Anime creation programs for kids?

Cafe Society
1

I teach 7th grade English and anime is all the rage. I am starting a school club where kids will write, directed, edit, and produce their own movies, skits, etc. in our new TV studio. Some kids approached me and asked if it would be possible for them to draw their own anime characters and maybe, eventually, make their own anime movies and burn them to DVD.

I don’t know jack about anime or how to make it, but I said OK, let’s figure this out. They were absurdly grateful. Now I have to figure out how to make it happen, if it’s even possible. Someone mentioned Flash MX, but I’ve since heard that it’s very complicated and takes forever to learn. I also don’t have the head for that kind of thing, so the kids would sorta be on their own. Is it true that it’s too hard? Is there a program that is user-friendly enough for kids? Or should we just do stop-motion animation and forget about computer generated graphics?

I should add that I am going to write an arts grant for the money to buy whatever programs we decided to get, and an external DVD burner, so anything totaling less that $800 would be attainable, theoretically.

Thanks for any advice.

2

If you’re still looking, check out www.machinima.com. They’ve got good information about using computer games to make movies. Of course, the games with the best engines are the “for mature audiences” games like Half-Life.

3

I’m guessing flash for animation would pretty much be a default choice. Shallow learning curve, plenty of support online and a large userbase.