Channel Frederator Blog

I’m particularly proud of this piece, because, unusually for me, it comes directly from an idea I had, rather than one I mid-wifed.

After a few false starts, my career in animation really began here. In 1981, after my childhood friend (and his associates) designed the logo for the network no one had ever heard of yet, we were batting around ideas for the “top of the hour” (where the top music videos in an hour would be billboarded). It hadn’t escaped me how conceited we were (rock’n’roll changed the world, and our network was going to change television forever!) and I thought maybe we could appropriate the most famous television event in the world (in the world, mind you, for this tiny, American, cable TV venture) for our nefarious, or at least frivolous, purposes.

My mentor had already identified NASA footage as very cool and very free (believe it or not, our government agrees that we, [Read more…]

Carrie Miller has with us since late last year, and I have to tell you that after almost 15 years in the cartoon business it’s great to have a huge cartoon fan in my office.

After screaming “Uncle!” to me about the amount of work I was loading on her back we agreed to move her up and get a new assistant. In addition to her fantastic blogging for Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! she coordinates all of our animation activities on the East Coast.
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We tried to say goodbye to Lee Rubenstein.
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Channel Frederator, Episode 49

‘Pat’ Ventura has been one of my cherished cartoon companions since I got into the business in 1992. He was on my Hanna-Barbera Cartoons staff writing for Joe Barbera’s Tom & Jerry Kids Show when John Kricfalusi introduced us and suggested I talk to Pat about a revival of Screwball Squirrel. Pat went on to be the first creator I made shorts with and was the person responsible for convincing me that in cartoons “short” meant “7 minutes” (I wanted to make them three minutes!).

After a great re-invention of Tex Avery’s George & Jr, his original Yucky Duck and Sledgehammer O’Possum (which got me in a bunch of trouble), Pat came over with us to Oh Yeah! Cartoons. Soon you’ll be hearing about his Random! Cartoons short.

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A while back, I did a post about Steven Scott, and his Channel Frederator Featured Film of Episode 23, “Suburban Harmony”. Steven is part of a band called Telementry Orchestra. Their tunes are catchy, and damn do they have some great animated music videos! Steven alerted me to his friend Dael Oates, who came up with an idea for another on of Telementry’s songs, “Under the Cherry Tree” which he worked on with the help of Animal Logic.

Both 2D and 3D techniques were used in making this video about two characters who travel on two different trains in parallel worlds; the boy from a dirty city, and the girl from a beautiful cherry tree orchard. They end up crossing into each other’s worlds and desperately try to stop their trains so they can be together, only to end up where the other began.

Dael Oates had an interesting story of how [Read more…]

Still from “Le Building”

Still from “War Photographer”
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One small girl battles the creatures that stole her heart, using the only weapons she has…

Creator Kelly Matten completed Paper Hearts in two years, and in two countries. All of the pencil animation was done while on exchange at Gobelins l’école de l’image in France, while the storyboarding, coloring, and post production were done in America.

This is a wonderfully told story, heightened as well with the musical talents of KiloWatts and Nathan Board.

Thanks so much Kelly!

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Melissa

Continuing the freakishly fun insanity that is “Hair High”, Channel Frederator is featuring a teaser clip from the film, sure to tickle your chicken bone. Ha. Ha. Ha.

For more great info on Bill Plympton, check out this link to the “Hair High” promo we featured on last week’s episode.

Kiddies, ask your mommies before you start watching this film, as this kock is certainly krazy…And Bill…we don’t know exactly where you come up with ideas like this, but they sure make our day. Thanks!

To subscribe to Channel Frederator, click here, or visit iTunes!

Melissa

I did a recent post on filmmaker Mike Hollingsworth here when his film “The Moustache Contest” was featured in the Nicktoons Network Animation Festival this year.

It’s filled with fun quotes, and lots of Mike-isms. You should click on the link.

“The Moustache Contest” is one of those films that you just can’t help but love. I mean, who wouldn’t want to see four sass talkin’ sea creatures try to be the firt to grow a ’stache.

Mike, if you’re out there, you know I’m a big fan. Thanks for your support of Channel Frederator!

To subscribe to Channel Frederator, click here, or visit iTunes!

Melissa

When Alan Goodman and I started an ad agency the 10-second animated branding spots were always our favorite projects, especially when our clients got out of the way.

Find more videos like this on Channel Frederator RAW
One that was a lot of fun was when Seagram’s hired us to help make one of their brands popular. They wanted to use television, but the FCC wouldn’t let them run TV advertising. We created a unwired music video “network” at hundred of nightclubs (back when music videos were new and cool). We called it the Myers’s Rum Video Network, asked Arlen Schumer (designer of the Frederator robot) to create a logo, and hired our best friends to make animated IDs, including the video innovators at Charlex, and Joey Ahlbum, International Rocketship, and (with his homage to Oskar Fischinger) my partner Alan Goodman.