Portal:Animation/Selected article

These are articles that are selected for the Animation portal.

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The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of the middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its titular family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The show is set in the fictional town of Springfield, and lampoons many aspects of the human condition including American culture, society, and television. Since its debut on December 17, 1989, the show has broadcast 774 episodes. The Simpsons has won dozens of awards since it debuted as a series, including 27 Primetime Emmy Awards, 30 Annie Awards and a Peabody Award. Time magazine's December 31, 1999 issue named it the 20th century's best television series, and on January 14, 2000 the Simpson family was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Simpsons is the longest-running American sitcom, the longest-running American animated program and it surpassed Gunsmoke as the longest running American primetime entertainment series. Homer's annoyed grunt "D'oh!" has been adopted into the English lexicon, while The Simpsons has influenced many adult-oriented animated sitcoms.

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How a Mosquito Operates is a silent animated film by American cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay. The six-minute short, about a giant mosquito who torments a sleeping man, is one of the earliest animated films and is noted for the high technical quality of its naturalistic animation, considered far ahead of its contemporaries. McCay had a reputation for the technical dexterity of his cartooning, displayed most famously in the children's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland (1905–1911). He delved into the infant art of film animation in 1911 with Little Nemo, and followed that film's success with How a Mosquito Operates. McCay gives the animation naturalistic timing, motion, and weight, and displays a more coherent story and developed character than in Nemo. How a Mosquito Operates was enthusiastically received when McCay first unveiled it as part of his "chalk talk" vaudeville act, and in a theatrical release that soon followed. In 1914 McCay further developed the character animation he introduced in Mosquito with his best-known animated work, Gertie the Dinosaur.

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Naruto is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Masashi Kishimoto. It tells the story of Naruto Uzumaki, an adolescent ninja who searches for recognition and dreams of becoming the Hokage, the leader of his village. The story is in two parts, the first set in Naruto's preteen years, and the second in his teens. The series is based on two one-shot manga by Kishimoto: Karakuri (1995), which earned Kishimoto an honorable mention in Shueisha's monthly Hop Step Award the following year, and Naruto (1997). Naruto was serialized in Shueisha's magazine, Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1999 to 2014, and released in tankōbon (book) form in 72 volumes. The manga was adapted into an anime television series produced by Studio Pierrot and Aniplex, which broadcast 220 episodes in Japan from 2002 to 2007; the English adaptation of the series aired on Cartoon Network from 2005 to 2009. Viz Media licensed the manga and anime for North American production and serialized Naruto in their digital Weekly Shonen Jump magazine. The anime series began airing in the United States and Canada in 2005, and in the United Kingdom and Australia in 2006 and 2007, respectively. Naruto is the third best-selling manga series in history, selling more than 220 million copies worldwide in 35 countries outside Japan. It has become one of Viz Media's best-selling manga series; their English translations of the volumes have appeared on USA Today and The New York Times bestseller list several times, and the seventh volume won a Quill Award in 2006.

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Hoodwinked! is a 2005 computer-animated film that retells the folktale Little Red Riding Hood as a police investigation, using flashbacks to show multiple characters' points of view. It was directed and written by Cory Edwards, Todd Edwards, and Tony Leech, and was among the earliest computer-animated films to be completely independently funded. Due to its small budget, the animation was produced in the Philippines with a less realistic design inspired by stop motion films. Its structure was inspired by the Japanese film Rashomon and it is part of the fairy tale parody genre. Released shortly after the first two installments in the successful Shrek series, Hoodwinked! intentionally deviated from that series in its style of humor and in certain plot elements. The Weinstein Company signed on as the distributor near the end of production, and while the company recast many roles, it otherwise made few changes. Critical reception to the film was varied; although its script and cast were praised by many reviewers, its animation quality was heavily criticized. It was a commercial success, earning over ten times its budget. A sequel, Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil, was released in 2011.

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Steven Spielberg Presents Animaniacs is an American animated television series, distributed by Warner Bros. and produced by Amblin Entertainment. The cartoon was the second animated series produced by the collaboration of Steven Spielberg (pictured) and Warner Bros. Animation during the animation renaissance of the late 1980s and early 1990s. The studio's first series, Tiny Toon Adventures, was a success among younger viewers, and a series that attracted a sizable number of adult viewers. The Animaniacs writers and animators, led by senior producer Tom Ruegger, used the experience gained from the previous series to create new animated characters that were cast in the mold of Chuck Jones and Tex Avery's creations. Animaniacs first aired on "FOX Kids" from 1993 until 1995 and later appeared on The WB from 1995 to 1998 as part of its "Kids' WB" afternoon programming block. The series had a total of 99 episodes and one film, titled Wakko's Wish. Like other animated series, it continued to appear on television through syndication long after its original airdate.

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Gertie the Dinosaur is a 1914 animated short film by American cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay. It is the earliest animated film to feature a dinosaur. McCay first used the film before live audiences as an interactive part of his vaudeville act—the frisky, childlike Gertie did tricks at the command of her master. McCay's employer William Randolph Hearst later curtailed McCay's vaudeville activities, so McCay added a live-action introductory sequence to the film for its theatrical release. McCay abandoned a sequel, Gertie on Tour (c. 1921), after producing about a minute of footage. Though popularly thought to be the earliest animated film, McCay had earlier made Little Nemo (1911) and How a Mosquito Operates (1912), and the American J. Stuart Blackton and the French Émile Cohl had experimented with animation even earlier; having a character with an appealing personality distinguished Gertie from these earlier "trick films". John Randolph Bray unsuccessfully tried to patent many of McCay's animation techniques, and is said to have been behind a plagiarized version of Gertie that appeared a year or two after the original. Gertie is the best preserved of McCay's films—some of which have been lost or survive only in fragments—and has been preserved in the US National Film Registry.

