Channel Frederator Blog

I’m going to be spreading some essays and art like pollen around the flower field that are the new Fredblogs for the next few days. I thought it would be fitting to start with Team Frederator, starting with the head honcho: Fred Seibert.
Take it away Fred!

Fred Seibert
Cartoons have always made me happy. Gee, I think they make everyone happy.

Crusader Rabbit, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Felix the Cat, Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Tom Terrific, Huckleberry Hound, The Flintstones, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Pinocchio,  Ren & Stimpy, Beavis & Butthead, Adventure Time, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera.

Everyone has their own list, but it all adds up to happiness, doesn’t it? I mean, why cartoons? What other choice do we have?

Eric Homan
Why Cartoons? Because I’ve got a disbelief demanding to be willingly suspended.
When I was a kid, my whole world (i.e. whatever spewed out of the boob tube) was one big cartoonish stew of unreality, but it wasn’t due to animation alone. Sure, there was Huck Hound being chased by a giant potato, but the live-action shows I was watching weren’t that much less ridiculous and broad.
I watched Arnold the Pig testify in court, Uncle Martin struggle with whether to return home to Mars, Herman and Lily celebrate their 100th anniversary, and Maxwell Smart best a tribe of angry Indians terrorizing the nation’s capital with a giant arrow.
I can’t name too many live-action shows airing today where those plotlines would be even remotely acceptable.
And I miss that.
At the risk of sounding like an old man with rose-colored glasses, our live-action shows used to be more cartoony.
(I guess you could counter, today, our cartoons are more live-actiony.)


So, “Why Cartoons?”
Well, they’re my number one TV source for those far-fetched, implausible, and preposterous stories I’m so eager to believe in.
Now, if only the Law and Order crew moved to a pineapple under the sea…

Carrie Miller
The CFA staff really debated and thought long and hard about our essay topic this year, and actually, “Why Cartoons?” was one of the first ideas to come up.
We quickly turned away from it, declaring it too vague. After about one million other ideas later, we circled back to “Why Cartoons?” and took another view on it.
We thought about the wide variety of answers and thoughts we would get on this topic and finally decided that “Why Cartoons?” really was the best.
Unfortunately, when I sat down to write this essay, I was really stumped.
I mean, I love cartoons.
I wouldn’t work in any other industry. But why cartoons?
My passion for cartoons didn’t necessarily start in front of the Saturday Morning TV shows. I mean, come on. I was a kid in the ’80s, so there wasn’t a lot to go on.
Then, many years later, along came this little show called The Powerpuff Girls.
Those ruff & tuff girls were so cool. Then, I was hooked on Dexter’s Laboratory, then it was Samurai Jack.
All of these shows hit while I was in college and truly inspired me.
Somehow, God knows how, I ended up here at Frederator Studios. It was at Frederator I realized it wasn’t cartoons I loved. I mean, cartoons are great, but what I really love are cartoonists.
Cartoons are great because great people work on them. Beyond being some of the most creative and amazing artists I’ve met, cartoonists are just such wonderful people. I’ve never met one who isn’t goofy in some way or another.
They don’t take life too seriously, they’re always laughing, and their brains just plain work differently than other humans’. In addition, when you’re talking about cartoons, you’re not usually talking about one cartoonist. You’re talking about an entire TEAM of these goofballs.
Layout artists, storyboard artists, background painters, character designers, animators, and more all have a hand in the finished product you watch on TV. The final cartoon is a beautiful combination of these personalities and talents.
These are the people who make it worth while for me to come to work every day. If I were producing a documentary, or a live action show, I just don’t know that I’d really love what I do.
I truly love working with cartoonists, and that is “Why Cartoons”.

Scott Moschella
The influence of cartoons on my daily life is undeniable. I was raised on a steady diet of cartoons, both the saturday morning and weekday afternoon varieties. Their stories and characters have become a part of me along with their sugary theme songs. Which is fitting because I was also raised on a steady diet of sugared cereal. The random things that I say and do on any given day usually have a hint of wise ass, thanks to Bugs Bunny, and a tinge of idiocy, thanks to Daffy. And I’m always ready to do a horrible rendition of the Duck Tales theme song… ooooweeeeoooo!

Why cartoons? Simply because I don’t think the human race will ever invent a better way to tell a story than cartoons. In cartoons, there’s no limits or special effects budgets. You can cast any actor in any role and you can put them in any situation in any place. Anything is possible. If you can imagine it, you can put it in a cartoon.

And now that I’m a little bit older, I can appreciate all the time and work and love that goes into them which makes them so special - things like background art, sound design and spot-on comedic timing. I love cartoons and would hate to imagine life without them.

Jeaux Janovsky
24 frames (Why oh Why Cartoons?)
A poem writ by Jeaux Janovsky (Beat Cartoonista)

cartoon ink runs thru his veins
cartoon thoughts inside that brain
cartoon movement fuels his limbs

24 frames per second

four fingered fat hands waving goodbye
porkpie hat held oh so high
bulbous nose honking and a blowing
Straighten up that bowtie, seams are a showing

24 frames per second
outta this town

Why Cartoons?
It’s the only life he knew.

Why Cartoons?
It’s the only one he’ll choose.

“All your dreams can come true if you have the courage to pursue them.”- Walt Disney