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Animation Mentor Overview

Have you dreamed of doing animation for movies like Pirates of the Carribean, Ice Age or Transformers? Get ready – your animation dreams are about to come true! Thanks to Animation Mentor, the ONLY animation school built by professional animators, you’ll get real world guidance and learn the skills you need to succeed in a movie studio. That’s right – AM gives you all the tools you need to get your foot in the animation door!

Animation Mentor is a for-profit university online animation school that teaches students character animation skills. Located in Emeryville, California, the school offers an 18-month program in which students are taught by “mentors,” or experienced animators who are professionals working in the animation industry.

The school was founded in 2005 by three working animators: Bobby Beck, who is the CEO and president of the school, Shawn Kelly, who is a working animator at Industrial Light & Magic, and Carlos Baena, who is a working animator at Pixar Animation Studios.

By graduation, every student works in a production-style environment where mentors stand in for directors and assignments stand in for film or game shots.

You’ll learn how to accept guidance and criticism, meet deadlines and to budget and schedule your time to succeed in the working world. At the end of the 18-month program, you’ll walk away with a professional demo reel that you can use as your resume. Plus, AM coaches graduates on interviews and connects them to job opportunities with major recruiters, video game companies, and film studios.

The school operates 24/7 and offers a reasonable tuition for the 18th-month program: , 425.

The school is certified by the California Bureau for Private Postsecondary and Vocational Education. Graduates receive a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Character Animation.

Besides getting constant guidance from experienced animators, the program offers live question and answer sessions and audio-visual critiques of assignments. Since the faculty are working professionals experienced in the animation field, they work hard to have career placement support for all students. Alumni enjoy a career service website that features network events and a web reel that shows creative work by students.

The school has won several awards, including the 2006 Best Practices in Programming Award Gold Level, 21st Century Distance Learning Award from the U.S. Distance Learning Association, and was an honoree at the 10th Annual Webby Awards. The school also won the 2008 PRSA Bronze Anvil Award for its white paper “Behind the Characters: Job Satisfaction, Career Outlook, and Salary Survey Report” and was again named an official honoree at the 13th Annual Webby Awards. In 2008, Sony Picture Imageworks awarded its top scholarship to student Luis Rodrigo Huerta to earn a Master’s Degree at Texas A&M and participate in online animation courses at Animation Mentor.

So what are you waiting for? Learn more about Animation Mentor today!

Recommended Animated Comedy Movies

Comedy movies have been around since film saw its beginnings, but the animated genre has gained popularity throughout recent years. Though animation is particularly popular with children, comedies geared at adult audiences have also been released in this spectacular format. It’s more commonly seen on the television networks (with animated adult comedy shows such as Family Guy and South Park) but it has been done on the big screen.

Which animated comedy movies should you watch? It depends what you are looking for. These family and mature audience films of the gene are a great place to start.

Animated Family Comedy Movies

The Madagascar Films (2005; 2008) – These films serve up adventure and plenty of laughs, with a cast of animal characters who suddenly find themselves in the wilds of Africa after only having known life within the sweet captivity of the Central Park Zoo.

The characters are voiced by some of today’s best loved comedians including Chris Rock, Ben stiller and Sacha Baron Cohen. A third film is set to be released in 2012.

Monsters VS Aliens (2009) – Got a family full of sci-fi fans and of course, lovers of comedy movies? You’ll all enjoy this computer animated comedy about a woman who is struck by a meteorite on her wedding day, transformed into a giant, taken captive by a secret government compound and befriended by a group of strange but lovable monsters who’ll join with her to combat aliens and save the world!

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009) – The beloved children’s book is brought to life by a hilarious cast and modern animation. Join Flint, the wanna-be inventor, who finally sees some short lived success as he falls for the girl, creates enough food to fill the bellies of everyone in town and later deals with the comical catastrophe that ensues!

Animated Comedy Movies

Who Framed Roger Rabbit? (1988) – There’s trouble in Toontown in this classic favorite. Families with older children might consider this film for a family night pick. Some scenes may give younger children a fright. The film is a wonderful combination of comedy, mystery, fantasy and live action mixed with animation.

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (1999) – South Park took hold of its success and went the comedy movies route when it was brought to the big screen in 1999. As usual, fans’ favorite characters -Kyle, Stan, Cartman and friends- are in the midst of comical adventure, with no shortage of foul language and extremely crude humor.

Eight Crazy Nights (2002) – If you’re an Adam Sandler fan (and of his more adult films) you may enjoy watching him dish out the laughs (and plenty of song, those this isn’t your typical musical number) in full cartoon style animation.

Do you enjoy watching Animated Comedy Movies? Read reviews and share yours at the top rated Consumer Reviews site, Lunch.com