Here lies the heart of the page, and what makes it different from many of the pages on the Net. The following are a series of essays about various aspects of animation.
These essays are multiple pages long. I've tried to break them up into smaller sections, but they will require scrolling. If you don't like scrolling, either download the pages to read later, or print them out.
Unless otherwise indicated, I (Dan Patanella) am the author of all essays. If you want to quote from me, feel free, as long as I am properly cited. But you cannot reprint my words for profit without my express written consent. Nor can you use the graphics I've used to introduce the essays; the copyright of Henry the Mouse belongs to me. Fair enough? It would also be a nice idea if you let me know that you were using my webpage as a source for a paper. If you are using someone else's essay from my page, let me know and I will forward your e-mail to them.
All the sources I consulted in writing my essays are listed on the Sources page. If you can't find what you're looking for, try the handy Search engine I installed below.
100,000 Hits is my belated reaction to finally achieving more than 100,000 on this website, whatever that means. Written in Sept 2001
Au revoir, Chuck Jones is my affectionate farewell to the man who created the Coyote, redefined Daffy Duck, and did more with the Grinch in 30 minutes than Ron Howard and Jim Carrey could do in a lifetime. Written in February 2002
Betty Boop and the Production Code of 1934 - This essay reviews Betty's film career and challenges the notion that the Production Code was the sole cause of Betty's decline. Written in 1998.
Can Anime Make it in the USA? An overview of some of the major anime series that have been launched in the USA since the middle 1970s, and suggestions on how future distributors can avoid the mistakes made by previous failures to crack the American marketplace. Written in 1997.
Censorship of Golden Age Animation A review of material once considered suitable for American audiences but now considered taboo.
Clever Hans This essay is dedicated to a young fella named Hans, who left some unsavory comments in my guestbook in September. Written in 1999.
Dragonball Z Apologia This essay examines and defends some of the reasons for Dragonball Z's cult following in the USA. Written in 2000.
Goodbye, Carl Barks A short tribute to Carl Barks, the man who almost single-handedly created Duckburg. Written in 2000.
Goodbye, Charles Schulz This essay is my farewell to the most important man in American comic strips for the past 50 years. Written in 2000.
In the early part of 2000, I bid a brief adieu to the webpage. My sabbatical was brief. And then I returned. You can read about both events by clicking on the appropriate links.
Stop, Thief! is the story of how your favorite online anime reviewer was ripped off by Chris Loffler on Epinions.com. Written in April, 2002.
The Dark Knight Departs A three part essay commemorating the various permutations of Batman:The Animated Series. The second installment examines the various comic books DC released to capitalize on the TV series' success.The third installment takes a brief, critical look at why Batman Beyond is so disappointing a sequel. Written in the fall of 2000.
Hirschfeld Remembered is my tribute to the master caricaturist. Written in January 2003.
The Last Unicorn:A Forgotten ClassicThis essay presents an indepth analysis of an unfairly forgotten treasure of early 1980s animation. Written in 1998.
Lennon Remembered He was briefly an animated character, courtesy of the feature Yellow Submarine and the cheaply animated Saturday morning Beatles cartoon of the 1960s, so why not pay tribute to John Lennon twenty years after his assassination? Written in 2000.
The Little Mermaid: The Many Faces of Innocence Eva Nottage's essay compares the Disney version of the Hans Christian Andersen classic to an Asian one.Written in 1997.
Maytel's Bold New Direction is surreal fan fiction about Galaxy Express 999.
My Animation Wishlist has all the stuff I'd like to see happen in the 21st Century. Written in 1999.
Online Stupidity is a true story about one of my encounters in a chat room. Written in 2000.
The Over-Merchandising of Pikachu is an essay examining how such a simple, joyful cartoon like *Pokemon* can be corrupted by greed. Written in 1999.
The Over-Merchandising of Pikachu Part Two is a sequel to the above essay, in which the fallout from the Pokemon deflation is examined. Written in 2001.
Ray Harryhausen: An Appreciation and Criticism This essay examines both the beauty and the mundaneness of special effects wizard Harryhausen. Written in 1998.
The Rise and Fall(?) of MixxZine. Here is this webmaster's take on the current crisis facing a relatively new manga distributor. Written in the Fall of 1998.
Seduction of the Innocent Revisited. A look back on an infamous book that many fans have heard about, but few have read. Written in the Winter of 1998; a substantially revised version of this article was published in The International Journal of Comic Art.
Top Ten List With all due respect to Casey Casem and David Letterman, here is a list of my ten most popular essays and reviews, as determined by the number of people who've accessed them by September 2000.
Walt Disney and Fairytales A brief examination of why Disney chose fairytales as his chief source of inspiration. Written in 1997.
Y2K Wishlist is a list of things that I hope happen in animation in the year 2000.
Year 1999 in Animation is my often bitter essay on why I thought most of 1999 was one long drag.
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