But, within this one technique, there are many different styles of film-making, ranging from elaborate, highly detailed movies like The Prince of Egypt and Fantasia 2000 to films and television programmes which use simple designs and limited animation of the kind seen in many of the Japanese Manga films and TV series such as Cow and Chicken and Powerpuff Girls. Although cel animation still dominates the industry, other animation techniques are becoming increasingly popular. Every movie ever made, whether animated or live-action, works in just this way. That is what makes animation such a painstaking medium, requiring skill, inspiration and huge amounts of patience. But the challenge of animation is also its ultimate freedom - with it, you can do anything, go anywhere.
Animation is a powerful medium for emotions.
From the earliest days of cinema, we've been laughing at cartoons. But animation isn't just a source of laughter. Whether created in ink and paint, made out of Plasticine, or generated using computer technology, they are simply fragments of the human imagination, given life, energy and emotions through the skills of the animator and made to live on the cinema or television screen through a technique that is nothing more than a trick of the eye. No wonder we are so fascinated by the art of animation. Brian Sibley is a writer and broadcaster who has met and interviewed many leading animators.