47-540: Adobe Flash animation (formerly Macromedia Flash animation and FutureSplash animation ) is an animation that is created with the Adobe Animate (formerly Flash Professional) platform or similar animation software and often distributed in the SWF file format. The term Adobe Flash animation refers to both the file format and the medium in which the animation is produced. Adobe Flash animation has enjoyed mainstream popularity since
94-559: A complete redesign of its logo in which, for the first time in almost 20 years, the main color was changed—from red to purple; several other applications within Adobe's product lineup that involved audio-video editing, animation, and VFX creation also had their main colors changed to purple as a result of the aforementioned redesign. Although Adobe Animate is moving towards web-standard file formats, Flash (.swf) and AIR (.air) formats are still officially supported. Queer Duck Queer Duck
141-475: A flood of Adobe Flash-based television animation. Several recording companies experimented with releasing animated music videos to promote their artists' releases online, including Madonna , Beastie Boys and Tenacious D ; however, none became the hit that allowed for the expansion of Flash animated music videos. Adam Sandler and Tim Burton , among others, released original Internet-only animated works, but were not able to devise successful financial models and
188-532: A gay-converting Christian minister but later portrays more gay-sensitive characters, such as a flight attendant on TWGay . Other characters who have appeared include Truman Coyote , Ricky Marlin and KY Jellyfish . Although each three-minute episode stands by itself, there are several recurring themes throughout the 20-episode series, such as coming out, gay relationships/marriages, and the problems that can arise when gay and lesbian people have to interact with their straight family members. These are explored through
235-577: A music video. Soon after that, web cartoons began appearing on the Internet with more regularity. On February 26, 1999, in a major milestone for Adobe Flash animation, the popular web series WhirlGirl became the first regularly scheduled Adobe Flash animated web series when it premiered on the premium cable channel Showtime in an unprecedented telecast and simultaneous release on the Showtime website. Created by David B. Williams and produced by Visionary Media,
282-463: A running time of nearly 80 minutes. Although Sony Pictures decided not to release the film, it was eventually released on DVD by Lionsgate . In 2000, another major milestone occurred in the world of animation when the first broadcast-quality Adobe Flash animation aired on television. Dice Raw's music video "Thin Line between Raw and Jiggy" appeared on the big screen at Resfest 2000, on television via BET, and
329-407: A sleeveless rainbow top and, like almost everyone else in the series, does not wear trousers. This follows the tradition of semi-nudity of cartoon animals exemplified by Porky Pig , Donald Duck , Top Cat , etc. He is often shown to have two fingers and one thumb on each hand, though on occasion he has the three fingers and one thumb per hand that is typical of many contemporary cartoons. Queer Duck
376-466: A variety of situations: Queer Duck comes out to his parents in the first episode; in another, Queer Duck and Openly Gator get married, and it's revealed that Queer Duck has a lesbian sister; and in other episodes, Queer Duck must deal with other family members, such as his straight brother, who is much beloved by their parents. Much like The Critic , Queer Duck features numerous "cameo" voice appearances by celebrities; these voices are impersonated by
423-485: Is Adam Seymour Duckstein (voiced by Jim J. Bullock ), is a gay anthropomorphic duck who works as a nurse . In an interview included on the DVD release of Queer Duck: The Movie Reiss states that Bullock is the only member of the cast that is actually gay, and that he had insisted that the character be voiced by someone gay. Queer Duck has cyan-colored feathers, a little spiky fringe, and may wear purple eye shadow. He wears
470-704: Is a multimedia authoring and computer animation program developed by Adobe . Animate is used to design vector graphics and animation for television series , online animation, websites , web applications , rich web applications , game development, commercials, and other interactive projects. The program also offers support for raster graphics , rich text , audio video embedding , and ActionScript 3.0 scripting. Animations may be published for HTML5 , WebGL , Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) animation and spritesheets , and legacy Flash Player (SWF) and Adobe AIR formats. The developed projects also extend to applications for Android, iOS, Windows Desktop and MacOS. It
517-508: Is able to integrate bitmaps and other raster-based art, as well as video, though most Adobe Flash films are created using only vector -based drawings, which often result in a somewhat clean graphic appearance. Some hallmarks of poorly produced Adobe Flash animation are jerky natural movements (seen in walk-cycles and gestures), auto-tweened character movements, lip-sync without interpolation and abrupt changes from front to profile view. Adobe Flash animations are typically distributed by way of
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#1732851658184564-468: Is already aware of his uncle's sexual identity: when his fellow campers taunt him by saying, "Your uncle is gay", Lucky answers, "Well, DUH!". Recurring supporting characters include Queer Duck's mother (played by Estelle Harris , George's mother on Seinfeld ) and the group's nemesis, Dr. Laura Schlessinger (played by voice actress Tress MacNeille ). One character, a large, well-built horse , portrays different characters in each episode. He starts out as
