I got started in flash years before this, back when I wanted to figure a way to make my own type of flash-website and used to use free-online flash-site designers. Eventually I discovered a program called Swish which I took a month out to try and learn, though it was very slow.

Eventually I left flash-editing for a few years then I remembered trying to make this movie before and decided to do it properly (I lost the first movie and all my other work in a C:Drive meltdown) so I opened up Swish after spending a week or so gathering all the sprites/sounds, editing them all myself (every single character frame and room was edited in photoshop) and then one final week to script it and put it in motion.

Best way to start is to check online for guides on how to use Macromedia (the most popular flash-editor) and go from there, assuming you can get a copy of the program, of course.

I wont be touching flash again for quite some time as I do other projects, but I may get the urge again sometime in the future.