# Early computer animation Search **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 16, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-computer-animation-search/782317 "2017-03-16T16:30:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nik\_Jayjunky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Nik\_Jayjunky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nik_Jayjunky)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-computer-animation-search/782317/1 "2017-03-16T16:30:33Z")
Trying to find an early (late 90’s?) computer animation but I can’t remember the title. There was a mad scientist/inventor type man who was playing Frankenstein with all sorts of animals. I remember a giraffe that had very short legs (as if it was half giraffe and half corgie) and some other animals wandering around this girl as she walked through a parklike/outdoor setting. I believe at the very end she met up with a huge white gorilla… The whole thing had a very rich feeling, though by today’s standards might seem a bit crude. I don’t believe there was any dialog. Please let me know if you know what I’m talking about 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-computer-animation-search/782317/2 "2017-03-16T17:22:59Z")
Are you sure it wasn’t the feature film **Spy Kids 2**? That came out in 2002. The subtitle is _Island of Lost Dreams_, and it featured CGI of a Mad Scientist who had a cadre of miniature weird animals, one of which was half monkey. One of the titular Sky Kids is a Girl, and the island is a 'parklike setting". The CGI is pretty rich, and is obviously a tribute to animator Ray Harryhausen (the animated swordfighting skeleton is a dead giveaway). [Spy Kids 2: The Island of Lost Dreams - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spy_Kids_2:_The_Island_of_Lost_Dreams) It took me a while to realize it, but the “Frankensteinian animals” are all visual puns. They’re all hybrids of two animals. There a Horse-Fly, a Spider-Monkey , and so on [![](http://bluraymedia.ign.com/bluray/image/article/118/1185982/spy-kids-2-the-island-of-lost-dreams-20110803021454569-001.jpg) ](http://bluraymedia.ign.com/bluray/image/article/118/1185982/spy-kids-2-the-island-of-lost-dreams-20110803021454569-001.jpg) > **[Spy Kids 2 animals - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=%2fqGhyMth&id=8D2DCCB44A90CCDE67356B0B94EA27DC118E2583&q=Spy%2BKids%2B2%2Banimals&simid=608036270929415180&selectedIndex=2&ajaxhist=0)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-computer-animation-search/782317/3 "2017-03-16T17:39:29Z")
By the way, I wouldn’t call late 1990s or a 2002 film “Early Computer Animation”. Heck, **Jurassic Park** was a major Hollywood realease relying on CGI, and it had come out in 1993. It wasn’t even the first movie with extensive CGI. I had been going to computer animation festivals in the mid-1980s, and they included a number of shorts by Pixar president-to-be John Lasseter (including _The Adventures of Andre and Wally B_). To me, “Early Computer Animation” means things like the never-released _The Works_ (1979-1986) or partially computer-animated films like **Tron** (1982) > **[The Works (film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Works_(film))** > > The Works is a shelved 3D computer animated feature film, partially produced from 1979 to 1986. It would have been the first entirely 3D CGI film if it had been finished as intended, and included contributions from individuals who would go on to work at digital animation pioneers Pixar and DreamWorks Animation. > The film was developed by the staff of the Computer Graphics Lab in association with the New York Institute of Technology in Old Westbury, New York. The name was inspired by the original ... > **[The Works computer animation - Bing](https://www.bing.com/images/search?view=detailV2&ccid=NvoYT60b&id=5B7DF4DC3DD418E757CA569922E44CA909D693A0&q=The%2BWorks%2Bcomputer%2Banimation&simid=608001322769514820&selectedIndex=20&ajaxhist=0)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. [![](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/nyit/ant_byte.jpeg) ](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/nyit/ant_byte.jpeg) [![](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/nyit/works_array.jpeg) ](http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~ph/nyit/works_array.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![Nik\_Jayjunky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a88e57/32.png) [@Nik\_Jayjunky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nik_Jayjunky)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-computer-animation-search/782317/4 "2017-03-16T18:34:48Z")
Thanks for your reply-I know the Spy kids movie you speak of-this was definitely not a full length animation, nor part of one. I checked the other references, thank you for posting them, but “the Works” is not the one… I definitely remember a “Frankenstein” type moment at the beginning, and the whole thing was quite deep in texture, if that makes sense. I may indeed be off on the time line, I should have said I first saw it in the late 90’s, that may not be when it was made. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2017, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/early-computer-animation-search/782317/5 "2017-03-16T18:39:04Z")
> [@Nik\_Jayjunky](#): > > Thanks for your reply-I know the Spy kids movie you speak of-this was definitely not a full length animation, nor part of one. I checked the other references, thank you for posting them, but “the Works” is not the one… I definitely remember a “Frankenstein” type moment at the beginning, and the whole thing was quite deep in texture, if that makes sense. I may indeed be off on the time line, I should have said I first saw it in the late 90’s, that may not be when it was made. Please note that I was offered “The Works” as a true example of Early Animation, not suggesting that it was the film you saw. (As I say, it was never released, so I don’t think you _could_ have seen it.) I can’t think of anything besides the Spy Kids film that fits your description.