611-563: Is an American adult animated web series produced by Icebox.com that originally appeared on the company's website, then later moved to the American cable network Showtime , where it aired following the American version of Queer as Folk . Although far from featuring the first gay cartoon character , Queer Duck was among the first animated series to have homosexuality as its predominant theme. Like several later television cartoons, Queer Duck
658-457: Is enjoying considerable popularity in major animation studios around the world, as animators take advantage of the software's ability to organize a large number of assets (such as characters, scenes, movements, and props) for later re-use. Because Adobe Animate files are in vector file format, they can be used to transfer animation to 35 mm film without any compromise in image quality. In 2003, Big Idea Entertainment used Animate (back when it
705-531: Is known to be radio show host Laura Schlessinger , who is pictured as a haggard and ugly old woman. Queer Duck has also been a victim of gay bashing , as shown in Ku Klux Klan & Ollie , in which Ku Klux Klan members attempt to burn his house down. When his disguise fails, he kisses the unveiled Jerry Falwell , only to get shot down by the other homophobes. When in heaven he finds out that famous icons like Socrates and Leonardo da Vinci are also gay, much to
752-485: Is known to gossip about anything and everything, especially on the phone while watching television, as shown on Oh Christ! , The Gaining of Herpes from Sparky and A Gay Outing . He is promiscuous in his own way, but not as obsessed with sex as his boyfriend Openly Gator; for example, he'll often utter the word "cock" but swiftly follows it with another word, like "tails", such as in The Gay Road to Morocco . His nemesis
799-569: Is not the most beloved child in his family and there are strong hints that his older brother Lucky is the most favored one, due to his heterosexuality. Queer Duck is afraid to show his sexuality to his nephew Little Lucky (who first appeared in Fiddler on the Roofie ), especially while camping with two of Little Lucky's friends. They discovered one of his magazines, which included personal ads that contained acronyms like GBM, S&M and B&D. Lucky, however,
846-495: Is that after 2020, animators will instead share their animations in either video, HTML5, or WebGL format. On June 16, 2020, as part of Adobe's 'Evolving Brand Identity', Adobe Animate unveiled a complete redesign of its logo in which for the first time in almost 20 years, the main color was changed from Red to Purple, ending any association of Flash entirely. While the creation of animation using Adobe Animate can be much easier and less expensive than traditional animation techniques,
893-1229: The BBC Three show Monkey Dust , the Channel Four show Modern Toss , Yin Yang Yo! , Alejo & Valentina , Angry Birds Toons , Aaagh! It's the Mr. Hell Show , Jake and the Never Land Pirates , The Mr. Men Show , The Lion Guard , My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic on The Hub (however, this show uses a heavily modified version of Flash 8), Cinemax 's Eli's Dirty Jokes , Queer Duck from Showtime , The Mr. Peabody and Sherman Show on Netflix , ToddWorld on Discovery Kids, Smiling Friends on Adult Swim and Shorties Watching Shorties on Comedy Central . Other TV shows, such as Home Movies , Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law and Ballmastrz: 9009 , broadcast on Cartoon Network 's Adult Swim programming block, switched to Adobe Flash Professional from other animation technology and on Disney XD with Kick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil . Many animation film festivals responded to
940-571: The World Wide Web , in which case they are often referred to as Internet cartoons , online cartoons , or web cartoons . Web Adobe Flash animations may be interactive and are often created in a series . An Adobe Flash animation is distinguished from a Webcomic , which is a comic strip distributed via the Web, rather than an animated cartoon. The first prominent use of the Adobe Flash animation format
987-551: The .swf format. Among these are Vyond , Toon Boom , Xara Photo & Graphic Designer , Serif DrawPlus , Toufee, Express Animator, CelAction 2D and Moho . These front-ends often provide additional support for creating cartoons, especially with tools more tailored to traditionally trained animators, as well as additional rigging for characters, which can speed up character animation considerably. Other sources Adobe Animate Adobe Animate (formerly Adobe Flash Professional , Macromedia Flash , and FutureSplash Animator )
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#17328516581841034-447: The UK it was aired as a short segment as part of magazine show That Gay Show which aired on BBC Choice , the forerunner to BBC Three . Scholar Lawrence La Fountain-Stokes called the use of the term queer duck as "interesting" and described the show as about a "group of American gay animals" with their personalities seemingly "based on gay white men." The title character, whose full name
1081-455: The Web on sites such as Sputnik7.com, Shockwave.com, Heavy.com and was also included with the CD. Its creation became one of media history's first convergent entertainment productions. Todd Wahnish, who would later go on to create Marvel Entertainment's "All Winners Squad", pioneered the early conversion of traditional hand-drawn techniques into vector-based animation seen in the video. The video triggered
