Yes, animation is in vogue and it is here to stay. We have had a glut of animation films over the past years, many of the most loved cartoon and comic strip characters for generations have been made into movies.

But all those characters have either been superheroes, super-powered humans, mythical characters or our very own Superstar. There have been very few movies that have been based on outright funny characters.

Of course, Ice Age, Monsters Inc., Shrek and a few other movies have been there but none of them have been inspired from hugely successful comic strips. The familiarity that we have with these funny faced characters whom we see on our newspapers and tabloids every day cannot be matched by a freshly conceived character, however well crafted it may be. That is why, the animated flick releasing this weekend is sure to pull in big crowds.

Almost all of you would have come across the name Simpson at least once if not everyday for the past many years. It is pretty sure that at least some of you are enduring fans of this set of characters that have been capturing the imagination of generations and it is also sure that most of the fans of the characters will also enjoy the movie; it’s like watching your long time friend on screen. And so come this Friday, The Simpsons Movie is expected to take the US box office by storm (by laughs and chuckles would be more appropriate) and if the movie does that you can bet on a sequel within a year and surely other famous and loved cartoons and comic strips of our times will soon be movies. Imagine, movies on Hagar The Horrible, Peanuts and Calvin and Hobbes, that would be a treat.