Tough times for animators: The Arizona Republic carries a great article by LA Times writer Lynell George about how shifts in the animation industry have led to the elimination of some 1,000 jobs in Southern California in the past three years:

"The success of Disney and Pixar's Toy Story changed everything -- hand-drawn was out, CG was in. Recent poor showings for hand-drawn projects with high hopes -- Looney Toons: Back in Action and Treasure Planet -- haven't helped matters. Although the new technology created new jobs, they were neither numerous enough nor technically suited to the skills of established traditional animators. Ink and paint people are told that they can make the tech transition but most in-town productions want animators with lots of experience, says Bronwen Barry, a clean-up artist and 'in-betweener' who has served on the animators union executive board for more than a decade. 'Although it's nice for the resume,' Barry says, 'it's not the lifeboat that people thought it would be.'"