Portal:Animation

"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.

• ... that the French animated film The Summit of the Gods is based on a Japanese manga series?
• ... that, for the animated film Us Again, director and writer Zach Parrish considered a video of an elderly couple dancing to be visceral and ideal inspiration?
• ... that Raoul Servais invented a new technique for combining animation and live action for his short film Harpya?
• ... that the interactive cartoon Cat Burglar takes about 15 minutes to watch, but features 90 minutes of animation?
• ... that Encanto's Isabela Madrigal was animated to be aware that she is "always on stage"?
• ... that the Pakistani film Shehr e Tabassum was the first animated cyberpunk film to be made by an Urdu development team?

Bill Oakley (born February 27, 1966) is an American television writer and producer, known for his work on the animate comedy series The Simpsons. Oakley and Josh Weinstein became best friends and writing partners at high school; Oakley then attended Harvard University and was Vice President of the Harvard Lampoon. He worked on several short term media projects, including writing for the variety show Sunday Best, but was then unemployed for a long period. Oakley and Weinstein eventually penned a spec script for Seinfeld, after which they wrote "Marge Gets a Job", an episode of The Simpsons. Subsequently, the two were hired to write for the show on a permanent basis in 1992. After they wrote episodes such as "$pringfield (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Legalized Gambling)", "Bart vs. Australia" and "Who Shot Mr. Burns?", the two were appointed executive producers and showrunners for the seventh and eighth seasons of the show. They attempted to include several emotional episodes focusing on the Simpson family, as well as several high-concept episodes such as "Homer's Enemy", "Two Bad Neighbors" and "The Principal and the Pauper", winning three Primetime Emmy Awards for their work. After they left The Simpsons, Oakley and Weinstein created Mission Hill. The show was plagued by promotional issues and was swiftly canceled. They worked as consulting producers on Futurama, then created The Mullets in 2003. The two wrote several unsuccessful TV pilots, and were due to serve as showrunners on Sit Down, Shut Up in 2009. Oakley left the project over a contract dispute. He has since written for The Cleveland Show, without Weinstein. Oakley is married to fellow writer Rachel Pulido.

The Simpsons shorts are a series of 48 one-minute shorts that ran on the variety show The Tracey Ullman Show for three seasons, before the characters spun off into The Simpsons, their own half-hour prime time show. It features the Simpson family, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie. The series was created by Matt Groening, who designed the Simpson family and wrote many of the shorts. The shorts first aired on April 19, 1987 starting with "Good Night". The final short to air was "TV Simpsons", originally airing on May 14, 1989. The Simpsons later debuted on December 17, 1989 with the Christmas special "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire". Only a few of these shorts have been released on DVD. "Good Night" was included on The Simpsons Season 1 DVD. Five of these shorts were later used in the clip show episode "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" on the half-hour show, which was released on the Season 7 DVD. These five shorts were "Good Night", which was featured in its entirety, and portions of "The Perfect Crime", "Space Patrol", "World War III", and "Bathtime". In "You Kent Always Say What You Want", the short "Family Portrait" replaces the entire opening sequence in celebration of the 400th episode. Groening has announced that all of the shorts will be available on mobile phones.

• ...that the Simpsons episode "Million Dollar Maybe" will feature a new character created by the winner of a fan-contest organized by the staff of the show?
• ...that the Rich Representation Language includes commands for displaying a wide range of emotions in the faces of animated characters?
• ...that Daddles the duck would "accompany" batsmen who were on their way to the pavilion after being dismissed for a duck?

Films released

• 1935 - Buddy Steps Out (United States)
• 1940 - The Egg Collector (United States)
• 1946 - The Great Piggy Bank Robbery (United States)
• 1951 - Lucky Number (United States)
• 1957 - Tabasco Road (United States)

Television series and specials

• 2002 - The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, Boy Genius, an American computer animated television series begins airing on Nickelodeon
• 2018 - Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, an American computer animated television series begins airing on Nickelodeon
• 2019 - Mickey Mouse (TV series), an American computer animated television series finishes airing on Disney Channel