You think I did this?

Inspector McCloud Part 7: A little piece of animation

.
.
.
Here's another peek at sequence 2 - no music, but completed animation.


Not really prepared for internet delivery - give it a minute to start playing!

Animation is taking a gruelingly long time. I may starve to death before I complete this dang thing. But it's gettin' done!

T

A new game from Flinch

.
.
.
Check out this new game we created for the Psyclops site.


It takes a few minutes to get the hang of it... but it gets fun really quick!

T

The Universal Position of The Biker

.
.
.


T

before stewart did it...

.
.
.
Before you saw it on the daily show...

T

.
.
.
Just saw W.
Reminded me of this old doodle I did...

T

Inside the mind of a 6-year old filmmaker

.
.
.
In between the long hours of running this company (into the ground), coaching T Ball, being a reasonably attentive husband and coercing Flash to give me adequate results, I somehow manage to selflessly donate time to helping kids fulfill their dreams - provided they are related to me and do what I say at least 85% of the time. And have small dreams.

So one day, my 6-year old (who, by the way, has never seen Mad Max) shows up with this drawing of a most heinous bullet car, and says he wants to turn it into an animation. After trying unsuccessfully to convince him that I didn't know where to find any animation equipment, I relented and let him have full access to my Cintiq (which I haven't even started paying off yet, for you cynics who doubt the depth of my fatherly love).

This was the result:



While I helped him with the technical aspects of animation, this film is all Charlie. Every little detail, down to the blood-soaked spikes in the road, came from him. This chaotic, violent masterpiece is his Directorial debut... a Dad couldn't be more proud.

And, he's starting to get pretty comfortable with Flash too. Perhaps I have found some cheap labor to exploit?

T

Inspector McCloud Part 6: Uhhh... more Color Animatic

.
.
.
So, here's another piece from the Inspector McCloud Color Animatic / Rough Cut.

In these scenes, we see the Pollution Cartel taking over the city park while Stormy & McCloud get to know each other. Still working with very little animation and temp music (Thank you Juan Garcia Esquivel and John Barry).

Probably going to need a "meanwhile.. " or two.



Have fun!

T

Inspector McCloud Part 5: Color Animatic

.
.
.
3 weeks, no new postings. I'll try to make up for that here.

We have completed the Color Animatic / Rough Cut of Inspector McCloud, and are ready to share a little!

There is very little animation at this point, and the music is all temporary, to give a taste of the direction we're hoping to take it (thank you Ennio Morricone).

Have a peek at this scene, which takes place early in the show:


Obviously, there is a lot more work to do... we have another pass at animation, as well as a mountain of post production - but we're proud of this little bit.

I hope you enjoy!

T

Superjail

.
.
.
How the hell did they do it?

How did Christy Karacas and his band of psychos get Superjail on the air? It's sick and subversive, sloppy and disjointed... and completely deranged. And brilliant. This thing is the closest thing to art Adult Swim has ever aired.


I can't get enough of this damn show. And it's not fair, dammit. After many long, long years trying to clean up my designs and streamline my production pipelines, trying to simplify my layouts so I can tell my story quickly and efficiently, trying to keep my characters on model and establish rules for style, these guys turn it all backwards and upside down.


It's the only show on Adult Swim - hell, on most of TV - that's still drawn FRAME BY FRAME! I don't even have the balls to try that! And we're not talking about simple artwork here - look at this:


Frame by frame, bitch.


It's like the 70s all over again... not the bad, stiff Hanna Barbera Saturday Morning 70s, but the trippy Ralph Bakshi, anything goes 70s. It's Yellow Subrarine on acid - a lot of Acid. It's Schoolhouse Rock for the criminally insane.



The characters, like liquid, seem to evolve from shot to shot - the result of a truly fluid and organic animation process - but it only adds to the show. In that way, it shares much with Ren & Stimpy. And the gags - my god. Lots of people die horrible bloody deaths, but it's okay apparently, because they're murderous criminals.

Every episode ends with a full-scale battle resulting in mass carnage. The plot that takes us there is almost irrelevant by the time we arrive, because the pure visceral thrill of the carefully (or carelessly) storyboarded action overshadows the whole experience. Even a sudden orgy provides more gore than a Freddy Kruger movie.

I challenge you to watch this show and find a main character without serious personality flaws (sadism, narcissism, emotional detachment, submissive self loathing - all to the point of turning your stomach) - and yet, I'm fully engaged. Adult Swim, Augenblick Studios, their sponsors - all took a huge chance on this one and it is paying off. Fans are clamoring for Season 2 and, at the rate it must take to produce each show, there will be a bit of a wait. But I expect the process will be as painstaking as season 1.

I don't know what makes this show so damn addictive, but I can say this with certainty: the guys who produce Superjail love to animate.

