My parents have never really shown any interest
in any hobby of mine that cost any money (my 
mother is one of those people who looks at ANY
drawing or piece of art and asks "how much was 
it?").  My father actually was pretty supportive
once I explained the animation process to him
(like yours was).  However, he's one of those
people whose eyes light up with "cha-ching!"
when he looks at the cels (like comic books or 
anything else, actually), so I was never able to
explain to him the sentimental value of a cel
or the beauty of a bishounen character (he also
does the "isn't that a girl?  why does HE have
long hair?" thing)...

Anyway... so way out here in the evil South, there
isn't much of an outlet for creativity or a 
widespread appreciation of art.  So imagine my
absolute SHOCK when my aunt (from up North, of
course) visits today and tells me she's an 
absolute animation/cartoon nut and that she
wants to see the cels I have.  She then "ooohs"
and "ahhhhs" over them (esp. the backgrounds!)
and tells me how she has a roomful of Disney
lithographs at home and has always wanted to
collect cels (although the hefty pricetags on
cels from her fav. Disney films has always
stopped her, as my uncle completely does NOT
understand the attraction).  She told me they
actually had an extra room built into the house
(when they bought it) JUST for her animation
collection!!  

This may seem unexciting to some people, but I
loved hearing from someone in her mid 40's that
she still watches cartoons on Saturday mornings
and that she built an extra room in her house
just for animation stuff.  This is especially
neat to me because for years my parents have
been telling me to "grow up" and find something
better to do with my time (and goodness, I'm
only 21!  What am I supposed to do, sit every day
and watch the stock market fall?  Is that an
"adult" hobby?)... and now I have something to
point out to them as "adult/normal" because my
aunt is a very normal and nice person that they
respect!  (Mom did kind of look at her funny when
she said she wanted to go see Atlantis with me
this weekend...)

Anyway... that's too funny about your father and
the bishy explanation.  ^.^  You're lucky he's a
supportive parent!  It's always nice to have
other people in the house who can tolerate (or
support) your hobbies without making you feel
bad about your interests.  Now if I can just 
explain the attraction of dressing up like anime
characters at conventions to my mother, maybe
she'll quit giving me funny looks when my sister 
and I talk about wigs and furry fabric...  ^.~

Peace!
Kim
aka Lady Zatara