Earlier this month I had the honor of interviewing a high-flying hero of mine for a local website, AnimatorsUnite.com. Terry McGovern, as Launchpad McQuack, entered my after-school cartoon world in Ducktales and continued thoughout Darkwing Duck. Let’s face it - that character is just awesome. That’s why about 70 % of the interview is with Terry, and the other 30% is with Launchpad.
Whenever a school asks me to come and speak I go out of my way to try and make it. Next Monday I’ll be in Denver, Colorado, though it’s rare I’m asked outside of our home territories of Los Angeles or New York. It’s my honor to be at the Rocky Mountain School of Art + Design and AIGA Colorado. Then on Wednesday it’s on to CalArts in Valencia, California.
As some of you might remember I got a boatload of negative comments when I dared to have what I termed an “open source logo competition” for Random! Cartoons last March. One of the private emails I received was from RMCAD. We agreed to disagree but I was thrilled to accept their gracious invitation to meet some of their animation students.
I vividly remember what it was like in college to be a hopeful media student and meeting working professionals from publishing, television, and news. It gave me confidence that it was possible for a son of pharmacists to go into show biz. I hope I can inspire the same optimism to some of the students I’m lucky enough to meet.
A post about a bat seems very fitting for halloween…there is something special about this particular bat. You see, there is a scene in “Girls on the GO!” where Tess is hanging upside down with a bat…we thought, since I am also the creator of Yaki and Yumi, and Yaki is a bat..it would be fun, if Yaki made a cameo appearance. We scaled the “GOG” bat design down some, since the style in which the original Yaki was drawn didn’t fit in with the rest of the show.
Greetings Yaki and Yumi fans! So, when I was a kid I used to stay in the ocean as long as I could stand it, and swim with my legs squished together… hoping and praying that they would turn into a mermaid tail and I could swim away! My wish came true today, except I am at an animation studio instead of the deep blue sea…ah well, at least I finally have that tail, just in time for halloween!!
I made this film a couple months ago. Because Kubrick’s films are so iconic, it was a fun challenge. I tried to replicate the sets and costumes as much as I could into cartoon form.
For the voices, two friends and I basically improvised off a loose storyboard. Mark Vitelli is the genius behind “Seven: A New Hope” and Derek “Nacho” Nason is a performer at Upright Citizen’s Brigade theatre and a frequent voice actor in my cartoons. (He’s brilliant as Roger in the Annie Mated series I did for Nerve.com) Look for him as a praying mantis in the upcoming “Cavalcade of Laughs” cartoon.
To celebrate Halloween, here’s a glimpse at little Doom Kitty from the gloomiest show I know, YTV and Nelvana’s “Ruby Gloom: Happiest Girl in the World.” I’m proud to serve as exec prod of this gem of a show along with creators, Mighty Fine. Thanks to the crew for giving Ruby and her pals such a great playground. I love every episode! For more info on Ruby, check out YTV. Rita
ReFrederator is up to it’s old tricks — and treats — with today’s 1954 cartoon “Fright to the Finish.” Popeye tries to celebrate a peaceful, Bluto-free Halloween with Olive Oyl, but STRANGE things are happenin’! Turns out the big hairy jerk is just off camera, pulling some mean spirited, seasonal pranks. Of course, the sailor man eventually sets everything straight — what IS weird, is Popeye’s resolution of the situation without the application of any spinach. A couple of years later in another cartoon, “I Don’t Scare,” the same trio were squabbling over Friday the 13th, and again our squint-eyed hero came out on top without eating his vegetable of choice. Since spinach appears to be the lucky charm in most day-to-day altercations, Popeye may feel it oddly inappropriate as a weapon against mindless superstitions. You tell me!
For your free subscription to ReFrederator, click here, or visit iTunes!
