Animations & Cartoons – a journey through fantasy world.

Most of you know that I am a gaming freak. There is one another thing that fascinates me a lot and that is animated movies/animation. When I say animation, it need not be the mixture of real life characters plus the animated ones, it can also be pure animation like cartoons. Though some grownups say – these are for kids, I would say there is no age-bar to watch & enjoy these creative master-pieces.

There is a lot of difference between the cartoons (what we get in cartoon network) and the animated movies. Only those who can visualize the difference, would understand what I am talking about here. What is so special about these unreal, impractical stuffs? It’s the imagination of creator, the ability to think beyond reality and display them on screen with rich, fancy color and characters that take you through a whole lot of wonderful fantasy world… Truly amazing.

The journey of animation started in my life way back in those childhood days, where we had no cable TV. Still happy with just one single channel – DD. It’s quite surprising now, that even though we have 150+ channels, sometimes seems so boring and not enough! Those days, after the famous and widely seen TV series “Krishna” (an epic Hindu myth story), Alice in the Wonderland and Duck tales used to be broadcasted on Sunday Morning. They were my favorites and I never used to miss them unless there was a power cut. It is surprising – that even now I watch any animated movies or some selected cartoons with the same interest that I used to have while watching them before. May be my mind is not grown up yet, when it comes to these fantasy world. (And I might never grow up :P.. ). Jungle book was another all time favorite series which I would still love to watch, if I get a chance.

Then came the computer graphics implemented series – Captain Vyom. I was a huge fan of this. Though now, technologies have advanced to such a level that watching this series now might result in ROFL. But, it was pretty mesmerizing back then. The best part about these fantasy world is that it influences our mind to think beyond  what is real, what we see every day, what we learn and what is practical. I used to be in that world and used to think what could be the outcome or define my own story and give my own ending! The Jurassic park series were the first of its kind which I watched on big screen. Ah! it was wonderful. After watching that movie, I have been to that world so many number of times, encountered dinosaurs, fought with them and  even survived... in my dreams :P

courtesy - google images, www.photovisi.com

The color TV, and dish cable were introduced to us. The Popeye show, Tom & Jerry, Ben 10, Scooby Doo, Dexter’s Laboratory, The Sylvester & Tweety mysteries, The Ghost busters and so on, captivated our minds all day long in cartoon network. This opened my mind to a whole new world of imagination. Though it wasn’t so for some of the matured guys of my age, I was a huge fan of these. It’s not that I was childish or my mind didn’t grew up, I had my own ways. I admired the creativity. I admired their work.

After the world had so many innovations and discoveries over the years, I saw the first authentic, genuine animated movie – “Cars”. How can one derive a world full of ‘cars’ only? Do cars have feelings? They do have a life? Some may answer – what bull sh*t.  It’s not possible for an ordinary person to come up with such a story, with such an imagination. It is not possible for an ordinary person to come up with such characters, how they look, how they act. But they came up with such an idea through that movie. Now that is exactly what captures my attention. The minute details, where they show even the bugs that gather around a tube light are actually small cars – that deep thinking, makes me wonder and appreciate their work. I may not have seen all the animated movies released till date. But I would love to. List of few movies which I loved are listed here,

courtesy - google images, www.photovisi.com

Cars – As I mentioned, about a whole new world of cars and a racing adventure.

Finding Nemo – About Father-son clown fish under water adventure.

Sharks tale –  Story of vegetarian shark and a small fish who claims to be a shark killer.

Ratatouille -  A rat who can cook or perhaps has what it takes to become a chef of 5 star hotel!

The Ant Bully – Life of Ants in their colony troubled by a kid who then transformed/shrunk to the size of an ant by an ant scientist!

Lion King – Story of the king of jungle, a lion & his newborn son Simba. (has its sequels)

Toy Story – Ever wondered how old toys would feel when they are abandoned..if suppose they have a secret life? (has its sequels)

Kung fu panda – A fat panda who is fascinated by the martial art, learns in an unusual manner to become the master of martial arts.

Shrek – Story of a green ogre and a princess who is in search of her true love who can save her from the curse of becoming an ugly ogre every night.

Ice Age series – An all different world called ice age with marvelous characters and great fun.

Up – Story of a widower who tries to fulfill his wife’s dream to have their house on top of the waterfall in south American forest who fulfills it by lifting the whole house & then flying it with the help of thousands of helium balloons!

How to train a dragon – A colony of brave men affected by the frequent attacks of various kinds of dragon, where a boy comes across a powerful but injured dragon who then realizes that they can be trained to become friendly.

Rio – Story of an exotic Spix's Macaw bird, who is afraid to fly, battles out bird smugglers with the help of other birds.

Legend of the Guardians – Story of owls of ga’hoole – a mythical group of warrior owls.

And many more..

Phew! Truly amazing isn’t it? Well for me it is, for sure. After finishing my engineering, even after completing about 4 years in this IT industry, I still wish to be a part of those fortunate people who live every moment in this wonderful world of animation, in such a fascinating world of creativity. The best part is , they are even paid to be there ;) :P. Well jokes apart, I know it’s not easy or as beautiful as it looks.  People say that, it is important to have a goal, a dream. When they asked us in our childhood, as what you want to become when you grow up - everyone had an answer. But, as time flew by some of them hung-on to their dreams and for others - it kept on changing. I am one of them as my mind used to drift every now and then. Perhaps it does even now, but yeah in a more controlled manner ;) I always wondered when people said you should always know what you want to become. May be I never had an answer. May be I never realized that I always lived with it, without knowing that it is my dream. But now, if you ask me what I want to be, I have an answer. I don’t know if it's late or if I will continue doing what I have done since B.E. I would still want to become a part of it. You never know, I may end up in one of those fantasy world someday, and start living my dreams… Till then, explore the world of animation!