ABOUT 'THE RED NINJA'

1) HOW DID I COME UP WITH THE IDEA?

Well, at first all I wanted was a really long regular cartoon, so that it could develop an actual plot. Then I decided to make it about a red guy that goes around punching people, and it developed from there.

2) HOW IS THIS CARTOON DIFFERENT FROM THE OTHERS?

It follows a story. All the others just show a guy doing something. This one has a plot, something you can understand.

3) IS THERE ANYTHING SPECIAL ABOUT THIS CARTOON?

The background. I spend much more time on the background in this cartoon than any others so far. I decided to put in a sun, and some clouds to make it seem more realistic. I also added a lot more color. In the other cartoons, the only colors you saw a lot were black, gray, and white. Sure, there was some reds and blues and browns stuck in here and there, but in general, the catroons had no color. I tried to add to this effect by making the frames blue instead of gray, and I enlargened them slightly to add an effect of importance to the cartoon.

Another key thing was movement. In this cartoon, I couldn't get away with having the characters just appear. I needed them to move from place to place and interact. I've tried to make my characters walk before; it's not easy. Take my pathetic attempt at it in cartoon #3: the high dive. I couldn't make his steps big enough without making it unrealistic, so I had him jump. And in cartoon #4: you choose!, I tried to make him run in place, but it came out all wrong, so I made up the excuse that he was a funny runner. In this cartoon, however, I tried a new approach. It's not exactly running or walking, it's sort of like leaping/galloping. And it worked out; didn't look too weird and got places in fewer steps. I'm proud of my innovations.

4) WAS IT HARD FOR ME TO MAKE A CARTOON SO MUCH LONGER THAN I'M USED TO?

No, not really. It was fun. It took a long time, especially because every frame was shorter, which meant that it took more frames to fill up a set amount of time. Still, I think it was worth it.

5) HOW LONG IS THE CARTOON?

It depends. If you have a faster computer, the cartoon will run faster. So, if the cartoon is going too fast, try it on a slower computer, and if it's going way too slow, check a better computer.

6) WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT THE NEW CHARACTERS, THE RED NINJA AND THE BLACK NINJA?

A lot. First, their bodies are thicker than my other characters, so they appear bigger. Second, their arms arre jointed at the elbow for more maneuverability. This enables them to fight realistically. Third, they're good and evil, when there has been no real good or evil sides in any of the other cartoons.