was consumed in the flames. A new
phoenix miraculously emerged from the
ashes.
Modern Creatures
Some people have claimed to have seen a
monster in Loch Ness, a lake in northern
Scotland. No one has ever proved
the monsters existence, however.
More recent legendary creatures are the
Abominable Snowman and Bigfoot. The
Abominable Snowman, or yeti, is a
monster thought to live in the Himalayan
mountain range. Reports of the
monster are based mostly on mysterious
markings in the snow. Many people
think that the markings come from
bears. Bigfoot, or Sasquatch, has been
described as a large, hairy creature
resembling a human. It is believed by
some to exist in the northwestern
United States and western Canada.
Animation
Animation is the art and science of making
pictures, or images, appear to move.
Animated movies and television shows
are popular forms of entertainment.
There are two basic types of animation:
traditional animation and computer animation.
The mermaid
is not the only
legendary
creature with
a human head
and an animal
body. The centaur
has the
body of a
horse, and the
sphinx has the
body of a lion.
A tapestry made in the 1400s
shows a unicorn with a large
horn.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Animation 129
Traditional Animation
Movies and television shows made with
traditional animation are also called
cartoons. Teams of artists create them
one picture at a time.
Thousands of drawings are needed for
only a few minutes of animation. Each
drawing is a bit different from the one
before it. For example, to show a character
walking, the first drawing might
show the character with both feet on the
ground. The next drawing might show
the knee with a tiny bend and the foot
slightly off the ground. In the third
drawing, the knee might be bent more
and the foot might be a little farther off
the ground, and so on.
To save work and time, artists paint or
draw the moving parts of a scene on
sheets of clear plastic film. They place a
drawing of the parts of the scene that do
not move under the clear film. In this
way they do not need to redraw the
background in every picture.
Then filmmakers use a special camera to
take a picture of each drawing on its
background. Each of these pictures is
called a frame. The camera records the
frames one after another on long strips
of film. To make the images move
smoothly, 24 frames are needed for every
second of film.
Filmmakers can also create animation
with figures made of clay or other materials.
Instead of drawing thousands of
images, they take many photographs of
figures set up in a scene. They move the
figures slightly between each photograph.
This technique is called stopmotion
animation.
Computer Animation
Computers have made animation a
faster process. They can produce the
To create an animation an artist draws the
same character many times. In each drawing
the character has changed position
slightly.
Artists used computers to make
the animated movie Toy Story in
1995.
130 Animation BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
thousands of pictures needed for an animated
film more quickly than human
artists. Artists can also use computers to
create characters, objects, and backgrounds
that look more real than drawings
do. Today computers are used in
almost all animation.
Computer animation can be used to
make a whole movie or to create special
effects in live-action films. Many spacecraft,
robots, and monsters in movies are
actually computer images.
Computer animation can be used for
more than just entertainment. Scientists
use computer animation to show things
that people cannot easily see in real life.
Such things include the movement of
the solar system, weather patterns, and
the inside of the human body.
History
In the 1800s people invented spinning
machines that made a series of drawings
appear to move. The first animated films
appeared in the early 1900s. Walt Disney
made the first animated film with
sound, SteamboatWillie, in 1928. In
1937 Disney made Snow White and the
Seven Dwarfs. It was the first full-length
animated film to be released as a major
motion picture in the United States.
Animated television shows appeared in
the United States in the 1950s. Toy
Story, from 1995, was the first long film
made completely with computer animation.
..More to explore
Cartoon Disney,Walt Movie
Television
Ankara
Population
(2007 census)
3,763,591
Ankara is the capital of the country of
Turkey. The city is located in the part of
Turkey that lies in southwestern Asia,
called Asia Minor. Ankara is Turkeys
second largest city, after Istanbul.
Ankara is one of Turkeys main industrial
centers. Its factories produce wine
and beer, processed foods, decorative
flooring, construction materials, and
tractors. Tourism and other service
industries have expanded rapidly in the
city.
People have lived in the Ankara area for
many thousands of years. In 334 BC
Alexander the Great conquered Ankara.
The city later became part of the Roman
Empire and then the Byzantine Empire.
Mustafa Kemal is buried in a mausoleum,
or tomb, in Ankara.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Ankara 131
Ankara was part of the Ottoman Empire
from the 1400s to the early 1900s. In
1919 the Turkish leader Mustafa Kemal
set up a rival government in Ankara. He
wanted Turkey to become its own country.
Turkey became an independent
republic in 1923, and Ankara became its
capital.
..More to explore
Asia Minor Istanbul Turkey
Annapolis
Population
(2000 census)
35,838; (2007
estimate)
36,603
Annapolis is the capital of the state of
Maryland. The city lies along the Severn
River at its mouth on Chesapeake Bay.
Annapolis has a port on the bay, which
leads to the Atlantic Ocean.
Many people in Annapolis work for the
state government. The United States
Naval Academy in Annapolis trains
officers for the Navy and Marine Corps.
The citys leading industries are crab and
oyster fishing, seafood processing, and
boatbuilding.
The city was founded in 1649. It was
originally called Providence. The city
became the capital of Maryland in 1694.
The following year the city was renamed
Annapolis.
In the 1700s Annapolis was an important
center of social and political life in
the American Colonies. It served as the
capital of the United States from 1783
to 1784. Many historic buildings from
the 1700s can still be seen in Annapolis
today.
Saint Marys Church was built between 1858 and 1860. It is located on Spa Creek in
Annapolis historic district.
132 Annapolis BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Ant
Ants are social insects. This means that
they live together in organized communities
called colonies. There are more
than 10,000 different species, or kinds,
of ant. Ants are found almost everywhere
in the world, but they are most
common in hot areas.
Ants range in size from 0.08 inch to 1
inch (2 to 25 millimeters). They are
usually yellow, brown, red, or black. The