More - cause you gotta love it.




If you haven't bothered yet, give it a go.

T

Inspector McCloud Part 4: Design

.
.
.
Not Much to say about the design for Inspector McCloud - it's been a long time since I was sitting in the designer's seat, at least to this extent. For the first time in... God know how long, I have taken on the roll of designing every last facet of a major project, from Characters & BGs to Props and FX. Even the title sequences will be me, I expect.

The villains prepare for a picnic.

It took a long time to dust off the illustration chops and get back to where I could build these things from scratch. It also took a lot of going back to the cartoons I love and analyzing why I love it. Although I love watching cartoons... that still counts as work.

Doin' Time

I've also had the good fortune of working closely with designers like Willie Castro, Gene Fowler, Peter Parpan and Brian Chin, all of whom had an influence on this style.

Sandy, making a guest appearance, develops a crush on Matthew McConaughey

McCloud takes his air quotes for a test flight.

ESD Headquarters

One of the hardest things to wrap my brain around was (and is) color. Making color choices is one of the most painful processes for me - like deciding which T-shirt to put on in the morning. Once I was able to break from the idea of Sky=Blue, Tree=Green, I was able to make some progress. I am by no means "free", but it's a lot easier to get moving now.

Mmmm... cake.

Some of the locals line up to take shots at Agent Public.

The climactic battle begins!

Much room for improvement... but I'm having fun, and learning how to draw again!


T

Hmm.. where have I seen that one before?

.
.
.
I'm getting around to this one a little late, but...

I thought perhaps you might like to see this editorial cartoon by Jeff Stahler of the Columbus Dispatch, released on Obama's Inauguration day - January 20, 2009:



Pretty cool idea, Obama in the Lincoln Memorial, sharing a fist bump with the great emancipator, a fellow Illinois Congressman-turned-president. I thought so too when I drew this one on Election night, two and a half months earlier:


Now, I ain't got no high-falootin' "paying job" at no fancy newspaper, but I thought this one was worth printing... despite my clearly inferior illustration skills. That's why I sent it out to every publication I could think of in hopes that someone would break all protocols and print the damn thing.

To be fair, I'm sure Mr. Stahler never saw my cartoon, or any of my work (which puts him in good company). Also, it is his job to come up with several ideas a week worthy of printing... while this was merely the result of random inspiration for me. Who would roll the dice on an editorial one-hit-wonder?

Still, I reserve the right to be irrationally pissed off about it. What else can I do? I have nothing else to bitch about.

T

What a Cartoon Show gives birth to a new generation of animators

.
.
.
Does anybody remember the "What a Cartoon" show from the early 90s? In the vein of the Channel Frederator model, "amateur" animators could bring their vision to the small screen compliments of Cartoon Network's in-house studio.

Eddie Fitzgerald brings his Spumco chops to the table

This was one of the first attempts to develop new content on the cheap through a weekly showcase - and it worked! Shows such as Dexter's Laboratory, Powerpuff Girls, Johnny Bravo, Courage the Cowardly Dog and Cow & Chicken were all born from this model - as was the look and feel of the modern Cartoon Network!



It worked like this: submit your cartoon idea to CN in the form of completed Storyboards. If they liked it, they would give you the staff & resources to complete your cartoon, and then show it on Cartoon Network. One major caveat - CN owned your content (with the usual development deal of 5% profit participation or something along those lines, depending on what a hardass your agent was).

That's the other major caveat to submission: you could not submit Storyboards without being represented by a professional agent. This served the purpose of weeding out a ton of crappy work by amateurs around the world (myself included). It sounds unfair, but sorting through that kind of volume would have been costly and time consuming, and probably would have hurt the overall quality.



As you can imagine, most of the opportunities were given to Hollywood Studio staffers, a sort of insiders club of young and talented players... what we outsider animators called the "Cal-Arts crowd" (named for the amazing Valencia-based school whose program consistently launches some of the best and most successful animators in the business).

Do I sound bitter? I'm not, actually. All of these guys worked their asses off, creating their storyboards on spec, busting out complete (and funny) cartoons on a lean budget and a tight schedule... but there definitely comes confidence & incentive with having the industry experience and professional relationships that would come under scrutiny during the award process.

Still, it did (and still does) kind of reinforce a clique-mentality within the Hollywood animation scene - but nothing so sinister that genuine talent can't permeate it.

Robert Alvarez had me craving pizza for days with this one.

The What a Cartoon program produced one new cartoon every week for like, a year. It was also not uncommon to see these cartoons showing up on Boomerang or any of the other warmed-up leftover channels. Not only did it give Cartoon Network several of the most profitable properties they've ever had, it launched a bunch of careers... creators like Butch Hartman (Fairly Odd Parents), Craig McCracken (Powerpuff, Foster's Home) and Genndy Tartakovsky (Dexter, Samurai Jack) as well as Directors like Robert Alvarez (Johnny Bravo, Grim & Evil), Zac Moncrief (Family Guy), and Mike Milo (Chowder, Pinky and the Brain).



