Animation

In 1992, Mike Tatsugawa spearheaded a new and unusual convention devoted exclusively to Japanese animation. The weekend event in San Jose attracted more than 1,200 fans, a robust turnout considering the medium's underground status in the United States. "We knew there were a lot of people who wanted the show, which is why we did it," said Tatsugawa, who began planning the convention while a member of a Japanese animation club at UC Berkeley in the late '80s and early '90s.

'The Hunchback of Notre Dame" is the first Disney animated feature in recent years that was not overseen by studio chief Jeffrey Katzenberg, who left the company early in production to help launch DreamWorks SKG.

Director Kirk Wise is talking about the line readings Kevin Kline was giving his character in Disney's new animated feature "The Hunchback of Notre Dame." "The toughest part about working with Kevin was trying to keep from laughing," Wise says. "He would make us laugh so hard with this steady stream of ad-libs." "Or just variations on a line," says Wise's co-director, Gary Trousdale. "The kind of 'What's that in the road ahead?' or 'What's that in the road, a head?'

Back in 1937, a skeptical Hollywood snickered when Walt Disney was making a feature-length cartoon about a beautiful maiden stranded in a forest with a group of tiny mine workers. They dubbed it "Disney's Folly." The laughing stopped when "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" became one of the most profitable films ever. And in the six decades since, the Walt Disney Co.

The City Council gave final approval Tuesday to DreamWorks SKG's proposed 495,000-square-foot animation studio complex, after nearly a year of lobbying to bring the high-profile entertainment firm to Glendale. Executives of DreamWorks--founded by entertainment giants Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen--said construction on the project is expected to begin early next year.

Students at Menlo Avenue Elementary School in South Los Angeles who have been studying the art of animation through a six-week workshop screened five public service announcements that they developed and filmed. The workshop was held last week by animator Clifford Cohen and psychologist Linda Crain as part of the L.A.'s Best program, a nonprofit children's organization. "In this forum, you've got 10 kids sitting around and they have to produce a film about a topic," Cohen said.

How does Jonathan Katz know he's hot stuff in Hollywood? "HBO took out this full-page ad recently with stars of its shows and specials," says Katz, who had a stand-up special on the network last year. "I was the only one I'd never heard of." And no one is more bemused by this sudden success than the short and balding comic-writer who, at 49, is suddenly being coddled by networks and production companies alike. All this as a result of "Dr.

A young boy watches as cigarette smoke turns his father to ashes. The youngster picks up the cigarette, contemplates it for a moment, then tosses it over his shoulder, having learned a lesson about the consequences of smoking. That scenario is one of 11 depicted in a series of cartoons created this week by 100 students from six intermediate and high schools as part of a Santa Ana Unified School District anti-tobacco program.

Alone in a deserted cemetery, a teenage boy enjoys a moonlit walk--and a cigarette. As the smoke slowly filters down to a nearby grave, a restless zombie rises from the earth and directs a rotted finger to the tombstone. "DIED FROM SMOKING," it reads. Created by an eager group of students at Nobel Middle School in Northridge, the macabre message is part of an animated public service announcement to warn people about the hazards of tobacco.

Alone in a deserted cemetery, a teenage boy enjoys a moonlit walk--and a cigarette. As the smoke slowly filters down to a grave, a zombie rises and directs a rotted finger to the tombstone. "Died From Smoking," it reads. Created by an eager group of students at Nobel Middle School in Northridge, the message is part of an animated public service announcement to warn people about the hazards of tobacco.