I dunno. every time I step out into other industries, I'm shocked at how little even skilled people are paid. I dunno much about animation, but I'm pretty sure you could setup, say, a small publishing house and support it for a few years on a million bucks. I'm certain you could start up a restaurant on that kind of scratch, and if you were the business type, you could turn that into a chain. I mean, sure, you'd need more for promotion/advertising, but that's just as true of the tech industry.

I mean, sure, a business starting with a million bucks is unlikely to become a multi-billion dollar business, but... I think it's a reasonable amount to start a reasonable business... and I think that's how McDonalds, at least, got it's start.