SPLAT!

A look at how computer technology is used to combine realistic human characteristics with the qualities of classic animated characters. Computer animation is at the point in its evolution that the cel animation was when Walt Disney began his career. Includes footage from Reboot, Monster by Mistake and The Boxer – all fully computer animated cartoons./Follows the story of Ferenc Rofusz, an animator from Hungary. Working from behind the Iron Curtain, Ferenc was nominated for an Oscar in 1981. Denied a visa to attend the ceremony, he had to be content with listening to the awards on a radio. When his animated short The Fly won the Oscar, a government official accepted the award for him. Features interview footage of the Oscar award winner and clips of his work./Details the technique of translating human movements to digitally animated figures. Dancers wear wire harnesses which feed information to computers, which "captures" the motion, over which inanimate objects can be superimposed. One

The story behind the Klasky-Csupo (pronounced Class-Key-Chew-Poe) animated series Santo Bugito which features a family of animated insects who run a roadhouse on the Texas-Mexico border. Interview footage of voice talent Cheech Marin and Klasky-Csupo co-founder Arlene Klasky. Behind the scenes footage of actors in voice-over sessions and animators at work./There is a new breed of computer game out there – one that combines the action of tradition computer technology and the storytelling capabilities of hand-drawn animation./Once seen as a minor role in children’s features, the animation is now seen as one of Hollywood’s most lucrative career paths. Buoyed by the success of recent animated features, animators are scrambling to get into the most popular schools. Features interview footage of students and instructors at Sheridan College, universally recognized as the leader in the field. Also featured are examples of student-produced animation.

Follows the career of Goofy as an animated star, from his first supporting role in 1932 to his recent starring role in A Goofy Movie. Features the evolution of the character, complete with interview footage of Disney personnel. Portrays Goofy as the eternal optimist – despite his physical blunders, he always gets the job done./The animators behind the Coke bears reveal the tricks of the trade responsible for the creation of some of the most popular commercial characters ever. Behind the scenes, the footage is combined with interview and commentary to explain the complex process used to bring the bears to life./Profiles an award-winning independent animator from New York City. Most of Bill’s animation stems from unpublished books, with 25 Ways to Quit Smoking being one example. Bill’s animation is tradition line drawing. This segment includes interview footage and clips of his Oscar-nominated piece Your Face.

Colossal Pictures of San Francisco helped create Moxy, Cartoon Network’s animated dog. Moxy is a combination of traditional and computer animation, with the voice of Bobcat Goldthwaite. This segment details how the series evolved from conception to completion./Animation cels are the transparent pieces of celluloid on which characters are drawn. Once considered a useless by-product of a finished film, they were once regulated to the thumb-tacked walls of animators’ children. As those children grew up, however, the demand for these once discarded artworks has skyrocketed. SPLAT! visits an animation sell gallery and talks with the owner about this phenomenon./SPLAT! visits Cuppa Coffee, a cutting-edge animation production house. "Alternative animation" is the specialty here, and this segment shows the creative talents of various media which combine to produce unique effects. Contains behind the scenes footage interspersed with informal interviews.

This segment shows the talent behind the creation of a thirty-second pitch. To grab the viewer’s attention television advertising has always been faced with the task of producing something unusual. Various leaders in the field talk about turning the client vision into an animated reality. Features plenty of eye-catching commercial clips./MTV has striven to be at the cutting edge of popular culture since its creation back in the early 80’s. More than merely presenting music videos, MTV produces its own style of animation. John Andrews, executive producer of Beavis and Butthead, talks about the development of the counterculture duo as part of MTV’s overall campaign to push the envelope of animation. Also features clips of MTV series The Head and Aeon Flux./This segment is the story of a very talented independent plasticine animator who works out of his suburban basement. Onscreen interview with the animator combined with behind the scenes footage film Rodent Stew. Among other things, Dav

The cornerstone of any great piece of animation is the quality of the characters. Various animators talk about the process of bringing drawings to life. Bill Melendez, who animated the popular Peanuts characters, talks about the challenge of applying movement to a comic strip. Film Roman animators reveal the secrets behind the adaptation of Bruce Willis’ features for his new cartoon Bruno the Kid./SPLAT! goes behind the scenes at the company that George Lucas built from background operation to industry giant. The special effects masters who created the magic for the Star Wars trilogy talk about their experiences. The technique which gave the films their distinctive look is called Go-Motion, illustrated with footage from The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi./SPLAT! shows how animation can truly make the world a better place. With the help of major animation studios, UNICEF has been producing animation for developing countries for years. Various animators talk about the challen

Since the 50’s, movie audiences have thrilled to the experience of a three-dimensional film. SPLAT! visits two current 3D films: Terminator 2: 3D in Universal Studios Florida and EFX at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Digital Domain animators demonstrate some of the technical wizardry involved in creating what is essentially a third "Terminator" movie. Rhythm and Hues, the creator of EFX take us behind the scenes to illustrate the making of their 3D extravaganza./In the world of computer animation, the line dividing fantasy and reality are becoming increasingly blurred. Silicon Graphics, producers of the world’s most advanced animation hardware take us on a tour of a "virtual set", where imagination is the only limit to the creation of the television set environment. Using similar technology, a herd of rhinos stampedes through Manhattan as SPLAT! reveals the secrets behind a revolutionary Mercedes Benz commercial./The process of creating an animated television show is revealed step by step

