Crossing over: film and television assets trade places. (Broadcast).

The list of animated television series that have made the leap to the big screen is long and getting longer. There's Nickelodeon's Rugrats, Hey Arnold!, and The Wild Thornberrys. The Cartoon Network's Powerpuff Girls have already starred in a movie, and films based on the network's Samurai Jack and Sponge Bob programs are on the way. And some film properties, such as Jimmy Neutron, have actually reversed the process, going from film to TV.

This crossover trend exists for several reasons. Naturally, taking a property to a new platform means a chance to make more money. But, in the case of moving from TV to film, TV producers also like to make movies because they can tell bigger stories on the big screen. "Anybody who works on TV aspires to make movies," says Terry Thoren, CEO and president of film and TV production studio Klasky Csupo. "The audience sits in the dark and is totally focused on the story, immersed in our world without the phone ringing or the dog needing to be let out."

But going from TV to film is not easy. Because of film's higher budget, it needs a larger audience to recoup expenses. More thrills and spills must be added to big-screen versions to keep the audience's attention. While the format for shorter, animated television programs can be more gag-oriented, film requires a story that maintains audience interest for more than an hour.

Going from film to TV is no walk in the park either. Even though 3D technology enables assets to be shared across platforms, there are technical difficulties associated with going from one medium to another.

TV to Film

A basic difference between film and television productions is the size of the animation crew and the time it takes to produce a finished product. "We make 26 television episodes, each 22 minutes long, over 18 months with 150 people," says Thoren. "With a film we produce 75 minutes over two years with 350 people."

Among the specific technical challenges facing producers who take their work from TV to film is that film requires more detail, because the screen is larger and enables a greater depth of field. "The larger screen size allows for some very interesting compositions," says Jerry Mills, director of technology for Klasky Csupo, "but we need to plan with aspect ratio, screen size, pan speed, and a dozen other details in mind as well as the aesthetics of the scene. Things such as strobing, density shifts in lines, and minute artifacts that would be hidden in normal broadcast become major issues in film."