Most of Troy Riser's commercial work has been for corporate clients. As a result, most of that work has been (and remains) proprietary and confidential. He can't show it to anyone. However, a few pieces have been vetted by the client and are exempted, or constitute fair use in the context of an artist's portfolio, for example, which is the case here.

Anyway, when creating courses as an instructional designer specializing in Web-based Training or when creating a multimedia presentation for clients such as AT&T and Steeprock, Inc., Troy Riser would occasionally insert what are commonly called Easter Eggs into the lesson or presentation. Easter Eggs are a kind of visual non sequitur that catches the attention of the audience and keeps them engaged. Hence, the Ninja Squirrel sequence shown below.

In this instance, the learner is going along, taking the course. Several of the screens the learner encounters are introductory screens containing explanatory text supported with decorative splash graphics, like this one:

Or this one:

Up to this point, splash images are about the most visually exciting thing going on with the lesson, which in this case dealt with a fairly complex Outside Plant-oriented logistics application. To keep the learner engaged, Troy Riser created the following animation sequence:

To maximize the learning experience, the learner must be engaged; otherwise, one can lose the audience: attention drifts, the point is lost. In a learning environment, engaging the learner sometimes means breaking loose from the lesson and taking the learner elsewhere, if only for a little while. Think of it as a mental field trip. It works.