Channel Frederator Blog

Our 200th episode ‘toon is “The Owl and the Squirrel” courtesy of animator Nick Bachman. He graduated from MCAD in May and is now gainfully employed at PUNY Entertainment in Minneapolis. Woot! Read on for all you ever wanted to know about futzing with clay, Ticketmaster, and Pee Wee Herman!

We featured your stop motion short “Chocolate and Mices” earlier this year - what have you learned about animation or about yourself as an artist since then?

Nick Bachman: I think I’ve learned to take breaks from working more often. If you work on something constantly and think about it 24/7 without taking time for yourself, the quality of your work, health, and life will deteriorate and you will become a sad, lonely little hermit. True story.

The gags in “The Owl and The Squirrel” are Sylvester and Tweety-esque. What gave you the idea for the film?

NB: I was trying to write a story to animate for class, but was having trouble coming up with anything. I sketched up a fat owl sitting on a branch next to a squirrel and decided I liked what was going on, but didn’t have any real idea of where to take it. My friend Diana Chao came over and suggested that the owl chase the squirrel into the a hole in the tree, but gets his head stuck through the other side of it. I took the suggestion and used it to shape the tone of the rest of the jokes in the piece.

What part of the film was the most fun to work on?

NB: I really had a good time making the backgrounds and working with the colors. I wanted the palette to be warm and inviting, but at the same time reminiscent of some of the vintage owl tchotchkes I have lying around.

The crappiest part?

NB: This piece has a bit of a history. I was originally planning on animating the story in clay for my Stop Motion class, but was having a really tough time getting a lot of expression out of the big clunky clay owl I’d cobbled together. This was a big issue because the animation relies a lot on subtle movements. My solution was to shelve the idea and come up with a new one that was tailored more to clay, something with lots of squash and stretch and bigger movements, which ended up being “Chocolate and Mices.” So to (finally) answer your question, the crappiest part was trying to futz around with the big clay owl.

What topic or character would you like to make a film about that you haven’t yet?

NB:I’d really like to do a funny adventure series of short webisodes about a team of superheros or explorers or something that travel around defeating foes or finding treasures. Like a moving comic strip with regular installments. I’m a HUGE fan of Jonny Quest and would love to make an adventure story of my own. But not Jonny Quest…or The Venture Bros, something very different.

What’s the best way to keep warm in Minneapolis?

NB: My method is to stay inside as much as possible. It works to an extent. The cold has a way of creeping up the side of the house, jimmying the lock on your bedroom window, and slithering up under your covers like some sort of wicked frigid serpent. Also this serpent’s bite is frostbite.

I saw on your blog you scored tickets to the “The Pee-Wee Herman Show“. That’s awesome. Discuss.

NB: Pee Wee’s my idol and my hero. When I heard about the new stage show, I knew I had to go. Just weeks earlier, I was lamenting about how I’d never get to see Pee Wee in the flesh, thinking his time had come and gone. Then suddenly here was this opportunity to make it happen! I bought 8th row tickets for my brother Sam, his girlfriend, and I to go, booked some expensive flights, and positioned myself at the edge of my seat until November rolled around. Fast forward to yesterday: I get an email saying that the show’s been moved to a bigger venue (cool) and it’s also in January now (very uncool). So now I’m up against a busy signal on Ticketmaster’s customer service trying to secure my tickets to the January show. Then it’s on to changing our flights. A pretty big headache, but it’s for Pee Wee so I can’t be too disgruntled.

Are you working on anything new you can tell us about?

NB: I’m working on animating a story I wrote about a little jerk of a kid who plays Pokemon. It’s coming along slowly because I work a lot, but I’m hoping it comes together before the end of the year.

Thanks, Nick, for submitting your radical film!

Note: After this interview was conducted, Nick contacted me with this message:

Just got off the phone with Ticketmaster, I finally got through! I traded in my 8th row seats for FOURTH ROW SEATS on February 5th!! I’m ecstatic!!

Woot again! You can watch “The Owl and The Squirrel” right here on Channel Frederator!

-Bailee DesRocher