I recently attempted to render my first animation, and after 1 day I had only rendered 84 frames, is this normal?

1.6 ghz
wildcat 760
1 gig ram
640X480
intermediate
depth map shadows
displacement


It also takes a few minutes just for the batch render to start.

Do animations realy take this long to render in Maya.

I know it is proportionate to the scene, but it seems too long.

I just placed a sphere on a plane, moved it a little in 'x', tried to render 20 frames, and it still took over a half hour?

What is the most efficient, and expedient way to render animations in Maya. I am a former Max user, and it rendered MUCH quicker.

thanks.