I can't really say anyone acts well in either of those movies. People come for the robots and stay for the shaky cam that doesn't let you see which robot is fighting whom.

Sorry to beat this horse but I just received the package from Something Weird.

The prizes are:

V For Victory! WWII Cartoons & Shorts
Classic Cartoon Rarities Volume 1
Classic Cartoon Rarities Volume 2
American Industrial Cartoon Revolution Volume 1
American Industrial Cartoon Revolution Volume 2

I have a question (that may have already been covered). I know 90 minutes' worth of short films = 1 entry on the list. Once I clear that 90 minutes, am I then free to accumulate another entry of 90 minutes' worth of short films?

Yep, you can have hundreds of different shorts entries if you wish.

Those are good prizes. Does the single winner win them all? Or are they parceled out?

One prize per person, divied out as per the first post.

And yes, some great prizes this Challenge. First one where I really want to win something, guaranteeing another chance for all of you.

I figured, but I wanted to confirm. I hadn't planned on it, but when I was adding up the run times of the shorts I've watched so far, I already cleared 90 minutes and thought I may as well see about adding to the remainder until they were worth a second entry.

I've still got a ton of shorts from the early days of American animation in the Library of Congress digital collection (link re-posted by our host on page 1) that I want to watch, so I know I'm not done with shorts.

I also find that shorts turn up on various other DVDs that I watch, so keeping a shorts entry open will help me remember to include those in my list.

So my wife and I ran to the laundro-mat today, and I had the presence of mind to bring my iPod. I'd downloaded several early animation shorts from the Library of Congress and found they were a fun way of passing the time. I didn't know until I got home and did some research, but one of the shorts included (Humorous Phases of Funny Faces, 1906) is generally regarded as the first animated film. It was kind of neat to watch that as part of the Animation Challenge!

I managed to knock off all three of the early, optional decades on the checklist just from the part of the collection I watched while my clothes were spinning. And given how primitive the animation is, and how rough the copies are, I didn't have a problem at all watching on a tiny screen. If you're interested, check out the LOC page for information about them, and to view/download here.

^ I searched around and found something from the 1890s just to be extra-thorough. Anyone find anything earlier?

I found it being referred to as the first animated work on standard picture film. Before that there were things like the spinning wheel animation type doohickeys, among others.

And there you have the clarification! Incidentally, what was it you found from the 1890s? Is it online?

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0000003/ It's a bit of a stretch, as the only stuff online are some stills and a recent reproduction, but I didn't search very long, so I imagine there is other stuff out there.

I love that imdb number.

It's also the number of my parking permit 003.

This challenge was a nice impetus to finally finish Gatchaman and its 105 episodes. I was a huge fan of Battle of the Planets as a kid and it's nice to have watched the original series too. I really enjoyed the continuing arc toward the end of the series. Given the darker tone I can see why the last episodes were not included in Battle of the Planets.

Now on to some more animation!

So I just watched "Humorous Phases Of Funny Faces" from 1906 and then I watched "Fantasmagorie" from 1908 and I was pretty impressed. After reading some stuff on Wikipedia I guess the "Funny Faces" is considered the first animated film, but "Fantasmagorie" is considered the first fully animated film. I imagine that has something to do with the fact that "Funny Faces" relies on a sort of stop-motion technique with the chalk drawings whereas "Fantasmagorie" is actually the first example of cel animation.

Of the two I think I actually liked "Fantasmagorie" more. It was short, but very fun and I watched it a few times just to catch all the different effects and transitions that were used. Hard to believe how far animation has come in 100 years, and yet, there is something about that short film that is really magical. At the same time, it's interesting to see that a sort of stop-motion technique was used in "Funny Faces" over a 100 years ago and is still being used today.

EDIT: In continuing the decade portion of the list I watched another animated short by Emile Cohl (who did the aforementioned Fantasmagorie) called "The Hasher's Delirium" from 1910. The growth he showed in just two years is incredible. The drawings were much better, the animation was much smoother and more fluid. Highly recommend checking both of these out; the stream of consciousness style he uses is really impressive.

Two questions...

1.) If I don't include some shorts toward my total count, but instead just mark them off on the checklist, is that alright?

2.) What exactly satisfies the "special feature" requirement? Would The Flagstones (Pilot) satisfy it, since it was never really aired and is included as a bonus feature on the First Season DVD Set?

Yes x2

Thanks Trevor! This is my first time doing a challenge so I'm trying to do it right. Really enjoying it thus far, but this is probably the easiest for me to do since I have plenty of animation to choose from, both in my own collection, on television, and online.

I'm especially enjoying revisiting old shows (such as The Flintstones) and old shorts that I haven't seen in many, many years.

So for "Title from your least favorite genre" - would the Disney princess/fairy line count as a sub-genre? I watched both Tinkerbell movies with the girls this morning and think I might mark it down for this category.

They're actually pretty well made movies but I don't exactly fall in to their demographic.

If you're having fun, you're doing it right!

Yep, I'm having a great time on this one. I've always been a big animation fan, but since I got into these Challenges, they seem to sit on the shelf unwatched. It's nice to finally have an excuse to watch them for a month straight! Thanks for championing this one MP!

And yes, there is just too much to choose from. I keep coming up with titles I'd love to watch, and probably have the next 5 or 6 Augusts already filled with ideas.

That works.

The way I originally planned for it was if someone hated musicals and watched something with both animation and musical genres. I like your way too and think it fits fine.

I know it's been discussed at some point in the thread, but I don't really feel like looking through all the pages, but could someone suggest an NC-17 Animated Film for me to watch. I saw some people put down South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut or Team America: World Police, but I don't think those are NC-17, but rather R and/or Unrated.

I'll obviously watch Fritz The Cat for the X-Rated Animated Film and I'll figure something out for the Unrated Film, but the NC-17 Film seems to be the one thing on the list that is going to give me the most trouble, so I'd appreciate a suggestion.

Anybody recommend some good foreign flicks? thanks.

I need to check this out sometime. I remember watching Battle of the Planets a great deal as a kid as well.