Even the snooty Cannes Film Festival loves computer animation, which has become such the rage in Hollywood that it has virtually displaced traditional hand-drawn cartoons on studio slates. "Shrek 2" ...

It all begins with a still image. Then another. And another. Before you know it, a fish is swimming, a dragon is flying, or a robot is falling in love with another robot in a post-apocalyptic world.

Introduction -- Film and television at the dawn of the digital revolution -- Analog dreams : bohemians, beatniks, and the Whitneys -- Spook work : the government and the military -- Academia -- Xerox ...