As we enter the final 100 days of the millennium, I can’t help but reflect on the changes that I’ve experienced during my brief 30 years in the animation industry. The level of sophistication of performance and story since I began to make my living in the studios has accelerated. And the movie patrons have become a much more educated audience in the art of animation.

As a teacher in the School of Animation and Design at Sheridan College, I’m surrounded by young people who are as enthusiastic about animation as myself. Constantly reminded of what attracted me to the industry in the first place, I feel have the best job in the world. Who else can look forward to going to work each day and having the fun of being creative with others who are as impassioned about the art as I am?

As in the days when I owned a studio, this is a chance to play in a make-believe world, tell stories and create visuals that know no bounds. If you can imagine it, it can be done, all it takes is time and, of course, the budget to sustain it.

I am regularly asked by students, ‘What are the job opportunities in the animation industry?’ My response is usually the same. It depends on timing, talent and attitude.

One thing I consistently hear from the studios is ‘Hire for attitude, train for skill.’ Now that doesn’t mean that you don’t need the latter, but if the attitude isn’t good, all the talent in the world won’t help you. After all, who wants to work those long and often stressful hours if you don’t have cooperative and enthusiastic fellow workers.

The talent I’ve witnessed at Sheridan is, I believe, unprecedented, with enthusiasm to match. It takes special people to dedicate themselves to this vocation and make it the focus of their lives.

One of the things I tell my class is that after graduating it takes about five more years to become accomplished in the field. Animation is a calling that requires drive and copious amounts of patience. It truly is a balance between right and left brain faculties that few art forms demand.

Another anniversary is about to be celebrated, the rerelease of the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine. I was fortunate enough to work on this landmark film while studying graphic design in Britain. While I had a rather menial position, it did give me an insight into the industry and spurred me on to continue with my studies when I returned to Canada. Sheridan had just opened and I was there as a member of the first graduating class.

Yellow Submarine was a reflection of the pop culture of the time with its wall-to-wall music from the Fab Four. Its distinctive Euro Pop design was a visual feast for the eyes that was influenced by the psychedelic culture of the period. Although it was a little light on story, I believe it was the predecessor to the music videos we now have come to recognize and enjoy.

In terms of story and characterization, I believe Disney has led the way. They are masters of many things, of which story is one of the strongest. With their attention to plot development and structure they have set precedents in feature production that some only aspire to.

The partnering with the corporations and merchandising of properties has afforded the industry the millions of dollars it takes to produce a feature film of the quality we have come to expect from the studio. We are living in an age when the marketing of a film can make it or break it from the point of view of box office.

The sad part of this is films such as Iron Giant from Warner Feature Animation, which, unfortunately, was poorly attended due to a marketing campaign that obviously left something to be desired. The film itself was quite wonderful and entertaining, but in this age of promotion, fell a little short of the studio’s expectations.

One of the largest growth areas in the business is video gaming. Producers are regularly at the school scouting for new, technology-savvy talent. For those who know how to plan an adventure into other worlds, this is really the medium to peruse, with revenues from these games in the multimillions of dollars.

As I look down the road to see where this segment of the industry is going, I see interactive gaming at home and soon virtual realities from the comfort of your La-Z-Boy chair.

With the advent of Teletoon and the Cartoon Network in the u.s., there seems to be a voracious appetite for television animation. Nelvana, Canada’s largest independent producer of television animation, has provided employment for hundreds of animators and artists over the past 30 years.

The company’s foray into 3D computer animation has been very successful. Rolie Polie Olie, the studio’s first computer animated show, was nominated for an Emmy and has been nominated for three Gemini awards. It’s the first show to combine the power of Alias and Softimage in an animated series for television.

Nelvana will provide a workshop at the International Student Animation Festival in Ottawa on Oct. 21. Entitled ‘The New Tools of the Trade,’ it will give participants an opportunity to learn how the skills of 2D animators are put to work using 3D animation. It promises to be a ‘must see’ for all those attending the event.

Another workshop students should put on their agendas is ‘How to Prepare a Portfolio’ from the folks at Warner Feature Animation.

Television broadcast is not the only distribution medium for series animation. With the power of the Internet, animation creators can now reach a vast young, or not so young, audience in every corner of the globe.

When the creators of Ren and Stimpy had a falling out with broadcasters, they decided to distribute their work through cyberspace. How successful this proves to be remains undetermined, but I have it on good authority that this will be the way of the future with certain types of shows.

The future looks bright for those eager young minds prepared for the hard work in the animation industry. Even without the heavy financial support of large studios, broadcasters and burger chains, they too can express their creative prowess.

david how is professor of classical animation at the School of Animation and Design at Sheridan College.