Portal:Animation

Spirited Away is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki and produced by Studio Ghibli. The film stars Rumi Hiiragi, Miyu Irino, Mari Natsuki, Takeshi Naito, Yasuko Sawaguchi, Tsunehiko Kamijō, Takehiko Ono, and Bunta Sugawara, and tells the story of Chihiro Ogino (Hiiragi), a sullen ten-year-old girl who, while moving to a new neighborhood, enters the spirit world. Miyazaki wrote the script after he decided the film would be based on the 10-year-old daughter of his friend, associate producer Seiji Okuda, who came to visit his house each summer. At the time, Miyazaki was developing two personal projects, but they were rejected. With a budget of US$19 million, production of Spirited Away began in 2000. During production, Miyazaki realized the film would be over three hours long and decided to cut out several parts of the story. Pixar director John Lasseter, a fan of Miyazaki, was approached by Walt Disney Pictures to supervise an English-language translation for the film's North American release. The film was theatrically released in Japan on 20 July 2001 by distributor Toho, and became the most successful film in Japanese history, grossing over $289 million worldwide and receiving widespread critical acclaim.

• ... 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 stylized animation of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem was inspired by rough sketches in school notebooks?
• ... that Encanto's Isabela Madrigal was animated to be aware that she is "always on stage"?
• ... 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?
• ... that the animated film The Exigency took thirteen years to make?

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.

The awards won by The Simpsons and The Simpsons Movie. The Simpsons, an animated American sitcom, is the longest running prime time animated series in the United States. It has won many different awards, including 27 Emmy awards, 27 Annie Awards, seven Environmental Media Awards, seven Writers Guild of America Awards, six Genesis Awards, five People's Choice Awards and three British Comedy Awards. Episodes of the show have won 10 Emmys in the Outstanding Animated Program (for programming one hour or less) category. However, The Simpsons has never been nominated for Outstanding Comedy Series, although the show was submitted in the category in 1993 and 1994. The Simpsons was the first animated series to be given a Peabody Award, and in 2000 the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons also holds two world records from the Guinness Book of World Records: Longest-Running Primetime Animated Television Series and Most Guest Stars Featured in a Television Series.

• ...that the animated sitcom Home Movies switched to Flash animation for its second season?
• ...that the Rugrats episode "At the Movies" introduced the character of Reptar, who became a heavily recurring character throughout the series and the basis of countless merchandising tie-ins?
• ...that the Burka Avenger is Pakistan's first animated female superhero?

Films released

• 1937 – Porky's Super Service (United States)
• 1942 – The Sleep Walker (United States)
• 1943 – Wackiki Wabbit (United States)
• 1943 – Yankee Doodle Daffy (United States)
• 1948 – The Up-Standing Sitter (United States)
• 2013 – Despicable Me 2 (Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures, United States)
• 2024 – Despicable Me 4 (Illumination Entertainment, Universal Pictures, United States)

Television series and specials

• 1981 – GoShogun begins airing on TV Tokyo
• 1983 – Super Dimension Century Orguss, a Japanese anime series begins airing on MBS
• 1986 – Machine Robo: Revenge of Cronos, a Japanese anime series begins airing on TV Tokyo
• 1987 – Transformers: The Headmasters, a Japanese anime series begins airing on NTV
• 1997 – Tokyo Pig, a Japanese anime series begins airing on TV Tokyo