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Kampung Boy is an animated television series first broadcast in 1997 over Malaysian satellite television network Astro and later in 60 other countries such as Canada and Germany. Comprising 26 episodes—one of which won an Annecy Award—the series is adapted from the best selling graphical novel The Kampung Boy. The book is an autobiography by the Malaysian cartoonist Lat (pictured), detailing his early life experiences. The television series adapted Lat's tale of the adventures of a young boy, Mat, and his life in a Malaysian kampung (village). The stories focus on the meeting between traditional and modern ways of life, either depicting the village way of life as superior to urban lifestyles, or discussing the merits and integration of modern conveniences. It has also faced questions from Southeast Asian audiences for its similarities with Western animation and deviations from the local style of spoken English. Malaysian animation critics held up Kampung Boy as the standard to which their country's animators should aspire, and academics in cultural studies regarded the series as a method of using modern technologies and cultural practices to preserve Malaysian history.

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Pixar is a computer animation film studio based in Emeryville, California. The studio is best known for its CGI-animated feature films created with PhotoRealistic RenderMan, its own implementation of the industry-standard RenderMan image-rendering application programming interface used to generate high-quality images. Pixar began in 1979 as the Graphics Group, part of the computer division of Lucasfilm before its spin-out as a corporation in 1986 with funding by Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs, who became its majority shareholder. Pixar has produced thirteen feature films, beginning with Toy Story. All films have received both critical and financial success, with the notable exception being Cars 2, which, while commercially successful, received substantially less praise than Pixar's other productions. The studio has earned 26 Academy Awards, seven Golden Globe Awards, and eleven Grammy Awards, among many other awards and acknowledgments.

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Atlantis: The Lost Empire is the first science fiction film in Disney's animated features canon and the 41st overall. Set in 1914, the film tells the story of a young man who gains possession of a sacred book, which he believes will guide him and a crew of adventurers to the lost city of Atlantis. Linguist Marc Okrand created an Atlantean language for the film (letter "A" pictured). Atlantis made greater use of computer-generated imagery than any of Disney's previous animated features; it remains one of the few to have been shot in anamorphic format. Atlantis, which adopted the distinctive visual style of comic book creator Mike Mignola, is one of the few Disney animated features not to have songs. The film premiered at the El Capitan Theatre in Hollywood, California, on June 3, 2001, and went into general release on June 15. Due to the film's poorer-than-expected box-office performance, Disney quietly canceled both a spin-off television series and an underwater attraction at its Disneyland theme park. Some critics praised it as a unique departure from typical Disney animated features, while others disliked it due to the unclear target audience and absence of songs.

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South Park is an American animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone (pictured in 2007) for the Comedy Central television network. Intended for mature audiences, the show has become infamous for its crude, surreal, satirical, and dark humor that lampoons a wide range of topics. The ongoing narrative revolves around four children—Stan Marsh, Kyle Broflovski, Eric Cartman, and Kenny McCormick—and their bizarre adventures in and around the fictional and titular Colorado town. Parker and Stone developed the show from two animated shorts they created in 1992 and 1995. South Park debuted on August 13, 1997 with great success, consistently earning the highest ratings of any basic cable program. A total of 267 episodes have been broadcast throughout its run. Following the early success of the series, the feature length musical film South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut had a widespread theatrical release in June 1999. South Park has also received numerous media awards, including four Primetime Emmy Awards. The show has also garnered a Peabody Award for Comedy Central.

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Toy Story is a 1995 American computer-animated family film, the first Disney/Pixar film to be made, as well as the first feature film in history to be made entirely with CGI. Directed by John Lasseter and featuring the voices of Tom Hanks and Tim Allen, the film was co-produced by Ralph Guggenheim and Bonnie Arnold and was distributed by Walt Disney Pictures. It was written by Lasseter, Joss Whedon, Andrew Stanton, Joel Cohen, and Alec Sokolow, and featured music by Randy Newman. Toy Story follows a group of toys who come to life whenever humans are not present, focusing on Woody, a pull-string cowboy doll (Hanks), and Buzz Lightyear, an astronaut action figure (Allen). The top-grossing film on its opening weekend, Toy Story went on to earn over $191 million in the United States and Canada during its initial theatrical release and took in more than $361 million worldwide. View-Master released a 3 reel set in 3D in 1995 prior to release of 3D films. The film was so successful it prompted a sequel released in 1999, Toy Story 2. Eleven years later, on June 18, 2010, an additional film, Toy Story 3, was also released. Both sequels were instant hits and garnered critical acclaim similar to the first.

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"Hell Is Other Robots" is the ninth episode of season one of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on May 18, 1999, as the season finale of the first season. The episode was written by Eric Kaplan and directed by Rich Moore. Guest stars in this episode include the Beastie Boys as themselves and Dan Castellaneta voicing the Robot Devil. The episode is one of the first to focus heavily on Bender. In the episode he develops an addiction to electricity. When this addiction becomes problematic, Bender joins the Temple of Robotology, but after Fry and Leela tempt Bender with alcohol and prostitutes, he quits the Temple of Robotology and is visited by the Robot Devil for sinning. Finally Fry and Leela come to rescue him, and the three escape. The episode introduces the Robot Devil, Reverend Lionel Preacherbot and the religion of the Temple of Robotology, a Futurama spoof on the Church of Scientology. The episode received positive reviews, and was one of four featured on the DVD boxed set of Matt Groening's favorite episodes, Monster Robot Maniac Fun Collection.

