Even when they're magnified It's hard to see their features.

They're tiny, infinitesimal, So small it makes you doubt.

But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don't let their secret out!

The Cartoon

Yeah.

Like that.

Yeah.

Tom Thomas, aren't you done yet?

Yeah! Show us your surprise and quit drawing!

But this IS the surprise!

So, make yourselves comfortable!

Quiet on the set! And… action!

Great crash!

You should put a huge bump on his head!

It's just like a cartoon that you drew on there!

He did draw us a real cartoon there.

Oh, right!

Real cartoons? They only show them on television.

But they make them exactly the same way.

Animation is made with many-many pictures called frames.

Each one of the frames is a little bit different from the one that comes right before it.

For example, a character can lift his arm up a little bit at a time.

And then, if you watch the frames very quickly one right after the other,

it looks like the character is really moving.

And that's how cartoons are made.

And you know what, to make one minute of a cartoon

you might have to draw more than a thousand frames!

Oh wow!

I'm not patient enough for that.

It's no big deal that your cartoon is short.

Especially since it's funny.

Yeah, it's so funny!

Tom Thomas, who is this kooky guy you drew here?

You're just joking, Nolik!

You don't recognize yourself?

So this is suppose to be me on here?

Did you already forget what happen to you this morning?

Simka, you're it! You can't catch me!

I'm too fast for you!

You're weren't too fast for the pole.

Simka! You didn't have to tell him about that!

Real sisters don't treat their brothers like that!

And your cartoon's not funny at all!

Nolik, don't go!

It's OK, he just needs to sulk for a while.

While he's gone there's something I wanna show you.

Do you have a cartoon you can put on the TV?

I have plenty!

What should I do?

Let's watch it again,

but now I wanna show you the same cartoon a frame at a time.

Here. Take a look.

This... is a frame.

and here's… another,

and another.

Isn't that cool?

Uh-huh!

So cool!

And then, back at regular speed,

there's 25 frames every second!

What should I do?

It's magical!

Simka, you know...

I feel awful for Nolik.

Yeah. I feel awful too.

There are many different ways of making animation.

Hand-drawn-animation is, of course, drawn by hand.

And stop-motion is made like this:

The animators pose the model and take a picture of it.

Then they move the model a little bit and take another picture.

And they do it again, and again, and again,

until there are enough frames to make the characters

look like they're moving very smoothly across the screen.

Another popular style of animation is clay animation.

In these films everything is built and rebuilt out of modeling clay.

But today most of the cartoons are made on a computer.

At first they make a computer model of a character,

a sort of digital puppet.

After the models are built there're colored and animated to move.

This is the kind of animation that's used in The Fixies cartoons!

Tom Thomas, what are you doing?

Are drawing a new cartoon?

Nah. I started fixing the old one,

so Nolik will stop being angry.

Good! Keep drawing.

And I'll go and get him.

Nolik!

I'm not here!

Nolik, forgive me!

Please don't be so mad.

There's a cartoon to watch!

I've already seen your stupid cartoon!

So what did you do now? Put a huge bump on my head?

Not a chance!

I did it all over again!

I'm sure you'll love it!

You sure of that?

Alright, go ahead!

Show me your cartoon!

Quiet on the set!

And… action!

There you go!

Now that cartoon I really liked!

Good!

Because I'm all out of paper.

Well, I think that the first cartoon was funnier.

Woah!

But this one's much better of course!

Yeah!

Fixies have a special sign I happened to discover.

They hold three fingers in the air And flash it to each other.

They send their greetings to you They sing them and they shout,

But if you meet a Fixie, please, Don't let their secret out!

The Alarm

Hey there!

I'm back.

Yoo-hoo!

Wait! My chocolate bunny! It was standing right here.

What's this? A dog?

Not that one, another one.

I had two bunnies!

I just got them as a present.

You had two bunnies?

Are you sure of that?

Of course!

You think I don't know my ones from my two's?!

Then someone stole one!

Unless, ah... Unless...

You went and ate it yourself!

Me?!

How come I don't remember anything about it?

Maybe you're a sleepwalker!

What is a sleepwalker?

Someone who get's up from his bed at night without waking up.

He crosses the room,

eats one of his chocolate bunnies,

and doesn't remember a thing in the morning.

But in the morning the bunny was still here!

Yeah? Huh.

How about…

Your mother! Could she have taken it?

She doesn't like when you're eating too much candy.

No, she doesn't.

She says that candy's terrible for my teeth.

And so, to save your teeth from these sweets,

she snuck quietly into your room,

snatched one of the rabbits,

and ate it!

But Mom's the one who gave them to me as a present!

And so why would she take it?

Yeah?

Then I just don't know.

Well, I do!

I think it was your father!

He wouldn't steel it! We know he's allergic to chocolate.

Next he'll tell us how the fish took it!

You know...

I always thought there was something fishy about those fish.

No doubt about it!

They stole the bunny!

Uh-huh! And then they hid it in their aquarium.

Oh, Nolik, that's funny!

You know what, Tom Thomas!

You need to protect that other chocolate hare!

Exactly!

It has to be eaten right away.

Now, before it disappears.

Just wait a little.

You don't have to eat it.

Let's think of something else.

Of course! We need a security alarm!

Need what?

The alarm was invented to keep houses, cars and other valuable things safe and secure.

The simplest alarm is a siren or light bulb

that is connected by wires to a door or window.

When someone tries to open a door that has an alarm on it,

the alarm goes off,

making the siren howl and the light flash.

Alarms can also be set up to call the police if they go off.

Super!

But where can we get ourselves a security alarm?

You have an electronic construction kit! Remember?

You're right!

Then bring it over here.

Nolik, help me!

- Tideesh! -Tideesh!

Tideesh is the Fixies' victory call.

When a job is well done, and we Fixies are proud of our work,

we exclaim “Tideesh!”

and raise up our hand with our thumb and first two fingers sticking out.

You want to know what it means?

It's very simple.

Fixies love solving problems and fixing things that are broken.

And do you know what you need to do to solve a problem?

First, you need to find out what's broken.

Second – understand why it broke.

And third – repair what's broken so it works again.

So do what the Fixies do and:

First – find it, Second – understand it, and Third – fix it.

Tideesh!

It really is a great word!

And it sounds funny.

But we Fixies surely like it a lot!

Well, Tom Thomas, turn on the alarm.

You sure the alarm will work?

I'm sure. Without a doubt!

You're under arrest!

- Freeze! - Freeze!

Chewsocka?

Why are you stealing my chocolate?