The Animation Appreciation Club celebrates cartoons, animation and video games during its weekly meetings. The club has the ability to analyze animation and relevant topics seriously, but also finds a way to bring humor and personality into the discussions.

Club president and founder Carlos Alfaro began the club under the name “My Little Pony Interest Club,” but changed the name to the “Animation Appreciation Club,” in fall 2014 because he felt the name more accurately described the clubs activities.

“We changed the name so we would have a greater scope of things to talk about,” Alfaro said.

He did not want the members to feel limited in what they could share or discuss during meetings.

“That way we can [have] members participate and contribute,” Alfaro said.

During the meeting, Alfaro discussed re-branding and re-organizing how the meetings will be held for the rest of this semester and next semester, which will be when Alfaro graduates.

He explained how the meetings will be structured, with a 30-minute segment dedicated to watching an animated show, a 15-minute discussion of the show and more time dedicated to club member presentations on various animation-related topics.

Alfaro said presenting animation shows is a fun and easy way for new and current members to learn about animation.

“We can appreciate the animation or appreciate its mistakes,” Alfaro said.

There is no required level of animation or cartoon knowledge required to participate in the discussions.

The club members are very open and accepting of everyone’s contributions to the discussions and provide a comfortable and safe environment for students to voice their thoughts.

Shaun Lin, a mechanical engineering major, enjoys club meetings and has been a member for about a year.

“We usually just joke around; it’s not much of a club if there is not a joyful element,” Lin said.

Jackson Montera, an accounting major, also feels the club is a fun and open place that is welcoming to new people and ideas.

“It’s a really cool club with really cool people,” Montera said. “It’s really interesting how people present cartoons and let us think about it in ways we hadn’t.”

Alfaro believes the discussions should follow the interests of the club members instead of classroom lecture style.

“The goal of the club was to discuss the show [My Little Pony] but it has grown to [discussions about] animation and other topics,” Alfaro said.

Jeremy Tom, a computer science major, makes his own animations and feels the club has expanded his own knowledge of cartoons and animation.

“They bring in different topics, some I’ve never heard of,” Tom said. “It’s good to hear something new about animation.”

Jason Chiu, a computer engineering major, likes discussing animation although he has not produced his own animation yet.

“More consumer than creator,” Chiu said in regards to his animation interest. “I come here because we discuss all kinds of animation, [especially] new animation.”

Jeremy Smith, an accounting major, has a personal interest in the creation of animation and enjoys being part of a club that focuses on animation elements and topics.

“I love cartoons and animation,” Smith said. “I respect all the time and work, especially when it comes out really good.”

The love for the club and the animation is obvious in the discussions and how the members relate to one another. During their meeting on April 10, the members showed an episode of My Little Pony and discussed topics like Pokemon, animatics and of course, My Little Pony.

Alfaro said anyone with an interest in cartoons or animation can drop by one of their meetings.

“The more members we get, the more we can succeed and be more dynamic,” Alfaro said.