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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"Damien" is the eighth episode of the first season of the animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on February 4, 1998. In the episode, the boys' class is joined by a new student named Damien, who has been sent by his father Satan to find Jesus and arrange a boxing match between the two. The majority of South Park residents bet on Satan to win the match due to his enormous size and muscular physique, but Satan ultimately throws the fight and reveals he bet on Jesus, thus winning everybody's money. The episode was written by series co-founders Trey Parker and Matt Stone, along with writer Brian Graden. The episode serves as a satire on religion, faith and the nature of good and evil, as well as a commentary on commercialism, the cult of celebrity in America and the nature of children. The episode marked the first appearance of Satan, who would become a recurring South Park character, as well as the character of Damien himself, who was inspired by the antagonist of the 1976 horror film, The Omen. Parker and Stone also said the episode introduced several key characteristics of the Cartman character that have endured throughout the rest of the series. Michael Buffer (pictured), the boxing ring announcer best known for the catchphrase, "Let's get ready to rumble!", makes a guest appearance in "Damien" as himself.
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Did you know (auto-generated) -
- ... that the live-action comedy series Community had a stop motion animated Christmas special?
- ... that Encanto's Isabela Madrigal was animated to be aware that she is "always on stage"?
- ... that the stylized animation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was inspired by rough sketches in school notebooks?
- ... that Bruce Timm created most of the character designs for Batman: The Animated Series?
- ... that Raoul Servais invented a new technique for combining animation and live action for his short film Harpya?
- ... that "Arnold's Christmas", now considered one of the most memorable episodes from the animated series Hey Arnold!, was almost rejected by network executives because it depicted the Vietnam War?
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Al Jean (born January 9, 1961) is an award-winning American screenwriter and producer, best known for his work on The Simpsons. He was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan and graduated from Harvard University in 1981. Jean began his writing career in the 1980s with fellow Harvard alum Mike Reiss. It was first broadcast on ABC in January 1994 and was well-received by critics, but did not catch on with viewers and only lasted for two seasons. In 1994, Jean and Reiss signed a three-year deal with The Walt Disney Company to produce other television shows for ABC and the duo created and executive produced Teen Angel, which was canceled in its first season. Jean returned full-time to The Simpsons during the tenth season (1998). He became show runner once again with the start of the thirteenth season in 2001, this time without Reiss, and has held that position since then. Jean was also one of the writers and producers that worked on The Simpsons Movie, a feature-length film based on the series that was released in 2007.
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The Simpsons' eighth season originally aired between October 1996 and May 1997, beginning on October 27, 1996 with "Treehouse of Horror VII". The showrunners for the eighth production season were Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. The aired season contained two episodes which were hold-over episodes from season seven, which Oakley and Weinstein also ran. It also contained two episodes for which Al Jean and Mike Reiss were the show runners. Season eight won multiple awards, including two Emmy Awards: "Homer's Phobia" won for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) in 1997, and Alf Clausen and Ken Keeler won for "Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music and Lyrics" with the song "We Put The Spring In Springfield" from the episode "Bart After Dark". Clausen also received an Emmy nomination for "Outstanding Music Direction" for "Simpsoncalifragilisticexpiala(Annoyed Grunt)cious". "Brother from Another Series" was nominated for the Emmy for "Sound Mixing For a Comedy Series or a Special". The DVD box set was released in Region 1 on August 15, 2006, Region 2 on October 2, 2006, and Region 4 on September 27, 2006. The set was released in two different forms: a Maggie-shaped head to match the Homer and Marge shaped heads of the previous two sets and also a standard rectangular shaped box. Like the seventh season box set, both versions are separately available for sale.
More did you know...
- ...that the Simpsons short Good Night aired April 19, 1987 on The Tracey Ullman Show and was the first ever appearance of the Simpson family on television?
- ...that the 1942 animated short film Japoteurs features a scene similar to the one in Superman Returns in which Superman catches an airplane in mid-air?
- ...that the fight scene between Peter Griffin and a giant chicken on Family Guy episode "Blind Ambition" was originally created for the episode "The Cleveland–Loretta Quagmire"?
Anniversaries for June 6
- Films released
- 1952 - Susie the Little Blue Coupe (United States)
- 1953 - There Auto Be a Law (United States)
- 2008 - Kung Fu Panda (DreamWorks Animation, Paramount Pictures, United States)
- Television series and specials
- Births
- 1959 - Paul Germain, American animation screenwriter and producer
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