Macromedia Flash Portals for Cartoons and Animations

The ubiquity of Flash can hardly be overstated - as anyone who has set up a new computer can attest, you can’t go three steps on the Web without being prompted to download the Flash Player for your virgin browser in order to properly view the Flash objects embedded in the Web.

Flash made its first appearance in 1995 as FutureSplash and was used to deliver animated content over narrowband Internet connections. Macromedia bought the company; since then, it’s evolved into a complete Web application development program that can be used to do everything from creating animated shorts and interfaces for databases to creating interactive websites with MP3 audio and full motion video. There are over 515 million computers using Macromedia’s Flash player, according to the company’s Web site.

In this article - Cartoons By the People For the People, SYS-CON Media points at some of the best Macromedia Flash Portal Sites

Newgrounds
www.newgrounds.com
One of the biggest Flash portals on the Web, Newgrounds receives more than 200 Flash submissions a day. Newgrounds has everything from games like “Samurai Asshole” to a series of shorts that pit Mr. T against a variety of opponents including Godzilla and Hitler.

Flash TV
www.iwantmyflashtv.com
Flash TV is like the older, more gainfully employed brother of Newgrounds. Birthplace of “The Greatest Story Never Told” (www.tgsnt.com), Flash TV features work by professional Flash artists, broken down by genre. Standouts include Hong Kong action-style “Deadly Thirst” and “Xombie,” a post-apocalyptic tale with a zombie hero.

College University
www.collegeuniv.com
Fans of “The Simpsons” and “Family Guy” will appreciate “College University.” “CU” follows the misadventures of Parks and Mike, two freshmen at College University. The two friends face the usual college pitfalls of angry lemurs, ornery monkey professors, and the watchful eye of campus security chief Optimus Prime. “CU” recently had former wrestler and current Slim Jim spokesman Randy “Macho Man” Savage stop by for a guest appearance.

The Happy Tree Friends
www.happytreefriends.com
If you like your animals cute and cuddly and your violence outrageous and gruesome, check out the Happy Tree Friends. Join Lumpy, Sniffles and Flippy the Green Beret bear as they meet a variety of untimely, bloody demises, each more spectacular than the last. Key episode: “Flippin’ Burgers.” Flippy visits a fast food joint and starts having Vietnam flashbacks. The ketchup and blood flows freely as Flippy massacres the restaurants’ patrons with condiment bottles and other weapons.

With the release of Flash MX Professional - Macromedia is saying ‘We don’t want to have it just for animation, we want it to build any kind of Web application you can ever imagine.