Portal:Animation

Howl's Moving Castle is a 2004 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki. The film is based on the novel of the same name by British author Diana Wynne Jones. The film was produced by Toshio Suzuki, animated by Studio Ghibli and distributed by Toho. The Japanese voice cast featured Chieko Baisho and Takuya Kimura, while the version dubbed in English starred Emily Mortimer, Jean Simmons, Lauren Bacall and Christian Bale. The story is set in a fictional kingdom where both magic and early 20th century technology are prevalent, against the backdrop of a war with another kingdom. The film tells the story of a young hatter named Sophie after she is turned into an old woman by a witch's curse. She encounters a wizard named Howl, and gets caught up in his resistance to fighting for the king. Influenced by Miyazaki's opposition to the United States' invasion of Iraq in 2003, the film contains strongly anti-war themes. Miyazaki stated that he "had a great deal of rage about [the Iraq war]," which led him to make a film which he felt would be poorly received in the US. It also explores the theme of old age, depicting age positively as something which grants the protagonist freedom. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on 5 September 2004, and was released in Japanese theaters on 20 November 2004. It went on to gross $190 million in Japan and $235 million worldwide, making it one of the most financially successful Japanese films in history.

• ... that the interactive cartoon Cat Burglar takes about 15 minutes to watch, but features 90 minutes of animation?
• ... that the 1937 Fleischer Studios strike in New York City was the first major labor strike in the animation industry?
• ... 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 Paul Dini was a writer for both the animated television series Batman: The Animated Series and the video game series Batman: Arkham?
• ... that the live-action comedy series Community had a stop motion animated Christmas special?
• ... that the Pakistani film Shehr e Tabassum was the first animated cyberpunk film to be made by an Urdu development team?

Steven Ross Purcell (born 1961) is an American cartoonist, animator and game designer. He is most widely known as the creator of Sam & Max, an independent comic book series about a pair of anthropomorphic animal vigilantes and private investigators, for which Purcell received an Eisner Award in 2007. The series has since grown to incorporate an animated television series and several video games. He performed freelance work for Marvel Comics and Fishwrap Productions before publishing his first Sam & Max comic in 1987. Purcell was hired by LucasArts as an artist and animator in 1988, working on several titles within the company's adventure games era. Purcell collaborated with Nelvana to create a Sam & Max television series in 1997, and briefly worked as an animator for Industrial Light & Magic after leaving LucasArts. He is currently employed in the story development department at Pixar. His main work for the animation studio has been with the 2006 film Cars and spin-off materials such as shorts and video games. Despite his employment with Pixar, Purcell has continued to work with comic books and came together with Telltale Games in 2005 to bring about new series of Sam & Max video games.

The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance is a creative arts Emmy Award given out by the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. It is awarded to a performer for an outstanding "continuing or single voice-over performance in a series or a special." Prior to 1992, voice-actors could be nominated for their performance in the live action acting categories. The award was first given in 1992 when six voice actors from The Simpsons shared the award. From 1992 to 2008, it was a juried award, so there were no nominations and there would be multiple or no recipients in one year. In 2009, the rules were changed to a category award, with five nominees. No winner was named in 1996 or 2007. Nine voice actors from The Simpsons have won a combined 14 Emmys. Of those, Dan Castellaneta has won four and Hank Azaria has won three. Ja'net Dubois won two for The PJs and Keith David won two for his narration of various documentaries. Voice actors from shows on Fox have won 17 of 27 awards.

• ...that the Simpsons episode "The Devil Wears Nada", in which Marge poses for racy photographs in a calendar, aired soon after she appeared nude on the cover of Playboy?
• ...that the third season and its episodes of the animated sitcom Home Movies won two Pulcinella Awards in 2003?
• ...that the Islamist group Revolution Muslim posted a warning about possible consequences on their website against South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone for their portrayal of Muhammad in the episode "200"?

Films released

• 1922 - Little Red Riding Hood (United States)
• 1930 - The Shindig (United States)
• 1933 - Old King Cole (United States)
• 1933 - Bosko's Mechanical Man (United States)
• 1938 - The Fox Hunt (1938 film) (United States)
• 1939 - Snowman's Land (United States)
• 1961 - Compressed Hare (United States)
• 1967 - Speedy Ghost to Town (United States)

Television series and specials

• 2011 - ThunderCats, an American animated television series begins airing on Cartoon Network