1128-482: The amount of time, money, and skill required to produce a project using the software depends on the chosen content and style. Internet distribution is considerably easier and less expensive than television broadcasting. Many Adobe Flash animations are created by individual, independent artists, and many that are first distributed on the web became popular enough to be broadcast on television, particularly on such networks as MTV and G4 . Adobe Flash animation production
1175-401: The butler; Jeff Glen Bennett as the main antagonist, a homophobic bigoted priest named Reverend Vandergelding; Mark Hamill as a hot dog vendor; Bruce Vilanch as himself; Andy Dick as former drag queen Rex (formerly Regina); Jackie Hoffman as Broadway actress Lola Buzzard; April Winchell doing additional voices and David Duchovny as "Tiny Jesus". Gay-themed channel Logo premiered
1222-460: The cast. In addition to Dr. Laura, the Queer Duck gang encounter Bob Hope , Jack Nicholson , Cary Grant and Barbra Streisand , with whom Queer Duck is obsessed, as well as noted ultra-conservative preacher Jerry Falwell . These celebrities are the only human characters. All other characters are anthropomorphic animals like Queer Duck and his friends, except for the woman Queer Duck sleeps with in
1269-415: The chagrin of Jerry Falwell. Over the course of the series, the audience learns that Queer Duck has a Jewish mother who is in denial of his sexuality, a diabetic father (whose name is revealed to be Morty in the episode Quack Doctor ), a straight brother named Lucky (who is shown to have bullied Queer Duck when they were younger), a nephew named Little Lucky and a lesbian sister named Melissa. Queer Duck
1316-492: The company decided to add animation abilities to their product and to create a vector-based animation platform for World Wide Web ; hence FutureSplash Animator was created. (At that time, the only way to deploy such animations on the web was through the use of Java .) The FutureSplash animation technology was used on websites such as MSN , The Simpsons website and Disney Daily Blast of The Walt Disney Company . In December 1996, Macromedia bought FutureWave and rebranded
1363-424: The comparatively low cost of production and the unique arrays of new animation styles that can be achieved through the medium, including Metalocalypse , Being Ian , Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends , Kappa Mikey , Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi , Happy Tree Friends , The Buzz on Maggie , Astroblast! , Odd Job Jack , Little Einsteins , Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! , The Powerpuff Girls , Total Drama ,
1410-546: The final episode. In 2005, Queer Duck was voted among the 100 Greatest Cartoons in a poll conducted by the British television network Channel 4 , ranking at #94. In 2011, Queer Duck returned to introduce the 31st Jewish San Francisco Film Festival. Queer Duck: The Movie , a film based on the animated series, was released on DVD July 18, 2006. The film reunites the original creators and cast of Queer Duck, plus special guest stars Conan O'Brien as himself; Tim Curry as Peccery
1457-502: The hand drawn animation of Donald Duck was cleaned up and colored in Flash. The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie! , a straight-to-DVD feature of the animated series Drawn Together , produced by Comedy Central and released in April 2010, discarded the series' traditional animation and used Flash animation instead. There are a number of other software packages available that can create output in
Flash animation - Misplaced Pages Continue
1504-530: The mid-2000s, with many Adobe Flash-animated television series, television commercials, and award-winning online shorts being produced since then. In the late 1990s, when bandwidth was still at 56 kbit/s for most Internet users, many Adobe Flash animation artists employed limited animation or cutout animation when creating projects intended for web distribution. This allowed artists to release shorts and interactive experiences well under 1 MB, which could stream both audio and high-end animation. Adobe Flash
1551-514: The popularity of Adobe Flash animation by adding separate categories in competition for "web cartoons" or "Internet cartoons". Additionally, several exclusively web-based Adobe Flash competitions have been established. It is speculated that only the category "made for Internet" will survive, as competitions at animation film festivals are typically arranged in categories defined by film length and distribution channel, rather than by animation techniques or tools used to create it. Adobe Flash Professional
1598-555: The product as Macromedia Flash, a brand name that continued for 8 major versions. Adobe Systems acquired Macromedia in 2005, and re-branded the product Adobe Flash Professional to distinguish it from the player, Adobe Flash Player . It was included as part of the Creative Suite of products from CS3 to CS6, until Adobe phased out the Creative Suite lineup in favor of Creative Cloud (CC). On December 1, 2015, Adobe announced that
1645-494: The program would be renamed Adobe Animate on its next major update. The move comes as part of an effort to disassociate the program from Adobe Flash Player, acknowledging its increased use for authoring HTML5 and video content, and an effort to begin discouraging the use of Flash Player in favor of web standards -based solutions. The first version under the new name was released February 8, 2016. On June 16, 2020, as part of Adobe's 'Evolving Brand Identity', Adobe Animate unveiled
