The Pixar Shorts: A Short History
Felix the Cat was the first animated superstar, and these early shorts reveal the source of the character's phenomenal popularity. Animator Otto Messmer created Felix for "Feline Follies," a one-shot cartoon designed to fill a gap in an installment of the Paramount Screen Magazine. Messmer had learned how to use mime and expressions by studying the films of Charlie Chaplin, and even in his…
Princess Mononoke ~ Princess Mononoke
ReBoot was the first computer animated network series, and these episodes from its third season (1994) reveal how quickly computer visual effects has advanced. The designs look decidedly passé, and the motion-capture animation is limited and uneven. Enzo, the hero of ReBoot, is an adolescent guardian-in-training, fighting to protect the cyberworld from the evil virus Megabyte. Enzo's older…