Thanks for the link, weelittledrummer. There's no sound on this computer, but I'll listen to your song as soon as I get a chance.

Do you know the definition of animation? It's a hole in your TV screen that you throw money into. It is the most time-consuming way of making a film. People talk about "cheap cartoons" but there's no such thing. A lot of the money that can be made in the animation business comes from merchandising, which is why so many cartoons are more-or-less thinly disguised advertisements for toys.

I tried to get work at an animation studio (over 600 applications) as an artist and a computer programmer. I am the author of a free software package for 3D graphics which has been published in a fairly prominent place (the GNU Project of the Free Software Foundation). I thought this package and my portfolio of drawings might get me a job. I also have a degree in art, and that and 1.50 euros will buy you a cup of coffee. I've done a couple of experiments, so I'm sure I could animate, but I don't expect anyone to believe me without proof.

I can't afford to buy the minimal equipment I would need for cartoon animation. I have nearly everything I would need for stop-motion puppet animation but I don't have room to work. I used to have a studio and I still have lots of woodworking equipment and other supplies, but it's all been packed up in boxes for the last ten years. That's why I've mostly drawn and painted using materials that don't make much of a mess or smell too much in recent years. I haven't drawn in months, but I've written a huge number of verse parodies and practiced the guitar a lot. Both of these things would be useful for animation.

I prefer traditional animation with real drawings or objects and I'm not really that interested in computer animation. However, no sane person would do a perspective drawing by hand if he or she could use a computer to do it. That's one of the main reasons I wrote my program: so there would be a free package for technical drawing in 3D. A few people have used it over the years, but at present, I don't think anyone's using it.

Nowadays you could probably find someone to make an animated video for you, in Flash if nothing else, if you would be willing to pay the price, which might shock you. On the other hand, it's a tough line of work and there are a lot of people hustling for business.