Charlie glances quickly out of his window, then scuttles down the street in a covert manner. He carries what appears to be a lunch box, but inside lies his secret. Charlie likes to rescue things -- robots, in particular. He steals them away from the local junkyard, repairs them and then sets the spider-like creatures free on the seashore in the middle of the night, when the sky is dark and the sea is ...

Wait a second. Javier Martinez doesn't like the way the sea looks. It needs more contrast, he decides. And since this is his animation short, he proceeds to add with a few expert keystrokes a posterization filter that makes the transition between light and dark areas appear more distinct, like a drawing.

"I needed this adjustment to match the style of the water with the style of the other 2-D elements -- hand-drawn elements -- in the scene," explained Martinez, who is working toward his M.F.A. in animation. Already, the UCLA student animator has snapped up several awards for his work, including the prestigious Student Academy Award, presented by the same folks who hand out the Oscars.

"E=MC^2" by Alina Hiu-Fan Chau

What looks on the surface like fun and frivolity to the casual observer is plain hard work. Each cartoon sequence includes 24 frames per second. A four-second scene like the one Martinez is working on takes about two weeks to create. In the end, an animated short film for a master's thesis, about three to four minutes in length, can take the students a year or more to complete.

But without the new lab, which was formally dedicated last week by the School of Theater, Film and Television, the creative process would take even longer and be more cumbersome.

Outside the lab, monitors mounted on the wall show passersby what appears on the student animators' screens as they work at filmmaking that uses chemical, electronic and digital capabilities. They can experiment by speeding up sound; applying various filters, effects and colors; and creating digital imagery.

"The studio lets students research the animation process of tomorrow, integrating production to make it both higher quality and more creative," said Professor Dan McLaughlin, head of the graduate animation program. "Our philosophy is one person, one film. The lab gives them the equipment to hopefully turn information into knowledge and use it to make good film."

The Lantz Studio was made possible by a $500,000 grant from the Walter Lantz Foundation in Burbank. Lantz, who died in 1994 just shy of his 95th birthday, was the Academy Award--winning animator and creator of such classic cartoon characters as Woody Woodpecker, Wally Walrus and Chilly Willy.

In fact, reminders of Lantz's legacy surround the student animators working in the lab. Images of Lantz characters, as well as other beloved creations, including Betty Boop, Porky Pig and Popeye, enliven the walls. Even the students' computers have been given names reflecting Lantz's life: his late wife Gracie -- who for years was the voice of Woody Woodpecker -- Andy Panda and Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.

Lantz's relationship with UCLA began in 1977, when he donated his archival material, which includes sketches, scripts, notes and more than 50,000 original animation cells, to the UCLA Library's Department of Special Collections.

Courtesy of Walter Lantz Foundation

and materials in schools we considered to be the best in the area," said Edward A. Landry, president of the Walter Lantz Foundation. Two other institutions that have also received aid thus far are the California Institute of the Arts in Valencia and the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

"As far as Mr. Lantz is concerned, in all honesty, a digital animation lab was beyond him in terms of his experience and understanding of the animation world," Landry said. "But if Mr. Lantz were starting out right now, it would fall right in line with where things are now, and he would be very pleased."

Everything a student animator needs is located at one workstation: a drawing table to draft pencil sketches, desk cameras, scanners, Internet access, digital video, sound-mixing equipment and other multimedia tools. Altogether, there are eight workstations and a digital pencil testing site, where students can create in seconds a sequence they can analyze frame by frame.

"You have everything in the same space, and you don't have to share. It's like you have your own office," said M.F.A. animation student Andrew Blaiklock, who is finishing up "MacDeath the Knife," his film about a day in the life of a dagger. "In the past, we had to fight over the equipment."

It's hard to imagine that the 22-by-22-foot space was originally a series of five storage rooms and closets that were completely gutted.

Christina Anderson works on creating the perfect cloudy blue sky for her Web-based animation project. She is the only M.F.A. student currently doing an interactive animation project for her thesis. On her screen is what first appears to be a mountain, but as one looks more closely, it reveals Oddburg, an entire city on a hill.

"It's not a linear narrative, like the animated shorts the others are working on," Anderson explained. "But you can click on certain elements and see a picture that is a story or interactive animation sequences."

As more technological advances are made, Anderson believes that there will be much need for her talent as a Web designer. "Right now, many people may not have access to the high bandwidth Internet connection required for such animated sequences, but in the future it may become the norm," Anderson said. "I guess that's why I'm drawn to it."

"Charlie" by Javier Martinez

Many of the animation department's graduates go on to become leaders in the animation industry, including David Silverman, co-director of "Monsters, Inc.," Chuck Sheetz, veteran producer of "The Simpsons" and renowned independent filmmaker Sara Petty.

Said Robert Rosen, dean of the School of Theater, Film and Television: "This gift provides the tools that will enable our animation students to fulfill their potential as artists and storytellers."