i'm about to throw in the towel. i have a flash file with a button (black text
over an orange button) and a small movie clip (a black square that starts at
alpha=0, fades in to alpha=100 and fades back to 0). and i'm trying to set it
up so that when you click the button, the black square movie clip is activated.
i'm not getting any error messages when i click test movie, but when i click
the button nothing happens. the action script on the button reads

on (release) {
'animationa'.play();
}

i can't figure out if there's something wrong with the action syntax , if i
put the movie clip in the wrong place, or what.

if y'all have any time and wouldn't mind taking a look at the flash file, i
would be forever grateful. you can find it at
http://www.nickczap.com/flash/button-movie.fla

much obliged,
macron.

if animationa is the name of your movieclip and your button is a true button (and not a movieclip button) try:

on(release){
animationa.play();