Even those who do not swing big balls in the studios have gone on to enjoy enormous opportunities and respect from their peers since participating in the program. Miles Thompson and Joe Orrantia both graced and tortured me with their presence on the Li'l Pimp crew back in ought 3. Talented and mischievous, both of them.


Miles Thompson's installment - I'm convinced he based the worm on himself.

Some of these cartoons represented a look that was rather stale and mainstream by that time in CN history (I will not specify out of respect), but most of them brought something kinetic and wild to the screen, a combination of fresh and retro, a Hanna Barbera on acid approach (partially influenced by Kricfalusi) that helped usher in a new era of animation that has defined Cartoon network over the last 15 years.

The most memorable aspect of this series is, for me, the opening theme song. it sounds like someone took the guitar solo from The Beatles' "The Night Before" and turned it into a punk rock song.

If you've had any love for the animation of Nickelodeon & Cartoon Network over the last decade, drink a toast to the What a Cartoon show.

T

More High Finance Humor

.
.
.
As promised, here's the other piece we did for Mark Cuban's blog, "Blog Maverick".

This one features the big boys of Government Financial Management, hitting the road in a heap of junk after being taken down a couple of pegs by an unruly economy.



This was was a little harder to write than the Madoff one - lots of research for a limited IQ numbnuts like me to get wrapped up in this stuff.

Very little of the research actually makes it into this piece (just a few key points - the title for example), I just have to really immerse myself in it before I can gain the perspective to write something that's (hopefully) funny. I also feel compelled to write something smart enough to keep Cuban's interest - the guy's a freakin' genius.

If you haven't spent time on any of Cuban's blogs, and you ever want to have a business of your own, GO.

http://blogmaverick.com
http://news.cnet.com/marc-cuban-blog - I highly recommend this one.

Much, much good business advice there, as well as some unique insight into the things we take for granted.

T

The Ballad of Bernie Madoff

.
.
.
We just completed a quickie job for Mark Cuban, bringing a little financial sector humor to his blog, "Blog Maverick". It's a cut-out head number, parodying the Free Credit Report.com ads (and using the original spots as a background plate).

This is my first time with "high finance humor" - I had to do a bit of research so I could write funny songs to go with the animation. My sorry voice appears prominently in the pieces.

It's set to make its world premiere on Cuban's blog... normally I would hold off on posting it here, but I'm pretty sure he won't mind that 5 or 6 people saw it before his readership did.

Here's the first one - it features supervillain Bernie Madoff bragging about this undertakings while settling in to his new job:



There's another one on the way.

T

Pogo Possum by Chuck Jones

.
.
.
Okay, here's a truly strange one...

In 1969, Chuck Jones actually took a crack at the beloved Pogo Possum Swamp gang. Honestly, this is nothing like the original Walk Kelly comic (unusual for an animated adaptation, no?) - but it was still an interesting discovery.






Weirdest of all: at 7:40, the porcupine... that Chuck himself doing the voice!

T

MoreTime for Timer

.
.
.
This was another Time for Timer. Not as awesome as the other one... less clever, and the voice guy is forcing the whole Texan accent, which kinda kills it. Kind of cheesy, if you'll forgive the pun.




The Time for Timer PSAs were actually a "spinoff" of The Incredible, Indelible Magical Physical Mystery Trip, produced in 1973 as an ABC after school special. I remember seeing this damn cartoon (yes, when it originally aired - I'm THAT old), and it may have sucked for all i know but I thought it was an awesome adventure!

This one's a little better:



The voice is that of Len Maxwell, who did voices for the Batfink cartoons back in the 60s and, more recently, Celebrity Death Match! This one's great too, but the quality is a little crappy:



Timer was created by none other than DePatie Freling, the nuts who did the Pink Panther series. The similarities are very noticable at times.





T

Time for Timer

.
.
.
Just found this one... first time seeing it in over 30 years. Despite the years, this song is burned into my brain, word for word. My wife thinks I'm crazy, but now there's proof!



It says vintage 80s, but this is pure 70s.

Almost as cool as Schoolhouse Rock, but 10 times as stupid.

T

She a bitch

.
.
.

She was a bitch.

Not as a person, just the design & cleanup. I don't actually know her - you might.



Care to take a guess? Don't be shy... if you don't get it right, it's actually me who loses.

T

So... Busy...........

I just haven't been able to stop. long... enough... to... blog....

Nonstop Character Posing - it's actually causing severe back problems and music collection fatigue. Here's some more Inspector McCloud Laredoans.. Loredans? Loraiders?

Back as soon as I can walk!

T