A Month Shy of a Two Year Absence

Dear ,

If you are reading this, welcome back. Or more appropriately, please welcome me back and don't be too sore about my absence.

Yes, judging from the post below, it has been quite the hiatus. Perhaps I should have waited one more month, just for the dramatic sake of returning exactly two years from where I left off. I'm not going to be so contrived.

According to my calculations (okay, actually those of a fancy internet widget) I have been away for exactly 333 days, 1 hour, 52 minutes and 23 seconds OR 10 months, 29 days.

What a lovely (not to mention lucky) number to return on: 333. I hope this is a positive omen and I promise you that it was purely a coincidence!

So, where have I been? In a one-word nutshell: college.

I began this blog before heading to college in the fall of 2009. After several posts that I put a lot of time and effort into, college took over my life and that free time went away.

I continuously lamented the fact this blog was collecting dust. So what sparked this sudden return? Disney's "Winnie the Pooh" - the new movie currently in theaters.

While I did not announce the movie myself, my post, "A New Pooh For You, By John Lasseter, Too!" was the first blog or website anywhere online to reveal key details including the producer and directors. It was a pinnacle of my short-lived blog, as several notable movie news websites had to cite me to their thousands of readers when re-posting the information I had accrued.

I got a little teary-eyed watching the trailer for the film. The song, "Somewhere Only We Know" was a brilliant choice - it truly tugged at the heartstrings of long-time Pooh fans. It was clear this film was as much for the adults as children. Remembering how I had once announced core details for this film and now, two years later, it was a material thing - a motion picture in real theaters - was a humbling thought.

However, since beginning my college education in advertising management (with a specialization in creative writing) - I have founded a campus music magazine as well as became an executive chair for a student advertising studio.

Needless to say, I have had/will continue to have my hands full.

Yet, I have been itching to write again and therefore am composing this overlong explanation of my absence.

Being as seeking out information about new animated movies is a time-consuming process, and there are numerous websites/blogs that already do it faster than I possibly could, I am switching the focus of 'Always Animated' from an animation news blog to an animation review blog.

If you are looking for animation news, I frequent The Animation Guild blog, Cartoon Brew and Animated Views (among a dozen or so others.)

However, I hope you will remain with me as I share my thoughts on animated features and shorts, both old and new from the U.S. and abroad.

In high school, I wrote 20 movie reviews over the course of two years for our local newspaper. It was a great experience and I truly enjoyed the opportunity. I was elated to discover that my junior year composition requirement could be covered by a movie review writing class.

However, this is independent of both those endeavors. This is solely a way to dually keep this blog alive as well as practice my journalism skills.

Although, since it is currently 1:30 am I'm sure I've committed a plethora of AP Style errors above. We'll let this be my one-time exception as a present for reviving 'Always Animated.'

I hope you stick with me as I critique the many creations of the wonderful world of animation.

Stay Animated!

- Neal