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Adventure Time is an American animated television series created by Pendleton Ward for Cartoon Network. The series follows the adventures of Finn, a 14-year-old human boy, and his best friend Jake, a dog with magical powers to change shape and grow and shrink at will. Finn and Jake live in the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo, and travel the land while they adventure. The series is based on a short produced for Frederator's Nicktoons Network animation incubator series Random! Cartoons. After the short became a viral hit on the internet, Cartoon Network picked it up for a full-length series that previewed on March 11, 2010, and officially premiered on April 5, 2010. Ever since its debut, Adventure Time has been a ratings success for Cartoon Network. The show has received positive reviews from critics and has developed a cult following among teenagers and adults, many of whom are attracted due to the series' animation and stories. In addition, the series has also produced various clothing and merchandise, video games, comic books, and DVD compilations.

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"Homer's Phobia" is the fifteenth episode of The Simpsons' eighth season, which originally aired on the Fox Network on February 16, 1997. It was the first episode written by Ron Hauge and was directed by Mike B. Anderson. John Waters guest-starred, providing the voice of the new character, John. In the episode, Homer dissociates himself from new family friend John after discovering that John is gay. Homer fears that John will have a negative influence on his son, Bart. "Homer's Phobia" was the first episode to revolve entirely around homosexual themes, with the title being a pun on the word homophobia. Originally, due to the controversial subject, the Fox censors found the episode unsuitable for broadcast, but this decision was reversed after a turnover in the Fox staff. It won four awards, including an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (For Programming One Hour or Less) and a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding TV - Individual Episode".

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Katsudō Shashin is a filmstrip speculated to be the oldest work of animation in Japan. Three seconds long, it depicts a boy who writes "moving picture" in Japanese script, removes his hat, and waves. Discovered in a collection of films and projectors in Kyoto, its creator is unknown. Natsuki Matsumoto, an expert in iconography at the Osaka University of Arts, determined that it was most likely made before 1912. It may have been influenced by animated filmstrips for German cinematographs, devices that first appeared in Japan in 1904. Evidence suggests Katsudō Shashin was mass-produced to be sold to wealthy owners of home projectors. To Matsumoto, the relatively poor quality and low-tech printing technique indicate it was likely from a smaller film company. Unlike in traditional animation, the frames were not produced by photographing the images, but were impressed directly onto film. They were stencilled in red and black using a device for making magic lantern slides, and the filmstrip was fastened in a loop for continuous play.

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"Lisa the Vegetarian" is the fifth episode of The Simpsons' seventh season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 15, 1995. In the episode, Lisa decides to stop eating meat after bonding with a lamb at a petting zoo. Her schoolmates and family members ridicule her for her beliefs, but with the help of Apu, Paul McCartney, and Linda McCartney, she commits to vegetarianism. Directed by Mark Kirkland, "Lisa the Vegetarian" is the first full-length episode David S. Cohen wrote for The Simpsons. David Mirkin, the show runner at the time, supported the episode in part because he had just become a vegetarian himself. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson is also a vegetarian. Former Beatle Paul McCartney and his then wife Linda McCartney guest star in the episode (pictured). Paul McCartney's condition for appearing was that Lisa would remain a vegetarian for the rest of the series. The episode makes several references to his musical career, and his song "Maybe I'm Amazed" plays during the closing credits. "Lisa the Vegetarian" finished 47th in the ratings for the week of October 9–15, 1995, with a 9.0 Nielsen rating. It was the fourth highest-rated show on the Fox network that week. The episode received generally positive reviews from television critics. It has won two awards, an Environmental Media Award and a Genesis Award, for highlighting environmental and animal issues.

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The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest is an American animated action-adventure television series produced by Hanna-Barbera Cartoons and broadcast on Cartoon Network from August 26, 1996 to April 16, 1997. A revival of the 1960s Jonny Quest franchise, it features teenage adventurers Jonny Quest, Hadji Singh, and Jessie Bannon as they accompanied Dr. Benton Quest and bodyguard Race Bannon to investigate strange phenomena, legends, and mysteries in exotic locales. Action also takes place in the virtual realm of QuestWorld, a three-dimensional cyberspace domain rendered with computer animation. Conceived in the early 1990s, Real Adventures suffered a long and troubled development. Real Adventures debuted with an unprecedented wide release on Cartoon Network, TBS, and TNT, airing twenty-one times per week. Critics have debated the merits of the show's animation, writing, and spirit compared to classic Quest, but it has also received praise in those categories. Real Adventures failed to gain high ratings with its targeted demographics and its merchandise performed poorly, leading to cancellation after fifty-two episodes. Turner has released eight VHS, two laserdisc, and thirteen DVD episodes; reruns have appeared on Toonami, CNX, and other Cartoon Network formats.

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Little Nemo is a 1911 silent animated short film by American cartoonist Winsor McCay. One of the earliest animated films, it was McCay's first, and featured characters from McCay's comic strip Little Nemo in Slumberland. Its expressive character animation distinguished the film from the experiments of earlier animators. Inspired by flip books his son brought home, McCay came to see the potential of the animated film medium. He claimed to be the first to make such films, though James Stuart Blackton and Émile Cohl were among those who preceded him. The short's four thousand drawings on rice paper were shot at Vitagraph Studios under Blackton's supervision. Most of the film's running time is made up of a live-action sequence in which McCay bets his colleagues that he can make drawings that move. He wins the bet with four minutes of animation in which the Little Nemo characters perform, interact, and metamorphose to McCay's whim. Little Nemo debuted in movie theaters on April 8, 1911, and four days later McCay began using it as part of his vaudeville act. Its good reception motivated him to hand-color each of the animated frames of the originally black-and-white film. The film's success led McCay to devote more time to animation. He followed up Little Nemo with How a Mosquito Operates in 1912 and his best-known film, Gertie the Dinosaur, in 1914.