The renaissance artist of the middle ages has given way to the modern day renaissance animator – a master of many different media. A modern animator has to be an artist, a sculptor, a mathematician and a filmmaker. Various industry professionals discuss the advantages of marrying multiple techniques to produce innovative animation while we watch some very cool computer animation./Animator Chris Landreth talks about his exciting Oscar-nominated piece The End. This work is widely considered to offer the most realistic computer generated representation of human hair, moving the "virtual human" one step closer to completion./Dressed in a silver spacesuit, the very animated John Dillworth takes us on a tour of his work. Nominated for an Oscar for "Courage the Cowardly Dog in the Chicken from Outer Space", John muses on what it takes to become an animator. This segment covers all of his major films, including Angry Cabaret, as a yet unreleased MTV cartoon.

The world of animation is often used as an effective teaching tool. SPLAT! learns the basics of educational animation from Candy Kugel, Sesame Street animator. Moving on to a more serious topic, animation aimed at solving the problems of third-world street kids are examined as veteran animator Derek Lamb talks about his Karate Kids series./With the recent explosion in popularity of animation, a parallel industry has also come to the fore. While the marketing of animation figures have been around as long as Mickey Mouse, it is only now that animators have come to depend on marketing revenues to fund their animation productions. This begs the question: What comes first – the animation or the merchandise?/SPLAT! visits the hallowed halls of Hanna-Barbera to take a retrospective look at one of the world’s most enduring studios. Joe Barbera talks about the ups and downs of starting out in the business, the transition to television and the use of his "limited animation" technique. Classic fo

SPLAT! looks at a new breed of animators who aren’t afraid to produce "unconventional" material. Several of these artists share their views on animated violence, including MAD TV animator Corky Quakenbush and James and the Giant Peach veteran Webster Colcord. Includes many clips of "controversial" animation./This project is the brainchild of International Rocketship’s Marv Newland. He assembled an all-star cast of animators to create story segments based on a character called Foska. The catch? Each animator was given only the last frame of the previous work and instructed to "carry the ball" for 30 seconds. The result is a hilarious short film which brings together some very diverse talents./SPLAT! reveals the mysterious origins of one of the most enduring superheroes of all time. Spider-man creator Stan Lee talks about his inspiration for the character and the process involved in taking the web-slinger from the pages of Marvel comic books to the fast pace of Saturday morning televisio

In the 1930’s millions of people sat on the edges of their seats as Flash Gordon battled Ming the Merciless week after week. In the 1990’s, audiences watch Flash and his gang duke it out with the forces of evil on an animated battleground. Combining footage of the original black and white serial with the new action-packed animated series, this segment show how the strength of good character can keep a hero on his feet for seventy years!/Stop-motion animation involves the manual positioning of models, which are then shot one frame at a time and replayed at 24 frames a second to simulate normal movement. SPLAT! goes behind the scenes to show the fascinating process behind several pieces of stop-motion animation. Often taking weeks of painstaking work to create mere minutes of finished footage, the animators who coax life from inanimate objects prefer not to describe their work as "playing with dolls."/The Ottawa Animation Festival is the largest of its type in the world. Animators from e

In the age of ever-increasing budgets and expensive special effects, some animators complain that their individual vision can get lost. In reaction, several large studios have rewarded top animators by providing sophisticated technology for them to use on their own projects. Several well-known animators talk about their experiences creating "independent" animation. Includes behind the scenes footage and clips of the work of these brave and mildly twisted souls./This segment chronicles the creation of an animated series based on one of the most well-known films of all time: The Wizard of Oz. This new series capitalizes on the success of the phenomenally popular Land of Oz books, which have been translated into dozens of languages. Includes footage of voice-over sessions and a look at the process of adaptation which moves characters from print to animation./These days, an animation is showing up on the live action scene in a big way. SPLAT! looks at the challenge of combining conventiona

It has been many decades since Bugs Bunny first sprang from the pencil of animator Chuck Jones, but everyone’s favorite rabbit just keeps on getting more popular. Considered one of the grand masters of animation, Chuck Jones holds forth on the evolution of his characters which include Bugs, The Roadrunner, Wile E. Coyote, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd and other far too numerous to mention. This segment includes clips of Chuck Jones animation, including rarely seen footage from the new theatrical short Chariots of Fur./Once a year budding animators get the chance to work alongside industry professionals to produce cartoons. This event, designed to raise scholarship money, is put on by the Bridges Animation Training Center. Starting at 8:00 am, professionals and amateurs alike race towards having a simple film completed by the end of the day. After dinner, thanks to the speed of computerized animation technology, the films are ready to watch./Animation is just not for fun anymore! From flight s