New Exhibition Brings Cartoons to Life – Animation Opens at the New York Hall of Science March 31

Press Release

New Exhibition Brings Cartoons to Life – Animation Opens at the New York Hall of Science March 31 – September 2, 2012
3-13-12

Cartoons come to life at the New York Hall of Science (NYSCI) during Animation, a 6,000-square-foot exhibition featuring characters from the Cartoon Network. Open from March 31 through September 2, the exhibition explores animation from concept to finished product — from storyboarding, character design, and drawing techniques to movement, timing, filming and sound. Larger-than-life graphics of popular Cartoon Network characters provide a colorful backdrop to the exhibition, which also explores the history of animation and features a screening room and a cartoon museum.

The six thematic areas in the exhibit include:

History – Visitors learn about early animation and apparent motion. Using a praxinoscope, NYSCI visitors can manipulate and spin three-dimensional objects to morph the objects into a single animation. At the Penny Arcade, they can “crank” out animations with an old-fashioned mutoscope.
Animation Studio – Visitors explore the process of animation, story creation, animator techniques and tools. Visitors can develop a storyboard from a series of picture cards, draw characters, enlarge drawings with a pantograph, and create scenes using layered cels and moving backgrounds.
Art in Motion – With help from Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, visitors discover why art and math are important allies when creating characters, motion and change. The illusion of movement will come alive as visitors magically “move” around a room without using their legs.
Science Laboratory – In Dexter’s Laboratory, visitors delve into the science and technology that make animation possible. They create the illusion of a bouncing ball with the technique of “squash and stretch” and find out how the action slows down or speeds up with time-lapse videos. They can also see themselves “hover” while exploring visual effects in a full-body interactive experience.
Sound and Stage – Visitors discover the principles of sound and phonetics with characters from Chowder, Ben 10: Alien Force, and Kids Next Door. They explore the complexity of matching phrases to different mouth shapes, add their own voice to a silent animation and set the mood of a film by selecting background music from a variety of soundtracks.
Cartoon Museum – Families can take a seat in this intimate theater setting and view clips of popular animations while learning the secrets behind their production. They will examine artifacts such as cels, models and storyboard drawings from classic and favorite animations such as Scooby-Doo, The Powerpuff Girls, and The Flintstones.

About Cartoon Network – Cartoon Network, currently seen in nearly 91 million U.S. homes and 160 countries around the world, is Turner Broadcasting System, Inc.’s ad-supported cable service offering the best in animated entertainment. Drawing from the world’s largest cartoon library, Cartoon Network showcases unique original series such as Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends, The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy, Camp Lazlo, Ed, Edd n Eddy and other exclusive programming. Overnight from 10:30 p.m.-6 a.m. (ET, PT), Cartoon Network shares its channel space with Adult Swim, a late-night destination showcasing original and acquired animation for young adults 18-34. Cartoon Network’s Web site is located at www.CartoonNetwork.com.

Animation was developed by the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry in collaboration with Cartoon Network and partially funded by The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation and 2011 Cartoon Network. All rights reserved.