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Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz. Avatar is set in an Asian-influenced world of Chinese martial arts and elemental manipulation. The show drew on elements from traditional Asian culture, blending the styles of anime and US domestic cartoons. The series follows the adventures of the main protagonist Aang and his friends, who must save the world by defeating the evil Fire Lord and ending the destructive war with the Fire Nation. The pilot episode first aired on February 21, 2005 and the series concluded with a widely-praised two-hour television movie on July 19, 2008. Avatar: The Last Airbender was popular with both audiences and critics, Avatar has been nominated for and won awards from the Annual Annie Awards, the Genesis Awards, the primetime Emmy awards and a Peabody Award among others. The first season's success prompted Nickelodeon to order second and third seasons. In other media, the series has spawned a live-action movie trilogy, the first titled The Last Airbender, directed by M. Night Shyamalan, scaled action figures, a trading card game, second, and third seasons, stuffed animals distributed by Paramount Parks, and two LEGO sets.

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"Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" is the ninth episode of the first season of the animated comedy television series South Park. The show's first Christmas special, it portrays the Jewish character Kyle feeling excluded from the town's Christmas celebrations and being comforted by Mr. Hankey, who can talk and sing. As Mr. Hankey does not come alive in the presence of other characters, they begin to think that Kyle is delusional. In another plot strand, the townspeople remove all symbols of Christmas from South Park to render the celebrations politically correct and inoffensive. When all the children start believing in him, Mr. Hankey finally reveals himself to everyone and scolds them for losing sight of the good things of Christmas and focusing on the bad. The townspeople apologize to Kyle, then sing Christmas songs and watch Mr. Hankey fly away with Santa Claus. Heavily influenced by the Peanuts Christmas special A Charlie Brown Christmas, "Mr. Hankey, the Christmas Poo" was the first South Park musical episode and the only episode in season one in which Kenny does not die. It is a satire of political correctness and religious sensitivity and has been described as one of the classic South Park episodes.

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Homer Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. Homer is the boorish father of the Simpson family and as the family's provider, he works at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. With his wife, Marge, he has three children: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Homer embodies several American working class stereotypes: he is crude, overweight, incompetent, clumsy, lazy and ignorant; however, he is also fiercely devoted to his family. Homer was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening. He is voiced by Dan Castellaneta and first appeared on television, along with the rest of his family, in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family got their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. Homer is one of the most influential fictional characters on television and has inspired an entire line of merchandise. His catchphrase, the annoyed grunt "d'oh!", has been included in several dictionaries. Castellaneta has won four Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance and a special achievement Annie Award for voicing Homer.

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Dream of the Rarebit Fiend was a newspaper comic strip by American cartoonist Winsor McCay which began September 10, 1904. As in McCay's signature strip, Little Nemo, the strip was made up of bizarre dreams. It was McCay's second successful strip, after Little Sammy Sneeze secured him a position on the cartoon staff of the New York Herald. Rarebit Fiend was printed in the Evening Telegram, a newspaper published by the Herald. For contractual reasons, McCay signed the strip with the pen name "Silas". The strip had no continuity or recurring characters. Instead, it had a recurring theme: a character would have a nightmare or other bizarre dream, usually after eating a Welsh rarebit (a cheese-on-toast dish). His editor there thought his highly-skilled cartooning was "serious, not funny", and he was made to give up comic strips to do editorial cartooning. The strip was revived 1923–1925 as Rarebit Reveries, though few examples have survived. Rarebit Fiend was the inspiration for a number of films, including Edwin S. Porter's live-action Dream of a Rarebit Fiend in 1906, and four pioneering animated films by McCay himself: How a Mosquito Operates in 1912, and 1921's Bug Vaudeville, The Pet and The Flying House.

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The fourteen episodes of the thirteenth season of South Park, an American animated television comedy series, originally aired in 2009. The show focuses on the exploits of protagonists Stan, Kyle, Cartman, Kenny and Butters in the fictional Colorado mountain town of South Park. The 13th season satirized such topics as the ACORN scandal, Japanese whaling, piracy in Somalia and the marketing tactics of the Walt Disney Company. Celebrities were spoofed throughout the season, including the Jonas Brothers, Kanye West, Carlos Mencia, Paul Watson and Glenn Beck. The season received mixed reviews: some critics called it one of South Park's strongest seasons, while others claimed the series was starting to decline in quality. The season maintained the average Nielsen rating viewership for the series, around 3 million viewers per episode. The episode "Margaritaville", which satirized the global recession then affecting much of the industrialized world, won the 2009 Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour). "Fatbeard" was praised by the crew of the USS Bainbridge, which was involved in the 2009 rescue of the MV Maersk Alabama from Somalian pirates.

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Bart Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Bart was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. While the rest of the characters were named after Groening's family members, Bart's name was an anagram of the word brat. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three years, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. He has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons; including video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials, and comic books; and inspired an entire line of merchandise. Hallmarks of the character include his chalkboard gags in the opening sequence; his prank calls to Moe the bartender; and his catchphrases "Eat my shorts", "¡Ay, caramba!", and "Don't have a cow, man!" Nancy Cartwright has won several awards for voicing Bart, including a Primetime Emmy Award in 1992 and an Annie Award in 1995. In 2000, Bart, along with the rest of his family, was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

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"Trapped in the Closet" is the twelfth episode of the ninth season of the Comedy Central series South Park. It originally aired on November 16, 2005. The plot of the episode centers on the South Park character Stan Marsh, as he joins Scientology in an attempt to find something "fun and free". After the discovery of his surprisingly high "thetan levels", he is recognized as the reincarnation of the founder of the church, L. Ron Hubbard. Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, quit the show shortly before the start of the tenth season. The reason for his departure, as reported by Matt Stone, was due to his faith in Scientology and this episode, which—despite initially supporting the show's satirical take on several talk shows—he claimed was very offensive. "Trapped in the Closet" was nominated for an Emmy Award in July 2006, in the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) category in July 2006, but lost to The Simpsons episode "The Seemingly Never-Ending Story". The episode was featured among Comedy Central's list of "10 South Parks That Changed The World", spoofed by Conan O'Brien in the opening segment of the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, and mentioned in the Scientology critique film, The Bridge.

