Amazing Kids! is proud to highlight the Amazing Kids! of the Month!

Each month, we showcase kids who are accomplishing amazing things.  We hope that by telling their special stories, we will inspire other kids to accomplish their own amazing achievements. 

  Amazing images from the 6 winning 
Amazing Kids! Animation Contest entries

" My favorite activity is drawing. I have been drawing since I was a little child, and I have always wanted to be an animator...It is my biggest passion."

"I'd like to be an artist and paint on buildings so everyone could see and it would make old buildings look nice again for everyone."

As part of their winning prizes, these lucky young animators will not only receive some animation software (from companies like NewTek, Shockwave and DigiCel), but they are now working with a professional animator, Frank Gladstone, from DreamWorks as their mentor! Frank will help them work on projects, to help them continue to improve their animation skills. 

If you love animation too, and keep practicing your animation skills, then who knows?  Maybe you will be one of the lucky winners of the next Amazing Kids! Animation Contest, coming soon... 

As part of their contest entries, the young animators were asked to answer 4 questions:
 

What is one of your favorite things to do?

Why are you entering the Amazing Kids! Animation Contest?

Name your favorite animated, cartoon characters.  Why are they your favorite?

If you could do one amazing thing in your life, what would it be, and why would you do it?

Below you will read their answers to their questions, and a link to their winning animations!  When you're done viewing their animations, don't forget to check out the rest of the exciting new Amazing Kids! Animation Station.  There you can see all the animations submitted for the contest, learn about animation in the Animation Lessons section, or discover other great resources for animation in the Animation Resources section.  And if you are a budding animator, you can send us your own animations and we'll showcase them in our Animation Showcase!  And now, on to the winning animations!

Bethany Hendrix, age 7
Zachary Canter, age 11
Andy Holmes, age 14
David Templin, age 14
Maria Miel Daroqui, age 17
Patricio Gabriel Plaza, age 17

Bethany Hendrix, age 7, Fulton, Kansas

1. I like to play with my computer and ride my bike.

2. I like Barbie and princesses. 

3. If I have to pick a cartoon it would be Bugs Bunny because he is cute  and smart.

4. I'd like to be an artist and paint on buildings so everyone could see and it would make old buildings look nice again for everyone.

Zachary Canter, age 11, Calabasas, California

Zack's Answers

1. Play baseball.

2. I love animation!

3. I have 3 favorites: 

1) The chicken from Chicken Run because I like chickens and I like computer animation. 

2) Donald Duck because he talks funny and he's just a funny character. 

3) All the Rugrats, because  I like the Rugrats show and I watch it, and I like the way they make the shapes and colors of the characters.

Andy Holmes, age 14, Allen, Texas

Andy's Answers

Note from Andy:

"My entry is a hand drawn animation of a little alien character I created. It is made up of two hundred and seventy individual pictures which I drew with the help of my light box.   I scanned them into my computer and colored them in Adobe Photoshop.  I added shadows to the characters for the first third of it, and tried to shade the rest but couldn't, because I was running out of time.  The pictures were then strung into a movie using Adobe Premiere, and a few minor touch-ups were added to smooth it out."

Answers to the questions:

1.  I've been drawing since I was two, and began making flip books out of post-it notes by the time I was five.  I've always loved drawing, and have been fascinated with animation since before I can remember.

2. Because I want a chance to meet and work with a professional animator.

3. Scar, from the Lion King, is one of my favorites.  The way he was animated
was so fluid and expressive, it just made me want to pick up my pencil!

4. I love drawing, oil painting, animating, and making movies.  I'm looking for a way use all my interests and talents in a single medium.  I'd like to make a movie that lets me use all my creative ideas.  I was on the Rosie O' Donnell show about 4 years ago and showed her my flip books.  I'd like to go back and show her how much I'm learning.

David Templin, age 14, Arlington, Texas

David's Answers

1. Animation, although I love all kinds of art. 

2. Because I might get to work with a professional animator from DreamWorks.  One of my favorite movies is Antz. 

3. Wallace and Gromit, because I love all of Nick Park's work.  I think he is a genius. 

4. I want to make a full length feature animated movie before I am 20, because it has been my dream to make my own movie ever since I can remember. 

Maria Miel Daroqui,  age 17, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Maria's Answers

1. I love to draw and imagine little animated stories. I like animation because I think that It's the greatest art form; it combines music, painting, drawing, sculpture, and all kind of arts.

2. I think that it's a great opportunity for my future. Dreamworks is a very important studio and this is a possibility that I must take.

3. I like the designs of the characters from EL DORADO; I think they are very original. I like Dreamworks movies because they are made for a mature audience. I also like Japanese animation, but sometimes it's very repetitive.

4. I would create an animation studio here, in my country, Argentina, to show the world that we can also make animation. The most wonderful thing would be to make the audience laugh or cry with an animated movie of our creation.

Patricio Gabriel Plaza,  age 17, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Note from Patricio:

I took an animation course a few years ago (when I was 14 and 15). At that place I learned the basics of animation and met a few persons that are also interested in animation. I kept training since then, buying books via Internet and getting all the info I could find about animation. I have to learn almost everything by myself because here, in Argentina, there isn't any career or a university to study animation. That's one of the reasons why I participated in the Amazing Kids! Animation Contest, because I want to continue learning animation; its my biggest passion.

Patricio's Answers

1. My favorite activity is drawing. I have been drawing since I was a little child, and I have always wanted to be an animator.

2. I want to become a cartoon animator, and I think that the best way to do it is going to study to the USA, because here, in my country Argentina, there are not any universities or careers on animation. I want to learn with teachers from one of the biggest animation studios at the present, DreamWorks.

3.  I have many favorite animated characters, from all kinds of animation: Krilin and Vegeta (anime-Dragon Ball Z); Ren & Stimpy (Spumco); Aladdin, Tarzan and Megara (Disney films); Miguel and Tulio (from DreamWorks) and the list continues. Each character has a different and elaborated personality, that is what makes them interesting.

4. I would create an animation studio, here in my country, Argentina. This way, I would try to do good animation films and series to represent South America in the whole world. I could give a chance to the Latin people to show their talent and I could also tell my own stories.

Learn More About Animation!

Visit the Amazing Kids! Animation Station and become an amazing young animator too!

Don't forget to send us your animations for our Animation Showcase too!