Daily Links 2-14-14

Here are a few links for your weekend reading enjoyment. In this edition: the great animation renaissance, some fascinating history about Abraham Lincoln, a Christian in Hollywood, and more.

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The greatest renaissance in Disney animation is due to a group of CalArts students who attended the school in the 1970s. This is their story.

It was a staggering number. In November 2012, the  Los Angeles Times reported that directors who had been students in the California Institute of the Arts’ animation programs had generated more than $26 billion at the box office since 1985, breathing new life into the art of animation. The list of their record-breaking and award-winning films—which include  The Brave Little Toaster, The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Toy Story, Pocahontas, Cars, A Bug’s Life, The Incredibles, Corpse Bride, Ratatouille, Coraline—is remarkable. Even more remarkable was that so many of the animators not only went to the same school but were students together, in the now storied CalArts classes of the 1970s. Their journey begins, and ends, with the Walt Disney Studios. As director and writer Brad Bird (The Incredibles, Ratatouille) observes, “People think it was the businessmen, the suits, who turned Disney Animation around. But it was the new generation of animators, mostly from CalArts. They were the ones who saved Disney.”

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Seven challenges of activity-driven churches. There is definitely a downside to having too many things going on at church.

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Houses sure to please any book lover as they are built out of books.

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This is an interesting bit of history. Months before President Abraham Lincoln was shot and killed he was almost shot and killed. 

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Kevin DeYoung offers some guidance to sports writers with some interesting results.

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Is it possible to be an actor and remain a faithful Christian? Yes, but it's not easy.