Cartoon Toolbox Electronic Entertainment Review

E L E C T RO N I C
E N T E R T A I N M E N T

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!
Let your Saturday-morning TV mavens direct their own wacky cartoons with Big Top's Cartoon Toolbox Starring Felix the Cat. The easy-to-use program helps kids create a nimated stories starring such classic characters as Felix, The Professor, Poindexter, Vavoom, Rock Bottom and Master Cylinder.
To make a cartoon, kids create a storyboard using the program's scenery, characters, props, special effects and sounds. It helps to have an idea in mind, because the program's overwhelming number of choices can confuse the storyboarding process. To animate a character, kids simply drag it in the direction they want it to move.
It's easy enough to edit each frame of the cartoon, but finetuning is more limited. A single character can appear only once in each frame; adding another set of movements overrides the original, for example.
The Cartoon Toolbox is quite sophisticated, even for the recommended age of 9 (nine) and up. It sports near-professional editing tools and high-quality graphics that resemble big-screen 'toons. Besides being lots of fun, the program encourages kids to take an active approach to multimedia. Talented producers may want to enter their best work in Big Top's contest (entries must be received by February 15, 1996); they can win a princely Felix the Cat wristwatch or have their masterpiece touted in the next version of the Cartoon Toolbox. Send entries to Big Top Productions, 548 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107.

B I G T O P
W E L C O M E

E L E C T RO N I C E N T E R T A I N M E N T
	`LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!` Let your Saturday-morning TV mavens direct their own wacky cartoons with Big Top's Cartoon Toolbox Starring Felix the Cat. The easy-to-use program helps kids create a nimated stories starring such classic characters as Felix, The Professor, Poindexter, Vavoom, Rock Bottom and Master Cylinder. To make a cartoon, kids create a storyboard using the program's scenery, characters, props, special effects and sounds. It helps to have an idea in mind, because the program's overwhelming number of choices can confuse the storyboarding process. To animate a character, kids simply drag it in the direction they want it to move. It's easy enough to edit each frame of the cartoon, but finetuning is more limited. A single character can appear only once in each frame; adding another set of movements overrides the original, for example. The Cartoon Toolbox is quite sophisticated, even for the recommended age of 9 (nine) and up. It sports near-professional editing tools and high-quality graphics that resemble big-screen 'toons. Besides being lots of fun, the program encourages kids to take an active approach to multimedia. Talented producers may want to enter their best work in Big Top's contest (entries must be received by February 15, 1996); they can win a princely Felix the Cat wristwatch or have their masterpiece touted in the next version of the Cartoon Toolbox. Send entries to Big Top Productions, 548 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94107.