaries for April 25
- Films released
- 1936 – Westward Whoa (United States)
- 1938 – Big Chief Ugh-Amugh-Ugh (United States)
- 1942 – Dog Tired (United States)
- 1947 – Abusement Park (United States)
- 1952 – Let's Stick Together (United States)
- 1953 – That's My Pup! (United States)
- 1964 – Nuts and Volts (United States)
- Television series and specials
- 1998 – The Adventures of Sam & Max: Freelance Police, an American animated television series finishes airing on Fox Kids
- 2005 – Sealab 2021, an American animated television series finishes airing on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block
- Births
- 1953 – Ron Clements, American animator, director, producer, and screenwriter
- 1964 – Hank Azaria, American film, television and stage actor, director, voice actor, and comedian
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