ANIMATION

Animating the AT-AT Walkers in "Star Wars"

5 Obscure Looney Tunes Cartoons

We’re all familiar with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, and Porky Pig, but what about Owl Jolson, Ralph Phillips, or the Dover Boys of Pimento University?

11 Unsuccessful Animated Versions of Hit TV Shows

There was a time when it seemed like a good idea to create animated spin-offs for hit live-action TV shows. That time has passed.

A Poignant "PowerPoint Culture" Video

Chris Latta, voice of Starscream and Cobra Commander

Children of the 1980s know few voices better than that of Chris Latta, who played the roles of both Starscream and Cobra Commander. Latta, who was sometimes credited as Christopher Collins, was a voice, stage, and screen actor who died in 1994. Here are a

A Guided Tour of Animaniacs: Volume 4

We sat down with Tom Ruegger and Rob Paulsen to get all the behind-the-scenes details about the show’s final episodes.

"Peter and the Wolf," 1946

Remember that animated, professionally narrated version of Peter and the Wolf you saw as a kid? Sure you do -- somewhere in the depths of your memory, you'll probably remember this fifteen-minute Disney short from 1946. It's odd to think now that this c

More than one Warner Bros. Studios cartoon makes this list.

13 Amazing Cartoons from the National Film Registry

Here are 13 cartoons that have been deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the National Film Preservation Board.

Donald Duck on the Futility of Nuclear War

In 1952, Disney released the 7-minute cartoon "Applecore" featuring Donald Duck and Chip 'n Dale, the mischievous fast-talking chipmunks. In this short, Donald plays an apple farmer whose crops are being eaten by Chip 'n Dale, so Donald retaliates, only

Cab Calloway Sings for Betty Boop in 1933 (Video)

So how's this for awesome: in 1933, animator Roland Crandall singlehandedly animated a seven-minute Betty Boop cartoon (a version of Snow White) in only six months. In 1994, animators voted the piece #19 of the 50 Greatest Cartoons of All Time. Wikiped

Ren & Stimpy Creator Sends Awesome Letter to Kid

Today, another awesome Letter of Note, this time from comic artist John Kricfalusi, best known for his work on Ren & Stimpy. Letters of Note writes:In 1998, aged just 14, aspiring young cartoonist Amir Avni decided to get in touch with the creator of Ren

Time Lapse: 5 Years of Graffiti in 2 Minutes

The video below, by Arnaud Jourdain, is a time lapse animation showing five years' worth of graffiti at 5a Rue de Verneuil in Paris. By shooting thousands of high-resolution photos over a period of years, the filmmakers were able to reconstruct the graff

Mel Blanc: Man of a Thousand Voices

Although you may have never seen Mel Blanc's face, you've definitely heard his voice -- he voiced hundreds of classic cartoon characters including Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Speedy Gonzales, Barney Rubble, Foghorn Leghorn, and bunches more. Known as the "man

10 Smurfy Facts About The Smurfs

Though most people tend to think of the 1980s Saturday morning cartoon series or the later live action films when they hear "The Smurfs," those little blue characters were first introduced in 1958, in a Belgian comic book series created by the famed artis

All Your Base are Belong To Us: The Correct Translation

If you've been using the web in the last decade, you're likely aware of All your base are belong to us, a strange meme in which poorly translated video game dialogue led to a comedy wildfire that clogged email inboxes throughout 2001 and 2002. If you hav

8 Cracking Facts About Wallace & Gromit (and an exhibit you have to check out!)

Wallace and Gromit are national heroes in the U.K. The cheery, if absent-minded inventor/baker/pest control expert and his faithful Dostoyevsky-reading canine companion have starred in some of the most fun and inventive adventures in stop-motion ever comm

7 Reasons "Clone Wars" Will Be Worth Seeing

The latest Star Wars movie, Clone Wars, opens this Friday. We've done our homework on the new movie, and it actually looks pretty good. As the seventh movie in the epic series, we turned up seven reasons why Clone Wars will be worth seeing. 1. No Mor

This American Life - How Married People Tell Stories

The public radio show This American Life has just begun its second season as a TV program on Showtime. If you're not watching, you're missing out. (Or you can't afford Showtime -- and you can't be blamed for that.) But today you can get a little free c

10 Famous (or Notorious) Ducks

My children don't watch nearly as much TV as I did at their age. I asked my daughter if she knew any famous ducks. She could only think of The Ugly Duckling! But our pop culture landscape bears the tracks of an entire flock of famous ducks. Count Duckula

Shameful Animation

Years ago, I went to go see Spike Lee talk about his then-new movie Bamboozled at a campus forum, and I was stunned to hear about how he had planned on using animation in the film. While I have yet to see the movie (and I think there is a section in the f