1692-447: The shows from that period made the transition to traditional media, including Queer Duck , Gary the Rat , Happy Tree Friends , and the politically-minded JibJab shorts. Occasionally, the trend has been reversed: after being canceled from both ABC and Fox, Atom Films and Flinch Studio created net-only episodes of The Critic in 2000–2001. In another instance, Adobe Flash almost made
1739-477: The studio he founded, WhirlGirl follows the adventures of a young super-heroine fighting for freedom in a future ruled by an all-powerful "mediatech empire". The series originally launched in the spring of 1997 as a web comic with limited animation and sound. After gaining online syndication partners including Lycos.com and WebTV , the series first adopted Adobe Flash animation in July 1998. Following her Showtime debut,
1786-500: The titular heroine appeared in over 50 Adobe Flash webisodes on the Showtime website and starred in a million-dollar multimedia Showtime marketing campaign. About the same time, Joe Cartoon launched the interactive animation "Frog in a Blender" to become one of the first true "viral hits" on the Internet,. The Von Ghouls went live in November 1999, featuring the first music group with cartoon episodes online including original songs, in
1833-403: The transition to the big screen. In 2001, production began on what would have been the first Adobe Flash-animated feature film, the ill-fated Lil' Pimp , which also began life as an Internet series. As potentially controversial as its subject matter was, it had a relatively large budget, a number of well-known actors (including William Shatner, the late Bernie Mac, and Lil' Kim), a full crew, and
1880-640: The trend dissipated, largely as a result of a lack of viable micropayment systems. Several popular online series were produced in Adobe Flash Professional, such as the Emmy Award -winning Off-Mikes , produced by ESPN and Animax Entertainment ; Gotham Girls and Lobo , produced by Warner Bros. ; Crime Time , produced by Future Thought Productions and Homestar Runner produced by Mike and Matt Chapman . Many animated television series were produced using Macromedia Flash, inspired by both
1927-418: The vein of Saturday morning cartoons of the 1970s. A number of popular portal sites featured Adobe Flash animation during the dot-com boom of the late 1990s, including MondoMedia, Icebox, CampChaos, MediaTrip, Bogbeast and AtomFilms. Stan Lee, the late founder of Marvel Comics , launched an animated comics site. The Internet also saw the proliferation of many websites devoted entirely to Flash cartoons. Some of
Flash animation - Misplaced Pages Continue
1974-473: Was FutureSplash Animator, a vector graphics and vector animations program released in May 1996. FutureSplash Animator was developed by FutureWave Software , a small software company whose first product, SmartSketch, was a vector-based drawing program for pen-based computers. With the implosion of the pen-oriented operating systems, it was ported to Microsoft Windows as well as Apple Inc. 's Classic Mac OS . In 1995,
2021-509: Was animated in Macromedia Flash . The show was created, written, and executive-produced by Mike Reiss , who also produced network cartoons The Simpsons and The Critic . Queer Duck animation was directed and designed by Xeth Feinberg, in an attempt to be very similar to the animation style of Rocky and Bullwinkle ; the theme song was performed by drag celebrity RuPaul . In Canada, Queer Duck aired on Teletoon at Night whilst in
2068-533: Was by The Ren & Stimpy Show creator John Kricfalusi . On October 15, 1997, he launched The Goddamn George Liquor Program , the first cartoon series produced specifically for the Internet. The series starred George Liquor (a fictional character rumored to have ended Kricfalusi's employment on Ren & Stimpy ) and his dim-witted nephew Jimmy The Idiot Boy . Later, Kricfalusi produced more animated projects with Adobe Flash Professional, including several online shorts for Icebox.com, television commercials, and
2115-479: Was called Flash) to make Larryboy: The Cartoon Adventures . This feature is used by several independent animators worldwide, including Phil Nibbelink , who saw his 77-minute feature film Romeo & Juliet: Sealed with a Kiss released in theaters in 2006, and Nina Paley , who released Sita Sings the Blues in 2008. For Disneyland's 50 Magical Years film featuring Live action Steve Martin interacting with Donald Duck,
2162-585: Was first released in 1996 as FutureSplash Animator , and then renamed Macromedia Flash upon its acquisition by Macromedia . It served as the main authoring environment for the Adobe Flash platform, vector-based software for creating animated and interactive content. It was renamed Adobe Animate in 2016 to more accurately reflect its market position then, since over a third of all content created in Animate uses HTML5. The first version of Adobe Flash/Adobe Animate
2209-480: Was renamed to Adobe Animate in 2016 to both more accurately reflect its market position then, since over a third of all content created in Animate uses HTML5 , and prevent confusion between Adobe Flash Professional and Adobe Flash Player since they are completely different products. Adobe will continue to support Adobe Animate even after Flash Player's end-of-life deadline by 2020, hence all animations produced in Animate will survive Flash Player's death. The only change
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