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The Simpsons: Hit & Run is an action-adventure video game based on the animated sitcom The Simpsons. It was released in North America on September 16, 2003, and in Europe and Japan later in the year. The story and dialogue were crafted by writers from The Simpsons, with all character voices supplied by the actual cast. The game follows the Simpson family and the citizens of Springfield, who witness strange incidents in town and discover that two aliens are filming a reality television series about the populace. To make the show more interesting, the aliens release a new version of the popular soft drink Buzz Cola into Springfield's water supply, which causes insanity. With help from Professor Frink, Homer destroys the aliens' spaceship, and Springfield and its inhabitants are returned to normal. The game received generally favorable reviews from video game critics. Praise focused on the interpretation of the Simpsons television series as a video game and its parodical take on the game Grand Theft Auto III, while criticism mostly surrounded some aspects of gameplay. The game received the award for Fave Video Game at the 2004 Nickelodeon Australian Kids' Choice Awards and sold three million copies.

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The Sinking of the Lusitania is a silent animated short film by American cartoonist and animator Winsor McCay. A work of propaganda, it is a re-creation of the never-photographed 1915 sinking of the RMS Lusitania. At twelve minutes it has been called the longest work of animation at the time of its release. The film is the earliest animated documentary and serious, dramatic work of animation to survive. In 1915, a German submarine torpedoed and sank the RMS Lusitania; 128 Americans were among the 1,198 dead. The event outraged McCay, but the newspapers of his employer William Randolph Hearst downplayed the tragedy, as Hearst was opposed to the US joining World War I. The earlier films were drawn on rice paper, onto which backgrounds had to be laboriously traced; The Sinking of the Lusitania was the first film McCay made using the new, more efficient cel technology. McCay and his assistants spent twenty-two months making the film. His subsequent animation output suffered setbacks, as the film was not as commercially successful as his earlier efforts, and Hearst put increased pressure on McCay to devote his time to editorial drawings.

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Steven Universe is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar for Cartoon Network. It is a coming-of-age story of a young boy, Steven Universe, who lives in the fictional town of Beach City with the Crystal Gems—Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst —three magical, humanoid aliens. Steven, who is half-Gem, has adventures with his friends and helps the Gems protect the world from their own kind. It premiered on November 4, 2013 as Cartoon Network's first animated solely created by a woman. The themes of the series include love and family. Books, comics and a video game based on the series have also been released. Sugar developed the series while she was a writer and storyboard artist on Adventure Time, and left the show when Cartoon Network greenlit her series for full production. The series is storyboard-driven, meaning that when episodes are being produced the show's storyboard artists are responsible for writing the dialogue and blocking out the action. The series—which has developed a broad fan base—has been critical acclaimed for its design, music, voice acting, characterization, promotion of LGBTQ themes and science fantasy worldbuilding.

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Transformers is a 2007 American science fiction action film based on the Transformers toy line. The film, which combines computer animation with live action, is directed by Michael Bay and produced by Steven Spielberg. It stars Shia LaBeouf as Sam Witwicky, a teenager involved in a war between the heroic Autobots and the evil Decepticons, two factions of alien robots that can disguise themselves by transforming into everyday machinery. The Decepticons desire control of the AllSpark, the object that created their robotic race, with the intention of using it to build an army by giving life to the machines of Earth. Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, Anthony Anderson and John Turturro also star, while actors Peter Cullen and Hugo Weaving voice Optimus Prime and Megatron respectively. Transformers was a box-office success, despite mixed critical reaction. Two sequels have been released: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen in 2009 and Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2011.

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"Road to the Multiverse" is the first episode of the eighth season of the animated comedy series Family Guy. Directed by Greg Colton and written by Wellesley Wild, the episode originally aired on Fox in the United States on September 27, 2009. In "Road to the Multiverse", two of the show's main characters, baby Stewie and anthropomorphic dog Brian, who are voiced by series creator Seth MacFarlane (pictured), use an "out-of-this-world" remote control to travel through a series of various parallel universes. They eventually end up in a world where dogs rule and humans obey. This causes Brian to become reluctant to return home to his own universe, and he ultimately ends up breaking the remote, much to the dismay of Stewie, who soon seeks a replacement. The "Road to" episodes which have aired throughout various seasons of Family Guy were inspired by the Road to ... comedy films starring Bing Crosby, Bob Hope and Dorothy Lamour, though this episode was not originally conceived as a "Road to" show. Critical responses to the episode were mostly positive; critics praised its storyline, numerous cultural references, and its use of various animation styles.

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"Stark Raving Dad" is the first episode of the third season of American animated television series The Simpsons. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on September 19, 1991. In the episode, main character Homer Simpson is sent to a mental institution, where he shares a room with a large white man named Leon Kompowsky who pretends to be Michael Jackson. Al Jean and Mike Reiss wrote the episode while Rich Moore served as director. Michael Jackson guest starred in the episode as the speaking voice of Leon Kompowsky. For contractual reasons, he was credited as John Jay Smith in the closing credits. Jackson pitched several story ideas for the episode and wrote a song that is featured in the plot. He also stipulated that he would provide Kompowsky's speaking voice, but his singing voice would be performed by a sound-alike (Kipp Lennon) because he wanted to play a joke on his brothers. "Stark Raving Dad" received generally positive reviews from critics, particularly for the writing and Jackson's performance.

