"And everyone burst into applause. They thought it was completely spontaneous. Of course, it had been worked out beforehand. But someone in the audience asked 'Well how could it be so spontaneous?' "So I turned to him and said 'Well, we animators are like that'," laughed Mr. Pindal.

The Sheridan program has turned out to be everything Mr. Rao hoped it would be-and more.

"They have a brilliant faculty and the students are very good, much, much above average," he said. "Probably because they come from all over."

While he's not sure where the money will come from for his second term next summer, Mr. Rao is determined to return. And he's busily setting his path around it.

Beginning in August, he'll spend nine months touring rural India, sketching Indian characters so he'll have a good base when he fulfils his dream of producing animated films with Indian themes.