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Marjorie "Marge" Simpson (née Bouvier) is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the eponymous family. She is voiced by actress Julie Kavner and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Marge was created and designed by cartoonist Matt Groening while he was waiting in the lobby of James L. Brooks' office. Groening had been called to pitch a series of shorts based on Life in Hell but instead decided to create a new set of characters. He named the character after his mother Margaret Groening. After appearing on The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, the Simpson family received their own series on Fox, which debuted December 17, 1989. Marge is the well-meaning and extremely patient mother of the Simpson family. With her husband Homer, she has three children: Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. Marge is the moralistic force in her family and often provides a grounding voice in the midst of her family's antics by trying to maintain order in the Simpson household. She is often portrayed as a stereotypical television mother and is often included on lists of top "TV moms". She has appeared in other media relating to The Simpsons—including video games, The Simpsons Movie, The Simpsons Ride, commercials, and comic books—and inspired an entire line of merchandise.

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"A Rugrats Chanukah" is a special episode of Nickelodeon's animated television series Rugrats. The first episode of the show's fourth season, it tells the story of the Jewish holiday Chanukah through the eyes of the Rugrats, who imagine themselves as the main characters. The idea of a Rugrats Chanukah special was pitched by Nickelodeon executives in 1992, but the concept was revised and became the 1995 special, "A Rugrats Passover". After production of the Passover episode wrapped, the crew returned to the Chanukah idea. Nickelodeon broadcast "A Rugrats Chanukah" on December 4, 1996; the episode received a Nielsen rating of 7.9 and positive reviews from television critics. Along with other Rugrats episodes featuring Grandpa Boris and his wife, the special attracted controversy when the Anti-Defamation League compared the character designs to anti-Semitic drawings from a 1930s Nazi newspaper.

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"North by North Quahog" is the first episode of season four of Family Guy, following the revival of the series three years after its cancellation in 2002. Directed by Peter Shin and written by series creator Seth MacFarlane, the episode was first broadcast on May 1, 2005, on FOX. In "North by North Quahog", the show's main characters Peter and Lois Griffin go on a second honeymoon to spice up their marriage, but are eventually chased by Mel Gibson (pictured in 1990) after Peter steals the sequel to The Passion of the Christ from Gibson's private hotel room. Meanwhile, their anthropomorphic dog Brian and their infant son Stewie take care of their teenage kids Chris and Meg. Family Guy had been canceled in 2002 due to low ratings, but was revived by FOX after reruns on Adult Swim became the network's most watched program, and more than three million DVDs of the show were sold. Much of the plot and many of the technical aspects of the episode, as well as the title, are direct parodies of the 1959 Alfred Hitchcock movie North by Northwest. The episode was watched by 12 million viewers and received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour).

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"Starvin' Marvin" is the eighth episode of the first season of the American animated television series South Park. It first aired on Comedy Central in the United States on November 19, 1997. In the episode, Cartman, Kenny, Kyle and Stan send money to an African charity hoping to get a sports watch, but are instead sent an Ethiopian child whom they dub Starvin' Marvin. Later, Cartman is accidentally sent to Ethiopia, where he learns activist Sally Struthers (pictured) is hoarding the charity's food for herself. In an accompanying subplot, after genetically engineered turkeys attack South Park residents, Chef rallies the residents to fight back, in a parody of the film Braveheart. "Starvin' Marvin" was the first South Park Thanksgiving special. The episode simultaneously served as a satire on American indifference toward impoverished countries and the humanitarianism industry. The episode received generally positive reviews and several commentators have described it as a classic South Park episode. According to Nielsen Media Research, it was viewed by about 2.2 million households during its original broadcast, which at the time was roughly eight times Comedy Central's average viewership. Parker and Stone said they were unhappy with the turkey subplot, which they wrote only because they felt obligated to include a B story. In addition to Starvin' Marvin, who became a popular minor character, the episode introduced regular characters Kyle's father Gerald Broflovski and Kenny's family members Stuart, Carol and Kevin McCormick.

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"A Streetcar Named Marge" is the second episode of The Simpsons' fourth season. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on October 1, 1992. In the episode, Marge wins the role of Blanche DuBois in a musical version of Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire. Homer offers little support for his wife's acting pursuits, and Marge begins to see parallels between him and Stanley Kowalski, the play's boorish lead male character. The episode contains a subplot in which Maggie Simpson attempts to retrieve her pacifier from a strict daycare attendant. Jeff Martin wrote the episode (pictured), and Rich Moore served as director. The episode generated controversy for its original song about New Orleans, which contains several unflattering lyrics about the city. One New Orleans newspaper published the lyrics before the episode aired, prompting numerous complaints to the local Fox affiliate. In response, the president of Fox Broadcasting issued an apology to anyone who was offended. Despite the controversial song, the episode was well received by many fans, and show creator Matt Groening has named it one of his favorite episodes.

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"Weight Gain 4000" is the second episode of the American animated television series South Park. In the episode, South Park residents excitedly prepare for a visit by celebrity Kathie Lee Gifford, whom teacher Mr. Garrison plans to assassinate because of a childhood grudge, and Cartman becomes extremely obese after buying a bodybuilding supplement called Weight Gain 4000. The episode was written and directed by Trey Parker (pictured) and Matt Stone. After the pilot episode drew poor test audience results, Comedy Central requested a further script, and "Weight Gain 4000" helped the network decide to pick up the show. It was the first South Park episode created completely using computers rather than construction paper. Although some reviewers criticized the episode for its profanity and other material deemed offensive, others felt "Weight Gain 4000" was a significant improvement over the pilot, particularly for its satirical element regarding American consumerism. The show's portrayal of Kathie Lee Gifford was the first time a celebrity was spoofed in South Park. Cartman's line "Beefcake" became one of the most popular catchphrases from the series.

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"Lisa the Skeptic" is the eighth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season, first aired in November 1997. On an archaeological dig with her class, Lisa discovers a skeleton that resembles an angel. All of the townspeople believe that the skeleton actually came from an angel, but skeptical Lisa attempts to persuade them that there must be a rational scientific explanation, asking the American paleontologist Stephen Jay Gould to test a sample. After Gould tells Lisa that the tests were inconclusive, she compares the belief in angels to the belief in unicorns and leprechauns and in response, Springfield's religious zealots go on a rampage to destroy all scientific institutions. The episode's writer David X. Cohen (pictured) developed the idea after visiting the American Museum of Natural History, and decided to loosely parallel themes from the Scopes Monkey Trial. The episode received generally positive reviews. It has been discussed in the context of virtual reality, ontology, existentialism, and skepticism; it has also been used in Christian religious education classes to initiate discussion about angels, skepticism, science, and faith.

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The Lord of the Rings is a 1978 American fantasy film directed by Ralph Bakshi. It combines animation and live action footage which is rotoscoped to give it a look more consistent with the rest of the movie. It is an adaptation of the first half of The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the film follows a group of hobbits, elves, men, dwarves and wizards who form a fellowship. They embark on a quest to destroy the One Ring made by the Dark Lord Sauron, and ensure his destruction. The film features the voices of William Squire, John Hurt, Michael Graham Cox and Anthony Daniels of Star Wars fame. The screenplay was written by Peter S. Beagle, based on an earlier draft by Chris Conkling. Director Ralph Bakshi encountered Tolkien's writing early in his career, and had made several attempts to produce The Lord of the Rings as an animated film before being given funding by producer Saul Zaentz and distributor United Artists. Although the film was a financial success, it received a mixed reaction from critics, and the original distributors refused to fund a sequel to cover the remainder of the story. However, the film sparked new interest in Tolkien's writing, inspiring the production of several further adaptations of the story.

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Aang is a fictional character in Nickelodeon's animated television series Avatar: The Last Airbender. The character is created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko (pictured) and is voiced by Zach Tyler Eisen. Aang is depicted as the show's main protagonist, and as such has appeared in all but one episode of the show, the exception being "Zuko Alone". Aang also appeared in the pilot episode which has not been aired. Most of Aang's traits, such as vegetarianism, are based on Buddhist and Taoist tradition. Aang is the series' reluctant hero, showing hesitation when joining his friends to save the world from the Fire Nation. The series depict Aang as the last surviving Airbender and a monk of the Air Nomads, the only race of people with the unique ability to manipulate the air around them. As the Avatar, Aang has the ability to control the four classical elements and is tasked with keeping the Four Nations at peace. The show follows Aang's journeys to complete this task, during a war instigated by the Fire Nation when he was frozen. Aang is also depicted as having a lighthearted personality which has been accepted well among critics.

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The Simpsons Game is an action/platformer video game based on the animated television series The Simpsons, made for the Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable. It was developed, published, and distributed by Electronic Arts. Similarly to the show, the game pokes fun at popular culture, other video games, and Electronic Arts, its publisher. In the self-referential plot, the five Simpson family members—Homer, Marge (with Maggie), Bart, and Lisa—discover that they are forced to participate in a video game and are given superpowers to resolve several situations. Eventually, they must save their 8-bit predecessors from Will Wright, the game's antagonist, and the creator of their video game character selves, Matt Groening. Released in 2007, the game received mixed reviews. Game critics praised its visuals and writing, which included many parodies of other video games, but criticized its short length and poor camera system, which did not always function properly. The Simpsons Game received the Best Game Based on a Movie or TV Show award at the 2007 Spike Video Game Awards and was nominated for Best Video Game Writing at the 2007 Writers Guild of America Awards.

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"Volcano" is the third episode of the American animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 27, 1997. In the episode, Stan, Kyle, Cartman and Kenny go on a hunting trip with Stan's uncle Jimbo and his war buddy Ned. While on the trip, Stan is frustrated by his inability to shoot a living creature and Cartman tries to scare the hunting party with tales of a creature named Scuzzlebutt. The episode was written by series co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone (pictured) and is rated TV-MA in the United States. It was inspired by the 1997 disaster films Volcano and Dante's Peak, both of which Parker and Stone strongly disliked. "Volcano" was the third episode produced, but it was broadcast as the second. "Volcano" received generally positive reviews and was nominated for a 1997 Environmental Media Award. Slightly more than 1 million viewers watched the original broadcast, according to Nielsen ratings. The episode parodied the Duck and Cover educational videos from the 1950s and 1960s that advised people to hide under tables in the event of a nuclear attack.

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The Simpsons Movie is a 2007 American animated comedy film based on the animated television series The Simpsons. The film was directed by David Silverman, produced by James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Mike Scully, and Richard Sakai, and written by Scully, Jean, Brooks, Groening, George Meyer, David Mirkin, Mike Reiss, John Swartzwelder, Jon Vitti, Ian Maxtone-Graham, and Matt Selman. It stars the regular television cast of Dan Castellaneta, Julie Kavner, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer, Tress MacNeille and Pamela Hayden and features Albert Brooks in a prominent guest role, as well as Tom Hanks and Green Day in smaller ones. After previous attempts to create a film version of The Simpsons had failed because of script length and lack of staff, production began in 2001. The script was re-written one hundred times continuing after animation had begun. This meant that "two films' worth" of finished material was cut, including cameos from Isla Fisher, Minnie Driver, Erin Brockovich, and Kelsey Grammer. The film premiered in Springfield, Vermont, which won the right to hold it through a Fox competition. The film was a box office success, and received positive reception from film critics, though some felt the film was too short.

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Scooby-Doo is a long-running American animated television series produced for Saturday morning television in several different versions from 1969 to the present. The series was created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears for Hanna-Barbera Productions, who produced numerous spin-offs and related works until being absorbed in 1997 into Warner Bros., which has handled production since then. Though the format of the show and the cast (and ages) of characters have varied significantly over the years, the most familiar versions of the show feature a talking Great Dane named Scooby-Doo and four teenagers: Fred "Freddie" Jones, Daphne Blake, Velma Dinkley, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers. These five characters (officially referred to collectively as "Mystery, Inc.", but never referred to as such in the original series) drive around the world in a van called the "Mystery Machine," and solve mysteries typically involving tales of ghosts and other supernatural forces. At the end of each episode, the supernatural forces turn out to have a rational explanation (usually a criminal of some sort trying to scare people away so that they can commit crimes).

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Sideshow Bob is a recurring character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Kelsey Grammer (pictured) and first appeared briefly in the episode "The Telltale Head". Bob is a self-proclaimed genius who is a graduate of Yale, a member of the Republican Party, and a champion of high culture. He began his career as a sidekick on Krusty the Clown's television show, but after enduring constant abuse, Bob attempted to frame his employer for armed robbery in "Krusty Gets Busted". The plan was foiled by Bart Simpson, and Sideshow Bob was sent to prison. Bob made his second major appearance in season three's "Black Widower". In each appearance thereafter, Bob has assumed the role on The Simpsons of an evil genius. Episodes in which he is a central character typically involve Sideshow Bob being released from prison and executing an elaborate revenge plan, usually foiled by Bart and Lisa. His plans often involve murder and destruction, usually targeted at Bart or, less often, Krusty, though these plans often involve targeting the entire Simpson family. Sideshow Bob shares some personality traits of Grammer's character Frasier Crane from the sitcoms Cheers and Frasier, and has been described as "Frasier pickled in arsenic". As of 2012, Bob has had speaking appearances in thirteen episodes and been featured in eleven; the most recent of the latter, "The Bob Next Door", aired during the twenty-first season.

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"Interactions" is the second episode of the animated television series The Spectacular Spider-Man, which is based on the comic book character Spider-Man, created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. The episode sees Spider-Man confronting the supervillain Electro, whose body was corrupted with electricity after a freak lab accident. "Interactions" was written by Kevin Hopps, who researched all the available comic books he had that featured Electro, and directed by Troy Adomitis. Electro's appearance in the episode draws on his traditional comic book style, though designer Victor Cook emphasized the color green and removed the character's customary star-shaped mask. His voice actor, Crispin Freeman, sought to reflect the character's declining sanity in his vocal style. "Interactions" first aired March 8, 2008, on the Kids WB! block for The CW network, following the first episode. Its 1.4/4 Nielsen rating was higher than that of the pilot, "Survival of the Fittest". The episode received mixed reviews, with IGN commenting that "[w]hile not as strong as the pilot, the episode had some notable moments."

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Nedward "Ned" Flanders is a recurring fictional character in the animated television series The Simpsons. He is voiced by Harry Shearer, and first appeared in the series premiere episode "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". He is the next door neighbor to the Simpson family and is generally loathed by Homer Simpson. A devout Christian, he is amongst the friendliest and most compassionate Springfield citizens and is generally considered a pillar of the Springfield community. He was one of the first characters outside of the immediate Simpson family to appear on the show, and has since been central to several episodes, the first being season two's "Dead Putting Society". His last name comes from Flanders St. in Portland, Oregon, the hometown of Simpsons creator Matt Groening. When he was created, he was intended to just be a neighbor who was very nice, but whom Homer loathed.

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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.

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"Focus Grill" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season and the series finale of the American animated sitcom Home Movies, and 52nd episode of the series overall. It originally aired in the United States on Adult Swim on April 4, 2004. In the episode, Brendon, Melissa, and Jason decide to finally film an ending to the first movie they did together. "Focus Grill" was written by Brendon Small and directed by Loren Bouchard. Mike Lazzo, an Adult Swim executive, had informed the staff of the show's cancellation during the start of the fourth season production run, so Small; he noted, however, that it was actually an optimistic note for the series. The episode concludes with Brendon's camera breaking, which Small believed was a way to get rid of the character's metaphorical crutch that he had had for the whole series. The final episode received a largely positive response, with reviewers praising it for its sentimental, bittersweet way of concluding the show. Small received various e-mails from fans who informed him that they cried while watching "Focus Grill".

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"The City of New York vs. Homer Simpson" is the first episode of The Simpsons' ninth season, and premiered on September 21, 1997 on Fox. The episode sees the Simpson family traveling to Manhattan to recover the family car, which was taken by Barney and abandoned outside the World Trade Center complex with numerous parking tickets. Upon arrival, the family tour the city, while Homer attempts to find his car. He discovers it outside the World Trade Center, where a parking officer later arrives to remove the clamp, but leaves as Homer is urinating inside one of the towers. In frustration, Homer decides to drive the car with the clamp attached. He successfully removes it later and races to Central Park to find his family and leave the city. The episode received generally positive reviews, and has since been on accolade lists of Simpsons episodes. Because of the World Trade Center's central role, the episode was initially taken off syndication in many areas following the September 11, 2001 attacks, but has come back into syndication in recent years.

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